Gazette Daily News Podcast, December 9

Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon Alexa enabled device to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?

If you prefer podcasts, you can also find us on iTunes or wherever else you find your Podcasts.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Thursday, December 9.

Thursday’s weather could start with freezing rain and end with warmer temperatures. According to a forecast from the National Weather Service freezing rain and sleet are likely before 8 a.m. in the Cedar Rapids area, with a slight chance of rain after 8 a.m. Be careful if you have an early commute, but forecasters do not believe there will be lasting accumulation of ice or sleet. After this, it will be cloudy with the skies gradually clearing to sunny and a high near 44 degrees.

As the number of COVID-19 patients in Iowa hospital beds and intensive care units continues to climb to levels not seen since the worst of the pandemic a year ago, local health experts forecast a trying winter as the flu season only complicates a spreading disease.

According to data released Wednesday by the Iowa Department of Public Health, 777 people were hospitalized in the state as a result of the coronavirus. The last time hospitalizations were that high was Dec. 15, 2020, when 798 patients were admitted.

In just the latest 24-hour period measured from Tuesday to Wednesday, 133 COVID-19 patients were admitted to Iowa hospitals — the highest since 141 on Dec. 8, 2020.

The state reported 13,039 new cases of COVID-19 over this past week, an increase from the 9,489 reported last week. This is also an amount of weekly cases not since a similar spike a year ago.

Iowa’s positivity rate for the past seven days was 12.3 percent, an increase from 11.9 percent last week. The state’s positivity rate is currently higher than the nationwide average, which is 8 percent

Meanwhile, Iowa Republican U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst voted Wednesday to pass a Senate resolution that would invalidate President Joe Biden’s vaccine-or-test mandates for private employers.

The resolution passed the evenly divided Senate by a bipartisan vote of 52-48, with help of two Democrats — Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Federal courts have temporarily blocked implementation of federal rules requiring federal contractors, health care workers and workers at businesses with at least 100 employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or face weekly testing. Unvaccinated workers would be required to wear a face mask on the job. But the vote allows the senate to weigh in against the rules, even if it is unlikely it would pass the House or a veto from President Biden.

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday she will allocate $100 million of American Rescue Plan Act money to Iowa water infrastructure and water quality projects.

Most of it — $75 million — will fund a new grant program through the Iowa Finance Authority to support four priorities: Economically-significant projects, watershed protection projects, industrial water reuse pilot projects and wastewater infrastructure for communities without sewer systems.

Larry Weber, a University of Iowa professor of civil and environmental engineering and the Edwin B. Green chair in hydraulics, said he’s “delighted” about the governor’s announcement, with an important caveat.

“We’re excited to participate in the proposal process with the ideas we have,” he said of the new grant program. “We recognize $100 million is important, but, as I’ve said before, our need is $10 billion. This is a small, but important, step on the pathway toward watershed improvement in the state.”

Are you a fan of trying new restaurants? Get the latest restaurant openings & closings and more chewy tips from The Gazette's Chew On this newsletter. Sign up at thegazette.com/chew