Gazette Daily News Podcast, December 14

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This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, December 14th.

Tuesday’s weather is going to make for a pleasant, unusually warm December day before Wednesday goes off the rails with some springlike weather. On Tuesday it will be partly sunny, with a high near 53 degrees. A southeast wind will blow at 10 to 15 mph. On Tuesday night it will be mostly cloudy, but the overnight low will actually be warmer than the previous day’s high, at 56 degrees. This will pave the way for a Wednesday that has a predicted high temperature in the low 70s, with breezy conditions and a chance for rain.

An Iowa City man accused of violating city code in October by discharging a pellet gun within city limits — inadvertently shooting and severely wounding a Marine who was driving by at the time — has pleaded not guilty in an initial court appearance.

A non-jury trial for Philip Olson, 69, is set for 10:30 a.m. Feb. 24 at the Johnson County Courthouse, according to court documents filed last week. Olson declined to comment when reached Monday by The Gazette.

He is accused of violating City Code 8-7-3: Toy Guns and Slingshots, which prohibits discharging “any air rifle, toy pistol, toy gun or other toy arms or slingshot” within city limits. The minimum fine is $105 and the maximum is $855.

Iowa City police said last month that on Oct. 17, Olson was inside his house and shooting at a squirrel in his yard with an air rifle but missed and instead hit Lance Cpl. Gabe Heefner, 20, as he was driving by on Highway 6 near Sycamore Street. The Marine, who crashed after being shot, was severely injured. Heefner was at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for about a month before being transferred to a rehabilitation hospital in Chicago.

Police say the toy gun ordinance charge came after Olson came forward and admitted to shooting out his window around the time that Heefner had been driving by.

Paraeducators in Cedar Rapids schools will get over a $3 an hour pay increase beginning in January after an agreement was reached in negotiations between the school district and Cedar Rapids Organization of Teacher Associates.

Wages for current Cedar Rapids paraeducators in the Cedar Rapids Community School District will be increased to $15.50 an hour or 3 percent — whichever results in a higher hourly rate for the employee — beginning Jan. 8, 2022.

Starting wages are also being increased to $15 an hour from $12.28 an hour. There will be no additional changes to the base wages for the 2022-23 school year. Superintendent Noreen Bush said there was a “sense of urgency” and workforce needs accelerated this conversation to increase wages for paraeducators. As of Monday, there were 67 job openings in Cedar Rapids schools for paraeducators.

Betting an average of $9.6 million a day on sports, Iowa gamblers and sportsbooks operators were giving thanks for legalized sports betting in November, posting yet another monthly record with wagering topping $287 million and revenue for the rapidly growing industry approaching $20 million, state data shows.

Last month’s continued betting frenzy on professional and college sports — an activity that became legal in Iowa in August 2019 — pushed the wagering handle above $975 million for the current fiscal year that began July 1 and put Iowa within reach of $2 billion in betting for the calendar year if there’s another strong showing in December, financial reports issued by the state Racing and Gaming Commission indicate.

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