Gazette Daily News Podcast: Tuesday, February 6, 2024

– Bill would add lawmakers to Iowa Board of Regents

– New owners look to transform former GoDaddy building

– First ‘voice writers’ help address Iowa’s court reporter shortage

Episode Transcript

You are listening to The Gazette’s Daily News Podcast on Tuesday, February 6. This podcast gives quick bites from the latest headlines coming out of The Gazette newsroom. I’m Bailey Cichon.

Coming up, a new bill would add lawmakers to the Iowa Board of Regents and alter how university presidents are hired

And later, a transformation is coming to the former GoDaddy building in Hiawatha

Plus, voice writers hope to alleviate the court reporter shortage

Monday, lawmakers introduced a bill that would add two non-voting members of the Iowa Legislature to the Board of Regents. According to House File 2327, one of the two new regents would be designated by the Senate majority leader. The other would be designated by the speaker of the House.

Also included in the bill is a change to how the Board of Regents hires university presidents. Right now, search committees made up of campus constituents recommend finalists to the Board of Regents. The board meets in a closed session to decide who is hired. The bill would require the use of a presidential selection committee made up of a subset of regents to recommend finalists to the board. The committee would be allowed to contract with and pay any person quote “engaged in the business of placing highly qualified job candidates in leadership positions” end quote. Plus, the bill would make the names of finalists private. Previously, this information has been made public.

House File 2327 also would cap tuition rate increases at three percent for bachelor’s degrees. The bill also imposes new rules relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This would turn DEI recommendations the full Board of Regents issued University of Iowa, Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa this fall into law.

This includes:

Barring the universities from hiring any new administrators without board approval

Directing them to eliminate any DEI functions not necessary for federal or state laws or accreditation

Requiring the universities update promotional information and websites to clarify that DEI or multicultural offices quote “support success broadly” end quote

Barring them from compelling anyone on campus to submit a DEI statement, disclose pronouns or be evaluated based on participation in DEI initiatives

Mandating each university develop an employee policy about the separation of personal political advocacy from his or her job duties

And requiring the universities to adopt policies and procedures aimed at recruiting more intellectually- and philosophically-diverse faculty and staff

Other bills relating to regent structure and the board’s powers have been proposed so far this session. For a closer look at House File 2327 and other proposals, read the full story at The Gazette dot com. Find the link in this episode’s description.

Next, the former GoDaddy building in Hiawatha has new owners. They’re looking to transform the 74,000-square-foot space into a Hiawatha destination. KKR, Silver Lake Partners and Technology closed the sale of the GoDaddy building, located at 1 Parsons Dr., to NGD LLC on Dec. 28.

The sales price was not disclosed but the building was initially listed at $8.43 million in 2022. In 2023, the price was reduced to $7.025 million.

Now, the new owners are looking to redevelop the property to fit with Hiawatha’s Robins Road Corridor plan. One of NGD’s partners, 68-year-old Doug Sevey told The Gazette that he and his partners see opportunity for a short-stay, “tower” hotel and restaurant. What’s next? According to Sevey, discussions with hotel chains, franchise-type restaurant chains and breweries. Sevey said the goal is to add value to Hiawatha.

Next, ‘voice writers’ are helping fill a critical shortage of court reporters. Voice writers speak into mask-enclosed microphones instead of typing a record on steno machines. While voice writing isn’t a new profession, it is new to Iowa courts.

In November, the Iowa Supreme Court expanded the definition of “certified shorthand reporters” to include “certified verbatim reporters”. The court system hopes this change will help fill the 45 court reporter vacancies across the state.

On Jan. 2, Crystal Beaman of Palo started as the first voice writer in the state.

Beaman works in the 6th Judicial District, which includes Linn and Johnson counties. Beaman told The Gazette, quote “It’s daunting to be the first one in Iowa but I’m excited about this opportunity. It’s been hard knowing your skills are in demand because of the court reporter shortage, but not being able to work in your state’s court system.” end quote.

Beaman was nationally certified in 2021 after graduating from the International Realtime Court Reporter Institute’s online program.

As always, you can find a link to each of the stories featured in today’s episode in this episode’s description or at the gazette dot com.

Finally, let’s take a look at today’s weather in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Today will be cloudy with highs reaching 47 degrees. Expect lows to drop to 28 degrees tonight. Wednesday will be sunny and temperatures will climb to 50 degrees. Lows that night will reach 35 degrees.

The Iowa Ideas In-Depth Week on Homelessness kicks off on February 12th. Participate in daily virtual sessions over the lunch hour on homelessness, resources and long-term solutions in Iowa. Register for free at Iowa Ideas dot com.

Thank you for listening to The Gazette’s Daily News Podcast. Stay up to date with the latest news from Eastern Iowa at the gazette dot com. I’m Bailey Cichon.

Comments: bailey.cichon@thegazette.com