Gazette Daily News Briefing, September 12
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for September 12, 2023.
It will be sunny with a high near 75 degrees on Tuesday. According to the National Weather Service there will be a slight chance for rain in the Cedar Rapids area after 5 p.m. Otherwise it will be partly cloudy with a low of around 49 degrees.
Under proposed revisions to bankruptcy procedures for the sale of Mercy Iowa City, the 150-year-old community hospital might not remain a health care facility, might not go for $20 million, won’t give the University of Iowa the “bid protections” it once offered for the purchase and won’t be completed this month.
Responding to arguments that aspects of its initial procedures could deter alternate bidders from competing with the UI’s proposed “low purchase price” of $20 million, Mercy has agreed to change some of its requested rules — including one requiring bidders to “continue operating the project as a hospital.”
While initial procedures that Mercy on Aug. 9 asked a bankruptcy judge to approve required competing bidders to show health care experience in owning or operating comparable facilities, discussions since then have persuaded Mercy to instead simply request information from a bidder if it has health care licensure or “contemplates the ongoing operations of the hospital,” court records made public Monday show.
A bankruptcy hearing to consider this and other issues is set for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
A veteran-owned spirit company is recognizing those who have earned the highest honor in serving their country.
Cold Zero Premium Spirits, a whiskey and vodka company founded last year by members of the United States Military Special Operations community, will soon release a special edition of their whiskey honoring Medal of Honor recipients.
The 2,000 bottles, signed by six Medal of Honor recipients, will be available near Veterans Day in November through distributions at Hy-Vee, Fareway, military base stores and their website. Proceeds will benefit the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
In addition to their signatures, the labels will tell the stories of how each veteran earned the highest decoration in the armed forces. Each veteran’s story also will be highlighted weekly through the company’s social media.
Cold Zero Premium Spirits, founded by CEO Casey Maxted with other veterans, hit the shelves in April 2022 with whiskey and vodka produced in partnership with Cedar Ridge Distillery in Swisher. Rye whiskey, their first product, is aged in repurposed wine bottles from Napa County, California’s wine country.
