Gazette Daily News Podcast, January 28

Friday will feature a slight cold dip before things warm back up again for the next four days. According to a forecast from the National Weather Service it will be sunny with a high near 14 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. Wind chill values will drop as low of -10 degrees, with a light wind of 5 to 10 mph.

On Friday night it will be mostly clear, with a low of around 1 degree.

Another GO Cedar Rapids official was convicted of felony bank fraud Friday.

Former GO Cedar Rapids president and chief executive officer Aaron M. McCreight, 47 — now tourism director for Dothan, Ala. — pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of felony bank fraud for his actions tied to the newbo evolve fmusic and cultural festival in 2018. He waived his right to have a grand jury indictment.

McCreight admitted to participating along with one of the employees he oversaw, Douglas S. Hargrave, 55, former finance director of GO Cedar Rapids, to defrauding Bankers Trust. McCreight admitted that the tourism agency didn’t have enough money to pay for alcohol to be sold at the three-day event or to pay one of the headline acts, singer Kelly Clarkson.

McCreight admitted that he falsely claimed to the bank that the event’s budget was on track to turn a profit despite actually losing millions of dollars. He told the court that he did this in order to justify an expanded loan from the bank.

McCreight faces up to 30 years in federal prison, a $1 million fine and up to five years of supervised release following any prison term.

The Cedar Rapids School District may require masks again at some point.

The Cedar Rapids Community School District “anticipates” an eventual change to its decision to remove a mask requirement in schools to accommodate children with special needs or compromised health circumstances.

The district removed its mask requirement Wednesday after a federal appeals panel ruled that an earlier injunction against a state law issued by district judge was too broad. However, the ruling also stated that mask mandates are permissible if the school is attended by students whose disabilities make them more vulnerable to severe illness if they get COVID-19. This would likely apply to every urban school district in the state.

The Cedar Rapids district is working with legal counsel to determine if the mandate can be reimposed, Superintendent Noreen Bush said in a statement to staff Wednesday.

Finally, corn silos are scary places.

Cedar Rapids and Swisher firefighters rescued a man Thursday afternoon who was trapped in a corn grain silo north of Swisher.

Firefighters were called to the farm on Tharp Road SW where a man was trapped up to his chest. According to the Cedar Rapids Fire Department, the man had stepped on a cavity below the surface of the corn that gave way and sucked him downward.

Cedar Rapids and Jefferson-Monroe (Swisher) firefighters used specialized isolation panels to isolate the man and keep him from sinking further into the grain.

They removed the grain trapping the man, with help from the Cedar Rapids Public Works Department that sent large vacuum trucks to move the corn.

Firefighters cut a hole in the side of the silo to help the man get out. The man — who was not identified — was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Support for this podcast provided by New Pioneer Food Co-op. Celebrating 50 years as Eastern Iowa’s source for locally and responsibly sourced groceries with stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids; and online through Co-op Cart at newpi.coop.