The Gazette

The official word for today: Stay home and off the roads if at all possible. Blizzard conditions are widely predicted, with wind gusts of up to 60 mph and temperatures below zero tonight. Full Story »

The restoration of Alliant Energy’s big Cedar Rapids operations center from the June 2008 flood didn’t happen quickly, but it happened in time. The center at 1001 Shaver Rd. NE is home base for about 130 Alliant Energy employees who were preparing for the worst from a massive winter storm hitting today. As the storm rolled [...] Full Story »

A police officer lost control of his cruiser Tuesday night while headed north on Interstate 380. Officer Steve Keiller was uninjured after his vehicle slid off the road and down into the eastern embankment at around 6:15 p.m. Full Story »

Gov. Chet Culver on Tuesday unveiled 90 proposals aimed at saving nearly $1.7 billion over five years by streamlining and reshaping government agencies and services. The ideas supplied by a paid consultant ranged from big-ticket savings via state employee retirement incentives and changing debt collection and unclaimed property approaches to funding state troopers from road use [...] Full Story »

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After forty years, 93-year-old Lee Bevelheimer decided it was finally time to officially adopt his foster son. And while walking out of the Johnson County Courthouse Monday, he looked at his son Steve Harland, 54, and told him “it’s the real deal,” now. Though Harland said the adoption wasn’t necessary to make him feel part of the [...] Full Story »

Video chat rooms at Ustream Full Story »

Attorney for convicted landlord Robert Miell requests a continuance of his sentencing hearing that was postponed in September after Miell decided he wanted to testify. Full Story »

A visit to a southwest Cedar Rapids store likely will bring back pleasant memories for many shoppers. Closeout Unlimited, 517 Third Ave. SW, is chock full of classic games and toys such as Chinese checkers, Hot Wheels, Big Wheels, Buddy L toy trucks, wooden alphabet and number blocks, Suzy Homemaker dolls and toy trains. Pedal cars and [...] Full Story »

A fistful of small change here, a fistful there, a few dollar bills — it all adds up. “I usually have bills, but I don’t have any with me,” Karen Louk, 59, of Cedar Rapids, said. “So I dug into the bottom of my purse.” What Louk found went into the Salvation Army kettle in front of [...] Full Story »

Find the weddings, engagements and anniversaries printed in The Gazette’s Milestones section this week. Weddings Engagements Anniversaries Full Story »

While shoveling his sidewalk, a teenager detected the smell of smoke coming from his house at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday. The teenager called firefighters to the home at 1710 Apache Trail NW, who encountered heavy smoke coming from the basement. Full Story »

Attorneys for former Agriprocessors vice president Sholom Rubashkin will appeal his motion for bail to the U.S. Court of Appeals. The attorneys filed a notice with the U.S. District Court Monday. Chief Judge Linda Reade denied Rubashkin two motions for bail last month pending his sentencing on 86 counts of bank fraud and other charges, which hasn’t [...] Full Story »

WEST DES MOINES – Gov. Chet Culver unveiled 90 proposals – some controversial – Tuesday aimed at saving nearly $1.7 billion over five years by streamlining and reshaping government agencies and services. The ideas supplied by a paid consultant ranged from big-ticket savings via state employee retirement incentives and changing debt collection and unclaimed property approaches [...] Full Story »

Roads are becoming increasingly snow-packed as a winter storm bears down on Eastern Iowa. Both Johnson and Linn counties are following their winter procedures: Plows off the road at 6 p.m., with crews ready to return at 4 a.m. Full Story »

Most cities in Eastern Iowa have declared snow emergencies. At minimum, that means no parking on snow emergency routes. Here are details of snow laws in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City: Full Story »

Your kids are out of school for the day because of the weather. Their natural instinct is to spend the entire day in front of the TV or on the computer, but there are other options:Build a snowman.Bake cookies or make candy.Decorate the rooms with Christmas lights.Read out loud to each other or on your [...] Full Story »

All flights in out and of the Eastern Iowa Airport have been cancelled until at least tomorrow morning, according to the airports website. The last flight left Cedar Rapids at 3:30 p.m. bound for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The last arrival from was Denver that landed at 1:42 p.m. Officials at the Eastern Iowa Airport ask that [...] Full Story »

It’s been a hectic day for hospital emergency rooms. Dr. Donald Linder, an emergency department physician at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, said a spate of minor vehicle accidents kept emergency workers busy. “People need to remember how to drive in winter, wet conditions,” he said. “People just need to be aware of their surroundings and [...] Full Story »

A number of area school districts canceled classes early Tuesday morning. But after a period of light snow early in the day, the snowfall didn’t pick up again until Tuesday afternoon. Do you think the school districts acted appropriately in canceling classes Tuesday? Let us know by voting in our online poll. Full Story »

Iowa governor Chet Culver today unveiled 90 cost-saving proposals that he said will save $341 million in the first year and nearly $1.7 billion over the next five years. Proposals include consolidating state information technology systems, combining state vehicles fleets, promoting more electronic filing options, selling surplus state property and improving the state’s ability to collect [...] Full Story »

An Iowa City woman faces drug and child endangerment charges after police say they found an active meth lab after raiding her home. Iowa City police responded to a report of the alleged meth lab at the home of Cindy L. Guhl, 50, 101 Shrader Rd., and one of her children denied consent to search his [...] Full Story »

A Titonka official has been arrested on charges of online sexual enticement after authorities say he sent an obscene live video stream of himself to an undercover police officer in Nebraska. Paul Heyer, the utilities superintendent for the northern Iowa city of Titonka, was arrested Monday. Police say Heyer initiated an online conversation with someone who he [...] Full Story »

Attorneys for a former manager of an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse plan to appeal a decision to hold him in custody before sentencing on financial fraud charges. Sholom Rubashkin was convicted last month in federal court in Sioux Falls, S.D., on 86 counts. He was charged after an immigration raid at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville in [...] Full Story »

About 25 people were evacuated from an apartment building in Iowa City after fire broke out early Tuesday morning. The residents of 220 Lafayette St. were allowed to return after firefighters extinguished the flames. No one was injured. Fire crews responded to the two-story apartment building around 1:55 a.m. Tuesday. They tracked the problem to a utility [...] Full Story »