Gazette Daily News Podcast: Wednesday, March 27, 2024

– Coralville woman charged with stealing thousands from youth softball association

– Iowa Gov. Reynolds’ education director pick praised, criticized during public hearing

– New chicken chain is planning first Iowa restaurants in Cedar Rapids, Coralville

Episode Transcript

Coming up, a Coralville woman is charged with stealing money from a youth softball association

And later, the Iowa Governor’s pick for education director is facing criticism and praise from Iowa Senators

Plus, a new chicken chain is entering the Iowa market

Welcome to the Wednesday, March 27 edition of the Gazette Daily News Podcast. This podcast gives quick bites from the latest headlines coming out of The Gazette newsroom. I’m Bailey Cichon.

First, a Coralville woman has been charged with stealing almost $30,000 from a youth softball association. 41-year-old Laura Margaret Mangrich was the Iowa City Girls Softball Association treasurer between January 2020 and January 2024. According to a criminal complaint, Mangrich stole over $29,000 from the organization between May 19, 2020 and Oct. 30, 2023. This included withdrawing cash from the association’s bank account, making unauthorized purchases on the association’s debit card and writing unauthorized checks. The criminal complaint also says Mangrich falsified an end-of-year report in 2022 to hide the thefts. Mangrich is charged with first-degree fraudulent practice, first-degree theft and unauthorized use of a credit card. She was arrested Monday and was released from jail for pretrial supervision after having her first court appearance.

Next, the Iowa Senate will vote on whether to confirm McKenzie Snow as the state’s education director later this year. Tuesday, Snow faced praise and criticism during a public hearing.

Snow was appointed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds last June to replace Chad Aldis. Aldis resigned for unspecified family reasons after just three months on the job. Snow is the former deputy secretary of education and a former Trump administration education official.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Snow was praised by some Iowa public school leaders but also criticized for her lack of public education experience.

Now, Snow needs two-thirds confirmation in the Senate to be appointed. If all 34 Senate Republicans vote for Snow, that would be enough.

For a look at what Iowa Senators are saying about Snow, read the story linked in this episode’s description.

Next, Dave’s Hot Chicken is planning to build five locations in Iowa. Those locations include Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Davenport and the Des Moines metro area. The fast-casual concept is known for spicy Nashville-style chicken. It offers hot chicken tenders and sliders in spice levels ranging from “not spicy” to Reaper. Sides include housemade kale slaw, macaroni and cheese and crispy, seasoned fries. Dave’s Hot Chicken started as a parking lot pop-up in Los Angeles in 2017. The brand started franchising in 2019 and has more than 140 locations in the U.S. and Canada. Now, it has 850 franchise commitments in the works. Dave’s Hot Chicken vice president of franchise development Shannon Swenson previously told The Gazette, quote, “We’ve filled almost every major market in the U.S. One of the few pockets we have available is Iowa. We’re starting to fill in all around.” end quote. While an opening timeline for the new Iowa locations hasn’t been announced, Swenson said the openings could take three to four years. The new locations will be led by Bart and Kegan Coon. The Coons are a father-son duo from Iowa. They are behind the development of three Crumbl Cookies locations in the Des Moines area.

Bart Coon said quote, “We’re excited to introduce Dave’s Hot Chicken to our home state. After falling in love with the food, we started looking at opportunities to grow with the brand.” end quote.

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.

Now, let’s take a look at the weather in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Today will be sunny. Anticipate a high of 40 degrees and a low of 23 degrees. Tomorrow will be slightly warmer. Expect partly cloudy skies and a high of 51 degrees. Temperatures will cool to a low of 33 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