Gazette Daily News Briefing, Sept. 5

This is John McGlothlen with The Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for Tues., Sept. 5.

According to the National Weather Service, it will be mostly sunny and hot today, with a high near 95, and heat index values as high as 100. we’ll have a 10 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 5 p.m. Then tonight, a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m., with a low around 66.

The real estate owner at the center of multiple lawsuits over the collapsed building in Davenport has filed suit against the engineering firm that inspected the building. Andrew Wold, whose Davenport Hotel LLC owned the apartment building at 324 Main St., is accusing Select Structural Engineering, a company that inspected the building in the months before the collapse, of several things, including negligence and breach of contract. “At no time did Select Structural opine that the defects in the west wall would require an evacuation of the building,” Wold’s suit states. “To the contrary, Select Structural expressly stated that the Davenport Hotel was not in danger of collapse and that no evacuation was necessary.” Select has not yet answered the allegations in Wold’s suit. The new suit was filed last Thursday as part of an answer to another suit in which Wold, Davenport Hotel LLC and Select are among the defendants, according to Scott County court records. The May 28 partial collapse of the building at 324 N. Main St. occurred in the center of the west side of the six-story structure and involved every floor. Three people died, another lost a leg and many people lost their homes and property.

A vehicle traveling on Interstate 380 in Buchanan County Monday morning went off the roadway at a bridge, crashed onto the road below, and burst into flames, causing the death of one inside the vehicle. According to the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office, at approximately 6:25 a.m., several 911 callers reported details about the fiery crash witnessed at 330th Street below I-380, east of Brandon. The name of the person killed has not yet been released. Authorities closed 330th Street underneath I-380 but the entrance and exit ramps for the interstate remained open as they continued their investigation. The closure was expected to last for several hours.

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🎹 Podcast music: “Journey” by Emily McGlothlen