CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The Cedar Rapids City Council dashed any remaining hopes that residents and nature lovers held to save a Prairie Pollinator Zone from destruction. Council members unanimously passed a number of resolutions related to an agreement with multinational corporation Cargill to build a 200-car, 12-track railyard on a 28-acre property on Stewart […]
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Category: Environment
City Council to consider further agreeme...
UPDATE Monday, April 12, 2021: Cargill posted recordings of two meetings with neighbors to YouTube today. From Jan. 20, 2021: https://youtu.be/O1cKqFYhqp4 From March 31, 2021: https://youtu.be/1F5eOmrpzaA CEDAR RAPIDS — Residents of a neighborhood where Cargill plans to build an industrial railyard hold out hope for one last chance to stop the destruction of a prairie […]
DNR: Popular aquarium product sold in Io...
Authorities are asking Iowans to properly dispose of an aquarium product, which could contain an invasive species that can harm Iowa’s waterways. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has confirmed that the popular product — sold at some aquarium supply stores and pet stores in Iowa — may contain zebra mussels, a highly invasive […]
Spring forward this weekend for Daylight...
With the snow finally melted in Iowa, the past week has felt more like spring, so this weekend will be a timely switch as we “spring ahead” with our clocks to Daylight Saving Time. The change happens at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 14, 2021, the second Sunday of March. While we lose an hour of […]
How to help replant trees in derecho dev...
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 […]
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 […]