CEDAR FALLS ACTING POLICE CHIEF CRAIG BERTE IS LIKELY TO HAVE THE “ACTING” DESIGNATION REMOVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL TONIGHT. BERTE HAS BEEN SERVING AS ACTING CHIEF SINCE JANUARY. HE IS BEING RECOMMENDED FOR THE PROMOTION BY MAYOR ROB GREEN, WHO ANNOUNCED THE NOMINATION EARLIER THIS MONTH. CEDAR FALLS HAS NOT HAD A POLICE CHIEF SINCE JEFF OLSON RESIGNED THE POST IN DECEMBER. OLSON STAYED ON AS PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR, IN CHARGE OF BOTH THE POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS, A JOB HE HAS HELD SINCE 2014. BERTE WAS ONE OF THREE FINALISTS FOR THE POLICE CHIEF ROLE IDENTIFIED EARLIER THIS YEAR.
CEDAR RAPIDS BUSES ARE RUNNING AGAIN FOLLOWING THE SECOND SUBSTANTIAL INTERRUPTION THIS YEAR. TUESDAY’S DERECHO HALTED SERVICE FOR MOST OF LAST WEEK. THE RIDECRT.COM WEBSITE SHOWS CEDAR RAPIDS BUS ROUTES ARE BEING SERVED ONCE MORE. CEDAR RAPIDS TRANSIT HAD TO IDLE ITS BUSES FOR NEARLY TWO MONTHS FROM LATE MARCH TO MID-MAY AS A RESULT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
WITH THE IOWA STATE FAIR CANCELED, SOME FARM FAMILIES ARE DELAYING AN OPPORTUNITY TO CELEBRATE. IOWA SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE MIKE NAIG TALKED ABOUT THE CENTURY AND HERITAGE FARM CEREMONIES WHICH HAD ORIGINALLY BEEN PLANNED FOR THURSDAY AT THE STATE FAIR. NAIG SAYS MANY OF THE AWARDS WILL BE PRESENTED IN 2021. THE CENTURY AND HERITAGE FARM PROGRAMS RECOGNIZE FARMS THAT HAVE BEEN OPERATED BY THE SAME FAMILY FOR 100 OR 150 YEARS.
AS POWER COMES BACK ON IN CEDAR RAPIDS AND OTHER EASTERN IOWA COMMUNITIES, THE STATE IS HOPING FOR MASSIVE FEDERAL AID TO RECOVER AFTER LAST WEEK’S DERECHO. DOCUMENTS FILED BY GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS’ OFFICE INDICATE DAMAGE ESTIMATED AT 3.99 BILLION DOLLARS, MOST OF THAT IN THE FORM OF LOSSES TO AGRICULTURE. SPEAKING ABOUT THE STORM DURING A NEWS CONFERENCE LAST WEEK WITH THE GOVERNOR, CEDAR RAPIDS MAYOR BRAD HART EXPRESSED HOPE. ACROSS IOWA, OVER 8,200 HOMES WERE DESTROYED OR SUFFERED MAJOR DAMAGE FROM THE STORM WITH WINDS CLOCKED OVER 100 MILES PER HOUR. THE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL DISASTER AID INDICATED $100 MILLION DOLLARS IN REPAIRS WOULD BE NEEDED FOR IOWA UTILITIES.
WHILE POWER OUTAGES IN CITIES LIKE CEDAR RAPIDS PREVENTED ELECTRICITY FROM BEING DELIVERED TO DOZENS OF HOMES ON THE SAME BLOCK, RURAL POWER OUTAGES CAN BE EVEN TRICKIER TO SOLVE, WITH POWER LINES STRETCHING LONG DISTANCES TO SERVE A LESS DENSE POPULATION. HOWEVER, AS OF THIS MORNING THE LINN COUNTY RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE SAID IT’S OUTAGE NUMBERS WERE DOWN BELOW 13-HUNDRED OF 30-THOUSAND USERS. LINN COUNTY REC HAS MEMBERS IN PARTS OF SIX COUNTIES. THE COOPERATIVE SAYS EIGHT OTHER R-E-C’S HAVE SENT CREWS TO HELP.
THE WATERLOO BUCKS ARE INTO THE FINAL WEEK OF THEIR SCHEDULE. THE SEASON ENDS THURSDAY, AND THE BUCKS ARE CURRENTLY IN FIRST PLACE BY A HALF GAME OVER THE ST. CLOUD ROX. WATERLOO PLAYS ONE OF THREE REMAINING GAMES TONIGHT AGAINST THE ROCHESTER HONKERS AT RIVERFRONT STADIUM.
IT’S BEEN NEARLY A WEEK SINCE HIGH WINDS BROUGHT DOWN TREES AND DESTROYED HOMES IN CEDAR RAPIDS AND ELSEWHERE IN IOWA. RESIDENTS ARE STILL TAKING IN THE STUNNING DAMAGE. THOMAS APPLEBEE OF CEDAR RAPIDS SPOKE TO OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT TV-9 ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON. APPLEBEE HAD MINOR HOME DAMAGE. HE TOLD TV-9 THAT RESIDENTS IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD CLEARED DEBRIS FROM THEIR YARDS IN CASE EMERGENCY VEHICLES NEEDED TO GO OFF ROAD AROUND HUGE DOWNED TREES BLOCKING THE STREET.
LAST WEEK’S STORMS LEFT IOWA AGRICULTURE SECRETARY MIKE NAIG FEELING REFLECTIVE. DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL, HE TALKED ABOUT HOW MANY FAMILIES HAVE WORKED THROUGH HARD TIMES BEFORE WHILE ACHIEVING CENTURY FARM STATUS. THE ANNUAL CENTURY FARM AWARDS HAD BEEN SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY BEFORE THE IOWA STATE FAIR WAS CANCELED BY THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.
CLASSES ARE UNDERWAY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHER IOWA. STUDENTS RETURNED TO CLASSROOMS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE MID-MARCH, WHEN THE SPRING ACADEMIC TERM HAD TO BE ALTERED BY COVID-19. STUDENTS ARE ALSO RETURNING TO BUILDINGS ON THE IOWA STATE CAMPUS TODAY, WHILE THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA WILL BEGIN THE FALL SESSION NEXT MONDAY.
