Gazette Daily News Podcast, April 8

On today’s episode: Iowa’s U.S. senators vote against confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, the state plans to close it’s Glenwood facility for Iowans with disabilities, the Fairfield teens charged in their teacher’s killing are denied an appeal by the state supreme court, and long-time Cedar Rapids radio personality Ric Swann dies.

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The Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, shattering a historic barrier by securing her place as the first Black female justice and giving President Joe Biden a bipartisan endorsement for his effort to diversify the court.

Jackson, a 51-year-old appeals court judge with nine years experience on the federal bench, was confirmed 53-47, mostly along party lines but with three Republican votes.

Iowa’s U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, both Republicans, voted against her confirmation.

A state facility for Iowans with intellectual and developmental disabilities that has been under scrutiny from federal investigators will be closed in 2024, state leaders announced Thursday.

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office said Thursday the state will relocate the 152 residents of the Glenwood Resource Center to another facility or into community-based care and also assist the roughly 650 staff members in finding new jobs.

The state will begin moving patients out in July by sending about 60 to another state-run facility in Woodward and 10 others into community housing facilities. Over the next year, transitions will continue until the center is closed, with plans to sell the facility by July 1, 2024.

Reynolds announced the closure months after the U.S. Department of Justice issued a strong condemnation of the way Iowa treats people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

A letter and report sent to the state in December by Justice Department officials indicated that Iowa was needlessly institutionalizing people with intellectual disabilities and that the state’s treatment likely violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide services that integrate patients into their communities.

The U.S. Department of Justice opened its investigation into the Glenwood and Woodward resource centers in 2019.

In 2020, federal officials found the Glenwood facility likely violated the constitutional rights of residents by subjecting them to human experiments.

Two teenagers accused of killing a Fairfield high school Spanish teacher last year had their appeals to ban the public from a hearing declined by the Iowa Supreme Court Thursday.

Jeremy Everett Goodale, 17, and Willard Noble Chaiden Miller, 16, have been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Nohema Graber, 66, with a baseball bat in November, according to court documents.

Both teens are charged as adults.

They had appealed a decision by an 8th Judicial District judge that would allow the public and the news media to attend a hearing about sending their case to Juvenile Court.

Goodale’s trial is set for Aug. 23 and Miller for Nov. 1.

The name “Stephen Norman” may not ring a bell around Eastern Iowa, but plenty of people have known and loved him by his radio name, Ric Swann.

Swann, for years part of KZIA radio’s Schulte & Swann morning team, died of cancer early Wednesday in Ohio, where he recently relocated from Cedar Rapids to be with family. He was 62.

His career brought him to Cedar Rapids in 1994, joining the company now known as KZIA Inc., anchored by Z102.9. Over the years, he worked as a disc jockey, program director, music director and on-air personality in formats from Top 40 to country, and helped launch KZIA’s SmartFM in 2017, before leaving the company in 2020.

LISTEN: ► Hear clips of Ric Swann from the KZIA archives ► The many voices of Ric Swann

According to the National Weather Service’s Quad Cities’ bureau:

It may be a little slushy this morning with the light snow falling in some areas overnight Thursday. Friday will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. It will also be breezy, with winds 15 to 20 mph, and gusts as high as 30 mph.Friday night will be mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 27. Winds 10 to 15 mph will continue, with gusts as high as 25 mph.