Photo Gallery: Photos of the month fo the first half of January 2026

The Gazette photo staff kick off the new year with its top photos for the first half of January 2026

Devyn Kaas rings the bell given to her to commemorate the end of her cancer treatments as her mother Brooke watches at their home in Lansing, Iowa, on Thursday, January 1, 2026. Devyn, 3, was treated for a type of bone marrow cancer when she was seven-months-old. She is in remission and is healthy. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Iowa Hawkeyes forward Hannah Stuelke (45) reacts with teammate Iowa Hawkeyes guard Taylor McCabe (2) after Nebraska fouled on McCabe and she scored a basket in the third quarter of the game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa on Thursday, January 1, 2026. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

April Elsbernd of Cedar Rapids (right) copies Rev. Catherine Quehl-Engel as she goes through a series of controlled movements to alleviate stress, anxiety and fear during a qigong class at the Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Friday, January 2, 2026. Qigong classes utilize meditation, energy healing, breath work, acupressure and various controlled movements to help with mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. The center offers various programs like qigong and sound bath healing events every month. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Kierstyn (cq) Holets gathers carrots as she stocks vegetables in the produce section at the Cultivate Hope Corner Store, 604 Ellis Boulevard NW, in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, January 6, 2026. The grocery store also has a free produce section where still edible fruits and vegetables are put that may be past their prime. The grocery store, operated by Matthew 25, brings reduced cost and some free healthy foods to the Time Check neighborhood. It also alleviates a food desert. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Museum manager Teri Van Dorston carefully aligns fragments of a panel of the Grant Wood’s original blueprint for the stained glass Memorial Window at the Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, January 6, 2026. The drawing, consisting of 58 panels, has only been assembled twice: once at a Quaker Oats recreation room in 1928, and another in 2010 at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. (Jim Slosiarek/ The Gazette)

Washington’s Sira Doumbia (center) drives to the basket during a game between Cedar Rapids Washington and Cedar Rapids Jefferson at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, January 6, 2026. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Coe’s Deuce Walters (4) shoots the ball during a game between Coe College and Luther College at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, January 7, 2026. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)[

Licensed radon mitigation specialist Noel McDonald measures a vent pipe before installing it onto a radon mitigation system at a home in Martelle, Iowa on Thursday, January 8, 2026. The system uses pipes and fans to pull radon gas from beneath a home’s foundation and vent it outside. Radon is a naturally occurring gas and can cause lung cancer if found in homes. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari reacts after wrestling Wisconsin’s Caleb Dennee at 184 pounds during a dual meet between the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and the University of Wisconsin Badgers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa on Friday, January 9, 2026. Ferrari won by technical fall 19-4. The Hawkeyes defeated the Badgers 23-12. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Iowa head coach Clarissa Chun reacts during the bronze medal dual at the NWCA/USMC National Dual Meet Championships at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Saturday, January 10, 2026. Iowa won 26-15 to place third. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Rebecca McCarty shows a photograph of her mother Marjoria, who taught at Pierce Elementary School form 1968 until her retirement in 1991, as she speaks about what happens to the legacy of her mother’s nature sanctuary at the school during public comment at the Cedar Rapids Community School District board meeting at the Educational Leadership and Support Center, 2500 Edgewood Rd NW, in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Monday, January 12, 2026. The district needs to trim more than $10 million to ensure long-term financial stability.

Jonathan Beck roller skates with his son Alexander, 6, as Jonathan’s wife and Alexander’s mother Elizabeth walks from the playground at the Bezdek Farm unit of Morgan Creek Park in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, January 13, 2026. Elizabeth is a member of Cedar Rapids Roller Derby. The 14,000 square-foot playground is part of a $6.2 million redevelopment project that opened in 2022. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

City High’s Chase Williams flexes after defeating Dubuque Hempstead’s Landon Gottschalk in their 120 lbs. match at Iowa City High School in Iowa City, Iowa, on Thursday, January 15, 2026. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)