Iowa, Cedar Rapids | featured news

The hospitality industry and the wedding services industry have been particularly hard hit over the past year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Longbranch Hotel and Convention Center in Cedar Rapids decided to get creative on how best to serve couples wanting to get married and tap into that market.

The 2024 presidential primary and the potential candidates’ travels to Iowa have begun, even though the caucuses are more than three and a half years away.That sentence will make me weep into my pillow tonight.

Instead of debating bills to strip tenure from public universities or make campus employees report their political affiliation, Iowa lawmakers could be forging partnerships and laying infrastructure to make their state the “envy of the Midwest,” according to former University of Iowa President and Association of American Universities President Mary Sue Coleman.

Cedar Rapids and Marion are pursuing federal assistance to help pay for millions of dollars worth of tree debris cleanup in waterways as recovery from last summer’s devastating derecho continues.

AMES — One Iowa State University student died and another was missing Sunday night after members of the school’s crew club had an accident on a lake north of Ames.

IOWA CITY — Officials in Iowa City and Marion are denouncing as mean-spirited, cruel and discriminatory a bill awaiting a decision from Gov. Kim Reynolds that would strip their ability to force landlords to accept federal housing vouchers from renters.

Iowa reported that 458 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the 24-hour period ending at 11 a.m. Sunday as the seven-day rolling average of new cases in the state inched up to its highest level in over a month.Another seven COVID-19 deaths also were confirmed Sunday, one dating to January.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Small business owner Jake Brummer has exited the Cedar Rapids mayoral race days after launching his campaign.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa residents in the 515 and 319 area codes will soon have to get used to dialing all 10 digits of a phone number when making calls.The Federal Communications Commission is requiring Iowa callers to start dialing both the area code and phone number when making a call starting Oct. 24. But callers can begin using the new system on April 24.

The Gazette’s Business Notes is a compendium of the week’s promotions, new hires, certifications, added business lines and business events, among other items, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and the rest of the Corridor.