Iowa, Cedar Rapids | featured news

DES MOINES — In just a few days, over 1.2 million Iowans who have not already started or finished getting a COVID-19 vaccination will become eligible.The state and its local partners are ready, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday.

MUSCATINE — Former Muscatine City Administrator Gregg Mandsager is suing the city and several council members, claiming he was wrongfully terminated in December 2019.He also alleges disability discrimination and retaliatory and vindictive conduct by the mayor and city council.

More than 1.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Iowa since Dec. 14, 2020, when the first Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were administered to health care workers in the state.

IOWA CITY — Just four years after University of Iowa Health Care opened its 14-story, $392.7 million Stead Family Children’s Hospital — and after design changes and cost overruns pushed the project $122 million over budget — the hospital is asking to spend another $10 to $15 million to replace two floors of windows.

Iowa Finance Authority opened applications this week for the Iowa Rent and Utility Assistance Program, which will give $195 million of federal stimulus funding to those struggling to pay rent or utility bills.The program will cover past-due and future rent payments and past-due utility payments for eligible Iowans.

DAVENPORT — Police said Wednesday that human remains found near DeWitt earlier this month are those of Breasia Terrell.The then-10-year-old went missing from Davenport late July 9 or early July 10, leading to a massive search effort that spanned several counties. Authorities announced the development at a news conference.

The John Deere Foundation said Wednesday it will invest $200 million over the next 10 years to aid not-for-profits and initiatives focused on supporting poor farmers around the globe, as well as families and youth in its home communities, who have struggled to make ends meet and to access online learning during the pandemic.

NORTH LIBERTY — A North Liberty man has been arrested on federal charges related to accusations he hid an underage Tennessee runaway in his home.According to various federal court documents, 46-year-old Joseph D. Foster met the victim via Snapchat when she was 13. The girl told investigators Foster traveled to Tennessee twice in 2020 to spend the night with her in a hotel.

Democrat Rita Hart has withdrawn her election contest of Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District race, after months spent asking Congress to investigate U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ six-vote win.

Once envisioned as a new version of the venerable RAGBRAI, Iowa’s Ride has deflated from a weeklong bike trek across the state to a long weekend around Eldora.Organizers posted Tuesday on Facebook that the ride now is scheduled for July 16-18.