Gazette Daily News Briefing, September 24
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Friday, September 24.
We could see a little bit of rain and some slightly warmer temperatures on Friday. According to the National Weather Service there will be a chance for scattered showers in the Cedar Rapids area, mainly between 2 p.m and 7 p.m. Other than that it will be increasingly cloudy as the day goes on, with a high near 79 degrees. On Friday night a slight chance of rain will remain, but the clouds will gradually clear, with a low of around 43 degrees.
Two big announcements came down for University of Iowa athletics on Thursday, and they happen to be related to each other.
First, the wrestling crazy university housed in a wrestling loving state announced that now women will be able to get in on the fun. Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta announced Thursday that Iowa would become the first Power Five conference school to add women’s wrestling. Iowa is the third D-I school to start a women’s wrestling program, joining Presbyterian (S.C.) College and Sacred Heart (Conn.) University.
The University of Iowa wrestling program has enjoyed dominance in the last 50 years rivaling any other program in any other sport, and the sport enjoys the outsized popularity in the state that you would expect with such success. This made it a natural fit for a program for women’s wrestling as well.
But that’s just part of the story.
In that same press conference Barta disclosed that the school had settled a Title IX dispute with women student athletes who were suing the university, alleging unequal access to sports based on gender. The student athletes chose to sue after the athletic department decided to eliminate women’s swimming and diving and three other men’s sports during the challenging COVID-19 athletic year. Barta said that as part of the settlement, the university was agreeing to add another sport for women, and they chose to add women’s wrestling.
The women’s swimming and diving program was also previously reinstated after a judge indicated the students had a good case against the university. The three men’s sports-- swimming and diving, tennis and gymnastics-- remain cut at this time.
Changes to the flow of traffic at the Interstate 80-380 interchange are coming next week.
The biggest change for drivers will be the permanent closure of the westbound I-80 ramp to southbound Highway 218. The closure will take effect at 11 p.m. Monday, the Iowa Department of Transportation District 6 office said in a news release.
Traffic will be detoured to exit 237, Ireland Avenue, to circle back onto I-80 eastbound and to the Highway 218 southbound ramp at exit 239.
The ramp closure will allow for construction of new bridges and roadway and a new ramp, the DOT said. The detour will remain in place until the new ramp opens, which is anticipated in late 2023.
Facing up to 20 years in prison in connection with a 2011 fatal stabbing of a cabdriver, a Cedar Rapids man wants the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on whether judges can — as they have so far — order him to take antipsychotic medication against his will so he can be mentally competent to stand trial.
The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a federal district judge’s order to involuntarily administer medication to Johnathan Dewayne Mitchell, 43, to maintain his competency for his long- awaited trial.
However, Mitchell asked U.S. District Chief Judge Leonard Strand to stay — temporarily hold — the medication order, pending a review of that decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Strand issued a stay last week.
The stay follows years and back and forth legal wrangling around his mental competency.
The original indictment for Mitchell's charges accused him of “violently robbing” Catherine “Cathy” Stickley, 54, who was driving a Century Cab on April 29, 2011.
Stickley was stabbed 18 times in the neck and head, and Mitchell's fingerprints were found in Stickley's blood in the cab. The prosecution argued Mitchell needed money for crack cocaine and killed Stickley to get it.
It should be another sunny and pleasant day Thursday. According to the National Weather Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon Alexa enabled device to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?
If you prefer podcasts, you can also find us on iTunes or wherever else you find your Podcasts.
