Gazette Daily News Podcast, March 14

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, March 14.

We’ll get a bit more of the extra sun portion of daylight saving time on Tuesday. According to the National Weather Service it is predicted to be sunny, with a high near 37 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. On Tuesday night it will be partly cloudy, with a low of around 28 degrees.

Former President Donald Trump touted trade policies he argues have been a boon for America’s farmers, and attacked Democratic President Joe Biden for a “non-stop war on American agriculture” in a speech Monday in Iowa.

Trump, 76, stopped at the Adler Theatre in Davenport where he delivered what was billed as an education policy speech in his first visit to the Hawkeye state since announcing his third bid for the presidency in November. Instead, Trump touched more broadly on his accomplishments as president, including trade policies and agriculture, in the first half of his speech.

He criticized the Biden administration over the new Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule that will expand protections for the nation’s waters through updates to the Clean Water Act. Trump advanced long-held Republican arguments that the regulations are an environmental overreach and a burden to business.

Trump, too, touted his support of ethanol, telling the crowd they’re “still seeing the benefits” of his trade and agriculture policies, “but it’s slowly slipping away” under the Biden administration

Trump also criticized his rivals, comparing conservative darling Ron DeSantis to Mitt Romney, and made many bold claims, such as saying that he is the only candidate who can promise to prevent World War 3.

A Cedar Rapids man was charged Monday with voluntary manslaughter in the Oct. 23 fatal shooting outside an Iowa City bar.

19-year-old Antonio Steven Scotton,also faces a charge of intimidation with a dangerous weapon in the shooting death of Waymond Thomas, 36, of Iowa City.

Thomas was shot outside the H-Bar, 220 S. Van Buren St., around 2 a.m. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Scotton was arrested in November and charged with willful injury and participating in a riot in connection with a large fight inside the bar about 10 minutes before the shooting. Witnesses identified Scotton as the man who punched and kicked a woman who’d fallen and was knocked unconscious, a criminal complaint said.

The new charges allege Scotton and another person were walking away from the H-Bar when Thomas and a friend confronted them about the earlier assault, according to the new criminal complaint. Thomas punched Scotton, and a fight broke out between the four individuals.

During the fight, Thomas’ friend dropped a gun. Scotton picked it up and began firing.

As a result of the shooting and other incidents at the bar, Iowa City filed a nuisance abatement petition against the H-Bar in an effort to restrict its hours. The city and the bar’s owners eventually reached an agreement that it set its closing time at 2 a.m.