Gazette Daily News Briefing, November 9
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for November 9, 2023.
It will be sunny and breezy on Thursday. According to the National Weather Service there will be a high of 56 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. Wind gusts could get as high as 35 mph, but should hover lower than that most of the time. The wind will calm Thursday evening, with a low of around 31 degrees.
The day after a $220 million bond referendum that would have funded improvements to Cedar Rapids school buildings was voted down, Superintendent Tawana Grover told the Gazette she is ready to “unify” residents around a new plan created with input from “all corners of the community.”
Grover said educating voters about the district’s facility needs will be critical as the district “goes back to the drawing board.” This includes informing voters of one of the stickier aspects of the bond — how larger school buildings can drive teacher collaboration, which in turn can improve student outcomes.
“Our middle schools are operating at 68 percent capacity. That’s a financial burden that has to be addressed,” she said.
According to unofficial results, about 38 percent of voters in the district were in favor of the measure — far short of the 60 percent needed to pass it. The district has some work to do if they want to change those numbers for a different bond referendum, as the highest approval the failed referendum received in any precinct was 54 percent.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird on Tuesday filed the legal case her team will present when the Iowa Supreme Court hears arguments around legislation that would prohibit the vast majority of abortions in the state.
A Polk County District Court judge temporarily blocked enforcement of the law back in July until its constitutionality can be considered by the courts.
The law prohibits abortions once a “fetal heartbeat” is detected, usually after around six weeks of pregnancy. In the wake of Iowa and U.S. Supreme Court rulings reversing a fundamental right to abortion, Bird argues a new “rational basis” test now applies in court. To pass the test, laws need only be “rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest.”
The brief also argues that abortion providers have no standing to sue, given that there is no constitutional right to provide abortions.
The NCAA amended its sports wagering reinstatement guidelines, but not in the way many Iowa Hawkeye fans were hoping.
Penalties for athletes who bet on other teams at their own school will start at having to sit out one season while losing that season of eligibility.
Most notably, it means Iowa defensive lineman Noah Shannon’s college football career is indeed over. The sixth-year senior had been suspended for one season for a sports wagering violation. Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz previously said Shannon placed a bet on another Iowa sports team on campus.
Ferentz said in a statement Wednesday he is “heartbroken” for Shannon and said the decision is “just wrong.”
