Gazette Daily News Briefing, September 1
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for September 1, 2023.
According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny in the Cedar Rapids area on Friday with a high near 87 degrees. On Friday evening there will be clear skies, with a low of around 59 degrees.
No one was injured in a Thursday afternoon fire at the University of Iowa’s Iowa Advanced Technology Lab.
The fire at the lab, 205 N. Madison St., was quickly extinguished and the damage to the building is not expected to impact day-to-day operations, according to a UI news release.
The fire was reported at 1:07 p.m.
When University of Iowa police, UI Fire Safety and the Iowa City Fire Department arrived, people were evacuating the building and pointed the public safety officials to the southwest side of the building, where smoke was coming out of stainless-steel wall panels.
An estimate of the damage is not yet available, and an investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.
A body pulled last week from the Cedar River has been identified as Kevin Finch, 53, who authorities said died of natural causes.
A city public safety news release said the last known address for Finch was in Ankeny, but did not say why his body was discovered here.
An autopsy performed by the state medical examiner showed no foul play was suspected in Finch’s death, according to the news release.
All ramps of the Interstate 80 and Interstate 380 interchange opened Wednesday afternoon for the first time in years as the major road project nears completion.
The Iowa Department of Transportation announced the good news for drivers on electronic signs leading up to the interchange.
The $387 million interchange project, which began in 2018, replaced the cloverleaf loops with directional ramps. Iowa DOT widened I-80 on both sides of the interchange, I-380 north of I-80 and Highway 218 south of I-80.
The department expects the makeover to reduce crashes and traffic delays on highways that will see increasing car and semi traffic, officials said last week at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Crews still are working on median barriers and installing permanent striping and rumble strips. But the Iowa DOT — and Johnson County officials — wanted to get all the ramps open before Friday’s FRYfest in Coralville and before Saturday’s Hawkeye football season opener.
NewBo City Market is preparing to undergo a $2.5 million project that would provide more space for businesses, a grocery store, a stage and a mezzanine that would become a stronger incubator for local entrepreneurs, artists and farmers.
The planned work at the market — a central community gathering space that developed after the devastating 2008 flood — still is in the early stages, according to Julie Parisi, the market’s executive director.
But the vision has been over a year in the making to make improvements that fuel tourism and enhance the market’s role as a community hub.
The new mezzanine would be built over about one-third of the north end of the market space, where seating is now located. Seating and event space will be moved onto the mezzanine.
That will open an additional 3,000 square feet of business incubation space on the first floor for up to 10 businesses, a farm-to-table grocery store and an indoor stage to incubate local performing artists.
