Monday Morning Read: Uptown District Crime, Tiny Home for Sale, Ekakitie drafted first

Uptown District Crime Down - According to Cedar Rapids police data for the district, offenses ranging from robberies and burglaries to drug offenses, vandalism and minor crimes like loitering and public intoxication all decreased between 2010 and 2016, the years for which data is available. For instance: There were 28 assaults reported in the district in 2010. Last year, there were 10. Read a full breakdown of crime in the Uptown District and what people have done to reduce it over the past few years here.

Tiny Home For Sale - Inside a storage container, high school students have built their own 'tiny house,' complete with a gas range stove, Murphy bed, recessed lighting and cable TV. Students built the 266-square-foot home as part of Kirkwood Community College's Architecture, Construction and Engineering Career Academy. In the community college program — one of more than two dozen 'high school academies' at Kirkwood — students earn both high school and college credit. Learn more about the tiny home for sale here.

Hawkeye Drafted No. 1 - Former Iowa Hawkeyes defensive tackle Faith Ekakitie was the first pick in Sunday night's Canadian Football League college draft. Ekakitie was selected by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played in all 13 games for Iowa last season, making 39 tackles. Learn more about Ekakitie's next steps here.

Rep. Blum in Iowa - Rep. Rod Blum is hosting a number of town hall-style meetings throughout his district this week. 'It's Iowa,' Blum said last week following a committee meeting in Washington, D.C. 'And, we're going to have Iowans there. I think in Iowa we respect each other's opinions, at least enough to listen to each other. I expect people to be respectful, but who knows?' In an attempt to prevent his town hall meetings from falling into the 'raucous, contentious' category, Blum said he is limiting participation to residents of the 20-county northeast Iowa 1st Congressional District. Read more about Blum's meetings and a full schedule of the events here.

Quoteable - Koos said he does not believe more people carrying guns would have made the Jackson County Courthouse any safer the day of the shooting. He said it might have made it worse. 'I don't know what the outcome would have been, what would have been different about it if everybody would have pulled a gun out and started shooting,' Koos said. 'If I had a gun, would I have pulled a gun? I don't know. I just think I'm glad I wasn't in that position to make that decision. ... I just think it would be chaos.' Read more about changes and potential hurdles to guns in government buildings here.