Drew Wagner testified Monday he didn’t know Johnny Blahnik Church was serious about killing Chris Bagley in 2018, but he admitted he used a wrestling hold on Bagley while Blahnik Church fatally stabbed him. Andrew Shaw, Wagner said, then paid Blahnik Church cash, drugs and an SUV for the killing.
Aaron T. Rich, 22, had stolen a gun from southwest side store on Aug. 5 shortly before leading police on a chase in Cedar Rapids, police said. The chase ended with Rich being shot following a pursuit, in which he allegedly pointed a gun at officers.
A state agency that denied having inspection records for a Cedar Rapids home health agency now admits it has the records but considers them confidential.
U.S. Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler participated in a small business roundtable discussion hosted by the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance and attended by Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst and U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson on Monday.
With two University of Iowa employees on leave and under state and UI investigation after discussing in an undercover video campus efforts to skirt new DEI regulations, a third video has emerged — this time of an Iowa State University employee admitting to “finding loopholes in the laws.”
A committee representing the bankrupt Mercy Iowa City has filed a complaint against its former managing partner MercyOne – along with the president it appointed to lead the community hospital – in hopes of recovering at least $55 million for alleged “breach of contract, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, and negligent misrepresentation.”
Available at the Cedar Valley Humane Society
July 2025 was the second-wettest July on record for Iowa. It's a welcome change from the past four summers, when the region was dealing with ongoing drought conditions and experts like Iowa State Climatologist Justin Glisan were the bearers of bad news when it came to rainfall forecasts.
Also in this week’s Government Notes, Cedar Rapids has been recognized for its McLoud Run flood control project
Proposed ordinance IDs 4 allowable station locations.
Photos from the 20th K9COLA fundraiser at Bever PArk Pool in Cedar Rapids. The event continues 10am-4pm on Sunday, Aug. 10.
Nearly one million of the trees felled in the 2020 derecho were in Linn County alone, and the damage left rural and urban communities alike with gaping holes in their tree canopies. Five years later, The Gazette is revisiting what’s been done to fill the gaps.
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