Gazette Daily News Podcast, April 27

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This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, April 27.

It should be another sunny, warm day Tuesday, so get out and enjoy it. There is a forecast for rain and slightly cooler temperatures for the days ahead this week. Staying in the immediate present, the National Weather Service is predicting a high of 83 degrees Tuesday with partly sunny skies. The wind will hover around 10 to 15 mph. Then overnight into early Wednesday there will be a chance for rain that will turn into a chance for showers and thunderstorms.

It appears Iowa will hold onto its four U.S. House seats for at least another decade.

The first results of the 2020 census released Monday confirm a dramatic shift in population, as Americans are leaving northern Rust Belt states in favor of sunnier venues where economic opportunities are more plentiful. Rapid population growth in Sun Belt states will shift congressional representation to the South and West and away from the Northeast and Midwest.

Despite that trend, Iowa’s population grew nearly 4.8 percent in the past decade, from 3,046,355 to 3,192,406, the Census Bureau said.

Under a bill legislators are slated to take up this week, Iowa governments would be barred from issuing "vaccine passports" to people as proof they have received COVID-19 vaccinations, and businesses and venues open to the public could face penalties if they require immunization proof. The bill comes after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, along with other Republican governors, has signaled her opposition to vaccine passports.

The proposed new state law would prohibit state and local governmental entities from producing identification cards that include whether the cardholder has received a COVID-19 vaccination. Also, government entities and businesses holding a sales tax permit, nonprofit or not-for-profit organizations, or an establishment open to the public at large will not be able to require a patron or other person who is invited onto the premises to furnish proof of COVID-19 vaccination prior to entering.

Some pre-pandemic normalcy is starting to come back at the Eastern Iowa Airport.

Compared to March 2020. the airport had an 18.9 percent increase in enplaned passengers, which counts travelers who board in Cedar Rapids, and an 11.4 percent increase in total passengers. They’re the highest monthly numbers since February 2020, the last month not affected by COVID-19.

The recovery varies by airline. Carriers focused more on leisure travel -- and American Airlines had especially high traffic. Spring Break falling in March also had an influence on these numbers.

At 5 p.m. Monday, the University of Iowa presidential search committee stopped taking public feedback on the four finalists to succeed outgoing UI President Bruce Harreld.

It has several days to tabulate questionnaire results before presenting the findings to the Board of Regents on Wednesday. But the regents are not committing to publicly share the feedback before choosing a new president.

The search committee will meet in closed session Wednesday to both evaluate finalists and present public feedback to the regents before the board interviews candidates Thursday and Friday.

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