Gazette Daily News Podcast, November 2

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This is John McGlothlen with the Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for Monday, November 2nd.

For your weather today, it's expected to be sunny with a high near 56. Winds from the west, 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Tonight should be clear with a low around 36. 

Iowa football wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette was arrested in Iowa City early Sunday morning on suspicion of operating while intoxicated. Hours after the Hawkeyes' loss to Northwestern, the 21-year-old senior was pulled over on southbound Riverside Drive at Myrtle Avenue for going 74 mph in a 30-mph zone. Smith-Marsette was driving a white 2017 Chevrolet Camaro. The officer said he had bloodshot watery eyes, impaired speech and smelled of alcohol. The officer also stated in the criminal complaint that Smith-Marsette admitted to drinking and failed a preliminary breath test. According to a Datamaster result, his breath alcohol concentration was 0.13 percent. Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said in a statement Sunday that Smith-Marsette will be suspended for Saturday's game against Michigan State.

For the seventh day in a row Sunday, the number of patients being treated in the state's hospitals for COVID-19 reached a record high. In a 24-hour period ending at 11 a.m. Sunday, the number of people hospitalized for the virus in Iowa jumped from 630 to 676. The number of those in intensive care rose from 153 to 164 patients — tied for the record high set on May 7. Last week, in response to a question from The Gazette about whether Gov. Kim Reynolds had any comment about the spiking cases in Iowa, a spokesman for the governor's office noted that only about 11 percent of patients in the state's hospitals are there because of COVID-19, and that hospitals have ample capacity to handle the pandemic.