Photos: February 2021 Favorite News Photos

Farah Nonhomme, 8, holds up a sign while marching with fellow students in a march to honor the famous March on Washington and Black History Month in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

'I've waited so long for this and I can't thank you enough,' Jane Caswell of Iowa City said as she arrived for her Moderna Covid-19 vaccines. Shown here, Caswell thanks Kristen Van Scoyoc, MSN RN, after receiving the vaccine during a vaccination clinic at the UI Health Support Services Building in Coralville on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. University of Iowa Health Care estimates nearly 1,000 patients, eligible under Phase 1b of the state vaccination plan, received their first dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine during the clinic. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Jayla Strong, 11, and Nyeanna Davis, 12, joke around at Saving Our Sisters, a new program for at-risk teen girls at Tanager Place in Cedar Rapids on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. The program, funded by the SET Task Force, is a yearlong initiative that gives a group of girls the chance to interact with mentors on a regular basis who help them develop their self esteem and work toward their goals. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Ayana Rush, 12, glues a picture of herself onto her vision board at Saving Our Sisters, a new program for at-risk teen girls at Tanager Place in Cedar Rapids on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. The program, funded by the SET Task Force, is a yearlong initiative that gives a group of girls the chance to interact with mentors on a regular basis who help them develop their self esteem and work toward their goals. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Dr. Michael Flaum (left) and Dr. Monika Jindal bump elbows with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds following a discussion at the open house for the new GuideLink Center in Iowa City on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. The access center will provide crisis evaluation, observation and stabilization to those experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Maria Encarnacao of Coralville receives ashes in celebration of Ash Wednesday from communications lead team member Hannah Dake at the Newman Catholic Student Center in Iowa City on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Ashes were sprinkled over recipients heads instead of the traditional practice of drawing a cross on the individuals forehead to minimize contact. The church usually would hold four masses on Ash Wednesday but reduced that to only two with a limit of 80 reserved seats per service and held seven quick prayer services of about ten minutes for those wanting to receive ashes while minimizing time gathered in the sanctuary. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Darcy Havel-Sturdevant rubs her eyes while taking a moment to herself before a telemedicine appointment with her neurologist in her living room in Iowa City on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Doug Wullweber, quality and compliance manager and paramedic, demonstrates how an ambulance is decontaminated using a .5 percent hydrogen peroxide solution at Area Ambulance Service in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. The company, which has been in Cedar Rapids for 50 years, has increased its safety protocols since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, including adding three new positions responsible for decontaminating vehicles, increased personal protective equipment, and vaccinating its employees, 97 percent of whom have chosen to be vaccinated. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Behavioral interventionist Beth Dehogues receives her coronavirus vaccination from school nurse Diana Flannery at Washington High School in Washington on Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Washington High School student JaeCis Wright leads a march of students honoring the March on Washington and Black History Month in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Zaya Mills, 12, shovels snow off the front steps of her family's house in North Liberty, Iowa, on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Rob Stiles uses a leaf blower to clear snow from his driveway in northeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Stiles also clears snow from his neighbor's driveway also. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Six-year-old Emily Barger's hat slips over her eyes as she sleds alongside her mom, Alicia of Cedar Rapids at Thomas Park in Marion on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

A person walks through dog down the middle of Vanderbilt St. as snow continues to fall in Fairfax, Iowa, on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Horses stand in a pasture in rural Fairbank on Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

at a Northern Iowa Panthers football game with the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls on Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

A horse stands on the leeward side of a barn south of Shellsburg, Iowa, on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Ice forms on the beak and eye of a bald eagle flying above the Cedar River looking for fish just passed the dam in downtown Cedar Rapids on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Kaitlyn Vriezelaar bakes in her home kitchen in North Liberty on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Vriezelaar discovered a love of baking at Kirkwood's culinary school. She now creates treats for dogs in her business, Kaitlyn's Pupcakes. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

During this deep freeze, I've been trying to keep up with the neighborhood birds' demands for ample, fresh black oil sunflower seeds and clean water in their heated bird bath. On a couple of these cold days, it was the only outdoor entertainment I could muster. I'm sure many in northeast Iowa share this experience. It's the simple things about winter—a line of little tracks in newly fallen snow—that make me happy for our seasons of extreme in the Midwest. Bird tracks are seen in the snow along the seam of my driveway in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Winds gust as a resident snowblows a driveway in Walford, Iowa, on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. According to the National Weather Service, an arctic air mass with frigid temperatures in the single digits and dangerous wind chills will remain in the state through the weekend and much of next week. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Demolition continues in preparation for renovation in the sanctuary at First Assembly of God Church, 3233 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, in northeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Alex Brink with Eilertson Inc., bolts modules containing lithium ion rechargeable battery cells to racks inside a container at an Alliant Energy energy storage system near Vennehjem Park in Decorah, Iowa, on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. The $2.5 million, 2.5 megawatt battery system consists of 360 lithium ion batteries each weighing 114. The system should be done with its conditioning and commissioning processes and go online sometime in March. The system will store power generated during off peak hours during the middle of the day by homeowners' wind turbines and solar arrays, while homeowners are away from their houses, and return it to the grid when residents are back at their homes in the evening. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

The sun sets behind wind turbines in the countryside east of Victor, Iowa, on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. The wind turbines are part of MidAmerican's Diamond Trail Wind Energy project in Iowa County. Invenergy, a wind energy company, began gaining easements from property owners for the turbines, power lines and other related equipment in 2015. The project, with 88 turbines, went into operation in 2020. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Wolfey's Wapsi Outback bar is seen open from a boat launch and landing from across the frozen Wapsipinicon River in Quasqueton on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

An FBI phone number is given to report information relating to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January as seen on a billboard along 1st Avenue East in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

A new estimate says that Cedar Rapids lost 70% of it's tree canopy from the August 10 derecho storm. Photographed at Faulkes Heritage Woods in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Adam Elkin, lead brewer, fills a glass with two-year-old barrel-aged imperial stout at Iowa Brewing Company in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. Sales of beer in the brewery's taproom have evaporated during the pandemic, so Iowa Brewing has had to focus more on its statewide distribution through grocery stores. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Anne Goddard owner of A Chocolate Studio created chocolates with a pattern inspired by Dutch painter Piet Mondrian at her chocolate art studio, 175 Highway 965 Suite 6, in North Liberty, Iowa, on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Michelle Madden's carne asada sandwich is seen on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. This sandwich spin on classic carne asada is piled with fresh vegetables, and served with salsa verde for dipping. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

I originally was looking photograph snowmobilers carving some of the hills along Highway 151between the Norway curve and Amana. There weren't any out at the time so I took the long way home. I slid my car to a stop along the snow- and ice-covered gravel road. I normally shoot in aperture priority which allows me a set a lens opening for my desired depth of field and the camera automatically sets a corresponding shutter speed. I knew the camera's meter would be fooled and over expose the frame so I dialed in 1.7 stops of underexposure. The sun sets behind ice-encrusted vegetation on a fence line along V Avenue in rural Norway, Iowa, on Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)