Monday Morning Read: Bridge issues, transgender rally, robotics team

BRIDGE PROBLEMS — If residents and officials in Jones County can agree on one thing regarding the 19th century Ely's Stone Bridge, it's that a decision about its future must be made soon. The stone facade that has crumbled off in the last few weeks is a reminder of the bridge's worsening condition. County Engineer Derek Snead said some options include repairing the bridge, replacing it, or closing the structure to traffic and preserving it as a public space, perhaps as part of a park. Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/news/jones-county-engineer-says-decision-needed-soon-on-elys-stone-bridge/

TRANSGENDER RALLY — Wearing a T-shirt featuring a fist-in-the-air logo and the words, 'I stand with trans students,' Amanda Green explained that Sunday's rally at the Ped Mall in Iowa City was about more than school bathrooms. 'This is not about bathrooms just like it was not about drinking fountains in the '60s,' said Green, 36, of Hiawatha, who serves as chair of the Pride Employee Resource Group at Rockwell Collins. 'This is a larger issue about saying equality is equality. That's as simple as it gets.' Sunday's rally drew more than 100 people. Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/news/fbi-director-comey-asked-justice-officials-to-refute-trumps-unproved-wiretapping-claim/

LEGO ROBOTICS TEAM TO NATIONALS — With a robot made using Lego blocks in hand, a team of youngsters from six Linn County schools is preparing to head to St. Louis in April, where they'll compete against students from around the globe for a world championship. 'It's a whole new level,' said Peter Kamp, a seventh-grader at Excelsior Middle School in Marion and one of 10 members of 'Red Dangerous,' which competes as part of the First Lego League, a competition that encourages students to apply engineering, science and math skills to develop solutions to real-world challenges. Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/life/eastern-iowa-lego-robotics-team-heading-to-world-championships/

HAWKEYES BUBBLICIOUS — The storylines from Sunday's Senior Day at Carver-Hawkeye Arena were plentiful. The Iowa men's basketball team got its fourth straight win, 90-79, against Penn State. The most important thing, though? Those once-longshot NCAA Tournament hopes now don't seem so long, thanks to those four regular-season-ending victories. Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/sports/iowa-enters-ncaa-tournament-territory-with-senior-day-win/

QUOTABLE — 'With a lot of the domestic homicides in Iowa, a lot of times there's stalking that goes on well before the actual homicide has occurred. We could stop this at the level of stalking, instead.' — Sen. Kevin Kinney, D-Oxford, after introducing a bill to update the definition of stalking in Iowa Code, and add criminal penalties for offenders