The Cedar Rapids Jaycees have cancelled the rest of this year’s Uptown Friday Night concerts. Concerts had been planned for August 20th and 27th, and September 3rd. In a news release, the Jaycees cited “various rumors circulating in the community and on social media regarding the reasons for cancellation.” They said they’re investigating issues and have no further statement right now. They also said low attendance, lack of profitability and other factors played into their decision to cancel the concerts. But in separate news release dated August 3rd, the Jaycees said “due to a lack of transparency, misuse of funds and grossly misguided information, effective August 1st Maureen Dees is no longer the 2021 Uptown Friday Night director or a member of the Cedar Rapids Jaycees.” The Jaycees plan to refund any tickets purchased for the cancelled concerts, and they say season pass holders will be refunded a prorated amount for those shows.
An explosion has leveled a home in rural central Iowa, but officials say the home was unoccupied at the time and no one was hurt. The explosion happened around 9 p.m. Sunday in Hamilton County, about 2 miles northeast of Duncombe. Debris from the explosion landed as far away as 100 yards in all directions from where the home had stood. Fire officials are trying to determine what caused the explosion.
The Boys & Girls Club of the Corridor is asking for your help after a golf cart was stolen during their Fish-O-Rama fundraiser over the weekend. Employees discovered someone had taken one of the golf carts the Club had rented for the event. The only lead they have is that a golf cart was seen on a trailer leaving Manhattan-Robbins Lake along the Cedar River near Edgewood Road and Ellis Road through the exit near the gardens between 9 and 10 o’clock Sunday morning. Fish-O-Rama helps fund the basic needs and activities the Club provides for young people across the Corridor. The theft cuts into the profitability of the fundraiser.
Authorities say a police chase in Marion not only ended when a stolen vehicle caught fire, but when they learned the teenager involved had a warrant out for his arrest. Officers responded to the 5400 block of Business Highway 151 after a person called in, saying a driver of a silver auto was acting odd while driving around with a pistol on his lap. Officers found the vehicle just after 6 o’clock Monday morning and tried to pull it over, but the driver sped off. Officers followed the vehicle as it drove south on Iowa Highway 13 but quickly stopped chasing it for safety reasons. Marion Police say the driver went west on Iowa Highway 100 when the vehicle became disabled and caught on fire near East Post Road and Oakbrook Drive. 18-year-old Hunter Reiner was arrested and faces charges of eluding and driving while barred. Officers also recovered the gun, and say both the gun and vehicle were stolen from Robins. Police say Reiner also had an outstanding arrest warrant and additional charges are pending.
Waterloo Police need your help identifying the suspects who broke into Rodney’s Kitchen downtown late Friday night. Surveillance videos appear to show multiple suspects breaking into the cash registers in the restaurant and adjacent tattoo parlor around 10:45 Friday night. In a Facebook post, owner Rodney Lewis says the suspects stole all of the money from the registers.
The Iowa Court of Appeals has ruled the owners of the Cricket Hollow Zoo did receive a fair trial and upheld an order closing the zoo and allowing animal rights groups to rescue hundreds of exotic animals. The owners, Pamela and Thomas Sellner, appealed a 2019 ruling that declared the zoo to be a public nuisance due to animal neglect, and barred the Sellners from obtaining more animals in the future. The matter stemmed from a lawsuit filed by animal rights groups claiming the zoo failed to supply animals with necessary food, water, and veterinary care, violating Iowa’s Animal Neglect Law, and causing the animals unjustified pain, distress, and suffering.
