A VIOLENT ACCIDENT RATTLED A WATERLOO NEIGHBORHOOD THIS MORNING, CAUSING MASSIVE DAMAGE TO A HOME AND LEAVING A GASOLINE TANKER TRUCK UPSIDE DOWN ON A FRONT LAWN. THE WRECK HAPPENED NEAR THE FOUR-WAY STOP AT RIDGEWAY AND HAMMOND AVENUES ON WATERLOO’S WEST SIDE, ONLY BLOCKS FROM COLUMBUS AND WATERLOO WEST HIGH SCHOOLS. AROUND 6:45, THE SEMI TANKER AND ANOTHER VEHICLE COLLIDED, SENDING THE TRUCK OUT OF CONTROL INTO A PAIR OF PARKED CARS AND EVENTUALLY THROUGH PART OF A ONE-STORY HOUSE. SPILLED FUEL WAS FLOWING DOWN RIDGEWAY AVENUE AS HAZARDOUS MATERIAL TEAMS RESPONDED AND LOCAL RESIDENTS WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES.
DAYS AFTER WATERLOO APPROVED A RESOLUTION REQUIRING FACE COVERINGS, THE CITY OF CEDAR FALLS DECIDED NOT TO. DURING A SPECIAL ELECTRONIC SESSION ON WEDNESDAY, CEDAR FALLS COUNCIL MEMBERS VOTED 6-1 TO TABLE THE ISSUE. QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW A MANDATE WOULD BE ENACTED AND WHETHER RESIDENTS WOULD FACE CITATIONS FOR NOT FOLLOWING THE MANDATE LED CEDAR FALLS REPRESENTATIVES TO SET THE ISSUE ASIDE. THEY COULD TAKE UP THE TOPIC AGAIN IN THE FUTURE.
THE IOWA STATE FAIR WOULD BE IN ITS FINAL DAYS, IF NOT FOR A COVID-19 CANCELATION. THAT HAS LED MANY PEOPLE SKIP TRIPS TO CENTRAL IOWA. GREG EDWARDS, CEO OF CATCH DES MOINES, TALKS ABOUT THE IMPACT OF THOSE VISITORS AND THEIR DOLLARS STAYING HOME. HEAR MORE FROM EDWARDS ON THE IMPACT OF THE IOWA STATE FAIR THIS WEEKEND DURING THE IOWA BUSINESS REPORT ON KXEL.
TRAFFIC IN CEDAR RAPIDS IS MOVING MORE SMOOTHLY ON HEAVILY TRAVELED ROUTES. STOPLIGHTS IN SOME LOCATIONS REMAIN OUT AFTER LAST WEEK’S DERECHO AND THE LONG-TERM POWER OUTAGES WHICH FOLLOWED, BUT CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR JEN WINTER SAYS MOST OF THE TRAFFIC SIGNALS ARE BACK ON. MANY SIGNS – ALONG WITH TREES AND POWER POLES – WERE FLATTENED BY WEST WINDS GUSTING OVER 100 MILES PER HOUR LAST TUESDAY. STREETS IN SOME NEIGHBORHOODS REMAIN CHALLENGING TO NAVIGATE DUE TO DEBRIS AND CONTINUING REPAIRS.
POLICE IN CEDAR RAPIDS SAY A PHYSICAL ALTERCATION BETWEEN A LANDLORD AND TENANT STARTED DUE TO THE POWER OUTAGE AND ENDED WITH A STABBING. THE INCIDENT HAPPENED LATE LAST WEEK. GREGORY WIECK IS THE LANDLORD AND WAS ALLEGEDLY THE ONE WIELDING THE KNIFE; HE WAS ARRESTED AFTER THE FIGHT IN THE 23-HUNDRED BLOCK OF 12TH AVENUE SOUTHWEST. ACCORDING TO POLICE, THE ARGUMENT BEGAN ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT A GENERATOR SHOULD BE PROVIDED TO TENANTS AT THE PROPERTY. INJURIES TO THE UNNAMED 64-YEAR-OLD STABBING VICTIM WERE DESCRIBED AS SERIOUS.
MORE POSITIVE COVID-19 TESTS MEAN IOWA PRISON OFFICIALS HAVE STOPPED ADMITTING INMATES FROM COUNTY JAILS TO THE IOWA MEDICAL AND CLASSIFICATION CENTER IN CORALVILLE. THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS SAID WEDNESDAY THAT 59 INMATES HAVE TESTED POSITIVE IN THE LAST WEEK OUT OF NEARLY 800 TOTAL TESTS.
CLEANUP AND RELIEF EFFORTS CONTINUE IN CEDAR RAPIDS SINCE LAST TUESDAY’S SEVERE WIND STRORM DOWNED TREES AND BLEW APART BUILDINGS THROUGHOUT CENTRAL AND EASTERN IOWA. YESTERDAY, CEDAR RAPIDS PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR JEN WINTER PROVIDED AN UPDATE ON REMOVING TONS OF BRUSH AND SCRAP. MEANWHILE, THIS WEEKEND REMAINS THE TARGET FOR RESTORING POWER TO THOUSANDS WHO HAVE BEEN WITHOUT LIGHTS, REFRIGERATION, AND IN MANY CASES, COOKING EQUIPMENT FOR MORE THAN A WEEK.
MISSING THIS SUMMER’S IOWA STATE FAIR LEAVES A BIG HOLE FOR CENTRAL IOWA’S HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY. CATCH DES MOINES CEO GREG EDWARDS TALKS ABOUT THAT ECONOMIC COMPLICATION OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. EDWARDS SAYS MANY LAYOFFS AND FURLOUGHS HAD ALREADY SQUEEZED THE HOSPITALITY WORKFORCE. EDWARDS SPOKE DURING A TAPING OF THE IOWA BUSINESS REPORT, HEARD EACH WEEKEND ON KXEL.
A FORMER WATERLOO BUCKS PITCHER HAD A SPARKLING MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT ON WEDNESDAY. DANE DUNNING WAS PART OF THE BUCKS STAFF IN 2014. LAST NIGHT, THE LEFT-HANDER STRUCK OUT SEVEN OVER 4 1/3 INNINGS, HELPING THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX BEAT THE DETROIT TIGERS, 5-3.
