Iowa, Cedar Rapids | featured news

CEDAR RAPIDS — Bret Nilles of Cedar Rapids has been elected to a fifth term as chairman of the Linn County Democratic Party.Nilles and other members of the county organization’s executive committee were elected at its biennial meeting following the 2021 off-year caucuses March 24.

DES MOINES — After contentious floor fights over a bill Democrats charged was intended to suppress voting and Republicans framed as protecting election integrity, an Iowa House committee chairman believes he can get bipartisan support for a measure that might modify some of those changes.

IOWA CITY — Steep project costs, lack of collaboration, insufficient planning, inefficiencies and potential harm to community health care providers are among the reasons a state council in February denied University of Iowa Health Care a certifi

The market for higher-end coffee just can’t catch a break.The world already was set for a shortfall of the arabica beans used in espressos and lattes this year because of a drought in Brazil, the biggest producer. Then shipping snags started wreaking havoc on supplies. Now, torrential rains are threatening crops in Colombia, the second-biggest grower.

DES MOINES — Majority Senate Republicans advanced bills Tuesday to expand Iowa’s system of charter schools and to ban stereotyping in diversity training in schools, colleges and beyond as legislators worked to keep alive their pet issues with a Friday funnel deadline looming.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Deputies in Linn County had to chase down a garbage truck Monday after it rear-ended a vehicle and kept driving, the sheriff’s office said.

IOWA CITY — A range of graduate programs across Iowa’s public universities again have earned spots on the esteemed U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate School rankings — with some ticking up their respective lists and others falling amid unparalleled circumstances facing higher education.

California-based paint company ColorCoat will expand its footprint into Cedar Rapids, adding 40 jobs and investing $400,000 in Cedar Rapids, according to a news release from GLD Commercial Real Estate.The company leased 20,000 square feet of space at 551 60th Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids, which will take up about half of a facility built in 2019, according to records from the Cedar Rapids City Assessor’s Office.

Iowans with an underlying medical condition can now use the state’s vaccine navigator services to schedule a COVID-19 shot through the 211 hotline.

AMES, Iowa — Two Iowa State University students who died when their school crew boat capsized on a lake were residents of Washington, D.C., and Illinois, authorities announced Tuesday.