Gazette Daily News Briefing, October 26

This is John McGlothlen with the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Monday, October 26th.

For your weather today, snow is likely, mainly before 9 a.m., with a high near 36. Expect winds from the north 10 to 15 mph. New snow accumulation of less than half an inch is possible. Tonight should be mostly cloudy with a low around 24. 

Former Cedar Rapids Police Chief Greg Graham died in a Florida plane crash Sunday. Graham became chief of the Cedar Rapids Police Department two weeks before the historic 2008 flood and stayed on the job for four years. He died Sunday when the small plane he was flying crashed. Graham had served on the police force of Ocala, Florida, for 25 years before being hired as chief in Cedar Rapids. After he resigned in 2012 to return to the Ocala force as its chief, he was replaced by Wayne Jerman, the current Cedar Rapids police chief. 

The number of people in Iowa hospitalized because of the novel coronavirus hit a new record high of 561 Sunday night. The soaring number of hospitalizations are fueling concerns that hospitals in the state will be hard-pressed by the end of the year to have the capacity to handle patients who suffer some of the disease’s worst symptoms.

In Iowa football, the Hawkeyes lost to the Purdue Boilermakers Saturday. Purdue didn't have its head coach because of COVID-19 or star receiver Rondale Moore for an undisclosed reason, but it had David Bell, and that was enough for a season-opening 24-20 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes. Bell caught three touchdown passes from Aidan O'Connell, including the game-winning 6-yard toss with 2:15 to play. He totaled 121 yards on 13 catches, while O'Connell completed 31 of 50 passes for 282 yards, overcoming interceptions to Matt Hankins and Barrington Wade.