Cedar Rapids, Linn County | featured news

NextEra Energy will host an online informational meeting at 6 p.m. today to discuss its proposed solar project for the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Palo.

Iowa Workforce Development today debuted the first in its series of podcasts on workforce topics with business leaders, workforce stakeholders and economic development officers.

MAXWELL — Sudden meat shortages last year because of the coronavirus pandemic led to millions of dollars in federal grants to help small meat processors expand so the nation could lessen its reliance on giant slaughterhouses to supply grocery stores and restaurants.

SOLON — Solon agreed in 2017 to provide city water to the 14 houses in Gallery Acres West miles away because of the development’s arsenic-plagued drinking water well.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Brent Oleson initially planned to serve only two terms when he was first elected in 2008 to the Linn County Board of Supervisors. But while advancing county conservation projects and programs, he decided to stay for a third.

The Iowa City Bike Library hasn’t been spinning its wheels during the pandemic. COVID-19 has put some classes and programming on pause, but it’s pumped up other aspects of the organization, from an increase in demand for bike loans to an increase in square footage.

Phyllis Fleming spent 45 years working in The Gazette’s newsroom, most of that in leadership positions, before retiring in 2002. It’s been 10 years since she died, and she seems a good person to write about during Women’s History Month.

DES MOINES — The latest round of federal COVID-19 relief is popular with the public, but Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said Monday she believes Republicans will be able to sell their unanimous opposition to the package once the stimulus money has come and gone.

The calendar says March 2021, but Scott and Linda Foens were thinking about November 2022 when they launched a “Draft Mike Franken for US Senate — Iowa” Facebook page Monday.

A bill to increase property taxes on private forest owners was put on hold Monday in an Iowa Senate subcommittee after speakers said it was an affront after last year’s derecho.A dozen people spoke at a public hearing on the measure and only one — a lobbyist for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation — supported it.