OTTUMWA — Just hours before heading back to the class, members of the Ottumwa High School girls tennis team passed new tests on Tuesday at Dan Staggs Family Courts. Three Bulldog players picked up wins in their varsity singles debut while Layla Criswell and Victoria Sosa closed out the dual earning a win in their debut as a varsity doubles team. All told, Ottumwa won every single set in 10 ...

HIAWATHA — Farm-to-table dinners are nothing new. The concept has been practiced by some restaurants and marketed by many more in an appeal to our instincts. In a frenetic society that has made us increasingly out of touch with the natural world around us, returning to the five senses grounds us in a way few things can. In that way, it seems like the concept was tailor-made for a place like ...

IOWA CITY — Iowa City district leaders are exploring redrawing school attendance boundaries for the 2027-28 school year to reduce the district’s costs by $7.83 million. Whether the district will need to close schools is “something that has to get evaluated,” chief operating officer Curt Pratt said. The school board Tuesday approved two contracts with school planning expert RSP & Associates to ...

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed an additional measles case in an outbreak first reported Aug. 16, bringing the total to 17 cases. There is evidence of person-to-person spread in this outbreak, and officials with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services and local public health agencies have identified places people involved in the outbreak may have visited ...

CEDAR RAPIDS — City leaders hope that “fresh eyes” at the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance will mean improved services for local businesses, and they’re willing to pay $200,000 to make it happen. Cedar Rapids City Council members approved that allocation this week for use in various programming, including the revival of the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce. The chamber will operate under ...

CORALVILLE — A new option for breakfast, brunch and cocktails has taken over a former fast-food restaurant. Butter & Jam Cafe opened at 801 First Ave. on Aug. 19, according to a social media post. With renovations, the building has been visibly transformed from the Arby’s, which closed there in 2023. "We took a familiar building and completely transformed it into an elevated brunch experience ...

Maybe, as a kid, you had a Stretch Armstrong action figure – a 15-inch-tall guy dressed like a pro wrestler with arms and legs that stretched to remarkable lengths. But not even Stretch Armstrong could stretch far enough to make Republican candidate for governor Zach Lahn’s recent TV ad accurate. "On our farm here in Belle Plaine, we see it every day. Gas, groceries, everything's expensive,” ...