The Gazette Daily News Podcast

Featured Stories: –  Iowa House lawmakers advance stiffer punishments for ‘swatting’ calls - False threats reported at multiple Eastern Iowa schools –   Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation celebrates Dolly Parton’s birthday, literacy impact with Imagination Library –  Harbor Freight Tools eyes Bed Bath Beyond building –  Excellence in the Arts nominations This episode w...

Stories featured: Iowa's Chuck Grassley hospitalized, being treated for infection Iowa lawmakers advance bill to add raw cannabis flower to medical program With Iowa losing pharmacies, lawmakers advance new rules This episode was hosted and produced by Bailey Cichon.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for January 16, 2024. According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny and cold Tuesday, with a high near one degree. Wind chill values could drop as low as -35 degrees. On Tuesday evening it will be mostly clear, with a low of around -6 degrees. Donald Trump’s popularity among Iowa Republicans was...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for January 15, 2024. It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Iowa Caucus Day. It also is very, very cold today. According to the National Weather Service it will be partly sunny with a high near -3 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. Wind chill values could be as low as -40 degrees. The one silver lining is it wil...

Welcome to the weekend! This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Saturday, January 13th and Sunday January 14th, 2024. According to the National Weather Service, we’re getting more snow and more cold. Saturday will have a 50% chance of snow, mainly after 11am with widespread blowing snow before 1pm. Otherwise it’ll be cloudy and cold, with a tem...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for January 12, 2024. According to the National Weather Service it will snow all day on Friday in the Cedar Rapids area, with a high near 31 degrees. The current NWS prediction is for 5 to 11 inches of snow by the end of Friday. It will be windy to start the day, leading to a chance of blowing snow, reduced v...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for January 11, 2024. According to the National Weather Service it will be mostly cloudy on Thursday in the Cedar Rapids area, with a high near 26 degrees. There is snow in the forecast Thursday night, but it looks like it will mostly start snowing in the early morning hours on Friday. Keep an eye on the fore...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for January 10, 2024. According to the National Weather Service it will be mostly cloudy in the Cedar Rapids area, with a high of 27 degrees. The wind will be calmer Wednesday, with a 5 to 10 mph wind that could gust as high as 20 mph.  After snowfall totals nearing a foot in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City t...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for January 9, 2024. Monday eve ning was just the first round of snow, and what's coming next could come in bunches. The National Weather Service is predicting 6 to 10 inches of accumulation Tuesday in the Cedar Rapids area. It will also be breezy, with a wind of 15 to 25 gusting as high as 40 mph, sometimes...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for January 8, 2024. According to the National Weather Service it will be cloudy on Monday in the Cedar Rapids area, with a high near 35 degrees. The low will drop down to 30 degrees later on in the evening. Monday evening will also be when heavy snowfall could arrive, so do your emergency shopping during the...

Welcome to the weekend! This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Saturday, January 6th and Sunday January 7th, 2024. According to the National Weather Service, there may be some snow from Friday night, but otherwise Saturday will be partly sunny, with a high near 37. Saturday night will have a 20 percent chance of snow and be mostly cloudy, with...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for January 5, 2024. According to the National Weather Service it will be cloudy on Friday in the Cedar Rapids area, with a high near 35 degrees. The low will drop down to 27 degrees, with a small chance of snow overnight. Perry High School was terrorized by a school shooting early Thursday. According to the...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for January 4, 2024. According to the National Weather Service it will be cloudy on Thursday in the Cedar Rapids area, with a high near 33 degrees. The sky will gradually clear during the day and the low will drop down to 22 degrees. Some more details have been revealed about the officer-involved shooting on...

This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, January 3rd, 2024. According to the National Weather Service, today will have a slight chance of freezing drizzle between 7am and 8am. Otherwise it’ll be mostly cloudy, with a high near 35 Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low around 20. Johnson County, Iowa City governments choose leaders Th...

This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024. According to the National Weather Service, today’s weather will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 35. Tonight will remain mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. Shootout with Cedar Rapids police leaves suspect dead Cedar Rapids police officers responding to reports of a drive-by...

 Welcome to the New Year. This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for January 1, 2024. According to the National Weather Service, your New Year’s Day weather in the Cedar Rapids area will be cloudy with a high near 33 degrees. We will have articles previewing the Iowa Legislative session in today’s paper and beyond. Here are a few issues I pul...

Welcome to the last weekend of 2023! This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Saturday, December 30th, and Sunday, December 31st, 2023. According to the National Weather Service, Saturday will have some patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, it’ll  be partly sunny, with a high near 40. Saturday night will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 25....

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for December 29, 2023. There will be No exciting weather happenings on your last day of the week. According to the National Weather Service it will be partly cloudy in the Cedar Rapids area with a high of around 39 degrees. An investigation has cleared a Delaware County sheriff's deputy who shot and injured...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for December 28, 2023. We may have a chance for snow again on Thursday. But, for real this time. According to the National Weather Service there will be an 80 percent chance of precipitation on Thursday in the Cedar Rapids area. Snow that falls will likely be before 5 p.m. and could total as much as a .5 inch...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for December 27, 2023. There will be a slight chance for snow for the first half of the day on Wednesday, mostly before 11 a.m. If it does arrive, it will most likely only be a dusting of snow. The high temperature in the Cedar Rapids area will be 38 degrees with cloudy skies, according to the National Weath...

Merry Christmas and Holiday Day Off For Those Who Celebrate This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for December 25, 2023. According to the National Weather Service there will be an almost certain chance for rain for much of Christmas Monday , with the chance for rain gradually dropping after 5 p.m. The wind also could be a problem with an east win...

Welcome to the weekend! This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Saturday, December 23rd, and Sunday, December 24th, 2023. According to the National Weather Service, Saturday will have a patchy drizzle before 8am with widespread fog before noon. Otherwise it’ll be a toasty high of 54. Saturday night will still see patchy fog with a low of 46. Su...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for December 22, 2023. According to the National Weather Service it will be mostly rainy on Friday in the Cedar Rapids area, with a high near 49 degrees. The rain is predicted to mostly come after 10 a.m. There also is a possibility of patchy fog in the morning, so keep an eye out for that. Two major rail cro...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for December 21, 2023. According to the National Weather Service it will be mostly cloudy on Thursday in the Cedar Rapids area , with the chance for rain increasing after 3 p.m. and heading later into Thursday evening. The high temperature will settle in at around 43 degrees. Bald eagle surveys in Iowa in 202...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for December 20, 2023. According to the National Weather Service it will be a pleasant, sunny day in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, with a high of 46 degrees.  Koch Industries will pay $3.6 billion to buy the Iowa Fertilizer Co. , one of the world’s largest modern fertilizer companies, amid surging profits f...