Gazette Daily News Briefing, November 6 and November 7
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Saturday, November 6, and Sunday, November 7.
We are looking at some pleasant weekend weather coming up. According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny with a high near 65 degrees on Saturday in the Cedar Rapids area. On Saturday evening it will be mostly clear and a low around 42 degrees. There will only be a mild breeze all Saturday. On Sunday it will be a little warmer with a slightly more vigorous breeze, with mostly sunny skies and a high near 69 degrees. Sunday night it will be mostly clear with a low around 46 degrees.
In truly a bizarre turn of events, an Iowa City man shooting an air rifle at a squirrel in his yard inadvertently shot and badly wounded a Marine who was driving by at the time on Oct. 17, authorities announced Friday.
Philip Olson, 69, of Iowa City, faces fines ranging from $305 to $1,055 for violating city code and Iowa Department of Natural Resources regulations. Olson, who came forward during the investigation and was not arrested by police, declined to comment Friday when reached by The Gazette.
The announcement reveals to the public for the first time what police believe happened on the evening that Gabriel Heefner, 20, a lance corporal in the U.S. Marines, was found in a crashed car with a gunshot wound to the head.
Heefner had been in town visiting his grandparents and went to grab takeout when he was shot along the way. HIs family reports that he is out of critical condition after a period of fighting for his life, but remains in the hospital and is far from recovered.
With a slim margin putting Amara Andrews in the second-place spot to proceed to the Nov. 30 runoff election against Tiffany O’Donnell in the race for Cedar Rapids mayor, incumbent Brad Hart announced Friday he will not ask for a recount.
“I will finish out my term by serving this great city just like I've tried to do every day for the last four years,” Hart said. “Thank you to my fellow city council members and to the talented city team I've had the privilege to work with. Thank you to the citizens of Cedar Rapids for the opportunity to serve you over the last four years. It has been an honor.”
After Linn County accounted for over 100 provisional ballots countywide Thursday, or ballots that required further review of a voter’s eligibility to be included in the official count, Andrews increased her margin over Hart from 24 votes to 40. She finished with a total 7,359 votes out of 26,175, according to unofficial results.
There was finally a break of deadlock in Washington D.C. late Friday night. According to reporting from the Associated Press, the House approved a $1 trillion package of road and other infrastructure projects after Democrats resolved a months-long standoff between progressives and moderates, notching a victory for President Joe Biden, albeit not as large of a package as Democrats had hoped for.
The House passed the measure 228-206 late Friday, prompting prolonged cheers from the relieved Democratic side of the chamber. Thirteen Republicans, mostly moderates, supported the legislation while six of Democrats' farthest left members opposed it.
Iowa and the country could be headed for record corn yields, despite uneven weather throughout the year, state agriculture and climate experts said Friday.
Iowa corn is forecast at 2.5 billion bushels, averaging 201 bushels an acre, which is an increase of 24 bushels per acre over last year, according to the latest information from the federal agriculture department.
Soybeans appear headed for similarly big yields. Soybeans in Iowa are forecast at 611 million bushes at an average of 61 bushels per acre, up 7 bushels per acre from last year, according to federal information.
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