Obituaries

What an eventful day! Mom invited my two sisters-in-law and myself to her house for the day. Plans were to bake pies and do whatever other projects we wanted to bring along. Pies sounded like an impressive option to me, especially since I just don't find as much time to work in the kitchen as I used to. But then, that's OK, my husband Daniel doesn't expect me to reach around to everything I would like to do.Mom ...

Scribblers writing group met on Monday, Dec. 11, 2017, at the Jumbo Buffet restaurant to enjoy a meal together this holiday season. There were eight members present, and everyone enjoyed the choices off the buffet. After a dinner with conversation, a short business meeting was held.At the business meeting, the secretary's minutes were read and approved for the Nov. 13 meeting. The treasurer's report was also ...

Iowa Sister States is excited to announce the Jeff Zimpleman Iowa Sister States Scholarship, a unique opportunity specifically for Iowa students to further their interest in the world of international relations via one of Iowa's nine international relationships.The scholarship is available for Iowa students enrolled in colleges and universities in the state of Iowa who are seeking degrees in the area of internati...

CEDAR RAPIDS ? Community leaders, NAACP representatives and local law enforcement hope to sign an agreement that would begin a mediation process on racial tensions and policing policies in the next few months.In another meeting Thursday, discussion centered on transparency in community policing and racial profiling policies for law enforcement.Attendees included Linn County Supervisor Stacey Walker and represent...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Senator Marco Rubio on Friday repeated his concerns that an expansion of child tax credit in a tax bill his party's leaders hope to pass next week is too little to win his support, keeping a cloud over prospects for the legislation's passage.Rubio noted that the pending legislation, which is still being finalized, would double the child tax credit to $2,000, but said that ...

Iowans threw away an estimated 556,000 tons of food in 2017, with the share of food in the waste stream up 50 percent since 2011, according to a new statewide waste characterization study from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.Food waste ? including spoiled sour cream, tainted takeout or past-its-prime produce ? accounted for 20 percent of the landfilled materials in the 2017 Iowa Statewide Waste Character...

The Federal Communications Commission's repeal of net neutrality rules is being met with a mix of approval from local internet providers and concern from at least one former FCC member.Officials with Mediacom and ImOn Communications said the repeal of net neutrality rules ? originally adopted in 2015 to ban the blocking or slowing of web content by internet service providers ? will not have a negative impact on ...

CHICAGO - Missouri has issued its first fines over the misuse of a farm chemical in 2016 that went on to be linked in different formulations to widespread U.S. crop damage this year, the state said on Thursday.Authorities fined eight people a total of $145,125 for improperly spraying the chemical known as dicamba, used to kill weeds, in what Missouri called ?the first wave of civil penalties issued to applicators...

JERUSALEM - Less than an hour after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Palestinians protested by turning off the lights on the Christmas tree outside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus.It was a timely reminder that while headlines focused on Islamist calls for uprisings and Trump's references to Jewish historical ties, the president's words ...

Traditional depression treatments like psychotherapy or medication might work better for some patients when doctors add a dose of music therapy, a research review suggests.Researchers examined data on 421 people who participated in nine previously completed short-term experiments testing the benefits of music therapy on its own or added to traditional interventions for depression.Overall, the analysis found ...