Gazette Daily News Podcast, March 1

The first day of March will feel like spring is coming soon, but we'll see what happens. According to the National Weather Service the day will start mostly cloudy in the Cedar Rapids area, before becoming gradually sunnier. The high is predicted to be near 53 degrees with a low of around 30 degrees. It could be a bit breezy, with the wind increasing during the day, but wind gusts will not exceed 25 mph.

Two women were found dead Tuesday morning after deputies responded to reports of a shooting at a home on Jordans Grove Road, west of Springville, according to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were called at 9:28 a.m. to the house at 2561 Jordans Grove Rd., where they found two adult women dead from gunshot wounds. A witness was interviewed at the scene, and the Sheriffs Office said “there is no danger to the public.”

The Sheriff’s Office did not say what led to the shooting and did not announce that any arrests had been made in relation to it.

The names of the deceased have not been released yet, pending notification of family. Both bodies have been transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny for autopsies.

Fifty years after Iowa began collecting and analyzing data on residents diagnosed with cancer through its Iowa Cancer Registry, statistics reveal Iowa has the second-highest cancer incidence rate in the nation and is the only state with a rising rate of cancer.

Kentucky has the highest cancer rate, lining up with its high smoking rate, while Iowa has a high rate of just about every major cancer type across the board.

As the Iowa Cancer Registry celebrates its 50th anniversary, the 2023 report notes the spike in cases is tied, in part, to Iowa’s aging population, “as advancing age is the leading risk factor for cancer.”

The rise in cases also ties to Iowa’s larger population — growing from 2.9 million in 1973 to 3.2 this year — and the improvement and corresponding increase in cancer detection among Iowans.The study also notes body mass index, inadequate physical activity, binge drinking and smoking as risk factors.

The former Hawkeye football players who in 2020 sued the University of Iowa athletics operation for racial discrimination and harassment have dropped their claims against head coach Kirk Ferentz, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, Athletic Director Gary Barta and former strength coach Chris Doyle.

Those dismissals leave the university and the state Board of Regents as the only defendants in the federal case, which last week also dropped claims against linebackers coach Seth Wallace.

The case had been set for a jury trial in May 2023, but a U.S. District Court judge earlier this month postponed a pretrial conference and trial until further notice “in light of pending motions in this case.”

The former players — Akrum Wadley, Jonathan Parker, Marcel Joly, Aaron Mends, Darian Cooper, Brandon Simon, Javon Foy and several others later removed from the lawsuit — sued the Hawkeye football program and its coaches in November 2020 following outcry from former players on social media and years of internal and external investigations into accusations of discrimination.