Erin Jordan

CEDAR RAPIDS ? Retired and living with mild dementia, Dave Krahling often spent long stretches of each day asleep on the couch.That changed six months ago when he met a new neighbor, Ridesh Basnet, 7. The high-energy second-grader gets Krahling off the couch and into the yard, where they play catch or tag and Krahling pushes Ridesh while the boy sits on a skateboard.?He's made quite a difference,? said Krahling,...

IOWA CITY ? Mercy Iowa City will cut 115 positions -- with 65 people expected to be laid off or have their hours reduced Tuesday -- amid financial struggles that have been ongoing, despite the small private hospital joining a regional health network earlier this year.Shane Cerone, interim Mercy Iowa City CEO, announced at an all-staff meeting Monday evening 65 full- and part-time employees, most administrative ...

Working at Best Buy, a world of jumbo flat screens, GPS devices, game systems and computers, Meegan Hofmeister was the only woman on the sales floor.?A lot of the male customers doubted I could understand electronics,? said Hofmeister, 32, of Cedar Rapids. ?One day, I was literally asked to find another sales person.?Instead of complaining about sexism, Hofmeister laughed it off.?I knew I was good at sales,? ...

IOWA CITY ? The goal of a Thursday night rally in downtown Iowa City was to keep fresh in people?s minds the setbacks labor unions, immigrants and workers wanting higher wages have faced in the last year.?We are united today, and our movement is here to stay,? Mazahir Salih, an organizer for the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, told about 100 people at the event.A chant formed around those last three ...