Gazette Daily News Briefing, August 13
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Friday, August 13.
The weather for the next 7 days will shift from blazing hot with a chance of rain, to mild and sunny but sadly bereft of precipitation.
If you get out to mow the charred remains of your late summer lawn it should be sunny with a high near 85 degrees. According to the National Weather Service forecast this will continue into Friday night, with mostly clear skies and a low around 57 degrees.
Iowa’s population grew 4.7 percent from 2010 to 2020, according to Census Bureau data released Thursday, with nearly 80 percent of the growth happening in the state’s four largest counties -- while 68 counties posted population losses.
Overall, census data showed Iowa grew by 144,014 people since the 2010 count, exceeding the 4.1 percent increase of 120,031 in the first decade of the 21st Century.
Growth was concentrated in and around the urban centers of Polk, Johnson Linn, Johnson and Scott counties. The fastest growing county was Dallas, west of Des Moines, with an increase of 50.7 percent (33,543). Johnson was the state’s second-fastest growing county, at 16.8 percent (21,972 people).
Some local notes of interest. Tiffin had the highest rate of growth in the state -- 131.7 percent. Growth in its Johnson County neighbors of 53.1 percent in North Liberty and 48.2 percent in Solon helped fueled the county’s growth rate. Coralville’s and Iowa City’s population grew at lower rates, but well above the state average.
To the north in Linn County, the rate of growth was spurred by Palo, Fairfax and Cedar Rapids.
The least populous county is Adams County, in southwest Iowa, which has 3,704 people. It also saw a decline of 8.1 percent, or 325 people.
Just for fun I looked into Adams County a bit. My favorite two towns are the former coal mining town known as Carbon, which had a population of 34 people as of 2010. The other is the county seat of Corning, known for being the birthplace of late night legend Johnny Carson.
A group is taking shape to lead the charge to encourage Linn County voters to back a measure that allows gambling within the county and leaves the door open for a casino in the Cedar Rapids area.
If passed, the measure would permanently authorize gaming and allow Cedar Rapids to again seek permission from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to operate a licensed casino. The Linn County Board of Supervisors in July approved placing the referendum on the Nov. 2 ballot.
Anne Parmley, previously the senior vice president of client services at Pearson, will serve as board president of the Linn County Gaming Association. The volunteer-led team sets the vision to support community not-for-profit partnerships to serve county needs and will focus on encouraging passage of the gaming referendum.
Iowa is the only state that requires licensed casinos to contribute a share of their revenue to local charities and community projects. The association would serve as the not-for-profit organization tied to any casino in Linn County.
Tim Anderson hit a two-run, walk-off home run to give the Chicago White Sox a 9-8 win over the New York Yankees in a nationally televised game at Iowa’s Field of Dreams site. This came after two-run homers by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in the top of the ninth turned a 7-4 New York deficit into an 8-7 lead.
Iowan baseball fans were happy to hear before the game, the first of its kind at the site, that Major League Baseball will return again to the site for another matchup next year.
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