Gazette Daily News Podcast, July 22 and July 23

Welcome to the weekend!

This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Saturday, July 22nd, and Sunday, July 23rd, 2023.

According to the National Weather Service, Saturday will be mostly sunny with a high near 87, cooling to a low around 61 Saturday evening with a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms before 1am.

Sunday will be sunny, with a high near 90 and cool to 64 Sunday night.

Schools tapping into Cedar Rapids mental health care provider

Several Iowa school districts are adding a workplace mental health and wellness partner — based in Cedar Rapids — to help educators manage their mental health and achieve their goals.

Covenant Workplace Solutions is an employee assistance program that — like many of these programs — offers confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals and follow-up services for employees as part of their benefits. It also is trying to reduce the stigma around mental health in the workplace and make it easier for employees to access services, said Chad Charkowski, an owner and head of sales at Covenant Workplace Solutions.

The average use of employee assistance programs in the United States is about 5.5 percent of workers, according to the National Business Group on Health, which describes itself as a voice in health care policy.

Collins Aerospace expands plant in West Des Moines

Collins Aerospace has opened a $14 million, 9,000-square-foot addition to its manufacturing center in West Des Moines to house 3D metal printers.

The new 3D printers are aimed at cutting costs, wait times and the backlog of orders for commercial airplane parts, the company said in a news release, as well as avoid supply chain issues.

The first 3D metal printer installed has eight times the build volume of the facility's existing printers, significantly increasing the center’s “additive manufacturing” capabilities, the news release stated.

Iowa cracking down on speeding next week

Iowa law enforcement will be out on the road next week ready to pull over speeding vehicles and motorcycles as part of a multistate traffic safety awareness campaign.

The Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau is teaming up with law enforcement across the state and Midwest to keep drivers and passengers safe by raising awareness about the dangers of speeding and urging drivers to obey speed limits.

Iowa will join several states on Wednesday in the Speed Awareness Campaign.

Speeding is among the most influential factors in severe injury or fatal crashes. It reduces a driver’s ability to safely maneuver around other vehicles, obstacles or unexpected curves, and even modern systems have limitations in preventing the worst effects of a high-speed crash, according to the news release.

Have a good weekend, everyone.