UPDATE Nov. 10, 2023: Mike Bisek turned 100 earlier this year, but still has not received the Purple Heart for which his friends have advocated. By Cindy Hadish/Homegrown Iowan It was 1944. U.S. Army Air Corps photographer/gunner Mike Bisek and fellow crewmates bailed out over Nazi-occupied France after their B-24 bomber was hit by enemy […]
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Tag: Cedar Rapids
Time-honored music tradition plans retur...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Tournament of Drums is set to return to Kingston Stadium on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. The competition, featuring seven Open Class drum & bugle corps from throughout the United States and Canada, begins at 7 p.m. Related: History project coincides with Tournament […]
Bridge of Lions ribbon-cutting celebrate...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Fourteen years after unprecedented flooding forever changed the historic Czech Village and New Bohemia neighborhoods, a new flood protection system was celebrated in Cedar Rapids. A ribbon-cutting Friday, July 22, 2022, on the 16th Avenue Bridge of Lions marked the completion of the $12 million roller gate system that can be […]
Monarch Fest in Cedar Rapids and Open Ga...
Nature lovers and gardeners will find plenty to do this weekend, as Monarch Fest returns to the Indian Creek Nature Center, and the Open Gardens Weekend welcomes visitors to the Iowa City area. Monarch Fest will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 9, at the nature center, 5300 Otis Rd. SE, Cedar Rapids. […]
Photos: A Midsummer Garden Art Fair
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A picture-perfect evening accompanied music, dancing and readings during a Midsummer Garden Art Fair in Ellis Park’s Shakespeare Garden. The event, on Saturday, July 2, 2022, was designed to draw attention to the hidden gem in northwest Cedar Rapids, said Barb Rhame, a member of the Wednesday Shakespeare Club in Cedar […]
Photos: 2022 Freedom Festival Parade
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — For the second year in a row, rain dampened the Freedom Festival Parade, but showers let up in time for the parade to begin. More than 60 units were registered for the parade through downtown Cedar Rapids on Saturday, June 25, 2022. This was the second-year comeback for the event, which […]
Cedar Rapids protester injured as crowds...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — One person was injured after witnesses say a truck ran into a peaceful protest as it was ending in Cedar Rapids. Hundreds of protesters had gathered June 24 near downtown Cedar Rapids after the Supreme Court announced the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that effectively legalized abortion in […]
“Economic sense” Iconic building to be r
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Plans are underway to transform a site where neighbors turned out in force against a proposed convenience store into the headquarters for Eastern Iowa Food Service and a Dunkin’ shop. The former BetterLife building, 1900 First Ave. NE, built as headquarters for the Western Fraternal Life Association in 1958, would have […]
Midsummer Garden Arts Fair planned at hi...
“I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.”― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A free event will spotlight a hidden gem in Cedar Rapids, as supporters plan to revitalize the historic Shakespeare Garden in […]
Photos: Iowans march for gun reform
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 […]