Cedar Rapids, Linn County | featured news

CEDAR RAPIDS — Students and staff will be moving out of Coolidge Elementary School this summer and into the newly named West Willow Elementary School.

The same day the Iowa Legislature this week kept alive proposals to end faculty tenure across its public universities, nearly 30 national academic associations or societies either penned statements or signed letters urging the governor and lawmakers to reject “this latest act of political posturing.”

Saying it should be “easier to vote legally and harder to cheat,” U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson voted against the campaign finance and voter access bill that passed the U.S. House this week, but she declined to weigh in on an Iowa bill that limits early voting.

IOWA CITY — Another public-private partnership is materializing at the University of Iowa — which last year tasked a private collaborative with operating its $1 billion utilities system — this time at its historic Hawk Shop and University Bookstore.

The number of Iowans hospitalized for COVID-19 dropped to 176 Friday, the first time that number has been below 180 since July 13.

Across the state, local public health departments were pivoting their COVID-19 vaccine distribution plans on Friday, an effort that likely will continue throughout the weekend after the state abruptly announced it was expanding eligibility to include Iowans with underlying medical conditions starting next week.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids high school students will get to walk across the stage for their diplomas during in-person graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2021, the district announced Friday. The ceremonies for Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington high schools will be held in the Alliant Energy PowerHouse, formerly known as the U.S. Cellular Center.

CEDAR RAPIDS — A civil trial against the city and a white police officer who shot a Black man during a 2016 traffic stop, leaving him paralyzed, remains on track to start next month in Linn County District Court.

Starting March 8, Iowans younger than 65 will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine if they have underlying medical conditions that put them at an increased risk of severe illness from the coronavirus.

MARION — The Marion Independent School District is no longer planning to adopt “Marion Mavericks” as the new team name and mascot after learning it is the name of a slave owner. The school district has been searching for a new mascot after the board voted in October 2020 to drop the Marion Indian mascot by July 31, 2021.