Photo Gallery: Gazette’s Best Photos for the First Half of December 2025

Take a photographic tour of the first half of December 2025.

Singer Lena Adams of Washington, Iowa, performs Christmas songs for residents at Terrance Glen Village in Marion, Iowa, on Monday, December 1, 2025. She performs at the senior living facility the first Monday of every month. Adams travels around the state to sing. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Resident Karen Kloos smiles as she applauds singer Lena Adams (not pictured) after performing a set of Christmas songs at Terrance Glen Village in Marion, Iowa, on Monday, December 1, 2025. The senior living facility provides a wide range of activities for seniors. Adams visits the facility the first Monday of every month to sing songs. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

A child reaches out for their mother while standing in a line for their check-in at the Department of Homeland Security building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, December 2, 2025. Temperatures hovered in the teens and 20’s as people waited in line. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Iowa City West’s Ethan Headings (1) shoots the ball during a boys’ high school basketball game between the Iowa City West Trojans and the Clear Creek-Amana Clippers at West High School in Iowa City, Iowa on Tuesday, December 2, 2025. The Clippers defeated the Trojans 58-53. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Sister Susan O’Connor poses for a portrait in the chapel at Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday, December 3, 2025. Sister O’Connor, who is retiring from Mercy Hospital this December has been a Sister of Mercy for 55 years and worked for Mercy for 36 years. She says she hopes to be remembered for being faithful to her commitment at Mercy. “It’s a bittersweet time, but Mercy is doing great,” says Sister O’Connor. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Xavier’s Madden Wilson (3) shoots the ball during a girls’ high school basketball game between Cedar Rapids Prairie and Cedar Rapids Xavier in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Friday, December 5, 2025. Xavier won 51-38. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Five-year-old Ryat (cq) Washington, 5, of Cedar Rapids bites into a s’mores as he makes them with his brother and mother during the celebration for the Cedar Rapids Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at Greene Square in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday, December 6, 2025. The 25-foot Colorado blue spruce donated by the Kraft family. Coonrod Crane Services transported and placed the tree in the park. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Five-year-old Willow Troupe of Cedar Rapids walks ahead of her mother Kalynn Troupe and her one-year-old sister Lakeland Donner during the celebration for the Cedar Rapids Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at Greene Square in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday, December 6, 2025. The 25-foot Colorado blue spruce donated by the Kraft family. Coonrod Crane Services transported and placed the tree in the park. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Third grader Herlandie Etienne, 9, looks up at volunteer Jerry Smithey while trying to figure out how to find the area of a rectangle during a group session at Prairie Hill Elementary in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, December 9, 2025. Smithey has been a part-time volunteer for three years at the elementary school and works mainly with small groups and one-on-one sessions. He is an advocate for reading and has a background in law enforcement and juvenile detention work. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Iowa Hawkeyes forward Hannah Stuelke (left) and Iowa State Cyclones center Audi Crooks (55) fight for the ball during the Cy-Hawk Series women’s basketball game at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa, on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. The Cyclones defeated the Hawkeyes 74-69. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)