Gazette Daily News Podcast, August 4

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The surge in Iowa food stamp enrollment appears to be slowing. When the year started, Iowa food stamp enrollment was trending down 8% from 2019,but after people started losing their jobs the number climbed until it was 5% higher than last year. Now that people have been returning to work, that number is coming back down, and they've fallen below the numbers seen in early April when it started climbing.

Iowa State and UNI have begun welcoming back students. The schools' extended residence hall move-in — which includes mandatory COVID-19 testing at ISU — will wrap up just before the fall semester begins, earlier than originally planned, on Aug. 17.

With tens of thousands of students, faculty and staff about to converge on the three campuses amid pandemic conditions, Iowa's public universities are sharing more specifics of how campus life will look. All three have acknowledged stark differences from the traditional college experience and will have thorough 

Gun violence in Cedar Rapids surging so far this year. Even though people have been mostly staying at home for months, the numbers of homicides and shots-fired incidents in Cedar Rapids already have exceeded last year's totals, with April through July being some of the most violent on record. As of July 28, data from the Cedar Rapids Police Department shows the city has seen 105 shootings, with July being the most active month.

Sexually transmitted diseases are also on rise in Iowa. Cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea rose statewide last year, continuing the trend of increasing rates of sexually transmitted diseases among Iowans that has been ongoing for nearly a decade. Iowa's rates follow a nationwide trend, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chlamydia has increased 19 percent between 2014 and 2018, and gonorrhea cases have risen 63 percent in that same time period.

The Gazette Daily news updates are brought to you in part by Corridor Careers. "Are you looking for a job? CorridorCareers.com is a resource to local job seekers where they can get job tips, sign up for local job alerts, build a resume and more. Check it out at CorridorCareers.com."

This briefing is sponsored in part by Corridor Careers.  Are you looking for a job? CorridorCareers.com is a resource to local job seekers where they can get job tips, sign up for local job alerts, build a resume and more. Check it out at CorridorCareers.com