Gazette Daily News Podcast, May 17

It should be nice to kick off the day Tuesday, with a chance for showers and thunderstorms later. It will be partly sunny with a high near 75 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. The chance for rain will come after 5 p.m. with showers and potentially even thunderstorms possible. The overall precipitation chance is listed at 70 percent. The chance for rain will continue into Wednesday morning.

After just two hours of deliberation, a jury Monday found Michael Thomas Lang guilty of first-degree murder for killing Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Jim Smith during a standoff at Lang's home in 2021.

Lang, 42, was also accused of leading officers on a high speed chase prior to the standoff, injuring a police officer, and shooting at the driver of an armored vehicle. The defense did not dispute any of this occurred but attempted to work their way around the first-degree murder charge by saying he shot in self defense as officers breached his home, an argument which the judge ruled against.

Smith, who was born in Cedar Rapids, was married and was the father of two children.

There was another very different ruling of note on Monday.

A new state law that prohibits Iowa schools from requiring all students or staff to wear face masks can go into effect after a federal appeals court on Monday lifted a temporary injunction.

Two of the judges on a three-member federal appeals court lifted the injunction because they said it is no longer relevant, given the significant reduction in COVID-19 transmission in Iowa since the challenge was filed in fall 2021.

One judge dissented, writing that lower transmission rates do not solve the problem for students with special needs or health risks, who receive an unequal learning experience as a result of limiting what districts can do to protect them.

A Cedar Rapids man was arrested Monday on suspicion of assaulting a woman and her 8-year-old child by shoving and grabbing them while pointing a gun at them and threatening to kill the child.

Guadalupe Andrade, 32, is charged with several charges after police say he shoved the woman, causing her to fall and hit her head on a metal bed frame. According to the criminal complaint, he then got a firearm from the bedroom, loaded and “racked” the weapon and pointed it at the woman and her child.

While pointing the gun at the child, Andrade is seen on a video recording saying “I’m going to finish him off,” the complaint states. Andrade also is accused of grabbing the child by the shirt while holding the firearm.

He remains in the Linn County Jail under a $30,000 bail.