Gazette Daily News Podcast: Friday, March 1, 2024

– Caitlin Clark announces she’s turning pro at end of this Iowa women’s basketball season

– Iowa House passes AEA bill to reorganize state’s special education structure

– Summit offers year’s free rent at NewBo City Market

Episode Transcript

You are listening to the Gazette Daily News Podcast on Friday, March 1. This podcast gives quick bites from the latest headlines coming out of The Gazette newsroom. I’m Bailey Cichon.

Coming up, Caitlin Clark is going pro at the end of this Iowa women’s basketball season

And later, the Iowa House passes an AEA bill to reorganize Iowa’s special education structure

Plus, are you an entrepreneur? You could win a year’s worth of free rent at NewBo City Market in Cedar Rapids. Stay tuned to find out how.

First, this will be Caitlin Clark’s final season with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Clark announced via social media Thursday that she is going pro at the end of this season. Clark is a star player with a long list of accolades including being the all-time leading scorer in women’s college basketball history. In the social post, Clark wrote, quote, “While this season is far from over, and we have a lot more goals to achieve, I am excited to be entering the 2024 WNBA draft.” end quote. Clark had the option of staying for an additional season at Iowa. This is because the NCAA extended a waiver year to every college athlete who participated during the COVID-19 pandemic which affected the 2020-21 academic year. It is expected that Clark will be the first pick by the Indiana Fever at the draft taking place April 15 in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Next, the Iowa House passed a bill Thursday that reorganizes the funding and oversight of Iowa’s area education agencies or AEAs. This comes after two months of lawmakers debating changes to the state’s special education network.

The bill is House File 2612, which was proposed after a more expansive proposal from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds was blocked. Reynolds’ proposal would have allowed school districts to spend their special education money outside of the AEAs. House File 2612 keeps Iowa’s AEAs as the sole provider of special education support. State funding for special education services would go to the school districts. The districts would be required to use that funding with the AEAs. They would also receive an allocation for other education services, like media services, that can be used with the AEAs or with another party.

The bill passed 53-41 with only Republican votes. Nine Republicans voted against the bill with Democrats. House Democrats said that changes were not needed to the system and that the call for changes was based on faulty assumptions about poor test scores and the performance of students with disabilities.

House Education Committee Chair Skyler Wheeler, a Republican from Hull, said on the House floor that there is a broad agreement that changes need to be made to the AEA system.

Wheeler said quote, “One thing was true throughout all of this. Everybody agreed that there were areas to improve and that we could make changes. The AEAs have been included in this conversation more than anybody… We’ve worked diligently, and I’m proud of the work that we’ve done.” end quote.

For a closer look at the bill, read the story linked in this episode’s description.

Next, one year’s worth of free rent for a space at NewBo City Market is up for grabs at the second annual Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Summit. Attend the two-day summit for an opportunity to win. The summit is being held Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23. Friday will offer free workshops where entrepreneurs can learn about business accounting, banking and marketing. Saturday Emerging Entrepreneur finalists will compete in a guest vendor market and a pitch competition. Judges will evaluate finalists on their sales that day, merchandising and business plan. The winner will get a rent-free space at NewBo City Market. The summit is presented by Linn Area Credit Union. The deadline to apply for the competition is Friday, March 1. Find application information at newbocitymarket.org/summit-2024.

As always, you can find a link to each of the stories featured in today’s episode in this episode’s description or at the gazette dot com.

Finally, let’s take a look at the weather in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Today will be mostly sunny with a high of 51 degrees and a low of 32 degrees. Tomorrow will also be sunny. Expect a high of 65 degrees and a low of 48 degrees. Sunday will be windy. Anticipate a high of 74 degrees and low of 42 degrees.

Thank you for listening to the Gazette Daily News Podcast. Stay up to date with the latest news from Eastern Iowa at the gazette dot com. I’m Bailey Cichon.

Comments: bailey.cichon@thegazette.com