UPDATE March 11, 2021: The ReLeaf website has launched at https://confluence.mysocialpinpoint.com/releaf-cedar-rapids CEDAR RAPIDS — Seven months after a hurricane-strength windstorm devastated huge swaths of Iowa, the city of Cedar Rapids remains on a long road to recovery. Nearly 200 people took part Tuesday, March 9, in ReLeaf Cedar Rapids, a virtual public meeting, to learn […]
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Category: Environment
Cargill expects industrial railyard to o...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Cargill officials provided a timeline Jan. 20, 2021, for constructing their industrial railyard in a residential Cedar Rapids neighborhood. Residents of the neighborhood who were able to join the virtual meeting or dial-in during the 45-minute session on a business day, which also fell on presidential inauguration day, could offer feedback […]
Fall colors in post-derecho Iowa
Iowa’s fall foliage landscape will take on a decidedly different look in parts of the state hit by the Aug. 10 hurricane-strength derecho. Cedar Rapids, for example, lost an estimated 65 percent of its tree canopy in the storm, with winds up to 140 mph that uprooted century-old trees, twisted off treetops, bent tree trunks […]
Saving survivors: How to care for trees ...
In the course of one hour, Cedar Rapids lost half of its tree canopy in the Aug. 10, 2020, derecho, with an estimated 75 percent of street and park trees sustaining at least some form of damage from the hurricane-force straightline winds. Similar scenarios played out in neighboring Marion and other communities across the state. […]
Humanitarian crisis continues in wake of...
CEDAR RAPIDS — Pacifique Mushishi survived refugee camps in the Congo and has been living a similar existence since the Aug. 10 derecho hit Iowa with winds estimated at 140 mph. The Cedar Terrace apartment complex where he had been living in southwest Cedar Rapids was decimated in the hurricane-force storm, and while he and […]
Trump makes brief stop in storm-ravaged ...
Note: The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation created a disaster fund for derecho recovery. If you can, please donate at: www.gcrcf.org CEDAR RAPIDS — A small crowd of both Trump supporters and protesters never saw a glimpse of him Aug. 18 at the Eastern Iowa Airport. Air Force One touched down at the airport about […]
Iowa’s slow road to recovery after derec
UPDATED 6:45 p.m. Aug. 17 and Aug. 19, 2020, with National Weather Service information and Aug. 17, with a statement from congresswoman Abby Finkenauer regarding Trump’s failure to approve federal disaster declaration for individual assistance. Iowans still waiting for assistance a full week after a devastating derecho tore through the state can’t be blamed for […]
Force of Nature: photos from Iowa’s dere
(NOTE: Story/photos will be updated as electricity/Internet become available) UPDATED: 6:30 p.m. Aug. 14, with more photos; comments from Stacey Walker Dutch elm disease and invasive pests such as emerald ash borer change landscapes over time, but the Aug. 10, 2020, derecho windstorm that swept through Iowa with hurricane-force winds dramatically altered many parts of […]
“This is not the end” neighbors vow afte
CEDAR RAPIDS — Homeowners near a prairie where Cargill wants to build an industrial railyard are considering their options after a judge ruled against them. “We are extremely disappointed with Cargill’s plans to ruin this prairie to the public’s detriment and the property damage that it will inflict on surrounding neighborhoods,” Jeremiah Kenny, president of […]
One last hurrah? Fate of Iowa prairie po...
CEDAR RAPIDS — Acres of prairie transform in summer to a sea of lavender and gold in southeast Cedar Rapids. Years in the making, the Prairie Pollinator Zone, at Stewart Road and Otis Avenue SE, provides a tranquil sanctuary in the city for butterflies, bees and other pollinators that dance flower-to-flower, with milkweed — the […]