Gazette Daily News Podcast, November 9

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This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, November 9.

So we got to cheat for a few days and pretend it isn’t actually going to get colder. Tuesday is going to be the last one of those days this week. According to the National Weather Service it will be partly sunny with a high near 60 degrees Tuesday. On Tuesday night there will be a low of 40 degrees. Every day after in the forecast from this point on will get colder than the previous day before it, with a chance for rain on Wednesday and Thursday.

A 12-year-old girl died Sunday in an utility-task vehicle (UTV) crash in Buchanan County.

Around 5:20 p.m. Sunday, Buchanan County sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call of a UTV crash southeast of Winthrop.

A 12-year-old girl driving a Polaris Ranger UTV with a passenger lost control of the vehicle, which rolled over into a ditch, ejecting the driver and pinning her underneath, the sheriff’s office reported. The juvenile passenger was not injured.

The crash is under investigation. A UTV is bigger than an all-terrain vehicle and allows for two people to ride side by side.

One of the teens charged with killing University of Iowa student Malik Sheets during a party last summer will plead to lesser charges.

First Assistant Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks is asking a judge to separate trials for Marshawn L. Jeffries, 18, and Christian Emedi, 18, who are jointly charged with first-degree murder and obstruction of prosecution. Maybanks also is asking for Emedi’s trial, now set for Nov. 16, to be reset because Jeffries has accepted a plea agreement.

There are no details of the tentative plea for Jeffries in court documents.

The U.S. fully reopened to many vaccinated international travelers Monday, allowing families and friends to reunite for the first time since the coronavirus emerged and offering a boost to the travel industry decimated by the pandemic. The restrictions had closed the U.S. to millions of people for 20 months.

American citizens and permanent residents were always allowed to enter the U.S., but the travel bans grounded tourists, thwarted business travelers and often kept families far apart. Travelers must have proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test.

After more than a quarter of a century representing Iowa City, state Rep. Mary Mascher has announced she will not seek re-election in 2022.

In announcing her retirement, Mascher thanked Johnson County voters for “their love and support over the last 28 years.”

Mascher is the second Iowa City Democratic legislator to announce retirement this month. State Sen. Joe Bolkcom announced last week that he will not seek re-election to a seventh term.

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