Don’t leave these 10 local news stories in 2022

Construction, labor shortages, and housing issues were common themes in 2022. Before ringing in the new year, take time to remember these news stories from the staff at The Gazette.

Homelessness has tripled in Cedar Rapids since 2019

Denise Yuengel smiles while posing for a portrait outside of her camp at a homeless encampment in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. Denise refers to herself as “Ma” and her husband Tim as “Pa” because they often help out new residents to the encampment. She says she feels bad taking a bed at the homeless shelter because she is more equipped to live in the outdoors in comparison to newly homeless individuals. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

A makeshift kitchen sits covered in snow and ice after temperatures plummeted in the Cedar Rapids area at a homeless encampment in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Mary Sand grabs a feather charm she made while keeping warm with a lit bowl of hand sanitizer in her tent at a homeless encampment in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Johnny Ray Delgado and his girlfriend Mary Sand keep warm using a bowl of hand sanitizer lit on fire while hanging out in their tent together at a homeless encampment in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Larry Burgin walks past a campsite while going to get food donated by the Willis Dady at a homeless encampment in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. Willis Dady library navigator Wes Shirley (not pictured) said the residents of the encampment know most of each other and look out for one another. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

A pair of angel wings lays on the ground at a homeless encampment in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

A wedding photo sits among a person’s belongings at the homeless encampment in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

The City of Cedar Rapids cleared a homeless encampment on Sinclair Levee Dec. 1. This displaced a community of people who helped one another survive despite homelessness brought on by the pandemic, derecho and personal hardships. In this series, The Gazette’s Elijah Decious and Savannah Blake put names and faces to an issue hiding in plain sight.

Mobile home residents waited years for new homes but development was abandoned

Forest View resident Margarita Baltazar speaks through a megaphone during an event held to support residents calling for repairs to the community and fair treatment on Sunday, March 20, 2022, at Forest View Trailer Park in Iowa City, Iowa. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

A statue of an angel stands outside the home of a forest view couple that died from COVID in 2021. This home was the site of a moment of silence during an event held to support residents calling for repairs to the community and fair treatment on Sunday, March 20, 2022, at Forest View Trailer Park in Iowa City, Iowa. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

Forest View resident Margarita Baltazar wipes a tear from her eye during an event held to support residents calling for repairs to the community and fair treatment on Sunday, March 20, 2022, at Forest View Trailer Park in Iowa City, Iowa. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

In 2019, a $200 million project was approved to redevelop Iowa City’s blighted Forest View mobile home park into a multifamily housing and commercial space. Forest View residents were promised first consideration for the new housing. But economic conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic halted the project. In April 2022, the Iowa City Council approved a voluntary relocation program for Forest View residents. Eligible households received relocation assistance of $15,750.

Meet the Westerns, Black farmers in Iowa for more than a century

Todd Western III, Todd Western IV, and Todd Western V stand for a portrait during planting on their families land on May 13, 2022.

Barbara Western talks with Todd Western on their families land in Black Hawk County, Iowa on Saturday, April 2, 2022.

A family picture of (back row) Grace Western and Todd Western Sr., and (front row) their children Betty Lou, Charlene, Joyce and Todd Jr. (Photo from Charlene (Western) Montgomery’s collection)

The Western family has owned farmland in Iowa since 1864, and the tradition continues. The Westerns’ farm is one of only about 1,700 Heritage Farms — 150 years or more — in Iowa, and likely the only one owned by a Black family.

“I’ve had people upset me that have said, ‘Why don’t you just rent this out?’” Christopher Western said of the Black Hawk County farm. “That wouldn’t have done him (their father) justice for how hard he worked. I’m sure he’s very proud of us that we came together and kept this going.”

What will it take to make Iowa’s beaches safe again?

Beach goers hang out on the shore and in the water at Lake Macbride in Solon, Iowa on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Iowa’s public beaches are plagued by bacteria and algae. Kevin Gull, a 65-year-old farmer from Guttenberg, avoids touching Iowa waters entirely after a vicious infection almost killed him after sitting with his feet in the Mississippi River. Gull still suffers from ongoing health risks from the encounter.

An analysis of 20 years of state beach monitoring data by The Gazette and Investigate Midwest showed that although some beaches’ tests display some progress, Iowa’s beaches overall show little to no improvement in the past two decades.

Proposed pipeline hangs in the air

Signs opposing the proposed route of the Wolf Carbon Solutions captured carbon dioxide pipeline are seen along Ivanhoe Rd. near Ely, Iowa, on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. Signs opposing eminent domain, a method used to acquire land for projects like this, are also along Ivanhoe Rd. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Geri Huser, president of the Iowa Utilities Board, sets out guidelines for public questions during a public meeting regarding the proposed pipeline by Wolf Carbon Solutions that would transport CO2 from ADM plants to southern Illinois, on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, at Veteran's Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

Residents and interested stake holders listen to presentations during a public meeting regarding the proposed pipeline by Wolf Carbon Solutions that would transport CO2 from ADM plants to southern Illinois, on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, at Veteran's Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

Signs opposing the proposed route of the Wolf Carbon Solutions captured carbon dioxide pipeline are seen along Ivanhoe Rd. near Ely, Iowa, on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. Signs opposing eminent domain, a method used to acquire land for projects like this, are also along Ivanhoe Rd. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Having wrapped up its required public informational meetings, Wolf Carbon Solutions is moving into the next stage of its work toward building a carbon sequestration pipeline across a portion of Iowa. The pipeline is one of three being proposed in Iowa, and it’s the only one that would pass through a portion of Linn County.

