Emily Andersen

United Way of East Central Iowa announced a new set of focus areas Wednesday that will determine how the organization’s funding is used over the next three years. The focus areas are part of a new initiative called Unite to Inspire.

Wegayewu Sahilu Faris went through life looking for opportunities to improve himself and to serve others, according to his wife, Teyobesta Tewabe. He drowned on Aug. 5, at the age of 42, while he was rescuing an 8-year-old boy from the Iowa River.

A new mobile training program for first responders came to Cedar Rapids last week to help firefighters prepare for emergency medical situations.

When America withdrew from Afghanistan, the sudden influx of Afghan refugees was unprecedented. Many resettlement agencies had already been facing budget and staffing cuts, and they were not prepared for so many refugees to arrive all at once.

While two officers attempted to detain the man, he brandished a weapon and the officers fired their weapons. The type of weapon brandished was not specified in the news release.

A southern Iowa man is accused of sexually abusing six women, one teenager and one child between 2012 and 2020 in two southern Iowa counties.

The Cedar Rapids Police Department is investigating a Thursday night stabbing that left one person dead.

The shared mental health liaison will respond to and follow up on mental health crises that officers encounter in Coralville, North Liberty and Johnson County.

A Cedar Rapids man was arrested Wednesday on a warrant for a attempted murder after he led police on a foot chase. The man is accused of attempting to kill his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend by hitting him multiple times in the head with a baseball bat.

The Cedar Rapids Police Department responded to a report of shots fired near the intersection of I-380 and H Ave. on Wednesday just after 5 p.m.

A school bus for the Bennett Community School District in Cedar County crashed with another vehicle Tuesday morning — the first day of school — sending both drivers and one child to the hospital.

Two officers shot twelve times at the man, who had pointed a gun at the officers and fired during a traffic stop.

Timothy Rush, accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend at Taboo nightclub on April 10, is now facing an additional murder charge, after a man who was injured in the shooting died on July 24.

A Marion man was arrested Monday on charges of sexual abuse, felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance.

A Burlington contractor accused of taking money from four Linn County homeowners for derecho repairs but never finishing the work has agreed to plead guilty to first-degree theft charges, according to Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks.