Desmond Driscoll, age 7, of Cedar Rapids steps into a concrete pipe at the Riverside Skatepark in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Sept. 20, 2022. Driscoll’s father Ben brings Desmond to the park to skate most days before and after school. Demolition of the park has begun in order to make way for the construction of a portion of Cedar Rapids' permanent flood control system.
Ukrainian farm workers pick raspberries at Wilson’s Orchard in Johnson County, Iowa, on July 1, 2022. The team of 7 Ukrainian farm workers at Wilson’s Orchard who previously held H2A visas have been approved for Uniting For Ukraine, the immigration program for those fleeing Ukraine.
University of Iowa Track and Field athlete Ali Dorn competes during the annual Solon Beef Days Hay Bale Toss in Solon, Iowa, on July 19, 2024. The annual summer festival is headlined by the hay bale toss which is typically won by University of Iowa football players.
Jason Kwapil operates a combine during the soybean harvest on the Voss farm near Palo, Iowa, on Oct. 2, 2024
Indian Creek Nature Center director of land stewardship Jean Wiedenheft collects eggs laid by chickens at the Etzel Sugar Grove Farm near Marion, Iowa, on Jan. 15, 2025.
Children play tag in the pit area before a demolition derby in Blairstown, Iowa, on May 27, 2023. The derby, held twice annually on Memorial and Labor Day weekends, was the 20th annual event. This falls’ derby will be the 25th annual running of the event.
Home health aide Dawn Batie helps Marleen Boots with her coat at Boots’ home in Marion, Iowa, on Feb. 2, 2022. Batie has been an aide for Boots for about three years and helps provide assistance with work around the house as well as providing transportation and companionship.
Wifag Mohammed makes her way to a bus stop after a running errands in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. A trip to buy groceries, a new pair of glasses, and visit to the post office had taken the entire afternoon. Mohammed, who relies on the bus system for transportation, had been planning to visit her bank as well but decided not to, worried she might miss the last bus home.
Delaware County water and sanitation department administrator Alex Linderwell takes a water sample from the sink in his childhood home in Delaware County, Iowa, on Nov. 29, 2023. Linderwell’s family installed a reverse osmosis filter when he was a child after high nitrate levels were found in their water.
Mississippi River floodwaters overflow onto Bergman Island near McGregor, Iowa, on Sunday, April 30, 2023. Community members worry that the high water could delay the start of the summer tourist season.
Smoke rises from fires set during a controlled burn at the Hawkeye Wildlife Management Area in Johnson County, Iowa, on April 8, 2025. The Iowa DNR took the opportunity afforded by the very low humidity to burn 320 acres of land that would not normally be easy to burn.
Park manager Ron Puettmann uses a drip torch to start a controlled burn at Lake Macbride State Park in Johnson County, Iowa, on Nov. 17, 2023. The burns are crucial in allowing younger, native oak-hickory forrest trees to out compete more shade tolerant non-native species.
Ed Whestine hands items to his son in law Mark Anderson on his farm southwest of Wellman, Iowa, on April 1, 2023. Whetstone took shelter in his basement on March 31 as a tornado destroyed the farmhouse he was born in and had lived in for his entire life.
Firefighters respond to a structure fire at a construction site on the corner of Clinton and Burlington streets in Iowa City on March 5, 2019. A worker who had been operating the crane at the time of the fire was rescued unharmed after it was extinguished.
Bob Wolff walks with a smoker after checking on bees at the Anchor Center for Women in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on August 25, 2022. The probationers and parolees at Anchor Center have been raising bees and harvesting honey to donate and to use at the residential corrections center.
The rising sun filters through trees on the bank to illuminate ice on the Cedar River near Palo, Iowa, on Jan. 28, 2025.
Monticello Ambulance Service driver Ron Herman returns a stretcher to an ambulance during a mass casualty training simulation in Anamosa, Iowa, on Oct. 18, 2023.
Johnson County Sheriff’s Department Sargent Jeff Gingerich instructs school staff in the use of a tourniquet during an an all-staff professional learning day focused on safety and emergency response at Solon High School in Solon, Iowa on Friday, May 31, 2024. District employees received instruction in a variety of first aid skills including CPR, use of an AED, administration of Narcan, and “stop the bleed” techniques.
CRCSD Superintendent Dr. Tawana Grover makes a phone call as the results of a school bond referendum begin to be announced during an election night watch party in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. The bond failed to meet the necessary sixty percent threshold for approval as voters rejected a school bond for the second consecutive election.
