A group of activists and community members gathered on the south side of Cedar Rapids Thursday afternoon outside a nondescript building with a tiny sign: “Homeland Security.” They were protesting the detention of Asucena Natareno Ramirez, who had been detained following a routine check-in at the Cedar Rapids office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Lauren Shotwell
Lauren Shotwell is Little Village's news director. Contact her at lauren@littlevillagemag.com.
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City will likely keep City of Literature designation despite U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO
The U.S. plans to withdraw from UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, but Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature Executive Director John Kenyon said he doesn’t believe the decision will have much of an impact on the local designation or the activities of the local organization.
Posted inCommunity/News
Photos: Coralville Trader Joe’s opening draws shoppers to its tiki-themed aisles
The grocery store chain Trader Joe’s opened its much-anticipated Coralville store Friday morning to a line of shoppers eager to browse the tiki-themed aisles and bring home some of the store’s specialty items.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘Good Apples’ details the curious history of apples and challenges facing farmers
Author and Iowa City resident Susan Futrell starts out her book ‘Good Apples: Behind Every Bite’ with the auction of the oldest commercial apple orchard in Iowa: an orchard outside Fort Madison that had been in the same family for five generations, but now faced an uncertain future dependent upon the winning bidder. It’s a fitting place to start a book about the long history of apples in the United States and the uncertain future the apple industry faces in a global economy.
Posted inCommunity/News
Regents reveal secret meetings behind Bruce Harreld hire
According to the report by Ryan J. Foley, the business man was recruited in secret — with Regents flouting Iowa’s open meetings and records laws by using private email accounts and holding a series of meetings on July 30, 2015 without a board majority at the business of former Board President Bruce Rastetter — all in an attempt to get Harreld to apply for the job. Harreld applied a day after these meetings.
Posted inCommunity/News
New marathon will take runners from Cedar Rapids’ New Bo Market to Kinnick goal line in Iowa City
A newly announced marathon, Run CRANDIC, will set off from The NewBo City Market in Cedar Rapids and take runners all the way to the goal line of the University of Iowa Kinnick Stadium. The event, which will take place Sunday, April 29, has been in the works for a long time, organizers said during a Thursday morning press conference.
Posted inCommunity/News
Cathy Glasson formally kicks off gubernatorial campaign, vowing to fight for everyday Iowans
Cathy Glasson, who up until now had been running an exploratory campaign, formally announced her official candidacy Tuesday evening in Cedar Rapids, with simultaneous events in seven additional Iowa towns. The announcement kicked off a Day of Action, with volunteers striking out in those towns to knock on doors on behalf of her campaign.
Posted inCommunity/News
Author faces ‘ghosts’ of family separated by World War Two
Among the Living and the Dead: A Tale of Exile and Homecoming on the War Roads of Europe, the recently published book by University of Iowa Assistant Professor Inara Verzemnieks, explores her family’s diverging journeys as war descended on their Latvian home — resulting in trauma and loss that would reverberate through the generations.
Posted inCommunity/News
Leveling the playing field: Women gather for a reunion game to celebrate accomplishments, recognize the work that remains
A friendly softball game in Iowa City’s Happy Hollow Park on Sunday capped off a weekend of events through the Iowa City Feminist Reunion celebrating the impact Iowa City women had on local and national culture and institutions during the mid-sixties and into the eighties.
Posted inCommunity/News
Feminist Reunion brings activists back to Iowa City to celebrate their legacies
The Iowa City Feminist Reunion is set to celebrate Iowa City’s feminist movement this weekend, with a focus on the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, a time period that boasted a lively alternative press as well as the establishment of a number of institutions that Iowa City residents continue to rely on today.
Posted inCommunity/News
Protesters, Trump supporters face off outside of Trump’s Cedar Rapids rally
In the hours leading up to President Donald Trump’s Cedar Rapids rally, protesters and Trump supporters stood in the rain on separate sides of the street. One side held aloft posters and chanted — “Dump Trump” and “Love Trumps Hate.” The other side sported “Make America Great Again” hats and occasionally shouted slogans of their own, including the ever popular “USA, USA.”
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City wins $25,000 Amazon award for its Data-Driven Justice Initiative
Iowa City will receive $25,000 worth of cloud services for its Data-Driven Justice Initiative that works to keep individuals dealing with mental illness and substance abuse issues out of jail. The award is part of Amazon Web Services’ City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge.
