Gazette Daily News Podcast, May 25

It looks like it will rain for much of the day Wednesday in the Cedar Rapids area. Although exact chances for rain will fluctuate between 40 to 80 percent for much of the day, the safe bet is to bring an umbrella if you need one. When it's not raining, it should be cloudy with a high of 70 degrees. The National Weather Service predicts rain continuing through at least Thursday night. It is looking like Friday will be sunny, however.

An 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at a Texas elementary school, killing at least 19 children and two adults. The gunman was killed by law enforcement.

Officials said Tuesday the death toll at the school in Uvalde, Texas could increase.

It is the deadliest shooting at a U.S. grade school since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, where a gunman fatally shot 20 children and six adults in December 2012. Authorities did not provide a motive for the shooter, who also shot his grandmother before the attack, but said he was a resident of Uvalde and went to high school there.

Another session of the Iowa Legislature concluded in the early morning hours Wednesday, ending a five-month assembly that will be remembered both for what lawmakers got done and what they couldn’t get across the finish line.

With Republicans dominating all portions of Iowa’s government, Iowa lawmakers changed the state’s bottle return law, banned transgender girls from playing girls sports, required gas stations provide the E15 blend of ethanol and passed a $1.9 billion state income tax cut.

Most notably Republicans were not able to agree on an initiative from Gov. Kim Reynolds that would have provided taxpayer dollars to private school tuition assistance. Despite Republican lawmakers extending the session to try to reach a compromise, rural Republicans rebelled, fearing the change would hurt school districts that are the only thing keeping many small towns going in the state.

After state lawmakers Monday swiftly proposed and passed a two-year moratorium blocking new casino licenses in Iowa — halting Cedar Rapids’ third try for a gambling facility — city officials are making a last-ditch plea to Gov. Kim Reynolds to veto the measure.

The request may go unheeded, though, as Elite Casino Resorts Chief Executive Officer Dan Kehl — a staunch opponent of a Cedar Rapids casino — through a political action committee in 2021 donated thousands of dollars to Republican leadership, including to Reynolds, in 2021.

Kehl and opponents have argued a Cedar Rapids casino would “cannibalize” the gaming properties in Riverside and Waterloo particularly, oversaturating the market and resulting in job losses, diminished amenities and less nonprofit spending.

Kehl’s company operates the casinos in Riverside and Davenport.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said Tuesday she communicated with the governor, asking her not to sign the bill arguing that the rushed nature of the moratorium’s passage sets a bad precedent for future legislation.