Gazette Daily News Briefing, December 7
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I’m here with your update for Wednesday, December 7.
There may be some fog to start the day, but otherwise it will be sunny and calm on Wednesday. According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny with a high near 43 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area on Wednesday. Morning commuters should be wary of the possibility of dense fog before 11 a.m.
On Wednesday night it will be mostly clear, with a low of around 25 degrees.
The Iowa chapter of the Humane Society of the United States is working with the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office to offer a $5,000 reward for anyone who can provide information that leads to the arrest of the person who shot a cat with a crossbow in October.
Atticus, one of eight cats belonging to Molly Garrett and her family, went missing between Oct. 20 and 21. Garrett and her family take in a lot of stray cats, and Atticus, a red tabby, has been living with them for about a year.
They live out in the country, outside of Wilton, and their cats roam freely during the day, but they usually all return at night to avoid dangers like coyotes.
Luckily for Atticus, he walked away from the encounter with all nine lives intact. The arrow managed to go cleanly through his body without hitting any organs.He’s almost completely healed now, after receiving a lot of pampering over the last month
The sheriff’s department has been investigating the incident, but hasn’t found any leads. They discovered the arrow was a bolt from a crossbow, which requires a special license to hunt with in Iowa, but searching for registered crossbows in the area hasn’t turned anything up so far.
“We appreciate any help in this case and we do not tolerate any type of animal cruelty or abuse in Cedar County and we will do everything possible to fully investigate this case,” Chief Deputy Kevin Knoche of the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release issued by the Humane Society of the United States.
The city of Cedar Rapids is negotiating a deal to purchase land at up to $10 million from Rick and Marsha Stickle to build a flood control levee around Cedar Lake, with additional land providing for a flood plain.
The Cedar Rapids City Council voted Tuesday to OK the city’s purchase of the property at and around 550 Stickle Dr. NE and Cedar Lake, as well as easement rights around Union Pacific’s north rail yard and the lake, for a segment of the $750 million permanent flood control system in the city.
Under the city’s flood control system master plan, which was approved after the devastating flood of 2008 to protect the city from rising Cedar River waters, the north end of the system ties into high ground around Interstate 380 and J Avenue NE.
The approximately 30 acres owned by the Stickles at 550 Stickle Dr. NE, and the vacant land between there and the lake, is north of Quaker Oats.
Two Cedar Rapids multi-unit buildings, Geneva Tower and Hawthorne Hills, have been sold to a Denver-based development company, the Affordable Housing Network said Tuesday.
Geneva Tower, whose apartments at 310 Fifth Ave. SE are rented to mostly low-income seniors and adults with disabilities, and Hawthorne Hills, an income-based housing facility at 2283 C St. SW, were sold to Edgemark Communities, the affordable housing division of Edgemark Development, the network said in a news release.
Financial terms of the sale, finalized Dec. 2, were not released.
Edgemark Development, founded 22 years ago, counts shopping centers, self-storage facilities, senior housing, retail and medical office buildings among its properties. Edgemark Communities is its affordable housing division.
