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“It’s just so much more convenient”: Iowa City residents reflect on fare free transit

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“It’s just so much more convenient”: Iowa City residents reflect on fare free transit


IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Last October, Iowa City transit hosted just over 105,000 riders.

This October, that number jumped to over 150,000.

“We’re very excited. With the first three months of data in, we’ve seen a 44% increase in transit ridership, and that’s 135,000 more people just in the first three months compared to last year.” said Iowa City Director of Transportation Services Darian Nagle-Gamm.

Nagle-Gamm says those increases aren’t just coming from previous passengers, they’re coming from new ones, too.

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Like Emily Zerbonia, A University of Iowa student who says the program makes getting to class much easier.

“It’s awesome being able to take the bus since it’s free. It gets me right to where I need to go, the library, the downtown interchange, it’s just so much more convenient having the buses free. I don’t have to worry about parking my car.” said Zerbonia.

Or Francisco Trejo, a newer passenger who says the free fare allows him to prioritize other expenses.

“Now that I don’t have to worry about the fare I save up that little bit of extra money every day in order to support myself going to college here. I use the money in order to save up to buy books, to buy food, to pay rent for my apartment.” said Trejo.

As for funding, the city says fare fees made up less than 10% of their annual revenue, and the economic stimulation from riders using that money elsewhere is better for the city’s economy overall.

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But Nagle-Gamm says the best part of this new program is the feedback she hears from passengers.

“We were really thrilled to see so many in the community hop on board, send us positive notes, tell us thank you for the service we’re providing to the community. So we’ve been thrilled to see how much the community’s really gotten behind this pilot project.” said Nagle-Gamm.

For the next two years, the program is funded by Federal COVID relief money. But Iowa City Transit says they’re in the early stages of figuring out how to extend the program after that money runs out.



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Iowa Makes Offer To Explosive WR In Transfer Portal

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Iowa Makes Offer To Explosive WR In Transfer Portal


The Iowa Hawkeyes are in desperate need of wide receivers, and they are making a play for a big one in the NCAA transfer portal.

Now former Idaho Vandals receiver Jordan Dwyer has reported an offer from Iowa, via Josh Helmer of Hawkeyes Wire.

While Dwyer played in the Big Sky conference and did not garner much national attention as a result, he has certainly been a sought after name in the portal.

The six-foot pass-catcher is coming off of a 2024 campaign in which he hauled in 78 receptions for 1,192 yards and 12 touchdowns.

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Dwyer was particularly effective late in the season, as he caught 29 passes for 489 yards and five scores over Idaho’s final three games.

He is a four-star transfer target, per 247 Sports. As a matter of fact, he is the 17th-ranked transfer target in the entire country.

For comparison’s sake, Iowa’s leading receiver in 2024 was Jacob Gill, who snared 32 balls for 382 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

Dwyer eclipsed two of those numbers in three games alone. Yes, he wasn’t playing in the Big Ten, but it certainly seems like he would be a welcomed addition to a Hawkeyes receiving corps that struggled mightily this past season.

Iowa already landed a quarterback through the transfer portal in Hank Brown, who is coming over from the Auburn Tigers.

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While that’s all well and good, the Hawkeyes need to add some weapons, too, and Dwyer would certainly represent a fantastic option.

We’ll see if Iowa can land him.



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Eastern Iowa’s most popular baby names for 2024

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Eastern Iowa’s most popular baby names for 2024


CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – UnityPoint Health hospitals across eastern Iowa have released the list of the most popular baby names for 2024.

The hospitals create the list using data from UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s, Finley, and Allen Hospitals in Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, and Waterloo.

Here are the top five most popular baby names:

Top five girl’s names:

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  1. Charlotte
  2. Evelyn
  3. Harper
  4. Amelia
  5. Olivia

Top five boy’s names:

  1. Henry
  2. Oliver
  3. Theodore
  4. Jack
  5. Jackson

Here’s a list broken down by hospital and city:

Cedar Rapids:

Girl’s names:

  1. Evelyn
  2. Charlotte
  3. Harper
  4. Amelia
  5. Nova

Boys names:

  1. Oliver
  2. Henry
  3. Silas
  4. Owen
  5. Asher

Dubuque:

Girl’s names:

  1. Lainey
  2. Eden
  3. Amelia
  4. Layla
  5. Nora

Boy’s names:

  1. Cooper
  2. Henry
  3. Beau
  4. Oliver
  5. Brooks

Waterloo:

Girl’s names:

  1. Lainey
  2. Nora
  3. Adeline
  4. Ava
  5. Emerson

Boy’s names:

  1. Ezra
  2. Theodore
  3. Emmett
  4. Henry
  5. Bennett



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Iowa 104-57 New Orleans (Dec 15, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN

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Iowa 104-57 New Orleans (Dec 15, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN


IOWA CITY, Iowa — — Owen Freeman matched his career-best with 22 points and Iowa cruised to a 104-57 win over New Orleans on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes rebounded from their first home-court loss, falling 89-80 to No. 3 Iowa State on Thursday in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.

Brock Harding opened the game with a 3-pointer, but the Privateers answered with back-to-back layups from MJ Thomas and James White to take their only lead of the game, 4-3. Freeman answered with a layup and Payton Sandfort and Drew Thelwell each hit from deep to put Iowa in front for good and a 10-0 run made it 29-11 midway through the half.

Iowa (8-3) shot 62.7% from the field for the game (42 of 67), including 14 of 29 from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes amassed 28 assists on 42 made baskets. Sandfort hit 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and finished with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Josh Dix and Brock Harding each added 13 points, with Harding collecting six assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Pryce Sandfort added 10 points off the bench.

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New Orleans, playing its first game in more than a week, was 25 of 67 from the field (37.3%) and was just 4 of 24 from long range. White paced the Privateers (2-7) with 24 points, six rebounds and two assists. Thomas added 14 points.

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