Every year brings losses, and we mourn the passing of people who helped make our community what it is. This year has been no exception. From leaders of the food scene to elected officials to a leader on education and civil rights to an Iowa City RAGBRAI icon, 2018 saw the deaths of individuals loved […]
Year in review 2018
Posted inCommunity/News
Reinventions, new locations and a ‘secret’ from long ago: The restaurant scene in 2018
Transformation was a major theme on the local restaurant scene in 2018. Early in the year, the owners of downtown fixture Atlas announced they were remaking the restaurant into the Saint Burch Tavern (named after Burch, the bear who served as the University of Iowa’s mascot at the beginning of the 20th century), and as […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Top five 2018: Iowans make waves on the national arts scene
Here in eastern Iowa, it’s no secret that we are blessed with a bevy of talented artists. At any given time, there is always someone, somewhere nearby making magic. It’s only to be expected that the rest of the country take notice of what we have to offer.
Posted inCommunity/News
Top five 2018: Workers in Iowa continue to fight the good fight
The last few years have been challenging for Iowa workers, and 2018 is no exception. In the face of these challenges, Iowans are fighting back to reclaim their rights and their state.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Top five 2018: Transcendent joy through arts experiences
Humans, although we each can only ever have our own experience, also have the ability to experience moments together.
Moments mediated by the arts touch us differently in different situations.
Posted inCommunity/News
Goodbye Paul’s, farewell University Camera, so long Sears: Notable business closings in 2018
There were major changes to the retail landscape of the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area in 2018 as long-standing businesses closed their doors for the last time. Neither a specialized business like University Camera or Family Video, nor the store where you could find almost anything, Paul’s, were immune from the major shifts in the retail […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hatchets, trampolines, a mountain of garbage and retired rides: The evolution of recreation in 2018
After 66 years, Iowa City’s much-loved children’s train made its final run this fall, after the Iowa City Department of Parks and Recreation decided to close down and dismantle the amusement rides in City Park. It had become increasingly expensive to repair and maintain the aging rides, and the amusement rides area also isn’t fully […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Bethel AME Church turns 150, and other notable Iowa City anniversaries in 2018
Ask people in Iowa City about anniversaries and 2018, and for most, one immediately comes to mind: it was the 10th anniversary of the devastating floods of 2008. That shouldn’t be a surprise; the historic level of that year’s flooding and the damage it caused brought dramatic changes throughout eastern Iowa. But there were other […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Top five 2018: A look back on Iowa music
2018 has been a trial, as we’ve watched the country succumb to the increasingly outlandish and horrible thrashing in the mud of President Tony Clifton. People have said that great music comes out of dire political times, but I hate that idea … Making great music is a personal, inward-focusing task.
