John’s Grocery began serving customers freshly prepared food in the 1950s, a few years after the family-owned store opened in 1948. John Alberhasky’s wife Erma “couldn’t stand seeing all of the junior high kids eating penny candy for lunch, so [she] started making nickel ham-salad sandwiches and [her] famous potato salad,” according to the store’s […]
Iowa City News
Posted inArts & Entertainment
With a call for ‘fresh eyes,’ Chuck Swanson announces retirement from Hancher
In a heart-festooned shirt, with red paper hearts adorning the wall behind him, Hancher Auditorium executive director Chuck Swanson announced his retirement to members of the Hancher Partners program via a Valentine’s-themed video emailed out early Tuesday morning. “I really want the best for Hancher; I really love this place,” he said, discussing the hardships […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Janet Lyness will not run for reelection as Johnson County Attorney
Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness announced on Monday she will not seek reelection this year. “Representing the people of Johnson County as County Attorney has been an honor and a privilege,” Lyness said in a written statement. “I am proud of the work my office has done and the programs we have developed while I […]
Posted inCommunity/News
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. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Run CRANDIC returns as an in-person event for the first time in two years
The courses for April’s Run CRANDIC marathon and half-marathon have been posted by Corridor Running, the nonprofit that organizes the races. “After two years of not being in person, it’s nice to be able to safely put a race on for the Corridor community,” Jim Dwyer, the co-president of Corridor Running, told Little Village. The […]
Posted inCommunity/News
What’s next for Iowa City’s aging recreation facilities?
The City Park Pool is reaching its 73rd season. The Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center is now 58 years old, and the Mercer Park Aquatic Center is 34. Iowa City’s recreation facilities are getting old. Since last fall, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department has hosted a series of in-person listening events, community focus […]
Posted inCommunity/News
As spring semester gets underway, the grad student union pushes UI to improve its ‘worst in the Big 10’ pandemic policies
On Jan. 11, a week before classes started for the University of Iowa’s spring semester, the Campaign to Organize Graduate Students (COGS) Local 896, the union representing UI grad students, sent a letter to the Iowa Board of Regents and UI administrators asking for classes to be conducted online for the first two weeks of […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Kitchen to me is all about family’: Maggie’s new chef talks Midwest cuisine and kitchen culture
Maggie’s Farm Wood Fired Pizza has a new chef who wants to recreate the feeling of warm family get-togethers in the kitchen. Chef Billy Jimenez said that when he was growing up in Colorado, the kitchen was always the center of their home, where his family leaned on the countertops, eating and talking. He remembered […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Free rapid COVID-19 tests will be available starting Jan. 19
Starting next week, the federal government will begin distributing free COVID-19 rapid tests through a new website, covidtests.gov. The site will launch on Wednesday, Jan. 19, and “tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering,” according to a written statement published by the White House on Friday. The tests are free and so is […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘We’re not out of the woods’: Shelter House’s winter shelter is open, for now
Shelter House’s winter emergency shelter has opened after a month of delays caused by staffing issues and COVID-19 infections. The winter shelter, located at on 340 Southgate Ave, opened Jan. 4. Seventy-nine people took shelter that night, with 72 staying at the main emergency shelter at 429 Southgate Ave, and seven staying at the winter […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The Mill is gone, its building soon to be demolished. But plans to replace it are in the works.
The iconic Iowa City venue The Mill closed in 2020 after 58 years of hosting music, literary readings, political events and more. And after plans to possibly revive it fell through, the building on Burlington Street that was home to The Mill for 48 year has stood empty for a year and a half, and […]
Posted inCommunity/News
After more than a century serving Iowa City, Varsity Cleaners is closing
After 106 years in Iowa City, Varsity Cleaners is closing. “Obviously COVID is one of the deciding factors here,” owner Dave Geasland told Little Village. “It’s totally destroyed the dry cleaning business, and the dry cleaning business had already been in decline for the last 10 years.” Indeed, dry cleaners across the country and around […]
