There aren’t many fruit trees native to Iowa, and as corn and soybean replaced native plants throughout the state, even fewer remained in the wild. But the pawpaw tree is making a comeback. Pawpaw trees are small with large, tapered leaves. It’s part of the custard-apple family, and its yellow-green, potato-shaped fruit tastes like a […]
Adria Carpenter
Posted inCommunity/News
Photo Gallery: Pullman, The Webster among the winners at Top Chef: Downtown Iowa City 2022
Top Chef: Downtown Iowa City returned Monday night as 26 local restaurants competed for Best Entrée, Best Dessert and Best Mixology. The event was back in-person after last year’s at-home experience, and tickets were completely sold out. The Iowa City Downtown District donated a portion of the proceeds to Strengthen – Grow – Evolve, a […]
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Once Iowa storm chasers hunt down a supercell, there’s no turning back
As soon as Mark De Bruin had a car and a license, he was chasing storms. “Since I was a little kid, I would always go out on the porch and watch whatever storm came by my house, and I always just found them so fascinating,” said De Bruin, a junior meteorology major at Iowa […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The Iowa City Public Library wants to know what the heck you experienced during the pandemic
For Candice Smith, the pandemic blurred the last few years. “It has wiped my sense of time from my brain,” she said. The pandemic was another heavy stone tied to the heels of an already terrible year. Smith was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer on April Fool’s Day in 2019. At the same time, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
CommUnity is expanding its fleet of crisis responders, providing an alternative to 911 for locals in mental health crises
CommUnity’s Mobile Crisis Outreach program is getting a new fleet of eight vehicles, as well as three full-time counselors, thanks to a nearly $1 million grant from Iowa City. The addition of staff and vehicles will shorten response times in the area. Since 2015, the mobile crisis program has dispatched mental health counselors all across […]
Posted inCommunity/News
CCAN’s mobile closet needs volunteer drivers to get back on the road
After three months of service, the Corridor Community Action Network‘s (CCAN) free mobile closet has hit a roadblock, namely a lack of drivers. Since its initial launch in November, the Clothing Cruise has provided winter, professional and school clothes to over 190 people in the area, said CCAN Director Mandi Nichols. While demand for the […]
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See that yellow box? It could save your life.
Most people are familiar with some of the signs of heart disease — chest pains, dizziness, shortness of breath — but sudden cardiac arrests can occur without any warning signs, and a person’s chances of survival decreases 7 to 10 percent with every minute that passes before they get help. To help reduce fatalities and […]
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After its first year providing crisis services, the GuideLink Center assesses its accomplishments and obstacles
During its first year, the GuideLink Center, a facility that provides care for mental health and substance use disorders, has helped over 1,000 people, said Executive Director Abbey Ferenzi. The center offers 24/7 services, including rapid assessment, triage and crisis stabilization, medically monitored withdrawal and a sobering unit. “GuideLink Center was designed to fill the […]
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Tomato mint and Tuscan tomato soup face off in DVIP’s 25th Souper Bowl
This year’s Super Bowl, pitting the Los Angeles Rams against the Cincinnati Bengals, will come down to field goals and who has the best kicker, according to Alta Medea-Peters, director of community engagement for the Domestic Violence Intervention Program (DVIP). Or at least, that’s her gut feeling. “I think the Bengals are going to win. […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Anaïs Mitchell and Bonny Light Horseman kick off tour in Iowa City
After performing in the Iowa Arts Festival in 2017, singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell is back in Iowa City, kicking off her tour with Bonny Light Horseman at the Englert Theatre. Her recently released self-titled album, the first after a decade of work on the Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown, is a quiet, intimate return to a familiar […]
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UI’s LGBTQ Clinic, a ‘haven’ for trans and nonbinary patients, marks 10 years of breaking down barriers
When Dr. Nicole Nisly met her first transgender patient, she didn’t know what to say. It’s common among healthcare providers. What name should I use? How should I refer to them? Should I ask? Her patient was a trans woman who had transitioned 10 years prior, and Nisly could feel the tension in the air. […]
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Iowa City’s new electric buses quietly creating a ‘paradigm shift’ in public transit
They’re symmetric and kinetic. They’re also electric. Four new electric buses are now rolling through Iowa City streets. “Transit in Iowa City has been here since 1971, and this is the first paradigm shift in vehicle technology that there has been, so we are on nerdy levels excited about it,” said Transportation Director Darian Nagle-Gamm. […]
