CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — In a nod to the annual bike races held at Bever Park starting in the 1970s, children, and some adults, rode Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in the Bever Park Neighborhood Association’s bike parade. Dozens of bicyclists participated in the fourth annual bike parade, along Bever Avenue SE, in front of the […]
Why lilacs are blooming out of season in...
Typically a harbinger of spring, lilacs have made an off-season appearance in Iowa this August and September. Lilac bushes that lost their foliage over the summer have blossomed in pale purples as the season ended. Just as stress brought on by Iowa’s 2020 hurricane-strength derecho led spring-blooming trees to blossom in the fall, the fragrant […]
Czech festival coincides with 150th anni...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A popular annual festival featuring Czech food and entertainment returns to St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church as the parish celebrates its sesquicentennial. Czech Goulash Day is set for 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, on the church grounds at 1224 Fifth St. SE, Cedar Rapids. See photos from a […]
Clock tower transformation underway in C...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Work has begun to transform the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library clock tower into a Prague-style astronomical clock. A dozen hand-crafted figurines recently arrived from Slovakia to be installed in the tower, along with fully digitized clock workings from the Czech Republic. Details of one of the figurines can […]
Union Pacific’s vintage steam locomotive
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Crowds gathered along the route as Union Pacific’s “Big Boy” steam locomotive left Cedar Rapids Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, on its way to Illinois. Big Boy No. 4014 departed on its “Heartland of America Tour” Aug. 28, from Cheyenne, Wyoming, and made it to Iowa this week. The steam locomotive stopped […]
Czech immigration mural rededicated in n...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A decades-old mural depicting the Czech immigrant experience was rededicated at its new location in the Cherry Building in New Bohemia. David and Lijun Chadima, owners of the building at 329 10th Ave. SE, a 1919 former dairy equipment facility in New Bohemia that is now home to artists and local […]
Water buffalo that survived shooting in ...
The water buffalo making headlines in Iowa this week will spend the rest of his days at the Iowa Farm Sanctuary, in Oxford, Iowa. “Phill,” as the juvenile calf has been named, is not the aggressive animal he was made out to be after escaping his home near Des Moines, according to the nonprofit group, […]
Dad demands safety changes after 5-year-...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — John Thompson doesn’t know whether or not he and his wife will send their daughter back to school Tuesday, after their 5-year-old walked away from kindergarten on just her second day. Thompson’s wife texted him to say their daughter got into a car with a random stranger after leaving Pierce Elementary […]
Hot night for Market After Dark in Cedar...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — High humidity and temperatures in the 80s made this year’s Market After Dark a hot one in downtown Cedar Rapids. The heat did not deter the crowds, as thousands of people flooded the streets for the popular free event, now in its ninth year. See photos from last year’s Market After […]
Iowa Farm Sanctuary sues veterinary cent...
UPDATE Aug. 24, 2024 — The University of Missouri provided a statement, below: OXFORD, Iowa — A nonprofit that provides a safe haven for farm animals has filed a federal lawsuit against the University of Missouri Veterinary Health Center after the center euthanized sheep that volunteers had rescued. The Oxford-based Iowa Farm Sanctuary, which rescues, […]