August 16, 2020 | Letter No. 6
Saturday morning, I was walking up B Avenue handing out sandwiches outside some low and tightly stacked apartment buildings. A woman who lived in a duplex across the street pointed to her roof and said that chimney wasn’t hers.
“That one’s the neighbors. Mine’s by the street.”
Cedar Rapids and many of our communities still suffer from the long lingering impacts of last week’s storm. If you can’t see it, you need only look to local and regional media which went to work covering this human story:
🗞️ Kate Payne of IPR looks at the multifaceted impacts this storm had on an apartment complex in Cedar Rapids home to many families who sought refuge in Iowa.
🗞️ The Gazette’s staff put their shoulder to the wheel on their coverage of this storm. I keep coming back to this wandering story looking at the individual impacts of the storm. This not to mention the work their columnist Lyz Lenz has put into getting the nation to pay attention to this suffering and framing this discussion not in terms of crops lost but in lives crushed.
🗞️ Little Village has been putting in work making sure people know where food, water, and battery sites are and brought this stunning account by Brian Johannesen of the storm.
📺 And this interview from Melody Mercado!?
Driving home yesterday these were things I couldn’t get out of my head. Along the roads, piles of trees obscured houses and still blocked many roads. While power may return this month (for some), the people who suffered the most from this disaster will continue to feel that pain.
This Sunday, I’m thinking about where my volunteer time is going and where my disposable income is going. Here is a listing s of some ways to help.
Be safe,
Your friendly neighborhood reporter,
Zachary Oren Smith
[Pictured below: Winds in Cedar Rapids were capable of bending a stop sign pole, as seen on August 15, 2020.
Asshat of the Week…
goes to Josh Kraushaar of the National Journal. Don’t be like Josh.
Coming this week
Tuesday – One of the impacts of last weeks storm was Coralville’s City Council meeting got pushed to this Tuesday. Same day as Iowa City’s (goodie). Coralville will be deciding whether to appoint or special elect to fill the vacancy left by Tom Gill’s resignation.
Iowa City Council will vote on a resolution establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the ad hoc group tasked with guiding the changes called for by the Iowa Freedom Riders in June.
^^More on these when I get into the office Monday morning.
Thursday – Iowa City staff is supposed to deliver a report on city staff diversity. Something to look forward to parsing.
Friday – The IFR called its first demonstration in weeks. This time focusing on “getting Justice for Makeda.” Makeda Scott was a 21-year-old, a fresh graduate of the University of Iowa. Authorities pulled her body out of Lake Macbride in June. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office alleges Scott drowned after falling into the water while on a boat with a friend.
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Zachary Oren Smith writes about government, growth and development for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Reach him at zsmith@press-citizen.com, at 319 -339-7354 or on Twitter via @Zacharyos.