Angel Ramirez won Tuesday’s special election in Iowa House District 78 in a landslide. The Cedar Rapids Democrat won 2,742 of the 3,470 votes cast in the district, according to the vote count published by the Linn County Auditor’s Office. Bernie Hayes, chair of Linn County Republicans, received 721 votes in the special election. There […]
Linn County Board of Supervisors
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Cresting at the right time’: Franken wins, Reynolds forsakes fellow Republicans, and other takeaways from the primary election
Retired Adm. Mike Franken easily defeated Abby Finkenauer to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in what was the highest profile contested race in the nation on Tuesday. Franken won 55.2 percent of the vote and carried 76 of Iowa’s 99 counties, including Johnson and Linn, according to the unofficial totals published by the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Breanna Oxley will run for Linn County Board of Supervisors instead of Iowa Senate
Breanna Oxley, who launched a campaign in June for the Cedar Rapids-based Iowa Senate seat soon to be vacated by Rob Hogg, announced on Friday she will run for the Linn County Board of Supervisors instead. “After much encouragement and many calls, I decided that I will be running for Linn County Supervisor!” Oxley said […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Stacey Walker will not run for reelection to the Linn County Board of Supervisors
Stacey Walker announced on Wednesday he has decided not to run for reelection to the Linn County Board of Supervisors. “At this point in my life, it is time for me to make space for new leaders, and to pursue other opportunities,” Walker, who currently serves as chair of the board, said in a written […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Masks will be required in Linn County buildings starting Monday
Linn County employees and visitors will be required to wear face masks at county-owned facilities starting Monday, regardless of their vaccination status. A divided Board of Supervisors passed the mask mandate during a meeting on Friday morning. The ideological division between supervisors on masks was visible even before the resolution was introduced. Supervisor Stacey Walker […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Linn County publishes first greenhouse gas emissions inventory
Linn County released its first greenhouse gas emissions inventory on Tuesday. The report was prepared by the Linn County Office of Sustainability and is the “first step” in documenting emission levels and sources of emissions, the county said in a news release. The inventory compiled data from the year 2010, and includes estimates of greenhouse […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Linn County Mental Health Access Center working toward 24/7 services as need continues to increase
After opening their doors earlier this year, the mental health access centers in Linn and Johnson counties are working to make services more accessible and available to patients. Erin Foster, director of the Linn County Mental Health Access Center, told the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday that “a lot has happened in the last three […]
Posted inCommunity/News, COVID-19
More than a year after closing their buildings to the public, Linn County and Cedar Rapids prepare to re-open doors
The City of Cedar Rapids and Linn County governments are preparing to re-open their facilities to the public after more than a year of being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Linn County Board of Supervisors voted on Wednesday to open county buildings to the public on Monday, June 7. County buildings have been […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Homelessness was increasing in Iowa. Then COVID-19 and the derecho hit.
A total of 2,647 Iowans were homeless on a single night in January 2020, a 14.3 percent increase from January 2019. The number of people experiencing homelessness in Iowa was increasing even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Then came the August 2020 derecho that caused nearly $4 billion in damage, with at least $83 million of […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Linn County creek officially renamed Wanatee Creek
The final stage in the renaming of a creek running through Linn County was completed on Friday, as the U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved the changing the name from Squaw Creek to Wanatee Creek. The new name is in honor of the late Jean Adeline Morgan Wanatee, an artist and advocate for the rights […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Linn County climate czar Tamara Marcus reflects on derecho impact, lays out sustainability plans for 2021 and beyond
The Aug. 10 derecho showed why environmental justice and listening to the voices of those most vulnerable to climate change are important, said Linn County Sustainability Program Manager Tamara Marcus. Last month, the Linn County Board of Supervisors adopted a climate resolution that calls for the prioritization of the voices of vulnerable communities in Linn […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Linn County Supervisors approve mask mandate, close most county buildings
On Wednesday, the Linn County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted in favor of requiring individuals in the county to wear a face covering when out in public. The regulation, which was approved by the Board of Health earlier this week, takes effect on Thursday. It requires residents and individuals visiting Linn County to wear face […]
