Photo Gallery: Gazette’s Best Photos for the Second Half of October 2025

Solon's Avery Kellen (right) cheers after a Spartans point against the Clear Creek Amana Clippers during the WaMaC tournament at Solon High School on Thursday, October 16, 2025. The Clippers won the match 25-18, 21-25, and 15-13.(Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)

Cole Spiewak (right) leads Ryan Egan as they ride their bikes through the woods at the Woodpecker Trail in Coralville, Iowa, on Friday, October 17, 2025. Spiewak says that the fall is an especially good time to ride because of the changes to the scenery due to falling leaves. “You just see more of the landscape with the leaves out of the way,” he said. Egan works for the World of Bikes bike shop in Iowa City who are running a “Woodpecker 100” promotion where community members who accumulate 100 miles of riding on the roughly 5-mile Woodpecker Loop during the month of October can earn a sticker. Riders who complete their 100 miles in a week can earn a commemorative pint glass. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

From left: E&J HVAC technician Fischer Harrison (from left), foreman Tanner Felton and Ian Brownsberger work to install duct work in the former Wells Fargo building along First Avenue NE in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, October 17, 2025. E&J Geothermal has helped install geothermal heat pump systems in various homes and businesses around Eastern Iowa. The geothermal system gets rid of outdoor systems and most of the mechanics are buried under the ground. For large businesses in the downtown area, the work required to install the geothermal systems is extremely labor intensive. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

City of Cedar Rapids Solid Waste & Recycling Division worker Joel Hansen throws a tagged bag of garbage into his truck after using its mechanical arm to empty a garbage bin at a home in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, October 17, 2025. The city is making a change to larger bins for residents. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Barb Neal of Mount Vernon uses a cane as a flag pole as she demonstrates during a No Kings demonstration in Mount Vernon, Iowa, on Saturday, October 18, 2025. Over 430 people attended the demonstration against the Trump Administration policies. The demonstration was one of hundreds across the nation. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Bill Polka and Brian Bullock mix shots during the Hawks to Go tailgate before the Penn State at Iowa football game in Iowa City Iowa on Saturday, October 18, 2025. The tailgate’s “shots for kids” fundraiser raises money for the Stead Family Children’s Hospital at the University of Iowa. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Mark Gronowski (11) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during a game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa on Saturday, October 18, 2025. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Charles Mead of Iowa City, Iowa, pulls on a bittersweet vine as he and his wife Kerri work to remove invasive vegetation from Shimek Ravine in Iowa City, Iowa, on Monday, October 20, 2025. There will be another cleanup at 2pm on Saturday. The hilly, 13-acre oak-hickory forest just west of Shimek Elementary School was purchased by nearby residents to protect it from development. It was donated to the Bur Oak Land Trust in 1992. The Trust along with the Shimek Neighborhood Association hopes to manage and contain the spread of several invasive plants such as: Oriental bittersweet, Japanese barberry, burning bush, honeysuckle and garlic mustard. The diverse woodland is still home to over 160 species of plants, 80 percent of which are native. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

University of Iowa freshman Jamie Calef of Iowa City, Iowa, reads a book on the campus in Iowa City on Monday, October 20, 2025. A cold morning gave way to mild temperatures in the upper 60’s. Temperatures will hover in the 50’s and 60’s throughout the rest of the week. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Hillcrest Academy Ravens Nora Swartzendruber (6) stretches to field an attack during their class 1A first round match against the BGM Bears at Hillcrest Academy in Kalona, Iowa, on Monday, October 20, 2025. The Bears swept the Ravens. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Performer Laura Ernst of Des Moines stands high on stilts as she watches the ribbon cutting ceremony from the lobby for the newly opened Hy-Vee event center at Centennial Park in North Liberty, Iowa on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. The city has completed phase one of four for their $16 million Centennial Park project that includes a 5,000 square foot splash pad. The completion date is set for 2030. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

