116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Coins add up in Iowa City panhandling meters
N/A
Jul. 21, 2010 8:05 pm
The spare change being dropped into Iowa City's new purple panhandling meters is adding up.
Interim city manager Dale Helling said the city has collected about 375 dollars since it installed the meters in June.
Iowa City has severely restricted panhandling in the pedestrian mall area.
The tougher panhandling restrictions were a city council action based on reports to it that businesses worried that a growing number of panhandlers would keep people from going downtown.
The city encourages people to drop spare change into the meters instead, and that money will go to local shelters.
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