Gazette Daily News Podcast, August 18

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This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Wednesday, August 18.

The increasing heat is going to continue into Wednesday in the Cedar Rapids area. According to the National Weather Service patchy fog before 8 a.m. will give way to sunny skies with a high near 90 degrees. A calm wind of 5 mph will continue into Wednesday night, with mostly clear skies and a low around 67.

Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said Tuesday that state and federal officials are working to resettle Afghan refugees fleeing the rapid collapse and takeover of their country by the Taliban.

Grassley said Tuesday during a stop in Davenport that Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has “made very clear today that in the spirit of (former Iowa Gov.) Bob Ray taking Vietnamese refugees, that Iowa would be very open to Afghan refugees."

Reynolds said Tuesday her office was working with federal officials to help relocate eligible Afghan refugees in Iowa who worked for the U.S. government. They and others have been fleeing a country gripped in chaos following the withdrawal of U.S. troops after a 20-year presence and billions spent to equip and train Afghan security forces who proved ultimately ineffective.

Iowa’s Field of Dreams will be hosting another baseball game in 2022, and it will again feature a Chicago team.

The Chicago Cubs will take on the Cincinatti Reds on August 11 at the 8,000-seat ballpark that Major League Baseball built specifically for these games.This year’s inaugural game was a huge success nationally, with just short of 6 million people tuning into the Fox game telecast. The Chicago White Sox defeated the New York Yankees in dramatic fashion, 9-8,

While the pandemic and its safety precautions are on the minds of the thousands returning to Iowa’s universities this week, UI students who spoke with The Gazette said they’re hoping to move past the distanced, amended and sometimes compromised college experience of the last year.

As of Tuesday morning, just shy of 2,800 new and returning UI students had moved into the campus’ 10 residence halls since early move-in began over the weekend, with nearly 1,000 more expected on Tuesday alone. After new student move-in continues Wednesday and Thursday, and returning students are designated to arrive Saturday, the UI is expecting about 5,675 students to live on campus this year.

Thousands have been moving in at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa, too, as the fall semester at the three schools starts Monday.

Masks and vaccines, while encouraged, aren’t mandated — despite faculty calls at all three campuses for such requirements. Courses are being offered in person to the same degree they were before the pandemic — again, despite faculty calls for more flexibility in allowing online courses.

A judge has denied an appeal from a landlord whose rental unit registration was suspended by the city for four nuisance properties in southeast Cedar Rapids — upholding a city Housing Board of Appeals’ decision made last year.

Charles Davisson, who lists the four disputed properties under Property Holders LTD — along with 34 others — asserted the city violated his due process rights because he didn’t receive adequate notice of the nuisance violations, and some of the notices weren’t sent to his correct business address.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Fae Hoover, in her ruling filed last month, said the housing board didn’t take any illegal action or violate Davisson’s due process rights. The board gave him notice of the suspension proceedings and he had an opportunity to address the board on the allegations, she found.

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