From the KCRG-TV9 Newsroom:
The University of Northern Iowa is one of four schools sharing about $14 million to help fight climate change. The National Science Foundation money will fund a program to help communities respond to erosion, flooding and other climate change hazards. UNI researchers will help forecast climate change impacts for places in Western Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.
Students, staff, and parents at two Cedar Rapids schools are scrambling to make changes after engineers voiced concerns about the school buildings themselves. Those structural engineers and other building experts say they found deterioration on several beams that help support the domes at Harding and Taft middle schools. The domes are where each school’s cafeteria, auditorium, and gym are located. So students say they either had to eat lunch at tables in the hallways or in classrooms. And the other big changes impacted gym classes as well as orchestra and band rehearsals. The district says it is trying to get portable classrooms put on site. In the meantime, and they are re-arranging other classrooms.
The issues at Harding and Taft come exactly two weeks before voters decide on the school district’s $220 million bond proposal. The district held the first of several informational meetings yesterday designed to help voters learn more about the bond proposal. The next is set for this Thursday and it will be a virtual webinar.
Members of the Benton County Board of Supervisors say the decision to terminate the county Board of Health members was due to budgeting. The Supervisors say the meeting was made in a closed session. Five vacancies now need to be filled with supervisors saying nothing else. Members of the Board of Health say they received written notice of the changes and were given no reason for their dismissals.
“Q Casino” in Dubuque kicked off its more than $75 million renovation project. It’s been nearly 15 years since the casino got any significant upgrades. The project will expand the casino as part of a planned redevelopment of Schmitt Island. The first phase includes moving to a temporary casino space in the former greyhound racing grandstand viewing area.
