Gazette Daily News Podcast, April 23
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Thursday, April 23.
Your Thursday looks to be a sunny, calm day. According to the National Weather Service, there should be a high of 66 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area, with wind speeds of 5 to 10 mph. There is a small chance it could rain some, but only in the very early morning hours Thursday into Friday.
A decision Wednesday by Tyson Fresh Meats to idle its largest pork processing facility in Waterloo, after days of blistering criticism it was jeopardizing workers due to exposure to Covid-19, has huge ramifications for Iowa’s multibillion dollar pork industry. The company said its 2,800 employees will be invited to come to the plant later for COVID-19 testing. Workers will continue to be compensated while the plant is closed.
The plant usually slaughters about 20,000 hogs a day, about 4 percent of the nation’s pork processing capacity. Tyson Fresh Meats is just the latest plant to have its production halted by outbreaks of the coronavirus.
Iowa’s bars and restaurants are taking a massive economic hit from mandated closures attempting to halt the spread of COVID-19, a new study finds — to the tune of some $310 million in April alone. Ninety-five percent of restaurant operators report their total dollar sales volume is down from this time last year, according to the Iowa Restaurant Association. The study found 87 percent of Iowa’s bars and restaurants have laid off, furloughed or terminated jobs for employees in the past 30 days.
Although she did not establish a timeline, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday her administration is crunching the numbers on the coronavirus’ impact in Iowa to determine when temporarily closed businesses could reopen in portions of the state.
One day after she announced a project to exponentially expand testing statewide, Reynolds said some areas of the state have had fewer confirmed cases of the virus and indicated her orders requiring mitigation efforts like temporarily closing businesses could be relaxed in those areas. As of Wednesday there were 3,748 confirmed cases of the disease in the state, and 90 deaths from it so far.
Police say a 16-year-old boy was fatally shot early Wednesday in northwest Cedar Rapids.
Officers found the teen, later identified as Judeah Dawson, when they were called to the 200 block of 15th Street NW at 12:25 a.m. Dawson suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. No arrests have been made.
Dawson’s death marks the fourth homicide this year in Cedar Rapids.
This briefing is sponsored in part by Corridor Careers. Are you looking for a job? CorridorCareers.com is a resource to local job seekers where they can get job tips, sign up for local job alerts, build a resume and more. Check it out at CorridorCareers.com.
