CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Cedar Rapids police are asking for the public’s help after a man was injured in a shooting Saturday night. At approximately 10:33 p.m. Saturday, Cedar Rapids police responded to a shooting in the 1800 block of A Ave NE. Upon arrival, police found a male victim with non-life-threatening gunshot injuries. The victim was taken to the hospital. Police are investigating the shooting and asking anyone with information to call the Cedar Rapids Police Department.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Mirrorbox Theatre says it will close by the end of the year due to financial issues. The theatre’s monthly improvisational soap opera “The Rapids” will be the company’s final production. The show will be at 7 p.m. on November 19 at the Giving Tree Theater in Marion. The theatre is also canceling its holiday production of “DIE HARD …is a Christmas movie.” Board President Chelsea White said the decision was not an easy one, but finances made it “no longer possible to sustain our work in the way our community deserves.” Mirrorbox Theatre is a volunteer theatre company dedicated to “presenting new plays that have yet to be staged in our state,” according to its website. It was founded in 2018 and found its permanent performance space in 2022. The theatre previously asked for $30,000 in emergency donations from supporters to keep the theatre open through 2024.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – A Riverdale man who was charged with interfering with investigations into a University of Iowa fraternity hazing incident had his charges dismissed. Joseph Gaya, 22, was scheduled to have a jury trial for a charge of interference with official acts. His defense team argued in the acquittal motion that the University of Iowa Police officer investigating the situation did not face force or threats that hindered the investigation. The incident was discovered when police and firefighters responded to a fire alarm at the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. While there was no fire found, police went to the basement and discovered 56 pledges in two separate rooms. Some of them were blindfolded, some of them were shirtless, but all of them were covered in what police said was ketchup, mustard and alcohol. Officers said Gaya blocked the doorway of the basement despite being asked to move several times. Later, police said Gaya stood in front of two witnesses in a separate room as an officer tried to talk to them about the incident. The officer asked Gaya to step out of the way multiple times, but police said he told the witnesses to not talk to officers. Gaya does not live at the fraternity house, nor is he a University of Iowa student. Alpha Delta Phi was suspended from the University of Iowa on February 25 and can be reinstated on July 1, 2029.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Monday marked day 41 of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The Senate voted to debate an agreement Sunday with the support of seven Democrats and one Independent. The agreement would fund the government through January in exchange for a mid-December vote on extending the health care tax credits. The agreement does not guarantee the health care subsidies will be extended, as Democrats have demanded for almost six weeks. Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said Sunday it will be hard to trust Republicans’ promise to vote on the issue. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted against the deal, but some Iowa leaders are now calling for Schumer’s resignation. State Sen. Zach Wahls, who is running for U.S. Senate, says Schumer should step aside for a new generation of leaders to take over. Nathan Sage, also a Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate, spoke out against Schumer in a post Monday morning. Democrat State Rep. Josh Turek, another Senate candidate, said there should be no deal without guaranteed health care protection.
