Iowa, Cedar Rapids | featured news

The following is a roundup of Iowa news from the past seven days.

More than 23,000 additional Iowans were fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as of Saturday morning’s new totals.

JOHNSTON — Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley on Friday said shifting funding for mental health care services from local property taxes to the state’s general fund is more complicated than just the funding mechanism.

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids woman was convicted Friday of kidnapping and repeatedly beating a 15-year-old girl, who endured what a doctor described at “torture” for more than nine months in 2019.

IOWA CITY — University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld will forfeit more than $2 million by retiring before his contract expires in 2023, a Board of Regents spokesman confirmed Friday.

IOWA CITY — The Iowa City Community School District is continuing to prioritize coronavirus mitigation and students’ learning loss in its budget next year.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Gov. Kim Reynolds has appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Lightfoot as a judge in the 6th Judicial District.Lightfoot, 40, fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Judge Patrick Grady last year after 25 years on the court.

The Ely Fire Department and other Iowa fire and emergency service crews will hold a procession through Ely Saturday to honor Robert McFarland, a lieutenant with the volunteer fire department who was killed at his job as a correctional officer Tuesday

DAVENPORT — A Coralville man has been sentenced to almost six years in federal prison for robbing a Coralville bank last March. U.S. District Chief Judge John Jarvey on Thursday sentenced Aquinas L. Jackson Sr., 60, to 70 months in prison on one count of bank robbery.

URBANDALE — Ambitious Republicans are starting to make moves in Iowa, long a proving ground for future presidents. Their first step is finding out whether activists here have gotten over the last one.