Meanwhile, the Linn County Board of Supervisors is poised to consider approval of an ordinance in 2023 that would dictate how close to structures a hazardous pipeline could be built. A draft of the ordinance was approved on first reading in December, but supervisors tabled it to give the county more time to consider the ordinance’s language.

The Gazette asked experts how much carbon dioxide would pipelines actually remove.

Labor shortages affect education, courts, health care

Teacher Megan Rex talks fifth-graders Nevaeh Bass, left, and Seth Bushaw during a class discussion at summer school at Oelwein Middle School in Oelwein, Iowa on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Rex has been substitute teaching in her hometown since graduating from the UNI in 2022. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Bus driving instructor Doug Johnson performs a bus inspection during a bus driver training session on Friday, July 29, 2022, at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

Court reporter Kathy Novak smiles as she leaves the courtroom following the sentencing of Jacqueline Holmes before Sixth Judicial District Judge Kevin McKeever at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. A jury found Holmes guilty of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of her boyfriend, Tremaine Williams, 35, on March 4, 2020, during a second trial after a mistrial was declared during the first trial. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Several nurses, who declined to be named out of fear of employer retaliation, protest outside of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in response to news from hospital unit leaders that staff that nurses will have to start caring for an extra patient. on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa. According to nurses, the staff to patient ratio is already at an unsustainable level and burnout is running high. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

Ashley Lynn, a cardiac nurse at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, protests in front of the hospital on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa. “I’m tired of being asked to be less of a nurse,” says Lynn, who explains that the increased patient to nurse ratio affects the care the hospital is able to provide patients. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette) (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

School districts are struggling to attract and retain staff. The Cedar Rapids Community School District lost 126 teachers at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, up from 100 the previous year. Teachers — especially special education teachers — and bus drivers are in high demand.

Meanwhile, the country is facing a “crisis level” shortage of court reporters and nurses. The Gazette’s Vanessa Miller reports the pandemic was, “ … like a gust of wind toppling a house of cards, nurses near retirement, looking for better pay or smoldering toward burnout submitted two-week notices in droves.”

One solution to labor shortages may lie in child care.

Ingredion workers on strike in Cedar Rapids

In August, members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Works and Grain Millers Union Local 100G at Ingredion in Cedar Rapids went on strike to oppose proposed overtime changes and job cuts.

In November, as the strike entered its fifth month, Gazette Social Video Producer Bailey Cichon spoke to picketers. They expressed their frustrations with negotiations and the corporation, whose spokeswoman via email expressed its continued interest in “reaching a mutually beneficial agreement.” Ingredion has maintained operations during the strike using existing employees and workers from an outside staffing agency.

How do police communicate with non-native English speakers?

North Liberty police officers Officer Ricardo Vazquez and Juan Santiago at the police department in North Liberty, Iowa, on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. The two officers speak Spanish as well as English. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

North Liberty police officer Ricardo Vazquez at the police department in North Liberty, Iowa, on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

North Liberty police officer Juan Santiago at the police department in North Liberty, Iowa, on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Iowa does not offer incentives for officers who speak more than one language. The Gazette spoke with 39 law enforcement agencies in Eastern Iowa. Twelve agencies had at least one bilingual officer. Of those 12, all but one spoke Spanish.

Cedar Rapids development projects continue to take shape

An $81.5 million development of long-vacant city-owned land near Cedar Rapids’ urban core will break ground soon, bringing a mix of restaurants, housing, hotel rooms, a Big Grove brewery and other uses in a signature project that provides a gateway from downtown to the west side of the Cedar River. (City of Cedar Rapids)

Work continues on the Third Avenue SE floodgate which is one of the city's flood control measures that are under construction in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Monday, April 5, 2021. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Construction crews build a flood wall on Cold Creek near Shaver Road NE north of Cedar Lake in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, July 5, 2022. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

About $46.5 million already has been spent on building flood protection on the east side of the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids, including construction of the Sinclair levee, pictured here Jan. 4. Eventually a removable, temporary flood barrier will connect these two sections of concrete flood wall coming off the Sinclair levee and crossing 16th Avenue SE. The City Council on Tuesday backed an $86 million commitment to the Army Corps needed to work on east-side flood protection. The city is building westside flood protection without federal aid. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Construction will remain a common site near downtown Cedar Rapids as work on a mixed-use development continues. The plan for the land is First and First West, a development that includes housing, hotel rooms, restaurants and a brewery. Meanwhile, a flood barrier was installed downtown and there are plans for flood control in all four quadrants of the city. Additional projects are in the works throughout the city. These projects focus on improving multifamily housing, underdeveloped business districts and greenway space.

Why Cedar Rapids streetlights glow purple

Traffic passes under purple streetlights on I-380 northbound just north of downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Saturday, June 4, 2022. The lights’ purple color is due to a malfunction. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

The inconsistent lighting on the S-curve of I-380 through Cedar Rapids was not on purpose, officials told The Gazette in June. It comes from the deterioration of LED streetlight heads, and was being replaced by the Iowa DOT.

Comments: bailey.cichon@thegazette.com