Gazette Daily News Podcast, October 14 and 15
Welcome to the weekend!
This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Saturday, October 14th, and Sunday, October 15th, 2023.
According to the National Weather Service, the rain could continue through early Saturday morning, otherwise it’ll be mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. Saturday night will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 43.
Sunday, will be partly sunny, with a high near 54, cooling to a low around 39 Sunday night.
Matthew 25’s Cultivate Hope Corner Store in Cedar Rapids receives $300,000 grant
$300,000 grant will support the nonprofit Cultivate Hope Corner Store operated by Matthew 25, fueling its mission of offering healthy food in a Cedar Rapids neighborhood where affordable, nutritious food options were scarce.
Matthew 25 has received a grant from the John and Cindy Family Foundation for $300,000 to be paid out over three years to support the store, located at 604 Ellis Blvd. NW in Cedar Rapids, which is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The corner store, situated in Cedar Rapids’ Northwest Neighborhood that was devastated by the 2008 flood, looks to break barriers to healthy eating. It opened in April 2022 in a part of the city that was classified as a food desert, where little fresh produce and healthy food was available.
Solar developers willing to adapt projects, pay neighbors
Alliant Energy has shifted the location of solar farms to suit neighbors and pays “good neighbor” incentives to encourage open communication about projects.
But the utility that’s in the midst of installing 400 megawatts of solar in Iowa also has found some Iowa counties with ordinances that leave no room for solar development — even with voluntary easements.
Some Iowa farmers “feel like they are forced to toil all day long so people around them can see them driving their tractor and see them growing their crops. If they want to use the land in some other way, they’re being told they can’t do that,” Alliant Spokesman Justin Foss said during a panel discussion Friday as part of The Gazette’s Iowa Ideas conference.
Be sure to check out replays from our 2023 Iowa Ideas conference!
On Thursday and Friday last week, The Gazette hosted our annual Iowa Ideas virtual conference. The free conference is designed to gather Iowans from all perspectives to explore, discuss and offer solutions on issues impacting the state with over fifty sessions across nine tracks. Every panel was recorded and will become available in the coming days on IowaIdeas.com/replays
Have a good weekend, everyone.
