Gazette Daily News Briefing, September 22
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for September 22, 2023.
Yet again we will have a day with a chance for rain all day, which may or may not actually materialize. Other than that, according to the National Weather Service it will be mostly cloudy in the Cedar Rapids area, with a high near 77 degrees. The chance for rain should increase as we head into Saturday.
Iowa first gentleman Kevin Reynolds, the husband of Gov. Kim Reynolds, has been diagnosed with lung cancer, the governor announced Thursday.
She said in a statement they are optimistic about the treatment he is undergoing. She did not announce details of what led to the diagnosis.
"Our doctor has assured us that significant advancements in lung cancer treatment have been very effective and we have every reason to be optimistic," Reynolds said. "We are confident in our team as we begin treatment, and we will beat this together."
Kevin and Kim Reynolds married in 1982. They have three daughters and 11 grandchildren. He became Iowa's first-ever first gentleman in 2017 when Kim Reynolds became governor.
A $220 million general obligation bond issue that would fund construction of a new middle school and improvements to high schools in the Cedar Rapids Community School District is heading to district voters Nov. 7.
The Cedar Rapids school board unanimously approved a resolution Thursday ordering an election after the district received 6,909 valid signatures. The district needed about 6,300 signatures from eligible district voters to place the issue on the ballot.
School board President David Tominsky said the number of signatures collected is a “real testament” to the community’s support of the resolution. “I’m really excited about the community learning more about what exactly they’re voting on and why,” he said.
Thousands of Iowans may have been wrongly cut from the Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (a.k.a. CHIP) because of an error in determining eligibility as the state works to return Medicaid enrollment to pre-pandemic conditions.
Iowa is one of 30 states where the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services determined eligible individuals — mostly children — were being disenrolled, even though the states had information indicating they remained eligible.
The federal agency estimated 10,000 to 49,999 eligible Iowans were affected by the erroneous process. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the total Medicaid and CHIP enrollment in Iowa was 699,741 people in 2020.
In a written statement, Iowa Health and Human Services spokesperson Alex Carfrae said the state will change its automatic renewal processes to comply with the new federal expectations.
Iowa’s Swarm Collective will now accept donations for athletes in any of the Hawkeyes’ 22 intercollegiate sports, it announced Thursday morning.
The name, image and likeness collective’s financial support was previously exclusive to football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball since its founding in July 2022.
Those who either make a $1,000-plus one-time donation or a $100-plus recurring monthly donation can now earmark their gift toward any Iowa sport.
The Swarm Collective raises money for Hawkeye athletes through monthly memberships and larger one-time or recurring donations. Athletes then receive the NIL money as compensation for community service.
