After six years selling everything from jigsaw puzzles to rockets and radio-controlled planes, HobbyTown in Cedar Rapids is going out of business. In a news release, owners Niels and Musette Christensen cited the increasing cost of rent and inflation as reasons why they were closing. The couple opened the store in December 2016, in the […]
Eastern Iowa Community/News
Posted inEastern Iowa
Vandals spray-paint racist and anti-Semitic graffiti in Marion
A four-block stretch of 10th Street in Marion was vandalized with racist and anti-Semitic graffiti, including swastikas, during the early hours of Thursday morning. “At least one vehicle was spray-painted, as were city streets, city sidewalks, light posts, and some businesses and homes between the 700 block and the 1100 block of 10th Street right […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Section of S Gilbert Street will be closed to traffic until mid-August
A short but busy section of S Gilbert Street will be closed to traffic for almost a month starting next week to “facilitate the reconstruction of the CRANDIC railroad crossing and street pavement repair,” the Iowa City Public Works Department said in a statement. Traffic in both directions along the street will be blocked between […]
Posted inCommunity/News
First case of monkeypox confirmed in Johnson County
The Johnson County Public Health Department (JCPH) announced the first confirmed case of monkeypox in Johnson County on Tuesday evening. It is the fifth confirmed case of the virus in Iowa. JCPH is working with the Iowa Department of Public Health “to investigate the circumstances of exposure and inform close contacts,” JCPH said in a […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Olivet Neighborhood Mission is collecting school supplies to help Cedar Rapids families in need
The Olivet Neighborhood Mission (ONM) has begun its annual drive to collect school supplies to donate to Cedar Rapids families in need. The mission, located at 230 10th St NW in Cedar Rapids, is accepting school supply donations during its normal business hours, 9 to 11:30 a.m., Tuesday through Saturday. There is a particular need […]
Posted inCommunity/News
IC hosting drive-through to drop off unwanted household items, citywide garage sales this weekend
As a new lease cycle begins, the leftover boxes that survived the garage sale culls usually pile up on curbsides or in the dumpster. But this Sunday, Iowa City will host a Donation Drive-Thru to help residents either donate or recycle their old belongings. The drive-through will take place from noon to 4 p.m. on […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The org tables are the stars at CCAN-Con, a volunteering and activism fair taking over the Ped Mall Saturday
Corridor Community Action Network will host its second-ever CCAN-Con on Saturday at the Ped Mall. The convention, last held right before the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020, is a community engagement and volunteer fair founded by CCAN Director Mandi Nichols. Local organizations will be tabling, as well as providing various workshops and training. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘We can do better, because we’ve done better’: Deidre DeJear on Iowa’s future, LGBTQ rights, abortion access and legalizing cannabis
“I just want to get back to basics,” Deidre DeJear told the people gathered on the fifth floor patio of the Chauncey on Thursday evening, in response to a question about what her first three priorities would be if elected governor. The Democratic nominee named funding public education, guaranteeing the right to choose an abortion […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Emma Goldman Clinic’s founding mothers reflect on ‘the beauty of choice,’ half a century of Roe and the future of abortion care
Deb Nye was 23 when she heard the news: The Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade had just affirmed a person’s right to choose to have an abortion. It was late January 1973, and light snow covered the ground. She ran two blocks to the University of Iowa College of Law building, crossing over […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Blues & BBQ returns to North Liberty this weekend
After two years of COVID cancellations, Blues & BBQ returns to North Liberty this Saturday. The 13-hour festival kicks off in Centennial Park (1565 St. Andrews Dr) at 10 a.m., with more than a dozen stands offering not only barbecue but sweet treats such as ice cream and shaved ice to help people stay cool […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Cortado: Artistas inmigrantes dejan su huella en Iowa City
Iowa City podría ser vista como una ciudad de tránsito, una ciudad aeropuerto, en la que uno solo está de paso, entre uno y cuatro años, para luego mandarse a cambiar a otra ciudad distinta, dentro o fuera de los Estados Unidos. Y este rasgo de Iowa City se debe a la Universidad de Iowa, […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Brock About Town: Brock in the Big Apple
Hello readers! This week’s Brock About Town comes to you from New York City. That’s right, kids, for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, I have left the Shire. I’ll be back at the end of the summer, but until then, please know that I’m absolutely bereft without you. New York has […]
