Gazette Daily News Podcast, December 1

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This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Wednesday, December 1.

A light rain will end early Wednesday morning, leading to a partly cloudy and warm day to start off our December. According to a forecast from the National Weather Service, there will be a slight chance for rain before 7 a.m. in the Cedar Rapids area. Then it will be mostly cloudy through morning, before becoming sunny, with a high of 60 degrees. The low will settle in around 44 degrees Wednesday night.

Cedar Rapids has itself a new mayor.

Tiffany O’Donnell defeated Amara Andrews Tuesday night in a runoff election, emerging with 68 percent of the ballots cast, or 13,479 votes. O’Donnell also had the most votes on election night weeks earlier, but did not secure enough votes to win outright, leading to the runoff.

O’Donnell campaigned on finishing derecho cleanup, fixing city streets and accelerating flood recovery on both sides of the Cedar River. She also has centered leaning on the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem for the recruitment and retention of workers and businesses, as well as creating a more vibrant urban center surrounded by unique neighborhoods.

Currently the chief executive officer of the Women Lead Change organization, O’Donnell is likely a familiar face for many in Cedar Rapids, as she previously was a news anchor for CBS2/FOX 28.

The Iowa City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved the first consideration of the latest iteration for a senior living facility near Hickory Hill Park.

The vote brings the project two votes away from approval after suffering multiple delays and defeats after resistance from neighbors and fans of the park.

Council member John Thomas, who did not support the previous plan when it was before council, said “designing with nature”in mind was achieved and the updated proposal is a “huge win for Iowa City” in the long term.

The updated proposal for rezoning the 48.75-acre plot northeast of the park is scaled back from previous plans, and devotes nearly three times more land to the city park.

Hickory Trail Estates, a senior living facility, would be built on 8.85 acres at the southeast corner of the plot. The facility would have 120 continuing care retirement community units with a total of 134 beds.

To prove that there is a silver lining for every cloud, the rise of a new COVID-19 omicron variant and a subsequent economic slowdown might just mean lower gas prices.

The drop in oil prices, triggered by fears that the new variant will throttle economic activity around the globe over the coming months, could shave 20 to 25 cents a gallon off the current $3.34 per-gallon average price of unleaded regular, according to AAA spokesman, Mark Jenkins.

Jenkins told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that consumers shouldn’t expect any big drops right away.

“Gas prices normally rise like a rocket and fall like a feather,” Jenkins said. “So it could take a couple of weeks before prices at the pump fully reflect the downturn in the futures market.”

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