Friday Morning Read: Tippie honored, Flooding on Grand, Jok at combine

Flooding on Grand - City staffers met Thursday with about 20 residents of the Grande Avenue neighborhood in southeast Cedar Rapids to talk about how to stop stormwater and sewer backups that have plagued homes there for years. Residents at the meeting expressed anger and anxiety over the decades-long issue. Backups in their basements and flooding along their streets have required them to repeatedly replace furnaces, appliances and, in some cases, vehicles, they said. Read more about what is next for Grand Avenue and its residents here.

Bill Signing Day - Gov. Terry Branstad signed 37 bills into law Thursday dealing with policy issues ranging from traffic enforcement to election laws and severely ill Iowans being able to try experimental medical treatments. Click here for a list of overviews on the bills signed by the governor.

Jok at the Combine - Peter Jok's buzzword on the first day of group competition at the NBA Draft Combine was 'defense.' Whether or not he's improved enough on that end is the most obvious question, and one he'll need to definitively answer if the former Iowa sharpshooter is going to find an NBA home. That was the feedback Jok got last year when he tested the NBA Draft waters. It followed him through his senior season for the Hawkeyes, and has been the point on which scouts, general managers and coaches have asked most. Read more about Peter Jok's day at the combine here.

Tippie at Kirkwood - At 90 years old, prominent philanthropist Henry B. Tippie stood before a crowd of more than 100 Thursday in the Kirkwood Community College building formerly known as Nielsen Hall and lauded work on the campus that increasingly boasts his name. 'It's people that make things happen,' he said. 'You can have all the bricks and all the mortar, but if you don't have the right people, you're not going anywhere.' Read more about Henry Tippie's visit to Kirkwood campus here.

Quotable - 'We wanted to make it lighter, brighter, cheerier,'Coberly said. 'We work with people with disabilities. (Day of Caring) is a huge resource for us. It saves us not just the time, but saves us the money and energy so we can focus on our mission.' Read more about the Day of Caring across Cedar Rapids, and what some groups did to help out here.