The Cedar Rapids Community School District announced Tuesday it will be keeping its mask mandate in place through the end of the school year. This is after receiving guidance from Linn County Public Health and reviewing the CDC’s recommendations for schools. In an email, Superintendent Noreen Bush says the mandate will remain in place since there are only 13 days left in the school year and most of the students are not vaccinated.
During Monday’s meeting, the Cedar Falls City Council voted to allow the current mask mandate resolution to expire on Wednesday night at 11:59 p.m. The mandate was originally passed on September 8, 2020. Officials still urge the public to exercise caution regarding COVID-19.
A bipartisan effort including U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa to overhaul the military’s handling of sexual assaults is gaining momentum. The bill aims to move prosecution decisions regarding serious crimes in the military to independent military prosecutors. Sen. Ernst will join us live in the 9 o’clock hour of KXEL Live & Local today.
The executive director of the NewBo City Market in Cedar Rapids will step down on June 26. Scott Kruger made the announcement in an email to community members Monday. Kruger had been executive director of the public market and small business incubator since 2016, during which time NewBo City Market revenue doubled and provided opportunities to business owners from underrepresented backgrounds. Kruger said he cannot announce his new position yet, but said he will remain in the community.
Authorities say an evacuation order that was issued for part of a northwest Iowa town following a fiery weekend train derailment has been lifted. About 47 cars derailed Sunday afternoon near Sibley, including several that were carrying hazardous materials. The resulting fire was still smoldering Tuesday morning. No injuries were reported. Officials said 80 to 100 people in the town of about 3,000 were evacuated after the derailment, until Monday evening. Union Pacific says the cause of the derailment is under investigation.
Newly released records show the state of Iowa granted an early release from prison to a repeat offender just months before he is accused of kidnapping and killing a 10-year-old girl. The Iowa Board of Parole granted Henry Dinkins parole from a Davenport minimum-security facility in March 2020. The board determined he was “able and willing to fulfill the obligations of a law abiding citizen.” A parole order signed by the board chair says “there is a reasonable probability” that Dinkins can be released without harming the community. Less than four months after his release, officials say Dinkins kidnapped Breasia Terrell from a Davenport apartment complex, shot her to death and hid her body in rural eastern Iowa.
A jury has been selected in the first-degree murder trial of the farm laborer charged with killing a University of Iowa student while she was out running in July 2018. Cristhian Bahena Rivera is accused in the death of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts. Opening statements are scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Scott County Courthouse. The trial is expected to last through next week. A jury of eight men and seven women was selected from a pool of 183 prospective jurors, and allows the trial to continue should up to three jurors have to leave service during the trial.
The city of Dubuque will pay more than $1.8 million to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit brought by a former police captain who accused the city and police chief of fostering a culture of sexism in the department. The city does not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement, which goes to Abby Simon and her lawyers. Simon said in her lawsuit that she was passed over for promotion to captain in both 2016 and 2017, despite having received better test and interview scores than the men who were promoted. Simon was ultimately promoted to captain in 2018 after filing a complaint, but said she faced hostility from fellow officers and Chief Mark Dalsing after her promotion.
Vaccinated people are no longer required to wear masks in county buildings, the Black Hawk County supervisors decided unanimously Tuesday. The change to the mask policy does not explicitly outline requirements for vaccinated and unvaccinated people, but instead urges people to follow the new CDC guidelines. County supervisor Chris Schwartz said the new policy is based on the “honor system”—the hope that unvaccinated people will still wear masks to protect themselves and others. It was put into effect immediately.
