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03Oct 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Aim higher for Iowa’s gun safety training

For the past five years, Iowa law has required citizens wanting a weapons permit to pay for a “safety” class that has no minimum standards. And, based on conversations with the crop of this year’s legislative candidates, no changes are on the horizon. In 2011, when Iowa became a “shall issue” state, removing nearly all discretion in weapons permitting from local law enforcement, the law required most applicants to attend safety classes. The Legislature, however, did not specify the content or curriculum of those classes or give such authority to the Iowa Department of Public Safety. [caption id="attachment_147" align="alignright" width="300"] A display of 7-round .45 caliber handguns are seen at Coliseum Gun Traders Ltd. in Uniondale, New York January 16, 2013. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)[/caption] The result is a patchwork — a…

28Jul 2016 by Lynda Waddington

In Philly ‘the Bern’ rubs raw

Featured, Gazette Column

PHILADELPHIA — Democracy can’t help but be noisy and messy. Monday night it took a nose-dive into ugly. There has been no escape from supporters of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign for those attending the Democratic National Convention. Delegates came to cast their vote for their chosen candidate, regardless of projections for the final count. Others are here to march and demonstrate, and have repeatedly owned the streets. Most of all, they’ve come to be heard, and media voices like my own have amplified their messages of frustration, and calls for income equity. [caption id="attachment_476" align="alignright" width="300"] Supporters of Bernie Sanders gathered near Philadelphia City Hall during the Democratic National Convention. (Lynda Waddington/The Gazette)[/caption] A somewhat disjointed, massive march was held Sunday. It began with a banner demanding an end to…

06May 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Transit blog, day four

Featured, Gazette Blog

Does the metro really value all residents? Only a few seats were filled on the Route 5S bus Wednesday night when I boarded for the last trip out of the transit hub in Cedar Rapids. Since buses on Route 5 are heavily used, the lack of passengers was initially puzzling. A few more boarded the bus as it worked its way along First Avenue, headed to Marion, but not very many. After thinking about it last night, and again this morning (while riding a full Route 5 bus into downtown), I’ve come to the conclusion that bus passengers were sparse because it was the last route of the day. There were no more opportunities remaining for someone to travel to the store for a gallon of milk or to go…

25Apr 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Veteran who died at Normandy finally honored

Featured, Gazette Column

No one knows exactly how many veterans are buried in cemeteries in the Corridor without headstones or other markers of their sacrifice. On this day, however, we know there is one less. Leonard L. Kelly, area veterans believe, may be the only Cedar Rapidian to receive mortal wounds on the beaches of Normandy during the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of World War II. He suffered for two weeks before dying, according to War Department communication with his family. It took another five years before his body was returned to Iowa and subsequently buried in Cedar Memorial Cemetery. What happened afterward is mostly a mystery. [caption id="attachment_775" align="alignright" width="300"] Elmer P. Kelly, brother to World War II Sgt. Leonard L. Kelly, made application for a military headstone or marker in…

14Sep 2015 by Lynda Waddington

National Vietnam Memorial offered mirror to past

Featured, Gazette Column

More than 45 years have passed since my brother gave his life while serving the nation. This week I stood before the national monument honoring the brother I never really knew and the 58,273 other men and women who lost their lives in Vietnam. While the memorial is a massive, granite structure, it isn’t immediately imposing. Visitors follow sidewalks away from the bustle of traffic to a more isolated place within the National Mall. Panels of black granite, each etched with names, are placed into the hillside. At the edges, the panels are smaller. But, moving toward the center, the panels tower above, effectively blocking out the rest of the world and reflecting only what is within the memorial at that moment. You read the names. You see yourself and…

31Aug 2015 by Lynda Waddington

Family, loss and near drownings

Featured, Gazette Column

When I was about 8 or 9 years old, I nearly drowned in the Illinois River. Our family — Mom, Dad, me and various assortments of my siblings and their children — often visited the river. Those days were filled with laughter as we gathered around dad’s rarely exposed, pale legs. Untold hours were spent dunking ourselves in the cool river water to hide from biting flies and mosquitoes. And mom pacing a worried trench in the bank. That day I wanted to follow my older brothers and father across the water to the other bank. Most of the river was shallow where we played, more like a babbling brook as it tumbled over and between the rounded rocks of its bed. Only about a two-foot stretch existed where the…

15Jun 2015 by Lynda Waddington

Even in death, straw poll hype continues

Featured, Gazette Column

Candidates, please idle your wallets. Members of the Republican State Central Committee voted Friday morning to officially end the Iowa Straw Poll, a GOP caucus staple since 1979. No doubt built on good intentions, and once worthy of the national attention it received, it’s later years brought unparalleled focus on money instead of organization. And while the autopsies now underway will include a host of details concerning the Iowa Straw Poll’s demise — i.e., Gov. Terry Branstad’s early burial plot purchase or the ongoing refusal of GOP leaders to include participants in planning for a new Boone-doggle — the terminal infection was introduced years ago. The disease was more pronounced each year as supporter excitement and campaign organization took a back seat to purchased victories. Cause of death? Let’s call…

28Apr 2015 by Lynda Waddington

Cedar County historians say ‘Little House’ worth saving

Featured, Gazette Column

Donations needed to make 1800s Little House part of historic village Adam Robinson knows, one way or another, the tiny farmhouse and smokehouse that have stood for more than 100 years just steps from the back of his family’s home south of Mechanicsville must go. He and his wife, Susan, have offered the structures to the Cedar County Historical Society, in hope the weatherworn buildings still have a purpose. Sandy Harmel, who serves as the board’s secretary and museum director, has already picked out a spot for the buildings. The little house and adjacent building are just what’s needed, she says, in the organization’s historic Prairie Village. She’ll place them just west of the 1910 Bedbug School, across the gravel lane from the oldest parish in Cedar County, and nearly…

01Sep 2014 by Lynda Waddington

Tar Creek: A case for oversight

Featured, Gazette Column

Visiting the remnants of the Tar Creek Superfund site PICHER, Okla. — The devastation of small towns near the Oklahoma-Kansas state line and at the heart of the Tar Creek Superfund site appears fairly straightforward. In the most simple terms, the problem is as prominent and overwhelming as the mountainous piles of mining tailings, known as chat, which blanket the landscape and dust what remains. [caption id="attachment_1623" align="aligncenter" width="750"] The parking lot for the abandoned Picher Christian Church at 201 S. Netta St. is now overgrown and the building is rapidly deteriorating as of Aug. 23, 2014. Just a year ago, the awning over the church doors was intact. Graffiti is also a relatively new addition to the site. (Lynda Waddington/The Gazette)[/caption] Closer inspection, however, reveals broken promises, shortsighted industries,…