Thousands of traffic accidents happen in Cedar Rapids each year without the police writing a report, leaving insurance companies to duke it out while their clients wish the police would weigh in.
Using state and local crash statistics, I found that Cedar Rapids police are half as likely to file a report on a traffic crash [...]
Archive for April, 2009
Why do C.R. police write so few crash reports?
Posted in Public Safety, tagged Adam Belz, Cedar Rapids, crash reports, CRPD, Davenport, Iowa, Iowa DOT, police reports, Public Safety on April 30, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Supervisors break with federal lobbyists
Posted in County Government, tagged Cedar Rapids, Flood, Linn County, Sonnenschein on April 30, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The Linn County supervisors have voted to fire the federal lobbying firm that’s been working on the county’s behalf since August.
Pending approval from Palo, which has joined Linn County in retaining the firm, the supervisors terminated their contract with Chicago-based Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, a K Street lobbying firm that was brought on to help [...]
Volunteer firefighter axed from dayjob after emergency call made him late
Posted in Public Safety, tagged Hiawatha, Christoph Trappe, Clipper Windpower, Unemployment Benefits on April 29, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Christoph Trappe reports on Online in Eastern Iowa that Heath Omar, an employee at Clipper Windpower and volunteer Hiawatha firefighter, was discharged in November after he came in late for his job as a hub assembler for Clipper.
Only thing is, he was on an emergency call, and “his employer understood the claimant could not drive [...]
What? Yep, flooding in C.R.
Posted in Flood, tagged Cedar Rapids, CRPD, Flood on April 29, 2009 | 1 Comment »
This is a city press release:
Starting at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 29, Otis Rd. SE from the Cargill plant to the old sand pit area is closed due to flooding on the Cedar River. With current projections, the road will reopen on Friday, May 1. Memorial DR SE from McCarthy RD SE to Forest Ridge [...]
Fire hazards at Hampton Court, #3
Posted in Public Safety, tagged Cedar Rapids, Landlords, Gazette, CRPD, Hot 100 on April 28, 2009 | 3 Comments »
The basement hallway leading to the exit is blocked with shelves and other stuff. Several (perhaps all) the building’s smoke detectors don’t work.
The Hampton Courts are at 1261 and 1263 First Ave. SE, and fire protection isn’t the only problem.
Police were called to the two buildings 279 times in 2008.
One of the basement apartments in [...]
Hot Property #5: Cedarwood Hills Apartments, 2060 Glass Rd. NE
Posted in Public Safety, tagged Cedar Rapids, crime, CRPD, Hot Properties, The Gazette on April 24, 2009 | 8 Comments »
They’re the five brick apartment buildings way up on a hill looking down on Interstate 380 and Glass Road NE.
They’re marked separately on the map, but I’m treating them as one apartment complex.
If you take them together, which the city assessor’s office does, police were called there in 2008 more than any address in Cedar [...]
Alternate map
Posted in Public Safety, tagged Cedar Rapids, crime, CRPD, Gazette, Hot Properties on April 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Jeremy Cobert (of CR Tea Party fame) was kind enough to whip up another map based on the data I used to build the current map of hot Cedar Rapids properties.
Hot Property #4: 3000 J St. SW
Posted in Public Safety, tagged Cedar Rapids, crime, CRPD, Hot Properties, The Gazette on April 24, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Moving right along (sorry about all the map problems), we’ll look at the top residential property on the Hot 100.
It’s the Cedar Valley Townhouses at 3000 J St. SW. The complex has 186 units in 28 buildings, so it’s really a little town of its own. Police were called there 331 times in 2008.
A lot [...]
Hot Property #3: 1261 First Ave. SE
Posted in Public Safety, tagged 1261 First Ave. SE, 1263 First Ave. SE, crime, CRPD, Hot Properties on April 23, 2009 | 11 Comments »
This is actually two apartment buildings — 1261 and 1263 First Ave. SE. I’ve got them listed separately on the map, but the two buildings are next door to each other, they both have 18 units and they’re owned by the same guy.
Police were called to one of the two buildings 279 times in 2008. [...]
Hot Property #2: The Rose Apartments, 1407 Third Ave. SE
Posted in Public Safety, tagged 1407 Third Ave. SE, Adam Belz, Cedar Rapids, crime, CRPD, Hot Properties, Jeff Raasch, Landlords, neighborhoods, Rose Apartments, slumlords on April 23, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Not going in any particular order here, just starting with the low-hanging fruit and marking the map as I go.
This 12-unit apartment building at 1407 Third Ave. SE is just next door to Hot Property #1, the house at 1410 Bever Ave. SE. It’s owned by Steven Demeulenaere, who was beaten up outside the building [...]