Iowa State Troopers remove Chris Morse of Polk County from the room after Morse exceeded her allotted time while speaking in opposition to House Study Bill 242 during an Iowa House Judiciary subcommittee meeting at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa, on February 24, 2025. The bill would remove gender identity as a protected class under Iowa’s Civil Rights Act.
Protestors fill the Capitol Rotunda following an Iowa House Judiciary subcommittee meeting on House Study Bill 242 in Des Moines, Iowa, on February 24, 2025. The bill would remove gender identity as a protected class under Iowa’s Civil Rights Act.
Community members gather to pray and share memories during a candlelight vigil for murdered Fairfield spanish teacher Nohema Graber at Fairfield High School in Fairfield Iowa on November 5, 2021.
Snowmaking at Sundown Mountain Resort in Asbury, Iowa, on Nov. 12, 2019.
West Music President and CEO Ryan West plays the piano at the West Music store in Coralville, Iowa, on May 29, 2024. The family-owned business, founded in 1941, also has retail stores in Cedar Rapids/Marion, Cedar Falls and Davenport, a service center in Dubuque, piano services in Des Moines and kiosks in Decorah, Oelwein and Ottumwa.
Capt. Cody Nolan and Chief Warrant Officer 2 John Kenny pilot a Chinook helicopter over the Mississippi River during the Iowa National Guard’s ESGR Boss Lift to annual training at Camp Ripley, Minn. on July 23, 2024. The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Boss Lift provides an opportunity for employers of soldiers in the guard to observe their employees during training and learn about their role in the military.
A trained Hawk takes flight before a game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Western Michigan Broncos at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, on Sept. 16, 2023.
Cedar Rapids Metro Economic alliance members hold oversized scissors ahead of a ribbon cutting and open house event at the Cedar Rapids Brickstone development in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023.
Rock academy director Naomi Ruckus Rose (right) goes over a song with students at the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on June 26, 2024.
Ron DeChristopher sits for a portrait as his wife Judy Winter renders his likeness in mustard during the annual decorative mustarding contest at the MoCo Game Room and Hot Dog Bar in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on August 3, 2024. Winter’s portrait of her husband took first place in the just the plate (mustard only) category.
Octavia Cox styles her grandmother Freda Long’s hair at Freda’s Beauty Rama, her grandmother’s salon in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, August 5, 2022. Long, now 88, was the first licensed professional in the Corridor who could cut and style hair for the Black community.
Environmental educator Maddy Moloney works with Tamarack Discovery School second and third graders at F.W. Kent Park in Johnson County, Iowa, on Feb. 8, 2024. Students from Tamarack spend every afternoon learning outside.
Third graders Cecilia Rife (left) and Annaliese Miller (right) measure cuts for a little free library during class in a school bus that has been converted into a classroom at Washington Elementary School in Mount Vernon, Iowa, on Nov. 13, 2023. The bus primarily houses the school’s Extended Learning Program.
Mariam Girls' Club founder and director Viana Qadoura (center) packs gift bags with club members during a meeting of the Mariam Girls’ Club in Coralville, Iowa, on October 29, 2023. The girls packed gift bags for a family fun night hosted for members of the Muslim community who do not celebrate Halloween.
Alyah Gordon and her sons Messiah and Maurice Crosby, ages 4 and 5, speak with Alex and Kim Higinbotham during the second annual Iowa City Library LibCon in Iowa City on Aug. 10, 2019. The Higinbothams are members of the 501st Legion, a volunteer fan organization that appears at a variety of events in costume as characters, primarily storm troopers, from the Star Wars franchise.
Greenhouse assistant manager Majd Moubarak laughs in the greenhouse on the roof of the University of Iowa's Biology Building East in Iowa City, Iowa, on Nov. 30, 2018. Moubarak, a UI senior, helps to research on plant life as well as tending to the greenhouse.
Second year industrial technology student Alex Hume practices welding at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Feb. 11, 2025.
Workers build a pump house and flood wall as work continues on the city of Cedar Rapids’ permanent flood control system near the National Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on June 17, 2024. Debris from the catastrophic 2008 flood was used to fill much of the county waste management agency’s Mt. Trashmore, visible in the background on the left.
An aerial photo looking to the Northeast from the Southwest side of the interchange of Interstate 80 and Interstate 380 in Coralville, Iowa, on Sept. 16, 2017. The existing cloverleaf exit from 380 southbound to 80 eastbound can be seen centrally next to the not yet open replacement exit.
Addison Western picks up loose corn cobs during Harvest on the Western family’s land in Blackhawk County, Iowa, on Saturday, October 22, 2022.
The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, is visible over Homestead, Iowa, May, 11, 2024.