Gazette Daily News Podcast, September 23

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This is Nathan Ford with the Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for Wednesday, Sept. 23.

It will be partly sunny today in Cedar Rapids with a high near 79, according to the National Weather Service.

Cedar Rapids city officials signaled a willingness to lobby for legislative action reclassifying marijuana possession to a lesser misdemeanor as a local Black Lives Matter group pushes for police and justice reforms. Police Chief Wayne Jerman, reporting to the City Council on the status of Advocates for Social Justice's demands, said he favors lessening the charge of marijuana possession to a simple misdemeanor instead of a serious misdemeanor. This would permit violators be issued a citation instead of being taken into custody. However, Jerman said the Iowa Legislature is responsible for determining the category and severity of drug charges. While the advocates recognize the council doesn't have the legal authority to decriminalize marijuana, their demand asks that officers write only citations for low-level offenses or let violators go completely.

The first day of testimony in Lucas Jones' appeal of his firing from the Cedar Rapids Police Department included video of a traffic stop he conducted just two days before a more infamous one that has been invoked in protests and a suit against the city. Video of that Oct. 30, 2016, traffic stop gave little clarity when shown at the hearing, but it plays a crucial role in the department's case for ousting the officer. A former patrol sergeant, Jones was fired from the force on June 18 after officials said an investigation into that traffic stop revealed Jones violated policy when he switched off his body-worn microphone. The video, which was played for the Civil Service Commission, started with muffled, difficult-to-decipher audio that abruptly cut off during the interaction. Jones can be seen reaching into his left hip pocket before the audio cuts off, leading the department to suspect he had deliberately turned it off. His microphone wasn't working two days later either, during a traffic stop of motorist Jerime Mitchell, who Jones shot and paralyzed in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 2016.

The city's long efforts to see a rebirth of the 'Banjo Block,' a centrally located downtown property that has sat mostly vacant for years, took a major step forward Tuesday when the Cedar Rapids City Council backed plans from an Indiana developer to build a five-story complex there. The council approved a term sheet for Indianapolis-based TWG Development to build a $51 million mixed-use facility on the block at Fourth Avenue and Fifth Street SE, which is adjacent to the Cedar Rapids Public Library and Greene Square. The block is dubbed 'Banjo' for Banjo Refrigeration, a business that long operated there. The approximately 200,000 square-foot project would feature 244 apartments, primarily one- and two-bedroom units; 1,176 square feet of ground-level commercial space, 147 parking stalls and amenities including a pool, fitness center, bike shop, community room and rooftop patio. Construction is expected to begin March 1 and end March 31, 2023.

Police have arrested four people in the death of a man whose body was found burning last week in rural central Iowa ditch. Steven Vogel, 31, of Grinnell, was arrested Tuesday morning in the death of Michael Williams, 44, of Grinnell, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said in a news release. Police acknowledged that the killing of Williams, who is Black, led to fears in the community that he may have been targeted because of his race. But police said Williams and Vogel were well acquainted. Williams' body was found ablaze in a ditch near Kellogg after authorities were called around 5:30 p.m. Sept. 16 about the fire. Investigators said Tuesday they believe Vogel strangled Williams on Sept. 12. Williams' body was wrapped and bound and dumped in the ditch Sept. 16, where it was set ablaze, police said. Vogel has been charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. Others arrested were Julia Cox, 55; Roy Lee Garner, 57; and Cody Johnson, 29. All are from Grinnell. Each is charged with abuse of a corpse, destruction of evidence and accessory after the fact.

As the United States surpasses 200,000 deaths due to COVID-19, Iowa added 19 people to its statewide death count Tuesday. Linn County had two of the deaths confirmed within the 24-hour period that ended at 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to data analyzed by The Gazette. The state's total number of virus deaths sits at 1,285 as of Tuesday. Iowa added 640 virus cases within the 24-hour period, bringing Iowa's total to 81,209.