Erin Jordan

Summer in Iowa is prime time to get outdoors and hike, swim, boat, fish or garden. The Gazette’s Erin Jordan is starting an Environment & Outdoors newsletter to share stories about Iowa’s natural environment and the things that impact it.

Most years, Iowa corn is far taller than “knee high by the Fourth of July,” but this year’s crop -- set back by late planting and too little rain -- fits the old adage.

Black farmers and some agricultural groups in Iowa are working hard to show young people of color how they can make a living from the land.

Iowans whose property may be in the path of the proposed Navigator Heartland Greenway carbon dioxide pipeline are invited to informational meetings in 12 counties, including Delaware, Buchanan, Fayette and Bremer.

With blood donations down 21 percent during holiday weeks, the American Red Cross is seeking blood donors as we approach the July 4 holiday weekend.

Grant Hilbert, 21, of Ankeny, made enough money from YouTube videos of him playing the Farming Simulator video game to help him buy 250 acres in Mahaska County that he now has planted in corn and soybeans.

Quentin Blazicek is one of four Cedar Rapids fathers who enrolled last fall in the Caring Dads program, a 17-week support group offered by Waypoint for dads who want to improve their relationships with their children to end or avoid controlling, abusive or neglectful behavior.

The city has done regular water tests at the lake, called Sand Lake, in previous summers, but this is the first time there has been a no swim advisory due to high levels of E. coli bacteria, said Tyler Baird, superintendent of Parks & Forestry.

The Navigator Heartland Greenway carbon dioxide pipeline would no longer go through Linn County under a new route proposed by the company.

A City High administrator who parents and students said opened a school door for a senior prank that turned into vandalism has resigned from that job and now will teach at Iowa City West High School.

LaPorte City has agreed to pay a $7,000 fine for discharging too much E. coli bacteria in treated wastewater going into Wolf Creek, a Cedar River tributary.

The Cedar Rapids Community School District lost 126 teachers at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, up from 100 teachers last year. Now the district is making it harder for teachers to break their contracts.

MedPharm Iowa LLC, Iowa’s first medical marijuana manufacturer and distributor, is changing its name, planning a $10 million expansion in Iowa and moving into other states, including Colorado and Michigan.

Since no Republican is running in this race, Janice Weiner’s win with 86 percent of the vote, compared to 14 percent for John Raley, essentially decides the general election.

Navigator CO2 Ventures and POET have signed a deal to transport the carbon dioxide from 18 ethanol plants in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota through a proposed pipeline to Illinois.