Gazette Daily News Briefing, October 19
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for October 19, 2023.
According to the National Weather Service it will be mostly cloudy in the Cedar Rapids area on Thursday with a high near 63 degrees. On Thursday evening it will gradually become clear, with a low of around 46 degrees.
Iowa U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks switched her vote Wednesday for House speaker and joined nearly two dozen Republicans who voted against U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as he was rejected on his second try at clinching the position.
She was the only Iowa Republican to vote against Jordan, while U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra, Ashley Hinson and Zach Nunn stuck with the majority of Republicans in supporting the hard-right chair of the House Judiciary Committee. All four had voted for Jordan during the first vote Tuesday.
In announcing her change on social media Miller-Meeks said she had received credible death threats after switching her vote.
Miller-Meeks, who represents Iowa's southeast 1st Congressional District, said in an interview Tuesday she had reservations about Jordan becoming speaker. Those concerns included past opposition to the Farm Bill and biofuel subsidies, as well as the pressure tactics used by Jordan allies to whip votes.
The House is expected to reconvene Thursday for a potential third vote with no clear path forward to unify around a speaker.
Iowa City Police have arrested a man accused of sexually assaulting a woman in an alley in early October.
Anthony Cotner Jr., 25, of Cedar Rapids now faces one count of second-degree sexual assault related to the incident, according to a media release from the Iowa City Police Department.
Police sought the public’s help in finding a suspect after the incident, which police said occurred near the alley of the 200 Block of South Van Buren Street in Iowa City in the morning of October 7th. In the police account, a victim reported being attacked by a man while walking in that area at around 1:40 a.m. that morning.
The Iowa City Police Department thanked the Cedar Rapids Police Department and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation for their assistance in the arrest.
Save CR Heritage — a nonprofit dedicated to saving historic properties — is appealing to the Cedar Rapids school board to reconsider its decision earlier this year to demolish Harrison Elementary School.
Save CR Heritage submitted over 500 petition signatures of eligible voters within the Cedar Rapids Community School District, which requires the school board to place the request on its agenda within 30 days of receiving the petition, according to Iowa Code.
The school board will hear public comment asking members to “overturn the recommendation to demolish Harrison Elementary School” — the language on the petition — at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Educational Leadership and Support Center in Cedar Rapids. Anyone is invited to attend and sign up to speak.
