Isaiah Poe jokes with his mother Selenthia Jeffers as they look for hidden animals pictures in a monthly scavenger hunt at the Marion Public Library in Marion on Nov. 1, 2024. Isaiah’s other mother, Barb Hanson, launched a nonprofit to research the impact of school-based trauma on Black boys and travel across the country to conduct site visits to schools that have been positively reviewed by Black students and their families. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Marc Korver poses for a portrait with his 39 autographed baseballs at his home in Washington on Jan. 14, 2024. The balls are all signed by presidential candidates. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Kevin and Rebecca McCarville of Cedar Rapids walk in negative degree weather to participate in the caucus at the Salvation Army in Cedar Rapids on Jan. 15, 2024. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Demonstrators opposed to House File 2082 confront Iowa state Rep. Jeff Shipley following a Judiciary Committee hearing on the bill in the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines on Jan. 31, 2024. The bill would have removed gender identity as a protected class under the Iowa Civil Rights Act. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

University of Iowa students Cheyenne Andrews, from left, Delaney Lohrer and Brooke DeRycke dance around as Micah Horn, 5, break dances on the floor during the University of Iowa Dance Marathon power hour at the Iowa Memorial Union in Iowa City on Feb. 3, 2024. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Gwendolyn Clause, 5, snuggles Coco to feel the stuffed animal’s fur on her face during a speech therapy session with speech pathologist Jen Kaiser from the Grant Wood Area Education Agency at Hiawatha Elementary School in Hiawatha on Feb. 8, 2024. Gwendolyn is blind and deaf, in addition to other health issues. Gwendolyn has cochlear implant. Kaiser works on word sounds with Gwendolyn. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

I’m not entirely sure how I made this photo. The Capitol isn’t really very sharp, probably due to some vibration when I tripped the shutter. I remember giving an exasperated sigh and picking up the camera after jarring the camera during a long time exposure. There probably was enough of an exposure to record the building and the streaks from the vehicles and streetlights were recorded as I picked up the camera from the middle of Locust St. in Des Moines on Feb. 13, 2024. I chalk it up as one of those happy accidents. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Violinist Julia Sakharova stands for a portrait in the Hall of Mirrors at the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids on Feb. 16, 2024. Sakharova, who lives in the greater St. Louis area, has been named Orchestra Iowa's new concertmaster. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Charlie Curtis, 8, of Grimes smiles as he watches his mom while she listens to the AEA hearing at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines on Feb. 21, 2024. Charlie utilizes a therapist through AEA and helps coordinate care for him. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Aidyn Taylor, 6, makes a face as she talks to another girl at the Creative Kids after school program at Shellsburg Elementary School in Shellsburg on April 18, 2024. The K-5th grade childcare center, purchased by former educators in the district, offers before and after childcare at the school in the Vinton-Shellsburg Community School District. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Tower technicians Kyler Gulbraa and Josh Fitzler prepare to replace a NOAA weather radio transmitter at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids on April 24, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Sustainable construction instructor Matt McCully (top left) instructs students as they work on a roofing assignment during a construction 2 class at the Waterloo Career Center in Waterloo on May 2, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Julie and Terry Mangold pose for a portrait in front of their barn quilt named, “Cows in the Pasture” in West Chester on May 7, 2024. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

The Aurora Borealis illuminates the sky over the Hawkeye Wildlife Management Area in Johsnon County on May 11, 2024. A severe geomagnetic solar storm caused the phenomenon to be visible much farther south than usual. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Johnson County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Jeff Gingerich instructs school staff in the use of a tourniquet during an an all-staff professional learning day focused on safety and emergency response at Solon High School in Solon on May 31, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Scott Kleymann (right) splashes water at Nikki Amerson as they make their way back to shore with their Spring Valley Dental Care teammates after their Buoyant Brushers cardboard craft sank during the Freedom Festival Cardboard Boat Regatta at Manhattan Robbins Lake Park in northwest Cedar Rapids on June 8, 2024. After a 14-year hiatus the regatta returns as part of the city’s annual Fourth of July celebrations. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Lucas Workman, 6, left, reacts as his friend Baylor Hanson’s, 6, cookie stack falls as time is called during a cooking stacking competition at the Linn County Fair in Central City on June 27, 2024. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Jay Goodvin takes a bite out of the pork tenderloin sandwich at Foxy’s in Central City on July 2, 2024. Goodvin is nearly a third of the way into a 99 county tenderloin tour in which he eats a pork tenderloin sandwich in each of Iowa’s 99 counties. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Capt. Cody Nolan and Chief Warrant Officer 2 John Kenny pilot a Chinook helicopter over the Mississippi River during the Iowa National Guard’s ESGR Boss Lift to annual training at Camp Ripley, Minn. on July 23, 2024. The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Boss Lift provides an opportunity for employers of soldiers in the guard to observe their employees during training and learn about their role in the military. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Ron DeChristopher sits for a portrait as his wife Judy Winter renders his likeness in mustard during the first annual decorative mustarding contest at the MoCo Game Room and Hot Dog Bar in Cedar Rapids on Aug. 3, 2024. Winter’s portrait of her husband took first place in the just the plate (mustard only) category. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

