Cedar Rapids plans to eliminate a rule requiring that five of the nine-member Citizen Review Board identify as people of color after a federal judge blocked enforcement of this policy pending the outcome of a lawsuit alleging the rule is racially discriminatory.
Kirkwood Community College officials on Friday notified the campus they’re postponing an active shooter drill previously planned for Election Day, Nov. 8 – a delay that came after some faculty and staff voiced concern about the drill’s timing and potential to disrupt voting.
On the heels of a state report on lives lost to domestic violence in 2022, victim advocates say a measure on the ballot Nov. 8 will make it harder to enact gun laws in Iowa to keep firearms out of the hands of abusers.
In a hearing Tuesday on a lawsuit over the Cedar Rapids ordinance requiring five of the nine-member Citizens Review Board identify as people of color, a judge asked whether the policy reflected a bias that white people could not identify trends rooted in bias.
It was the second shooting in as many days for the city.
The Cedar Rapids Police Department released body camera footage Thursday of the fatal officer-involved shooting of William Rich on Aug. 30.
With the school year already underway, the council’s vote ends a monthslong debate between city and school district officials over the presence of school resource officers mainly in middle schools.
“That's the best we could do as a council,” Mayor O’Donnell says after the school board declined the city’s offers to negotiate to keep the two additional school resource officers or to meet to discuss the program.
“It’s not logical to assume that five SROs will be able to do the work of seven,” the police chief said. City officials say changes account for the workload 5 instead of 7 SROs can handle after the school district removed them from middle schools.
Two officers exchanged gunfire with a driver they pulled over early Saturday, injuring the driver, authorities said.
Cedar Rapids school board president David Tominsky said the school board is not considering changing their decision on a contract for school resource officers after the mayor offered for the city to fund an additional two officers for middle schools.
Police found the man after responding to a report of a fight and potential stabbing.
The school board voted last month to decrease the number of police in schools to five, removing them from middle schools altogether.
The Marcus Wehrenberg Cedar Rapids Cinema implemented a new policy Friday requiring anyone under the age of 18 to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian over the age of 25 in order to see movies starting at 6 p.m. or later.
The city of Cedar Rapids plans to purchase a building for $2.5 million from United Fire Group to free up room at the police station and create more space for staff.
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