Gazette Daily News Briefing, November 7
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for November 7, 2023.
Happy election day. Get out and vote if you can. We have an election section with information about how to vote, as well as stories on issues and Q&As with candidates, on the front page of thegazette.com.
According to the National Weather Service it will be mostly sunny in the Cedar Rapids area Tuesday. The high will be about 59 degrees.
After a lot of Mercy hospital drama, the story may at least be moving to the next stage.
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge Monday approved the sale of Mercy Hospital, Iowa City’s only community hospital, to the University of Iowa for $28 million.
The university will fund the purchase with its UI Hospitals and Clinics revenue, according to UI spokeswoman Jeneane Beck.
During a relatively brief hearing that left many issues unresolved — including some related to the hospital’s debt and waning cash resources — Mercy attorneys said court approval of the sale marked a “banner day” for the hospital.
According to leaders from both Mercy and UIHC, the university has agreed to invest in improving Mercy’s infrastructure, and have set forth some immediate first steps: offering all Mercy Iowa City employees in good standing jobs with UI health care; allowing community providers not affiliated with UIHC to keep practicing at the hospital, planning for the two organizations to officially join as early as 2024, and encouraging Mercy patients to continue getting care there.
The original winner of the bankruptcy auction, Preston Hollow Community Capital of Texas, did not object to Monday’s sale.
With Ron DeSantis trying to pull out a strong finish in the Iowa Republican caucuses just about two months away, he scored a rare endorsement Monday from a sitting Iowa governor during a presidential primary.
The question now is whether Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ endorsement of the Florida governor will have an impact on the primary in this first-in-the-nation caucus state where, as is also the case nationally, former President Donald Trump has consistently held a commanding lead in polls over DeSantis and the rest of the field.
Reynolds officially endorsed DeSantis during a campaign rally Monday night at an events center in Des Moines.
“To be quite honest, he is one of the most effective leaders I have ever seen,” Reynolds said. “We need someone who will fight for you and win for you, someone who won’t get distracted but will stay disciplined, who puts his country first and not himself. That leader is Ron DeSantis.”
Reynolds said part of the reason she felt compelled to endorse DeSantis is she does not believe Trump can win the election, in spite of recent polling showing the former president crushing his Republican competition and faring well when put against President Joe Biden.