One-year-old Avery Walker of Washington stomps in a puddle at a rising fountain as a rainbow forms in the morning light at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on Aug. 10, 2024. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Jupiter Mountain performs at a house concert in Iowa City on Aug. 12, 2024. Jupiter Mountain was the first set of a four-performer bill for the night. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Reina Glandon interacts with nine-month-old Sorin Moon during an appointment at the Eastern Iowa Health Center’s pediatrics clinic in southeast Cedar Rapids on Aug. 13, 2024. The center, a federally qualified health center serving Eastern Iowa, has seen significant growth in recent years with the expansion of dental, women's and pediatric healthcare as the number of patients seen has nearly doubled this year. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Yukiko Hill of Iowa City points at a Monarch butterfly and laughs after it took flight, out of reach of volunteers’ nets, during a tagging event at F.W. Kent Park in Oxford on Sept. 11, 2024. Johnson County Conservation holds monarch tagging events to record and mark the butterflies before their journey 2,000 miles to winter homes in Mexico. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Technician Blake Iske takes a sample from a digester at the Marshall Ridge Renewable Energy Center in State Center on Sept. 18, 2024. The facility’s three anaerobic manure digesters extract methane from dairy cow manure. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Tim Gallenbeck cleans the front windows at Blooms Garden Center in Marion on Sept. 26, 2024. Gallenbeck says owning his own business allows him to pursue his other passions like being an etch-a-sketch artist or doing America Ninja Warrior. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Jason Kwapil operates a combine during soybean harvesting on the Voss farm near Palo on Oct. 2, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Josue Louis (right) touches his thumbs together as he and Malik Al Dakhil play along in a game of Simon Says in Carry Miller’s newcomer ELL class at Prairie High School in southwest Cedar Rapids on Oct. 8, 2024. Students in the class have been in the United States for less than two years. Students in the class come from Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, Haiti, Honduras, Tanzania, Brazil, Ecuador and Democratic Republic of Congo to name a few countries. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Four-year-old Rosalina Reyes of Cedar Rapids smiles as she touches the tail of Cinder a bearded dragon during a presentation celebrating National Reptile Awareness Day at the Hiawatha Public Library in Hiawatha on Oct. 21, 2024. Chris Ferenzi has kept reptiles as pets for over 30 years. Ferenzi owns and operates a business that specializes in breeding and care of ball pythons as pets. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Voters wait in line for polling to open at Hilton Township Hall in Conroy on Nov. 5, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette via AP)

Kurt Purdy of Columbus Junction shoots out bubbles in celebration after Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks declared victory in the District 1 election during her watch party at Riverside Casino in Riverside on Nov. 5, 2024. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Colorful clouds hover above a ridge as the sun sets in Palo on Nov. 11, 2024. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

The sun sets at the Chain lake bridge and reflects onto the Cedar River in Palo on Nov. 11, 2024. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Save-a-Lot owner Jim McVeigh hugs Linda Schultz of Williamsburg as she shops with her husband Gary at the grocery store in southwest Cedar Rapids on Nov. 26, 2024. The Schultzs have made the southwest Cedar Rapids grocery store their primary grocery store even though they live in Williamsburg. Gary Schultz used to deliver for Save a Lot and liked the store. After about 28 years of owning and operating the grocery store, and about 40 years in the grocery industry, McVeigh is retiring and closing the grocery store to be able to spend time with his wife and children. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Rogelio Lagunas watches as his daughter, Genesis Lagunas, 6, plays with their dog Olive at their home in Cedar Rapids on Dec. 5, 2024. Lagunas, who immigrated to Iowa, is concerned President-elect Donald Trump's plans for mass deportations of undocumented migrants will stoke anti-immigrant sentiment and racist behavior across the country. He encourages the community to assert their rights to speak out against racism and discrimination. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

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