Below are publicly announced events where food and water will be distributed on Saturday and Sunday. Ongoing Linn County Emergency Management Agency announced three locations in Linn County that will have food, water and ice. Starting Saturday, the locations will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The drive-through assistance locations are located […]
Linn County
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Gov. Reynolds will apply for federal disaster assistance on Monday
Gov. Kim Reynolds will be submitting an application to the federal government on Monday, asking President Trump to issue a major disaster declaration for storm-damaged areas in Iowa. Reynolds made the announcement during a press conference in Cedar Rapids, one of the cities hit hardest by Monday’s derecho. “The destruction was indescribable,” Reynolds said on […]
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Iowa National Guard starts working on Linn County storm damage
Four days after a derecho swept through Iowa, the Iowa National Guard has been deployed to Linn County. State Sen. Liz Mathis posted on Facebook Thursday evening that “approximately 100 engineers will be fanning out over Linn County to assess damage tomorrow (Friday) and then work with our Linn County Emergency Management Agency to prioritize […]
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State assistance available for Johnson and Linn County households that had storm damage
People in Johnson and Linn County whose homes suffered damage during the derecho may be eligible for financial assistance through the Iowa Individual Disaster Assistance Grant Program (IIAGP). The program, which is run by the Iowa Department of Human Services, reimburses individuals for home repair expenses, some of the cost of temporary housing and purchases […]
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Cedar Rapids schools will delay school year after storm damage; day shelter locations announced in Linn County
The Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD) will be delaying the start to the school year but it is unclear by how long, Superintendent Noreen Bush said in a message to district families. All of the district’s buildings have some type of damage from Monday’s derecho, according to Bush. There is major tree damage at […]
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Test Iowa site in Cedar Rapids reopens
The Test Iowa site in Cedar Rapids reopened Wednesday afternoon, after temporarily closing due to damage from Monday’s derecho. Sites in Davenport and Marshalltown that closed because of the storm have also reopened for testing. The three sites had limited hours on Wednesday but will return to regular hours — 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. […]
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Jerry Burns sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of Michelle Martinko in 1979
Jerry Burns, the man convicted earlier this year of first-degree murder in the 1979 killing of Michelle Martinko, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, in addition to paying $150,000 in restitution to the Martinko family. His request for a new trial was also denied on Friday. “This moment has […]
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Q&A: Two contact tracers at Linn County Public Health discuss their job and what they’re seeing during the county’s current surge
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Linn County — and across Iowa — continue to increase daily. As of Thursday morning, Linn County Public Health was reporting 2,204 confirmed cases in the county and 87 deaths. There are 299 active cases, according to LCPH. Community spread makes up nearly 70 percent of the county’s total confirmed […]
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‘We’ve got to do something’: Linn County officials, mayors call for local control over mandating face masks
The Linn County Board of Supervisors and the Board of Health approved a proclamation during a joint meeting on Wednesday that calls on Gov. Kim Reynolds to allow cities and counties “to enact localized response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” including mandating and enforcing the use of face coverings. The proclamation is backed by the mayors […]
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Appeal hearing for fired Cedar Rapids police officer Lucas Jones delayed
The two-day appeal hearing for fired Cedar Rapids police officer Lucas Jones has been rescheduled, and will now start on Sept. 22 instead of Aug. 18, after lawyers for both sides filed a joint motion to delay the hearing in hopes of holding it in person instead of via videoconferencing. But the Cedar Rapids Civil […]
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Linn County Supervisors will meet with Board of Health on Wednesday to discuss face mask proclamation
The Linn County Board of Supervisors will hold a joint meeting with the county’s Board of Health on Wednesday to discuss a proclamation calling on Gov. Kim Reynolds to allow local officials to mandate face masks. County mayors have been asked to sign onto the proclamation, and most mayors are supportive of it, Supervisor Ben […]
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Appeal hearing for fired Cedar Rapids Police officer Lucas Jones will be held online
The Cedar Rapids Civil Service Commission voted Friday morning to conduct the appeal hearing for former Cedar Rapids Police Officer Lucas Jones online and not partially in-person as previously discussed. The two-day hearing is scheduled to begin on Aug. 18 at 9 a.m. The Cedar Rapids Police Department fired Jones in June for turning off […]
