Gazette Daily News Podcast, December 15
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Wednesday, December 15th.
The main story of Wednesday will likely be the weather. As of 2 a.m. the high temperature in Cedar Rapids of 55 degrees, set in 1957, had already been broken. According to the National Weather Service the high on Wednesday in Cedar Rapids will likely top 70 degrees. If that wasn’t strange enough for December, on Wednesday night, thunderstorms could roll into the area as cold and warm air clash, with heavy rains and wind gusts above 60 mph possible. Most storm activity should be done before 9 p.m.
Legal proceedings in the case against a Cedar Rapids teenager accused of stabbing his parents to death in their home in October have been suspended so state psychiatric doctors can determine if he’s suffering from a mental disorder.
District Court Judge Ian Thornhill this week ordered a “competency evaluation” for Ethan Alexander Orton, who’s just four months from his 18th birthday.
Orton will be moved from his Linn County detention to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville “to determine whether he is suffering a mental disorder which prevents him from appreciating the charge, understanding the proceedings, or assisting effectively in his defense,” according to court documents filed Monday. Judge Thornhill confirmed Orton’s defense team has submitted sufficient information to support their belief the teen is suffering from a severe mental illness.
Protesters opposing mask requirements for students threatened to sue the Cedar Rapids school board if it does not repeal the mandate.
Many protesters showed up at Monday’s school board meeting in matching T-shirts that read “Freedom over Fear.” Protesters also carried a large sign that read “Unmask our children.”
A group of parents yielded their five-minute public comment period to one man, Russell Hotchkiss, who is father to a first-grader at Hiawatha Elementary School.
Hotchkiss spoke for over 30 minutes, pleading for the mask mandate to be removed, threatening a lawsuit and asking for school board members’ resignations. Mask opponents contend that masks inhibit kids from socializing and restrict breathing.
A recently passed Iowa law had prohibited school districts from instituting their own masking mandates, but this law is in limbo after a federal ruling that this provides an unequal learning environment for those vulnerable to COVID-19. After the ruling, Cedar Rapids schools reinstated a mask mandate for all students, staff and visitors Sept. 15. Masks also are required for Cedar Rapids-based day care programs, with masks encouraged during school activities beyond the school day.
I don’t know everything Iowans like to do, but drinking and gambling appear to be pretty popular. I mentioned yesterday that Iowa is having another record setting sports gambling year, and Iowans have also set a new record for liquor sales for the second consecutive fiscal year. The latest total surpassed $400 million for the first time, an increase of an “unprecedented” 13.2 percent over the previous record, according to the annual report published Tuesday from the state agency that regulates alcohol beverage sales in Iowa.
There was $415.8 million in liquor sales in the state during the fiscal year that spanned July 2020 through June 2021.
Once again, Black Velvet held the top spot as the most popular liquor brand purchased by Iowans, holding onto a position the Canadian whisky has held since at least fiscal 2012 when the state began reporting the top brands.
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