ON ONE OF THE COLDEST DAYS OF THE SEASON SO FAR, EASTERN IOWA FIRST RESPONDERS WERE VERY ACTIVE ON MONDAY. EARLY YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, AN EXPLOSION AND FIRE CAUSED DAMAGE AT A SCHOOL BUS GARAGE IN WATERLOO. FOUR PEOPLE AT THE SCHOOL BUS SALES COMPANY FACILITY WERE TAKEN TO HOSPITALS. WALLS AT THE BUSINESS WERE BLOWN OUT AND A BURNING SCHOOL BUS WAS FOUND INSIDE THE BUILDING.
THEN MONDAY EVENING, ANOTHER BUSINESS WAS BLAZING…SENDING SMOKE MILES FROM THE FIRE SCENE JUST SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 20 NEAR THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN HUDSON AND CEDAR FALLS. THAT FIRE WAS AT BEYER MOTORSPORTS, CAUSING MAJOR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE AS WELL AS DESTROYING MULTIPLE VEHICLES. NO ONE WAS INJURED AT THAT FIRE SCENE.
AND CEDAR RAPIDS FIREFIGHTERS RESPONDED TO A CALL FROM A COLLINS AEROSPACE BUILDING MONDAY. THAT INCIDENT WAS CHARACTERIZED AS MINOR, BUT DID SEND EMPLOYEES OUT OF THE FACILITY AND INTO THE COLD. THE FIRE THERE WAS RELATED TO AN HVAC UNIT.
GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS IS EXPECTED TO RENEW AN EFFORT TO SWAP AN INCREASE IN SALES TAX FOR INCOME TAX REDUCTIONS IN 2021. THE PLAN DID NOT ADVANCE LAST SPRING. GROW CEDAR VALLEY DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS STEVE FIRMAN CHARACTERIZED REYNOLDS’ PLAN AS A HEAVY LIFT. FIRMAN WAS A RECENT GUEST ON KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL, SPEAKING ABOUT GROW CEDAR VALLEY’S LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES.
WHEN YOU THINK OF THE POLICIES A BUSINESS GROUP MIGHT ADVOCATE DURING THE IOWA LEGISLATIVE SESSION, CHILD CARE MIGHT NOT BE TOP-OF-MIND. YET THAT IS AN AREA OF INTEREST FOR GROW CEDAR VALLEY. DURING A RECENT APPEARANCE ON KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL, THE GROUP’S DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS STEVE FIRMAN EXPLAINED WHY. GROW CEDAR VALLEY RELEASED ITS 2021 LEGISLATIVE POLICY AGENDA LAST WEEK. HEAR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH STEVE FIRMAN AT KXEL.COM.
WHEN IT COMES TO OLDER KIDS, THERE IS A FAST LANE FROM THE WATERLOO CAREER CENTER, THROUGH HAWKEYE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA. CAREER CENTER DIRECTOR JEFF FROST TALKS ABOUT HOW THE PARTNERSHIP CAN SLINGSHOT SOME STUDENTS TO HAWKEYE. THE WATERLOO CAREER CENTER WORKS WITH STUDENTS FROM SEVEN PUBLIC AND THREE PRIVATE SCHOOL SYSTEMS.
LINN COUNTY HAS A NEW VETERANS AFFAIRS DIRECTOR. THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS NAMED NICOLE KEHRES TO THE POST YESTERDAY. KEHRES SPENT MORE THAN TWO DECADES IN THE AIR FORCE RESERVE. SINCE THEN, SHE HAS HELD MULTIPLE POSTS SERVING VETERANS OVER THE LAST 11 YEARS.
GOLF COURSE LIVING IS COMING TO ONE OF THE CITY OF WATERLOO’S PUBLIC LOOPS. THE WATERLOO CITY COUNCIL SIGNED OFF ON A PLAN TO CONSTRUCT A FIVE-UNIT CONDO BUILDING TO REPLACE A VACANT DUPLEX BETWEEN THE 7TH AND 8TH HOLES AT IRV WARREN MEMORIAL GOLF COURSE. THERE WAS NO OPPOSITION TO THE PLAN AT MONDAY’S COUNCIL MEETING. AND THOSE MONDAY MEETINGS WILL NOT HAPPEN AS OFTEN. STARTING IN 2021, THE NUMBER OF FORMAL SESSIONS WILL BE REDUCED FROM FOUR TO TWO EACH MONTH. COUNCIL WORK SESSIONS WILL REPLACE THE MEETING DATES.
THIS MORNING DURING KXEL LIVE AND LOCAL, YOU HEARD FROM JEFF FROST, DIRECTOR OF THE WATERLOO CAREER CENTER. ALTHOUGH THE PROGRAM IS BASED AT CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL AND MANAGED BY WATERLOO SCHOOLS, FROST POINTED OUT THAT MANY CEDAR VALLEY DISTRICTS BENEFIT. THE CAREER CENTER OPENED IN 2016 AND OFFERS 22 DIFFERENT SPECIALTY STUDY AREAS. HEAR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH JEFF FROST AT KXEL.COM.
AND TONIGHT ON KXEL, YOU CAN HEAR UNI PANTHER WOMEN’S BASKETBALL. ON SATURDAY, TANYA WARREN’S TEAM FLATTENED #22 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE BY 17 POINTS AT THE MCLEOD CENTER. THIS EVENING, THE PANTHER WOMEN HOST THE IOWA STATE CYCLONES. PREGAME COVERAGE BEGINS AT 6:15. MEANWHILE, THE IOWA STATE MEN TRY TO PULL THEIR OVERALL RECORD TO .500 AS THEY BEGIN BIG 12 PLAY IN AMES. THE CYCLONE MEN’S TEAM IS SCHEDULED TO HOST KANSAS STATE AT 8 P.M.
