Cedar Rapids, Linn County | featured news

CEDAR RAPIDS — Small business owner Jake Brummer said he will run for Cedar Rapids mayor as a “normal guy.”Brummer, 29, said he was motivated to seek office because he thinks people are unattached to their city leaders, and he takes issue with the “country club elite running our city.”

JOHNSTON — Jonathan Whitfield, a pastor at Corinthian Baptist Church in Des Moines, recalled the ice cream truck that would come to neighborhoods with all manner of sweet treats for children. He said it was especially great for families who otherwise may have had a difficult time getting to the store.

West Des Moines Valley is back on top, in terms of enrollment.
The Iowa High School Athletic Association has released the 2021-22 BEDS Documents, the file from which schools are classified for sports postseason tournaments.

IOWA CITY — The Board of Regents will appoint an interim University of Iowa president in April — reversing retiring UI President Bruce Harreld’s original plans to stay until a successor starts, and possibly longer, in hopes of avoiding interim leadership and ensuring a smooth transition.

President Biden will answer questions from the White House press corps in his first presidential news conference at 12:15 p.m. today. You can watch coverage beginning at 11:45 a.m. on this page. 
 

DES MOINES — Citing former President Barack Obama, Iowa House Republicans urged approval of legislation to allow for an expansion of charter schools as an alternative to traditional public schools, which they said will foster innovation and experimentation in classroom learning.

DES MOINES — A Senate subcommittee started work Wednesday on a massive property tax revamp that gradually would shift the cost of mental health services from Iowa’s 99 counties to the state and phase out the $152 million “backfill” to cities, counties and schools that was part of a 2013 compromise to replace local revenue lost when commercial and industrial prope

DES MOINES — House Republicans moved quickly Wednesday to advance a bill to expand support and protections for Iowa law enforcement, but Democrats objected to who wouldn’t be covered by the bill.

Iowa’s U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley on Wednesday defended an Iowa bill easing gun restrictions, while calling for “bipartisan, common-sense” progress on gun control.

DES MOINES — Senate Republicans set a $7.999 billion target for next year’s state spending, but conceded the amount likely will go higher as they negotiate funding for broadband expansion and other priorities with Gov. Kim Reynolds and majority Republicans in the House.