Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
The Cedar River is crawling back to its banks in Cedar Rapids at a rate of 2 inches per hour. Most of the downtown area is now exposed, and residents can begin to take stock of the extensive damage.
A tree on 3rd St. SE in downtown Cedar Rapids has become home to a multitude of plastic and some sort of cushion. Pieces of broken glass lay at the base.
One of the city’s trademark statues didn’t survive the flood. “Between Friends,” a work created by Ann Royer and dedicated in November 1992, lies humiliated and broken on the sidewalk next to its base.
Damage to the businesses on 2nd Street SE between 3rd and 1st avenues is extensive.
Toppled trash cans, loose bricks and other debris litter 4th Ave. SE.
Several broken windows in this business at the base of the Alliant Tower, located at the intersection of 2nd Ave. SE and 1st St. SE, allow these battered blinds to shake in afternoon breezes.
Broken windows are, unfortunately, a common sight throughout downtown.
Overturned Dumpsters are another common downtown sight.
This car with Johnson County plates was submerged in the flood waters on 4th Avenue. It is now coated with a thick layer of river soot and has a piece of wood firmly wedged into the hub of one of its back wheels.
The automatic doors at Riverview Condominiums couldn’t stand up to the pressure of the flood waters.
Debris was wedged into the crack of this door by flood waters.
Flood waters still stand on much of 1st St SE, but much of the rest of the downtown area is accessible.
There’s only one way to go from here. The strength of the river’s current as it flowed down 1st St. SE is evident by this sign in front of the Hach Building.
Many downtown items that were not fastened down — and a few that were — have been moved and haphazardly re-arranged.
Dumpster and debris have collected under the sculpture near the bus station and transportation center. The facility suffered extensive damage to its interior.
Since local police and members of the National Guard have set up a perimeter around the flood-affected areas and are limiting access, downtown feels and sounds like a ghost city. It is rare to see another person that is not a member of the coordinated security teams.
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