Community Corner

Marion News You Might Have Missed: Nov. 15-21

Marion teens building robots, Iowa's women showing affection for Herman Cain and an update on the Occupy Cedar Rapids movement.

  • According to the Gazette, Eastern Iowa Construction, a Marion business, is working with the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency to recycle roof tiles into asphalt. The recycling facility is just north of Marion and it is designed to divert 6,000 tons of shingles over the course of the year.
  • A Marion man has been arrested for buying large quantities of pseudoephendrine, a cold medicine drug used in the manufacture of meth. According to Radio Iowa, the 51-year-old resident visited numerous stores in the Cedar Rapids area to accumulate more than 400 grams of the material. The man, Richard Armstrong, recently pleaded guilty to pseudoephendrine possession and was sentenced to 150 months in federal prison.
  • Sixteen teams of teen robot builders competed at Linn-Mar High School last Saturday, as a part of Iowa high schools' growing involvement in the sport. According to the Gazette, Iowa has 65 teams involved in the international competition, out of a total of 1,878.
  • A recent KCRG-Gazette-Iowa-State-University poll shows Republican presidential  candidate Herman Cain leading in Iowa, especially Iowa's women, despite his recent sexual misconduct scandal. Also interesting, was that 20 percent of those that responded to the poll could not name a second choice candidate, meaning there may be a lot of uncertainty in Iowans' presidential preferences.
  • Iowa is on track to see a 2.4 percent increase in student population over the next five years, according to an article in the Gazette. The school district has been growing alongside the state. The information comes from Iowa's Condition of Education report, which will be released in early December. 
  • The City of Cedar Rapids wants Occupy Cedar Rapids out of their campsite, on the intersection of M Avenue NW and First Street NW. A Gazette story cited a city notice said that the groups storage of personal property on public grounds violates city law. The notice requires all personal property to be off the premises by Tuesday at 8 a.m.


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