Friday Morning Read: Scholarship cut reactions, distillery bill, Xavier wins

Speaker rips UI - A day after the University of Iowa began notifying 2,440 students they won't get scholarship money they expected this fall due to state budget cuts, House Speaker Linda Upmeyer slammed the move Thursday as 'politics at its worst' and suggested the UI tap into the $2 billion its foundation collected in a fundraising campaign. Read more of Upmeyer's comments here.

Equal alcohol - A bill working through the Iowa Statehouse would make several changes to Iowa Code 123 — the Iowa Alcoholic Beverage Control Act — to eliminate the 50,000-gallon production cap for distilleries, expand how much alcohol distilleries could sell to individual customers from two bottles to a case and allow those establishments to serve alcohol by the glass. 'The difference this year is the Governor's Office is supportive of these changes. In the past they were silent,' Jeff Quint, co-owner of Swisher's Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery said. 'I think that's going to put us over the top.' Read more about the potential law change here.

Xavier tops Mount Vernon - Xavier knocked off second-seeded Mount Vernon, 63-55, Thursday night in a 3A district final at Mount Vernon. The Saints have a 12-11 record, though they played a 4A-dominated schedule in the Mississippi Valley Conference. 'We feel like we're really playing our best basketball right now, and we're excited to be playing Wahlert,' said Xavier swingman Jackson Joens. 'They're a great team, we played them in the state championship game last year. We know they're going to bring it. It's going to be a really good game.' Read more about their victory here.

Quotable - Carrie Fortin, sister of Lance DeWoody, who was killed in 1985, said Thursday in a victim impact statement that she and her family are saddened that the person they believe killed her brother didn't 'pay for his crime behind bars.'

"But we have faith, and we know in our hearts that the true punishment for Lance's murder is still to come when he has to answer to God,' Fortin, who was holding a photo of her brother, said during the sentencing of Anthony Burtch in Johnson County. Read more about Anthony Burtch's sentencing here.