Gazette Daily News Podcast, May 6

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This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Thursday, May 6.

Thursday morning will see the gradual clearing of any rain that happened overnight. After that, the clearing of clouds will continue. According to the National Weather Service a cloudy morning in the Cedar Rapids area will give way to sunnier skies, with a high near 63 degrees. The wind speed will be 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

A registered sex offender who had been a person of interest in the July 2020 disappearance of a 10-year-old Davenport girl was charged Wednesday with killing her.

48-year-old Henry Dinkins, of Davenport, is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of Breasia Terrell.

Scott County Attorney Mike Walton said Dinkins kidnapped the girl last July and shot her to death. Her remains weren’t discovered until March 22 near DeWitt, and her identity was confirmed March 31. Breasia was last seen either late July 9 or early July 10. She spent that night with her brother at Dinkins’ home. Dinkins is the boy’s father.

Dinkins was arrested July 10 and later charged with three unrelated counts of violating the sex offender registry. He was the lone person of interest in Breasia’s case and is being held in the Clinton County Jail.

Legislation banning “vaccine passports” in Iowa is on its way to Gov. Kim Reynolds for her expected signature.

The Iowa Senate voted 32-16 without debate Wednesday to approve House File 889, a bill that prohibits businesses, schools and state and local government facilities from denying access to people who haven’t had the COVID-19 vaccination.

In addition, all government entities in Iowa would be barred from issuing ID cards with a person’s vaccination history.

In his first visit to Iowa, newly appointed Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan said Tuesday that agriculture would “have a seat at the table” as complex environmental issues are tackled.

Regan toured the Lincolnway Energy ethanol plant near Nevada before holding a roundtable discussion with farmers and later briefly visiting Gov. Kim Reynolds in Des Moines. Late in the afternoon, he joined state and city officials in announcing plans for a superfund site on the edge of downtown Des Moines.

His visit comes as the issue of waivers to the nation’s Renewable Fuel Standard — granted to oil refiners by the Trump administration over the objections of farm state interests — is before the U.S. Supreme Court. While the waivers represented a rare break from Trump policies among Iowa Republican officials, they also have expressed concerns that while the Biden administration does not want the court to reinstate the waivers, it has not signaled enough support for corn- and soybean-based biofuels.

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