Friday Morning Read: Jane Meyer wins, Crestwood Ridge Apartments, Top Shelf: Eat

Crestwood Ridge Apartments Backed - A Cedar Rapids planning board reversed course on Thursday and backed an affordable housing proposal that had previously been rejected after neighborhood opposition. The City Planning Commission unanimously backed a request by CommonBond Communities of St. Paul, Minn., to rezone 2 acres of city land at 1200 Edgewood Rd. NW for the 45-unit Crestwood Ridge Apartments. Read about what this means for the project, and what the next steps are here.

Jane Meyer Wins - Finding the University of Iowa discriminated against a former athletics administrator based on her gender and sexual orientation, a Polk County jury Thursday awarded Jane Meyer $1.43 million, according to her legal team. Meyer, 57, a former UI associate athletics director who worked for the department from 2001 to 2014, sued the UI, the Iowa Board of Regents and the state for discrimination. Read what Jane Meyer said about her court victory here.

Top Shelf: Eat Announced - The Top Shelf Awards are starting to roll out. Thousands of you have voted, and you can now check out all the winners for the Top Shelf: Eat category. You can find them right here.

Hawkeye Downs ready to grow -Hawkeye Downs Speedway enters its 92nd season of racing Friday night.The beginning of the 2017 season sees another change in leadership at the historic racing facility. Past efforts focused a lot on racing — via rule changes and attempts at special or touring events, among other things — while the new direction for the facility's future appears to be more expansive. Cedar Rapids City Ccouncil member Ann Poe signed on approximately six weeks ago to be the Executive Director of Hawkeye Downs. As Executive Director of NewBo City Market and one of the key figures in the restoration of the NewBo area, Poe's vision for Hawkeye Downs' next several years has everything to do with 'place-making.' Read what Poe has to say about Hawkeye Downs and the next steps for it here.

Quotable - 'There's no doubt that we can do better when it comes to our tax structure,' Reynolds told about 450 business leaders from around Iowa attending the state's annual Smart Economic Development Conference. 'It's a big piece of the puzzle in the overall cost of doing business calculations that site selectors and business-decision makers use when they're comparing states.' Read more about what Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds said as it relates to taxes here.