Gazette Daily News Podcast, July 19

It will be another warm one Tuesday, but at least there will be a breeze. According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny, with a high near 93 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. It will be breezy, with a south wind of 5 to 10 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Tuesday night it will be mostly clear, with a low of around 70 degrees.

Iconic Cedar Rapids arts organization CSPS will experience another leadership shake-up when its interim executive director leaves at the end of this month.

Jim Miller, who has served as the interim leader since January, will leave July 31. He stepped in after the departure of Taylor Bergen — the first leader of the organization after the departure of the group’s founders.

The departure comes as the group grapples with financial struggles and it awaits the IRS’ reinstatement of its tax-exempt status.

Leadership changes and COVID-19 disruptions already had dealt the group a blow as leaders worked to pay off more than $100,000 in debt. Then the IRS last July revoked the organization’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity status after it failed to file tax returns for three consecutive years — 2018, 2019 and 2020. That happened under previous CSPS staff and board members.

Dr. Robert Kruse, a director from the MercyOne system in Des Moines, is Iowa’s new state medical director, the state announced Monday.

The announcement came from the newly formed Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, which combines the previous state public health and human services departments into one agency. Kruse has been working as MercyOne’s medical director of occupational health.

Kruse replaces Dr. Caitlin Pedati, who was the previous state medical director and state epidemiologist. Pedati, who was one of the key figures in the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, left her state position this past fall.

Iowa public school districts can apply for federal funding to replace diesel school buses with zero-emission and low-emission models, State Auditor Rob Sand told reporters on Monday.

The funding, made available through the bipartisan federal infrastructure law passed in 2021, will give grants to districts looking to swap old buses with more energy-efficient models. A district could replace up to 25 buses with the funds.

The new buses replacing the old ones must be battery powered or run on compressed natural gas or propane, which emit less greenhouse gasses than diesel. They also have to be model year 2021 or newer and have a gross weight rating over 10,001 pounds.