Gazette Daily News Podcast, March 29

It looks like rain will return on Tuesday and into Wednesday. According to the National Weather Service there will be a slight chance of rain Tuesday during the day, with the chance ramping way up to 80 percent Tuesday night. Until then it will be cloudy with a high near 45 degrees. It will also be breezy, with a wind of 15 to 20 mph gusting as high as 40 mph. Thankfully the low temperature will not get anywhere close to freezing, in fact warm air will arrive Tuesday night keeping the temperature between 40 and 50 degrees.

Higher than projected gambling revenue will make it possible for the Legislature to bump up the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund, or RIIF, by $87 million in the coming year, but gambling fortunes won’t favor Iowa forever.

The House Transportation, Infrastructure and Capital Appropriations subcommittee on Monday voted 7-2 to send a proposed RIIF budget to the full committee. It likely will be considered Tuesday.

Some of the additional funding proposed in fiscal 2023 is due to concerns that Iowa gambling revenue may dip or nose dive as Nebraska casinos come online, said Rep. Jacob Bossman, R-Sioux City. Some projects are being accelerated, and others are being paid for sooner than previously scheduled.

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission has received studies projecting Iowa gaming revenue could fall somewhere between $183 million and $256 million a year. One study said Council Bluffs casinos indicated that as much as 80 percent their revenue is from Nebraska residents.

A civilian rescued a dog from a house fire Monday morning, according to a news release from the Cedar Rapids Fire Department.

The Cedar Rapids Fire Department responded to the fire in the 3600 block of Northwood Drive NE a little after 11 a.m., according to a news release from the agency.

Only one person was in the house at the time of the fire, and a civilian had already ensured that person was safe when emergency responders arrived. The civilian had also entered the house to save a dog that was barking in distress. If my reading of the fire department’s press release is correct, they give the unnamed civilian due credit for their heroism, but they would prefer if people did not run back into burning buildings.

While firefighters were working to extinguish the fire that caused serious damage to the home, one firefighter was hit by ceiling materials that gave way and collapsed on him. He was evaluated on-site and returned to work after it was determined he had not suffered serious injuries.

You may have already noticed this where you are, but Hy-Vee will be offering fewer pickup locations for online orders as of this week.

Hy-Vee announced the change while also acknowledging there was a cut 121 corporate-level positions in the past week, with 102 of those employees being offered retail positions at its stores.

Hy-Vee CEO Randy Edeker, in a video message to employees, said 88 percent of Aisles Online business has been occurring at 117 of its stores.

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