From the KCRG-TV9 Newsroom:
Cedar Rapids city leaders have approved the $11 million Lightline bridge project connecting the Czech Village and NewBo. The bridge would have walking and biking paths over the Cedar River. It will replace the old railroad bridge destroyed in the 2008 flood. Construction is to start in February.
The old University of Iowa Art building, vacant for the past 16 years, is about to be revitalized. The Board of Regents approved the initial stages of the $37 million project which will be the home of the graduate college and the College of Education, which is currently housed at the Kirkwood regional center off the main campus. The building was heavily damage by the 2008 flood, has been empty ever since, but could be back open by summer of 2026.
The Linn County attorney says so far this school year, student absences in the county are on par with last year, despite a new law designed to reduce the number of chronically absent students in the state. Nick Maybanks says if a prosecution does take place, the punishment would fall on the parent. That includes anything from fines or jail time. But he says most cases never reach the extreme point of having to meet with his office.
Republican U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley says the Senate needs as much transparency as possible when it comes to the speedy consideration of Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz. Grassley is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which could consider Gaetz’s appointment. Gaetz has faced criticism for alleged sexual misconduct which resulted in a House Ethics probe. The results of that investigation have not been released.
The U.S. Court of Appeals will hear arguments today over lawsuits in connection to the Summit Carbon pipeline project through Iowa. Eight counties have passed carbon pipeline zoning ordinances and six have been sued by Summit, most recently Bremer County. The carbon dioxide sequestration pipeline would stretch roughly 2,500 miles over five states, including Iowa. Arguments in the case start this morning at the federal courthouse in Omaha.
