The Cedar Rapids School District will “reinstate a mask mandate for all staff, students, and visitors during compulsory education hours (school day) as well as our daycare environments,” Superintendent Noreen Bush said in an email to district families and staff on Tuesday. The mandate goes into effect on Wednesday. CRCSD, like other large school districts […]
COVID-19
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Iowa City Pride announces lineup for fall festival
June may be Pride Month, but October is LGBTQ+ History Month — an appropriate enough occasion for the 50th Iowa City Pride Festival, postponed 15 months due to COVID-19. Last Friday, Iowa City Pride shared the official lineup for their 2021 fest, taking place Oct. 1 and 2. Besides the shift to a fall date […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa’s ban on school mask mandates halted by federal judge
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Monday afternoon that stops the Reynolds administration from enforcing its law prohibiting Iowa school districts from creating their own face mask mandates. “Iowa’s mask mandate ban makes it dangerous for disabled or immunocompromised children to attend school, but several pediatricians opine it is dangerous for […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Systems Unlimited celebrates 50 years of helping people with disabilities live with greater independence
Terrell Baumler wants to live on his own, have a pretty girl and a blue Chevy truck. He loves the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Bulls. He has all their socks, shirts and shorts. “I got a four rec draft, Justin Fields of Ohio,” he said, before the NFL season kicked off. Terrell has come a […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘This is Iowa’: State spends millions in federal pandemic aid to promote tourism; school kids now have state’s highest percentage of new COVID cases
Despite the fact that Iowa is experiencing the highest rate of new COVID-19 cases seen since January, Gov. Kim Reynolds feels now is the right time to encourage non-Iowans to visit the state and consider moving here. And the governor is spending $3.7 million of the pandemic relief funds the state received from the federal […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Biden announces aggressive plan to fight COVID, Reynolds immediately rejects it; cases and hospitalizations continue increasing in Iowa
President Joe Biden announced a new six-part plan to “turn the corner” on the COVID-19 pandemic during a speech on Thursday evening. Before the president was even halfway through the speech, Gov. Kim Reynolds released a written statement denouncing the plan as “dangerous and unprecedented steps to insert the federal government even further into our […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Marion issues mask requirement for city buildings; all 99 counties reach high rate of COVID-19 spread, says CDC
The City of Marion announced on Wednesday it is reintroducing COVID-19 mitigation measures lifted earlier this year, in response to increased spread of the Delta variant in Iowa and Linn County. “City employees and members of the public visiting City facilities are now required to wear face coverings,” the city’s statement said. “In addition, all […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City Council hears two very different plans for how to spend federal pandemic relief funds
Both of the Iowa City Council’s two meetings on Tuesday had speakers addressing how the city should spend the $18.3 million in federal funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). During the council’s 4 p.m. work session, city manager Geoff Fruin presented a series of recommendations for what he called a “two-prong approach” […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Linn County holding six COVID-19 vaccination clinics at CR schools, will offer gift cards to people who get shots
Linn County Public Health is trying to encourage more residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by adding six one-day vaccine clinics at Cedar Rapids schools starting on Wednesday, and offering a special incentive for those get a shot. “The clinics are open to anyone age 12 and older, with parental consent required for those under […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘A very clear disability discrimination situation’: ACLU and 11 Iowa families sue over state ban on school mask mandates
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Iowa filed a lawsuit in federal court on Friday, seeking to overturn the ban on school mask mandates Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law earlier this year. The national ACLU and the Iowa affiliate were joined by Disability Rights Iowa and the Arc of Iowa, an […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Students die-in on Pentacrest, protesting the ‘perpetual state of stress’ caused by UI’s lax COVID rules
Around 50 people “died” on the Pentacrest on Thursday to protest the University of Iowa’s COVID-19 policies. The die-in protest was organized by Campaign to Organize Graduate Students (COGS), the union that represents graduate student workers at the university. Protesters laid down on the Pentacrest’s sidewalk, as COGS members drew chalk outlines of their bodies. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Reynolds says she wants to give ‘the public reliable information’ about COVID, before cutting off questions at news conference
“I believe the government’s role in a public health crisis is to provide the public reliable information, so that they can make and form their own informed decisions,” Gov. Kim Reynolds said during a news conference on Thursday. “I also believe that this approach is more effective than mandates that attempt to dictate other people’s […]
