CEDAR RAPIDS — Next week, we’re rolling out some significant changes to The Gazette and TheGazette.com. Come Tuesday 9/4, the Community section returns, with local news and features organized by geographical region. This is where you’ll find Dave Rasdal’s Ramblin’ column on Mondays and Wednesdays, a new daily feature highlighting things to do, as well [...]

Eighteen flooded properties, including the historic Cedar Springs Hotel, will be demolished beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, the county reports. Dave Rasdal wrote a story about the hotel in September that elicited some good reader response. Here’s some of what he wrote: Built in 1884, the Cedar Springs Hotel was a hidden gem up the [...]

From Press & Dakotan: Gartner’s third story involved the a performing act in Iowa called the Cherry Sisters. These five sisters couldn’t act, dance or sing. They managed, instead, Gartner said, “to exert a ghastly fascination over their audiences. And that was exactly what the great Oscar Hammerstein was looking for.” Gartner explained that back [...]