Government & Politics

For the first time in 27 years, the U.S. government is changing how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity, an effort that federal officials believe will more accurately count residents who identify as Hispanic and of Middle Eastern and North African heritage.

It is the biggest fish kill in Iowa in at least a decade and the fifth-largest on record, according to state data.

The city approved nearly $2 million in settlement agreements with city staff without a public vote in 2023.

In Cedar Rapids’ delayed quest to establish “quiet zones” to reduce the number of train horns sounding throughout downtown and NewBo, city staff anticipate the first phase will be complete within approximately the next year. Some City Council members were skeptical of the completion.

Preliminary site plans are taking shape for a mixed-use development at the former Transamerica site on Edgewood Road and 42nd Street NE, where more than two years ago some neighbors organized in opposition of a local developer’s proposal and prompted the property’s sale to another developer.

The bill would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to drive to any kind of job, not just farming, following a law passed last year that allows younger teens to work longer hours and later in the day. The bill reduces the distance a teen can drive under the “special minor’s restricted license” from 50 to 25 miles to school or a job. And driving cannot be part of the work.

The legislation is a limited version of what Reynolds originally proposed, but has still been met with fierce opposition from AEA officials and statehouse Democrats

The proposal passed by the House would require that two-thirds of the members in each chamber — 67 in the House and 34 in the Senate — agree on any legislation that increases Iowa's income tax on individuals or corporations.