CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Freedom Festival organizers announced a new food event that will serve as a fundraiser for the popular festival in Cedar Rapids. The event, Freedom FEASTival, is set for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, May 3, on the downtown Second Avenue Bridge, more than a month before the annual festival begins […]
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Author: Cindy
Master Czech Folk Artist Marj Nejdl hono...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — For decades, Master Czech Folk Artist Marj Nejdl has volunteered her time and talents in designing Christmas ornaments, egg decorating, illustrating books, buttons and more for the Czech community in Cedar Rapids, and now, pieces of her artwork are on display. The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library held a […]
Cedar Rapids ordered to pay $22,000 for ...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Just as the Iowa Department of Natural Resources announced a consent order for the city of Cedar Rapids to pay restitution and other costs associated with dead trout in McLoud Run, another fish kill was reported in the same trout stream. The DNR was notified Jan. 25, 2024, of a fish […]
Historic Chandler Pump building enters n...
By Cindy Hadish CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Iowa’s 2020 derecho almost wiped out plans to transform the historic Chandler Pump building into supportive housing for Willis Dady Homeless Services. The top floor of the two-story building, 707 B Ave. NW, was obliterated by the hurricane-strength windstorm, leaving the rest of the 1903-built brick structure at […]
Cedar Rapids marks 175 years with time c...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — When white settlers first arrived in what is now Cedar Rapids, the Sac and Fox, Winnebago and other indigenous tribes had already long-inhabited the area along the Cedar River. Osgood Shepherd maintained he was the first settler, building a log cabin near the present-day “Tree of Five Seasons” monument, according to […]
Midwest Garden Gal to kick off Project G...
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Lisa Hinzman Howard, known as the Midwest Garden Gal, will kick off the Project GREEN Second Sunday Garden Forum on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2023. Howard will discuss GIY (Grow It Yourself): Veggies 101 during the forum from 2-4 p.m. at the Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St. Related: Midwest […]
Small deck gardening among sessions at 2...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — As Deb Walser drives through Cedar Rapids, she is struck by the multitude of new apartment buildings springing up, each adorned with small outdoor balconies or decks. Some balconies are diminutive, scarcely a foot wide and spanning the length of a sliding door. Other buildings boast more expansive decks, reaching dimensions […]
After 60 years, Iowa woman continues sea...
Every year she hopes for a Christmas miracle: the chance to meet the girl her sister gave up for adoption. This year, that baby girl would be turning 60. The woman, who does not want to be identified to protect the privacy of her sister — the girl’s mother — said a couple from All […]
Costs for new school to replace Harrison...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Touted costs-savings to replace the structurally sound and architecturally significant Harrison Elementary with a new school have already proven greatly exaggerated. The Cedar Rapids Community School District’s Master Facility Plan Oversight Committee was told at its Dec. 18, 2023, meeting that the estimated cost had grown to $33.8 million, well over […]
Despite missing stones, masonry complete...
By Cindy Hadish/Homegrown Iowan CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Finish work on stone columns and what remained of the historic stone wall at Oak Hill Cemetery became more challenging when it was discovered that none of the field stones had been saved for the project. The 120-foot-long wall, cited as a contributing historic structure in the […]