Gazette Daily News Podcast, June 16

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This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Wednesday, June 16.

Wednesday’s weather will be sunny and cool again, but if you’re expecting this not to last the whole week, you would be right. According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny with a high near 88 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. On Wednesday night the clouds will increase and the low will be around 66 degrees. On Thursday, expect the heat to return, and maybe also some rain.

A 20-year-old son shot his sister and his parents to death, authorities said Tuesday night after a day of investigating the discovery of the bodies inside a northeast Cedar Rapids home.

Alexander Ken Jackson, 20, has been arrested and faces three counts of first-degree murder. A police spokesman identified the three murder people as Jan Perry Jackson, 61; Melissa Ferne Jackson, 68; and Sabrina Hana Jackson, 19.

Cedar Rapids police responded to a call at 8:23 a.m. about a possible shooting inside the house at 4414 Oak Leaf Court NE. Police did not say who placed the call.

There, officers found the father, mother and sister dead of gunshot wounds. They also found Alexander Jackson with a gunshot wound to the foot that police described as non-life- threatening. He was taken to UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital for treatment, and was arrested afterward and booked Tuesday night into the Linn County Jail.

He does not have an adult criminal record in Iowa, according to online court records. Police did not provide a possible motive for the shooting.

Tuesday was a day of Democrats announcing they are, or may be, running for things.

The 2022 race for Congress in Iowa’s 1st District could be a battle of former TV anchors.

State Sen. Liz Mathis, D-Hiawatha, said Tuesday she is “seriously considering” a bid next year for the congressional seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, 37, a Republican who ousted Democrat Abby Finkenauer in the 2020 election to earn her first term.

At the state level, a social studies teacher announced Tuesday she’s running for the Iowa Senate in 2022, a day after the longtime incumbent announced he’ll step down.

Democrat Breanna Oxley, 30, a teacher at Roosevelt Middle School in Cedar Rapids, announced her candidacy for District 33, the seat now held by Democratic Sen. Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids.

For the governor’s race, State Rep. Ras Smith of Waterloo on Tuesday became the first Democrat to announce he’s running for governor in 2022 in an attempt to unseat Republican Kim Reynolds.

Smith, who represents House District 62 in the Cedar Valley, made the announcement early Tuesday.

Smith, 33, was first elected to the Iowa House in 2016. He is the ranking member on the education committee, as well as serving on the agriculture, information technology and natural resources committees. He's also the founding member and current chair of Iowa’s Legislative Black Caucus.

Iowa’s slowly, reluctantly, inching its vaccination rate upward.

More than half of Iowans age 12 and older have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Iowa Department of Public Health.

As of 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1,380,842 Iowans had been fully vaccinated, an increase of 4,199 from Monday. That’s 51.6 percent of Iowans age 12 and older, and 43,77 percent of the state’s total population.

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