Gazette Daily News Podcast, October 6

Your Thursday could begin with some fog before the sun chases it away. According to the National Weather Service there will be areas of fog before 10 a.m. in the Cedar Rapids area. Otherwise, it will be partly sunny, with a high near 68 degrees. It will become increasingly windy as the day goes on, with winds gusting as high as 25 mph. Dress warm Thursday night, as it will drop down to 38 degrees.

A Cedar Rapids police fatal shooting of a man suspected of attacking his girlfriend in August was justified, officials said Wednesday.

The shooting initially drew protests until authorities released video of the incident showing the man threatening officers with a knife.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks released a report from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office detailing the investigation into the Aug. 30 officer-involved shooting of William Isaac Rich, 22, outside a transitional housing complex.

Maybanks announced as a result of the reports findings, he will not pursue criminal charges against Officers Sgt. Bryson Garringer or Investigator Chris Christy.

Christy and Garringer were the two Cedar Rapids officers involved in the shooting, which happened at Inn Circle, a transitional housing site at 5560 Sixth St. SW.

According to the report from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, the officers responded just before 1 a.m. to the Inn Circle. Rich’s girlfriend had called 911 to say that Rich choked, punched and tried to drown her. She said she believed he was going to kill her.

When officers arrived, Rich was armed with a knife and refused to follow commands. The Cedar Rapids Police Department released video footage of the shooting in September, after family members of Rich protested for the right to see the video.

In the police body camera video, the knife Rich was carrying is shown. Rich can be seen fighting with the officers. At one point, he is pushed back and three shots are heard, followed by an officer shouting, “Get on the ground, now.” Rich falls over but attempts to get back up, at which point four more gunshots are heard and Rich stops moving.

The Cedar Rapids Community School District is the first district in the state to be awarded a federal magnet schools grant — $14.8 million to be distributed over the next five years, the U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday.

The district applied for the funding from the Magnet School Assistance Program as it prepares to open its first magnet high school, named City View Community High School. The first disbursement of the federal grant will be $6.4 million for the first two years.

Magnet schools offer theme-based learning — such as science, technology, engineering, arts and math; or leadership and entrepreneurship, for instance. The Cedar Rapids district operates other magnet schools, but none until now at the high school level.

City View will be a magnet high school for students to engage in project-based learning and is expected to open by fall 2023. A location has yet to be announced for the school.

Up to 200 primarily rising ninth- and 10th- graders will be able to enroll at City View for the 2023-24 school year. If there are more than 200 students interested in attending next fall, the district will use a lottery system to select and accept students.

The school eventually will serve up to 400 ninth to 12th-graders. Other Cedar Rapids high schools have between 1,300 and 1,700 students each.

The grant will support the enhancement of four existing magnet schools — Johnson STEAM Academy, Cedar River Academy, Roosevelt Creative Corridor Business Academy and McKinley STEAM Academy — as well as the new high school.