Waterloo Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald is one of seven finalists for the position of director of the Memphis Police Department. City officials there say interviews with the candidates will occur soon, with a decision to be made next month. The city’s current police department director is set to retire on April 14. Fitzgerald took over as Waterloo chief just last June…he was also in the running for the job as police chief in Albuquerque, New Mexico earlier this year, as well as on the candidate list in Miami, Florida late last year.
The Iowa Board of Regents has lifted the international travel ban for university-sponsored travel that was put in place on March 5th of last year. In a statement, the board said the decision was made due to sustained improvements in Iowa with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. The board is leaving decisions regarding university-sponsored student, faculty and staff travel up to the president of each university…UNI, Iowa, and Iowa State. However, the Board’s overall State of Emergency that was issued on March 18, 2020, remains in effect.
The Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation announced this week it is the sole beneficiary of the Nadine Sandberg Estate, which is valued in excess of $1 million. She grew up in Gilman in Marshall County. When asked why she chose to leave her estate to the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation, Mrs. Sandberg said, “Books have kind of been my life.” She passed away at Cottage Grove Place in May of last year, just two months shy of her 103rd birthday.
The Pella Historical Society has released the schedule for the 2021 Tulip Festival. Tulip Time was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. The festival is scheduled for May 6-8 and will feature Dutch food and costumes in addition to the tulips. There will be grandstand shows at 1 p.m. each day of the festival…but the traditional parades have been canceled.
The City of Waterloo is asking for public input as part of the 2030 Vision and Strategic Plan process to help develop a vision for the future of Waterloo. The city has opened a survey where anyone, including non-Waterloo residents, can share their thoughts on the city’s best features and opportunities. The survey also asks what the city can add to make it a better community. At the end of the survey, residents can provide other ideas and share stories about Waterloo. 10 people will be selected to share their stories and ideas at an event at the Riverloop Amphitheatre on May 13…it’s called “Waterloo Spark”, a community-wide visioning event that’s free and open to the public. The survey is open until March 31st online at cityofwaterlooiowa.com.
Nearly all employees of the Cedar Valley’s two largest school districts who wanted a COVID-19 vaccine have received their first dose. Cedar Falls Community Schools completed the task on Monday, with just more than 90% of district staff choosing to receive the shot. And officials in Cedar Falls say by the end of this week, about 30% of staff that wanted a vaccine will have received their second dose. Waterloo Community Schools is on track to complete first doses this week, as well, with about 87% receiving the shot. Waterloo school officials believe by April, all who want the vaccination should have received full protocols.
Environmental officials are considering what actions to take against a southwestern Iowa feedlot after finding animal parts and the contents of slaughtered cattle stomachs strewn across two open fields. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says its staff discovered the situation Monday upon responding to several complaints against Feedlot Service Company, located about 3 miles southeast of Neola. Improper animal disposal can spread disease and endanger human and animal health.
An Iowa prosecutor is defending his pursuit of charges against a journalist who was arrested while covering a protest in a case that some say amounted to an attack on the press. Polk County Attorney John Sarcone says the evidence against Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was “more than sufficient” to take the case to trial and that dismissing it would have amounted to special treatment. A Des Moines police officer pepper-sprayed and arrested Sahouri last May while she was covering a Black Lives Matter protest. Sahouri was charged with disobeying police orders to disperse and interfering with the officer who arrested her. A jury acquitted her on Wednesday.
A Johnston woman has been charged after officials say she kept three children locked in a blacked-out room in filthy conditions. Court records show 31-year-old Brittany Roozeboom was charged last week with three counts of child endangerment and one count of child endangerment resulting in bodily injury. Police say the children were kept for extended periods in a room with black-painted cardboard covering the windows that locked from the outside and had no internal door knob. She is being held in the Polk County Jail.
