Horizons Archives » Lynda Waddington

29May 2017 by Lynda Waddington

Affordable housing tour offers necessary spotlight

Gazette Column

Work on a project for months, put your heart and soul into it and, even so, you’ll be hard-pressed to pick it out of the pack. This is the lesson lost to those who skipped the Cedar Rapids Metro Affordable Housing Bus Tour last Thursday. “I think we’re coming up on it now,” Jeff Capps, executive director of Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity, said from the front of the bus, holding onto the back of a front seat while bending and swiveling to peer out the windows. “Pretty sure we’re getting close now,” Renie Neuberger, Affordable Housing Network director of real estate development, said later in the drive while striking a similar pose. “It will be on your right. It’s painted green,” directed Ron Ziegler, executive director of Hope Community…

Consider multi-generational county space

Gazette Column

Planning for a potential new public health building, Linn County has an opportunity to turn a good idea into a great one. If approved, the new facility would be located at 1019 Seventh St SE, the former Options site, and would probably require a levy, currently estimated at 6 cents per $1,000 evaluation. Area seniors, displaced and scattered since the 2008 flood claimed the Witwer Center, advocated Wednesday for the inclusion of a permanent centralized senior center. Since Cedar Rapids is the largest city in Iowa without such a hub and more than a third of all county residents are over the age of 50, the proposal and investment make sense. Supervisors also appear receptive to the idea, requesting more specific space needs as quickly as possible. Those who spoke…

Of bullets, Bibles and bullies

Gazette Column

Nothing I write can return Andrea Farrington to her family and friends. That truth rests like a chunk of lead in my stomach. It has been sitting there all week as details of the cowardly mall shooting and remembrances of the young, vibrant woman are heard and absorbed. Sure, there are lessons to be learned from this tragedy, but they are the same lessons we’ve too often been offered. When does the learning begin? Everything I’ve read and heard from Farrington’s friends in the wake of her murder indicates that the young woman followed “best practices” when dealing with an unstable person and unsolicited interactions. She avoided contact. Farrington reported uncomfortable and threatening instances — and she wasn’t the only one to do so. In short, she did what society…