CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The City of Cedar Rapids has announced that applications for the city’s Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation Program are open. The program is set to assist low-to-moderate income Cedar Rapids homeowners with up to $24,999 in project-related costs, or up to 50% of the pre-disaster assessed property value. This comes after the City was awarded $2.5 million through the Iowa Economic Development Authority to assist homeowners with derecho-related repairs.
VOLGA, Iowa (KCRG) – A Missouri man is now facing charges after a fatal incident in Volga, Iowa in which two people fell off the tailgate of a truck he was allegedly driving earlier this year, according to the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office. In a press release on Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said 24-year-old Tucker Baker, of St. Joseph, Missouri, now faces charges of Homicide by Vehicle – Reckless Driving and Serious Injury By Vehicle. Investigators said videos of the incident obtained from witnesses show three trucks rapidly accelerating in succession, with the last of the three being the white GMC Sierra, occupied by seven people, that Baker was allegedly driving. It happened on Domino Road near Volga Campground. The sheriff’s office said the two men that were injured in the incident were 24-year-old William Gross and 21-year-old Brett Gross, both of St. Joseph, Missouri. They were sitting on the tailgate of the truck when it accelerated, so rapidly they fell off. Both were rushed to the hospital for life-threatening injuries. William Gross died.
OXFORD, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa State Patrol has identified the woman who died after crashing head-on into a dump truck in Johnson County on Tuesday. The Iowa State Patrol said a Ford Escape, driven by 74-year-old Cynthia Asmussen, of Iowa City, was heading westbound when the vehicle crossed the centerline while on a curve in the roadway. The SUV collided with a Dump Truck head-on at about 12:38 p.m. in the 2200 block of Black Diamond Road SW. Asmussen was taken to the hospital where she died. The driver of the dump truck was taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (KCRG) – Members of the Iowa Board of Regents took an in-person tour of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics’ newest facility in North Liberty on Wednesday. The hospital said construction on the new campus, located at the corner of Forevergreen Road and highway 965, is more than halfway completed. It’s expected to open in 2025. It’s the first extension of the UI Health Care academic health system, and staff say there will be close coordination between the new campus and the Iowa City campus for patients and staff. The new campus in North Liberty is part of a plan to add more space and provide more access to healthcare amid ongoing high capacity at its Iowa City campus. The hospital says it plans to move the majority of its orthopedics and sports medicine department’s clinical, research and educational programs to North Liberty. That move will open up space to expand other care services, medical education and research at the Iowa City location.
