CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Iowans took to the streets to demand changes in gun laws in the wake of a number of recent mass shootings. More than 200 people gathered at Greene Square in downtown Cedar Rapids to listen to speakers and urge elected officials to do more than offer their thoughts and prayers after […]
Kolach Festival making comeback in Cedar...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Like many events that were put on hold for the pandemic, the St. Ludmila’s Kolach Festival plans a return for 2022. Volunteers bake thousands of the popular fruit-filled Czech pastries for the festival, scheduled this year from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 11, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. […]
Photos: First Pride Parade in Cedar Rapi...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A parade that advocates tried for years to offer in Cedar Rapids finally came to fruition. More than 30 entries participated in the inaugural Pride Parade on Saturday, June 4, 2022, with an estimated 3,000 spectators lining Third Street in southeast Cedar Rapids through New Bohemia, after the threat of rain […]
Memorial Day 2022 marked in Iowa
During Memorial Day services across the state, Iowans joined the rest of the nation in honoring service men and women killed during wartime and other loved ones who have died. In Cedar Rapids, events on Monday, May 30, 2022, included a service and free tours of exhibitions at the Veterans Memorial Building downtown, and an […]
Photos: Downtown Farmers Market 2022 ope...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — After resorting to a drive-through market in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a shortened season last year, the 2022 Downtown Farmers Market kicked off May 28 with crowds of customers and picture-perfect weather. Organizers estimated 15,000 people would attend the opening day of the market, featuring more than 150 […]
Moving on: Cedar Rapids restaurant reloc...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — In the five years since opening her dream restaurant at the edge of downtown Cedar Rapids, Jess Johnson has endured the pandemic, Iowa’s hurricane-strength derecho and almost a year of road closures that continue to nearly envelop her business. Even as her restaurant, Runt’s Munchies, has managed to survive, Johnson decided […]
CR City Council allows Country Club prop...
UPDATE June 14, 2022 — Ignoring concerns raised by two residents at the June 14 Cedar Rapids City Council meeting, as well as 117 petition signatures and letters written in opposition to the project, the five council members who did not recuse themselves voted unanimously in favor of both the Country Club’s rezoning and to […]
Why lilacs in Iowa turned a whiter shade...
Numerous Iowa gardeners have noticed a change in the color of their lilacs this spring. Normally purple lilacs, to quote Procol Harum, turned a whiter shade of pale. The perfumed blossoms, a springtime favorite, still carried their fragrant scent, but didn’t look as colorful as in previous years. Linn County Master Gardeners covering the “hortline” […]
Plant sale has connection to history
A plant sale in Iowa City, set for this Friday, May 20, has a connection to the past. P.E.O. Chapter HI will offer a variety of plants at its Second Annual Sale from 1-4 p.m. at 500 St. Thomas Ct., just off Rochester Avenue in Iowa City. The P.E.O. recently received plants with a special […]
Finding morels and photos of Houby Days ...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The line to buy morel mushrooms stretched a half-block to Sykora Bakery when the sponge-like delicacies went on sale the Saturday morning of Houby Days. Organizers were scrambling to bring in more morels after 120 pounds of the popular item sold out, and hoped to have the mushrooms for sale again […]