Gazette Daily News Podcast, April 5

Some more wet weather could return on Tuesday. According to the National Weather Service there will be a chance of rain and then possibly a thunderstorm after 4 p.m. The overall chance of precipitation is listed at 80 percent. Otherwise the high temperature will rise to near 56 degrees with partly sunny skies. The low should be around 38 degrees, so there will be no chance for snow until at least Thursday.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to allow the sale of gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol — E15 — this summer to ease prices at the pump.

“Doing so will give the citizens of our states relief from the volatile and record-high gas prices, including price increases caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine,” Miller said in a letter from him and Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt to EPA administrator Michael Regan.

Miller, a Democrat seeking re-election, joins many Republicans and ethanol industry leaders in calling for the Biden administration to use E15 to ease gas price pressures on consumers.

Air-quality regulations prohibit the sale of E15 from June 1 to Sept. 15 in many areas of the United States. The EPA has the authority to allow E15 fuel to be sold year-round when “extreme or unusual fuel or fuel additive supply circumstances exist.”

Iowa and Kansas are among the nation’s top ethanol producers.

Sen. Chuck Grassley is a “no” vote on confirming Ketanji Brown Jackson as a Supreme Court justice.

Grassley, an Iowa Republican, announced his decision Monday morning at a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Having carefully studied her record, unfortunately, I think she and I have fundamentally different views on the role judges should play in our system of government. Because of those disagreements, I can’t support her nomination,” said Grassley, the ranking Republican on the committee.

Jackson appears to be on track for a split Senate confirmation as President Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court appointment. Republican Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitt Romney have announced they will vote for Jackson’s confirmation.

Residents and visitors can once again rent an e-bike or scooter in downtown Cedar Rapids and surrounding districts to get around town.

The city launched its micromobility program for a fourth season on April 1. Through the program, Chicago-based vendor VeoRide brings a fleet containing e-bikes, standup scooters and sit-down scooters to the urban core. Users can rent the devices through the Veo mobile app.

The program’s return comes on the heels of the Cedar Rapids City Council signing off on a three-year extension of the city’s contract with VeoRide. Some changes were made to the program in an effort to promote safety and reduce clutter from improperly parked devices. These include ID verification to confirm the rider is above 18, a required safety quiz at the start of each riding season, a lower idle time for staff to pick up devices, and geofencing preventing the scooters from being used in event areas defined by the city’s special events team.

Support for this news update was provided by New Pioneer Food Co-op. Celebrating 50 years as Eastern Iowa’s destination for locally and responsibly sourced groceries with stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids; and you can order online through Co-op Cart at newpi.coop.