Gazette Daily News Briefing, September 26
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for September 26, 2023.
Rain is likely on Tuesday. According to the National Weather Service projections there will be a chance of rain all day, but the highest probability in the Cedar Rapids area will come between noon and 7 p.m.
When not raining it should be mostly cloudy, with a high near 71 degrees.
An Iowa City nonprofit will lay off about 100 employees — many who live out of state — after losing a contract to provide backup chat and text support for the national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
CommUnity Crisis Services and Food Bank still will answer chat and text messages to the 988 Lifeline from Iowans and serve as a backup for Iowa phone calls made to the hotline. CommUnity’s other services, including the food bank and Mobile Crisis Response Program, also will not be affected, CEO Sarah Nelson said Monday.
Starting in July 2022, the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline was cut to three digits — 988 — to make it easier for people to connect with help. When a person with an Iowa area code calls, they are routed to Foundation 2, in Cedar Rapids, or CommUnity.
CommUnity was awarded a one-year, $6.5 million contract in 2022 to serve as a backup provider for chat and text messages to the national Lifeline. CommUnity used the money to ramp up from 88 employees to 272 part-time and full-time employees who worked remotely from 10 states, Nelson said.
Vibrant Emotional Health, a New York company hired by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to administer 988, told CommUnity earlier this month their contract would not be renewed.
A panel tasked with reviewing Iowa’s boards and commissions has reversed its recommendations to eliminate some government boards after Iowans expressed concerns over losing federal funding and public services.
The Boards and Commissions Review Committee unanimously approved its recommendations during its final meeting Monday, proposing to eliminate or consolidate 111 of Iowa’s boards and commissions, leaving 145 in place.
The recommendations would need to be approved by the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature in next year’s session and signed into law by GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds before they take effect. The committee was created as part of a massive state government reorganization law Reynolds signed this year, which also shrank the number of cabinet-level state agencies and eliminated dozens of unfilled state jobs.
Cedar Rapids will be getting a slice of the state baseball tournament pie.
The Iowa High School Athletic Association announced Monday that Veterans Memorial Stadium will host the Class 3A and 4A portions of the 2024 tourney.
Carroll again will be the 1A-2A host. The tournament is scheduled for July 22-26.
The contract with Cedar Rapids is for one year. This will be the first time since 1974 Cedar Rapids will host state baseball.