StrumDrum band member Blake Shaw sings and plays his hybrid guitar while performing with percussionist Christopher Jensen in one of the dressing rooms in the newly opened Hy-Vee event center at Centennial Park in North Liberty, Iowa on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. The city has completed phase one of four for their $16 million Centennial Park project that includes a 5,000-square-foot splash pad. The completion date is set for 2030. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Anamosa Blue Raiders right side hitter Olivia Miller (11) and setter Sophie Sander (13) each go for the ball during their class 3A girls high school volleyball regional quarterfinal match against the Waukon Indians at Anamosa High School in Anamosa, Iowa, on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. Anamosa swept Waukon. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Johnson STEAM Academy third grader Karter (cq) Trotter paints a City snow plow blade with classmates at the school in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. The City’s Public Works Department’s Paint A Plow Program invites schools and organizations to decorate one of the department’s plow blades for the upcoming winter season. Crews will use the blade on roads near the locations that created the artwork and give people a chance to see the artwork in-action. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Runners navigate the course during a state qualifier cross country meet in Iowa City, Iowa on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

A Go At It Land Stewardship goat grazes on cold season grass at a residence in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, October 24, 2025. The goats are able to knock down a patch of land in one to three days depending on how much grass there is. The goats consume cold season grasses that often overtake prairies. While the goats are grazing their feet act as aerators for the soil and push the seeds back into the ground. Their droppings also help promote new plant growth. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Daxton Hain, 10, of Troy Mills, and Kalani Robinson, 8, of Cedar Rapids, react to an animatronic inside the NewBo City Market before the Cedar Rapids Halloween parade at NewBo City Market in southeast Cedar Rapids on October 25, 2025.(Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)

From left: Monica Vernon, Peter Durin and Bill Vernon pose for a selfie before the Cedar Rapids Halloween parade at NewBo City Market in southeast Cedar Rapids on October 25, 2025. Monica said she and her husband, Bill, have known Durin, the organizer of the parade, since he was a child, and has enjoyed seeing the Halloween parade grow. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)

Hiawatha Fire Department rookies Kendra Lux (center) and Jesse Coughlin look through an infrared camera to see the temperature differences inside the house during Hiawatha Fire Department’s live fire training in Hiawatha on Sunday, October 26, 2025. Hiawatha Fire Department’s fire inspector Frank Sir-Louis said infrared cameras are helpful in fires because they can help firefighters orient themselves during low visibility inside a house fire. He added that the cameras can also help firefighters locate anyone trapped inside a fire quickly. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)

Tim Rhoades of Ankeny looks at a McCormick Farmall tractor during the opening day of the Jon and Marcia Kinzenbaw tractor auction at their residence in Williamsburg, Iowa on Monday, October 27, 2025. The open house will go from Monday, October 27th through Thursday, October 30th, which allows the public to walk through the vast collection before bidding online. There are nearly 150 tractors from the 1930’s through the 1980’s are up for auction, which will still leave the Kinzenbaw family with 500 tractors in their collection. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Iowa City Liberty’s Keegan Decker runs back to the high school during a workout at cross country practice near Liberty High School in North Liberty, Iowa, on Monday, October 27, 2025. Decker is a favorite to win the 4A boys state title this weekend in Fort Dodge. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Clear Creek Amana outside hitter Averie Lower (17) passes during a game between the Clear Creek Amana Clippers and the Xavier Saints in Tiffin, Iowa on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. CCA won in three sets to qualify for the State Tournament. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Clear Creek Amana Clippers players and students celebrate after a game between the Clear Creek Amana Clippers and the Xavier Saints in Tiffin, Iowa on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. CCA won in three sets to qualify for the State Tournament. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Iowa head wrestling coach Tom Brands speaks with assembled media during Iowa Wrestling Media Day in Iowa City, Iowa on Wednesday, October 29, 2025. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

The leaves frame Kirkwood media technologies producer Kirk Monson as he walks to Iowa Hall on the Kirkwood Community College campus in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Thursday, October 30, 2025. According to the Iowa DNR, the fall color reached full peak on October 24th and is anticipated to last into the first or second week of November. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Iowa head coach Jan Jensen gives instructions during a game between Iowa and Ashland at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa on Thursday, October 30, 2025. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Western Dubuque’s Quentin Nauman (474) points to the sky following the boys’ Class 3A race at the 2025 Iowa high school state cross country championships in Fort Dodge, Iowa on Friday, October 31, 2025. Nauman won in 14:48.3. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)