Gazette Daily News Podcast, April 5

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This is John McGlothlen with the Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for Monday, April 5th.

For weather in the Cedar Rapids area today, expect mostly cloudy skies, with a 20% chance of showers before 1 p.m., then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 79. Winds will be from the south, 5 to 15 mph, and gusts as high as 25 mph. Tonight, we'll have a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 a.m., and the low should be around 59.

Authorities said a woman died Sunday when a field fire in rural Marion got out of control. The Linn County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call at 3:14 p.m. from the 3000 block of Gillmore Road. Emergency personnel discovered a ditch fire that had spread. The woman who was attending the fire was on the ground, engulfed in flames and smoke. She suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The name of the woman is being withheld, pending notification of next of kin.

Police arrested two Cedar Rapids men early Sunday following a fight outside a downtown bar and after a gunshot was heard nearby. According to a news release, at 12:58 a.m., officers were dispatched to Hazzard County American Saloon, at 402 Second Ave. SE, for a report of two people fighting outside, one of whom was armed with a handgun. When officers arrived, they did not find anyone fighting but heard a gunshot from near Second Avenue and Third Street SE. Officers were told the man who fired the gun was seen getting into a white pickup. In the 400 block of Third Avenue SE, police made a traffic stop on a vehicle fitting that description. Based on their investigation and recovery of a 9 mm handgun in the pickup, the passenger in the vehicle, 27-year-old Devoniere Jackson, was identified as the one who fired the gun. He was arrested on suspicion of reckless use of a firearm, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm while intoxicated and marijuana possession. He also had a warrant through the Webster County Sheriff's Office for failure to pay child support. According to the criminal complaint, Jackson had pressed the handgun into the leg of another man to intimidate him and fired the gun into the air while other people were present. The driver of the pickup, 29-year-old Daniel Turnis of Cedar Rapids, was arrested on suspicion of operating while intoxicated. Jackson and Turnis were taken to the Linn County Jail. A shell casing was found in the roadway. No injuries were reported. 

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