March 2021 Favorite News Photos

Downtown Des Moines is seen as the sun sets from the state capitol complex on Thursday, March 11, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

I was driving home from an assignment when I noticed the sunset coming through a break in the clouds. I noticed the trees and thought that they would make a good element tying the sky to the land. Originally, I envisioned having the reddish/magenta hole in the clouds framed over the four-ish trees but there was a stand of trees (upper left corner) closer to me. I was just about to settle for the awkward, lopsided composition when the bird flew through the frame. I think it balances the composition nicely.A bird flies over trees as light from the setting sunshines through a hole in the clouds near Amana, Iowa, on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Aliya Keaton waves to regular customers in the drive-thru window during her shift at Cabin Coffee Co., 930 Commercial St., in Lisbon, Iowa, on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. Keaton, 17, of Mount Vernon, Iowa, is one of 106 students nationwide to win $25,000 Horatio Alger National Scholarship. Aliya will be paying her way through college, and among her three jobs is working as a barista at Cabin Coffee Co. in Lisbon, with shifts before school and on weekends. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds helps Lindsey Smock (center) and Carter Wolford shovel dirt around a bur oak tree that was planted during a Re-Tree Iowa initiative event at the Horticulture building at Kirkwood Community College in southwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, March 26, 2021. The initiative, a statewide effort of iHeartMedia Iowa, to encourages the company's radio station listeners to replant the more than one million trees destroyed by the August 2020 derecho. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Reem Kirja, 13, at Willow Creek Park in Iowa City, Iowa, on Friday, March 12, 2021. Reem has been advocating to make Eid a holiday for three years, since she was 10 years old. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Terry Bryant (left) and his step-mother Thaddy Woods both of Cedar Rapids receive their COVID-19 vaccines from nursing students Michael Riches and Brady Brown, respectively, at the Cedar Rapids Community Health Free Clinic on Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

University of Iowa College of Pharmacy P3 student Marissa Stewart talks to Terry McCoy of North Liberty, Iowa, before giving him his first shot of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine during the Towncrest Pharmacy Covid-19 vaccination clinic at Solon United Methodist Church, 122 N West St., in Solon, Iowa, on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. Pharmacy students from the University of Iowa are volunteering at the clinic. The clinic is expecting to vaccinate about 1,000 people 65 and older with the Pfizer vaccine. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Director of pharmacy Patrick Bolte inoculates tribe member Larry Yazzie at the Meskwaki Tribal Health Center in Tama on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Nurse Misty Carney, who lost her mother to COVID-19, tears up during a memorial tribute service to honor COVID-19 patients at Unity Point Health St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids on Monday, March 22, 2021.(Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Nurse Chrisandra Freeman holds a flower during a memorial tribute service to honor COVID-19 patients at Unity Point Health St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids on Monday, March 22, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

A prison workers comfort each other after a news conference in front of the Anamosa State Penitentiary in Anamosa, Iowa, on Wednesday, March 24, 2021. Lorena Schulte, a nurse and Robert McFarland, a correctional officer were killed by two inmates in the infirmary during an escape attempt. An inmate was also injured in the assault. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Members of the Ely Fire Department salute as one of the department's trucks passes the headquarters during a procession of emergency vehicles in honor of Department of Corrections officer Robert McFarland through the streets of Ely, Iowa, on Saturday, March 27, 2021. McFarland, a corrections officer at Anamosa State Penitentiary and a lieutenant with the Ely Fire Department, as well as nurse Lorena Schulte were killed by two inmates in the infirmary during an escape attempt. An inmate was also injured in the assault. About 12 fire and police agencies including the Iowa Department of Corrections paid tribute to McFarland in the procession past the Ely Fire Department headquarters. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Community members watch a procession of emergency vehicles in honor of Department of Corrections officer Robert McFarland through the streets of Ely, Iowa, on Saturday, March 27, 2021. McFarland, a corrections officer at Anamosa State Penitentiary and a lieutenant with the Ely Fire Department, as well as nurse Lorena Schulte were killed by two inmates in the infirmary during an escape attempt. An inmate was also injured in the assault. About 12 fire and police agencies including the Iowa Department of Corrections paid tribute to McFarland in the procession past the Ely Fire Department headquarters. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Kayla Nguyen (left) student lead at the Asian Pacific American Cultural Center hugs Coralville city council member Hai Huynh during a Vigil for Asian Lives Lost on the Pentacrest in Iowa City, Iowa, on Sunday, March 21, 2021. The public gathered to remember the lives lost in the shootings in Atlanta last week and to remember the other Asian lives lost due to violence. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Rob Walsh of Palo, Iowa, follows his approach shot on the ninth hole at Twin Pines Golf Course in northeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, March 19, 2021. It was Walsh's birthday and he played a round of golf with his father Bob Walsh. The Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Department began the golf season with the opening of the course, 3800 42nd Street NE, on Friday. The course will be open daily from 8:00 a.m. to dusk. The driving range will also be open and carts will be available as conditions allow. Courses will open with COVID protocol still in place and masking requirements in the clubhouse. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument is seen alongside the state capitol building in Des Moines on Thursday, March 11, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

SAINT Cat Adoption Center founder and president Nicki Brodersen gives Valentine a little attention as she gives treats to some of the cats at the shelter, 1200 16th Avenue SW, in southwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Roxi McCrane smiles and listens to the sounds of bagpipers as she slowly rolls past during a drive-through St. Patrick's Day parade around the half-mile track at Hawkeye Downs Speedway in southwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday, March 13, 2021. This is the group’s 46th parade, but the first time it won’t be snaking around downtown Cedar Rapids, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down last year’s event less than a week before its March 17 rollout. SaPaDaPaSo President Lisa Dalziel said there were an estimated 1,500 vehicles that toured the parade. Swag bags were given out to the first 200 vehicles. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Opal, 5, and Ruby, 4, Merta smile as they look at the various parade floats as they roll past during a drive-through St. Patrick's Day parade around the half-mile track at Hawkeye Downs Speedway in southwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday, March 13, 2021. This is the group’s 46th parade, but the first time it won’t be snaking around downtown Cedar Rapids, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down last year’s event less than a week before its March 17 rollout. SaPaDaPaSo President Lisa Dalziel said there were an estimated 1,500 vehicles that toured the parade. Swag bags were given out to the first 200 vehicles. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Scarlett Hartsock, 5, rides on the back of Bridget Johnson as they watch the procession of vehicles from the Keller Williams Legacy Group float during a drive-through St. Patrick's Day parade around the half-mile track at Hawkeye Downs Speedway in southwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday, March 13, 2021. This is the group’s 46th parade, but the first time it won’t be snaking around downtown Cedar Rapids, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down last year’s event less than a week before its March 17 rollout. SaPaDaPaSo President Lisa Dalziel said there were an estimated 1,500 vehicles that toured the parade. Swag bags were given out to the first 200 vehicles. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)