After canceling last year’s Czech Village Blues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival is returning on Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021. The Linn County Blues Society will hold the fourth Czech Village Blues in the green space south of the Czech Village neighborhood in Cedar Rapids, near C Street and Bowling Street SW. Gates open […]
COVID-19 hospitalizations spike as Iowa ...
A late-night posting of Iowa’s COVID-19 hospitalization data shows numbers skyrocketing just as the state’s biggest event of the year kicks off. The Iowa State Fair, which runs Aug. 12-22, 2021, has attracted more than 1 million visitors in recent years, with the exception of 2020, when it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. […]
Cedar Rapids and Swisher residents plead...
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reported a 6-month-long weapons and poaching investigation in Linn and Johnson counties has concluded. Related: Four Iowans convicted in yearlong poaching case The DNR issued the following on Aug. 10, 2021: Iowa Conservation Officers concluded a six-month-long investigation into felony weapons charges and wildlife poaching violations involving a deer […]
Delayed blooms offer surprise
Surprise lilies, also known as naked ladies and several other names, are typically incredibly consistent. If you see them in one person’s garden, like clockwork, you’ll see them all over town. This year has been an anomaly, with the first flowers spotted around July 24, 2021, but then none — at least of any noticeable […]
Derecho anniversary focuses on recovery ...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Survivors of Iowa’s devastating derecho windstorm on Aug. 10, 2020, can join together to mark recovery efforts during a community-wide event in Cedar Rapids. The nonprofit Together We Achieve is hosting a Derecho Anniversary Festival from 4-7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, at Greene Square in downtown Cedar Rapids. See photos […]
Iowa lags as U.S. hits vaccination goal ...
As of Aug. 2, 2021, the United States finally reached President Joe Biden’s goal of 70 percent of adult Americans with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. While Biden had advocated to reach that target by July 4, the milestone came nearly a month late, even as the more highly transmissible Delta variant leads […]
Market After Dark set to return to downt...
The last time Market After Dark was held, the after-hours event attracted a record 50,000 people to downtown Cedar Rapids. See photos from the last Market After Dark in 2019. Organizers announced the popular event will return this year, after a hiatus in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Market After Dark 2021 is scheduled […]
Cedar Rapids threatens derecho victim wi...
UPDATE July 20, 2021, with comments from Roy Hesemann, utilities director for the city of Cedar Rapids. By Cindy Hadish CEDAR RAPIDS – Tara Farris worked hard to turn blight into beauty after Iowa’s hurricane-strength derecho downed one of the trees in front of her house and the city removed the other. As Farris and […]
Where have all the beetles gone
As usual, my first sighting of a Japanese beetle — on June 24 this year — coincided with the ripening of my raspberries, one of their favorite foods. Iowa has coped with this voracious invasive species since it was first recorded in the state in 1994, but at least in my backyard, 2021 is proving […]
Reconstructed railroad bridge connects t...
MARION, Iowa — A bridge that once shouldered cattle cars, passenger trains and more is now taking on lighter loads as part of the CeMar Trail through Marion. Community leaders, Linn County Trails Association members, railroad buffs and others celebrated the reconstruction of the former Milwaukee Railroad bridge over Indian Creek during a ribbon-cutting ceremony […]