Washington, D.C
Sponsored: Collaboration wins: Community leaders unify in Washington, D.C.
Each day we lead efforts to champion and promote the projects, products and people in our communities and throughout the region to support economic resiliency and growth.
We are a region rich with stories, like our aviation history that began with the Wright Brothers living here, to world-renowned education institutes producing great authors and athletes, to welcoming immigrants who’ve been at the foundation of many of our communities.
There is no shortage of stories that allow us to champion and promote the region.
Our stories came in handy earlier this month when we brought a regional delegation of business and community leaders to Washington, D.C., to advocate and promote our region and the communities within.
Some ask, “Why do you do this together?” or “Why stand behind another’s priorities that don’t directly impact your particular business or community?”
The simple fact is that the business community faces many common challenges, and, more importantly, has the same goals. We all want to see our communities thrive, our businesses grow and our workers and future workers succeed.
In public policy advocacy, there is power in numbers.
Together, we are represented by four federally elected officials, who are members of 11 powerful congressional committees, including Finance, Small Business, Appropriations, and Energy and Commerce.
Together, the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance and Greater Iowa City Inc. represent more than 4,000 business members that collectively employ over 100,000 workers.
We went to Washington with one unified bipartisan voice and message: championing each other’s projects and priorities to uplift our entire region.
As a group, we advocated for policies that will allow our region to attract and retain a skilled workforce and our businesses to remain competitive, including pushing to increase Pell Grant funding so more students have access to high-demand post-secondary degrees and training, including the trades.
We sought support for a joint grant application between the Eastern Iowa Airport (CID), Kirkwood Community College and Coe College to further their innovative efforts to build the aviation workforce pipeline.
We shared stories of how Collins Aerospace, as well as their local small business suppliers, will benefit from visa reform that will increase the number of high-skilled workers coming to our region.
Our region has proven that strong public-private partnerships have contributed to the growth of our communities, including new investments to plan for increasing our populations.
We urged continued support for crucial Eastern Iowa infrastructure projects that spur economic development and further our ability to remain competitive, including Forevergreen Road expansion, the Burlington Street Bridge replacement and completing Tower Terrace Road.
The return on investment of this trip goes beyond financial or monetary outcomes to the rich relationships we continue to build. We spent considerable time talking with our diligent and dedicated federal staff, hosted a reception promoting our region to 75 D.C.-based professionals with a connection to Eastern Iowa, and built stronger connections with each other.
Time is your friend when you travel as a group. Normally, you don’t have the chance to spend so much “off-time” with the mayor of a neighboring town, or see a small businessperson share a conversation with a university official at the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity or meet a recently retired Marine who attended our celebratory reception and is interested in returning home to Iowa.
Two quick days in our nation’s capital brought all that and more. We welcome all who wish to join our efforts. By showcasing our region as cohesive and collaborative, we will continue to achieve great things and have even more stories to tell.
Nancy Bird is president and CEO of Greater Iowa City Inc. Doug Neumann is the executive director of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance.
Opinion content represents the viewpoint of the author or The Gazette editorial board. You can join the conversation by submitting a letter to the editor or guest column or by suggesting a topic for an editorial to editorial@thegazette.com
WASHINGTON (7News) — An ice cream truck caught fire in Southeast D.C. on Thursday, the D.C. Fire and EMS Department said.
The commercial vehicle was reported fully engulfed when crews arrived in the 1700 block of Tobias Drive SE.
SEE ALSO | Man, woman injured in Southeast DC double shooting
Firefighters quickly put out the flames and prevented the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.
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No injuries were reported.
WASHINGTON (7News) — The Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, on Wednesday removed a well-known priest as an exorcist of the archdiocese after he made public comments suggesting that UFO sightings were the work of demons.
McElroy said the archdiocese also was cutting ties with the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, a Washington-based nonprofit headed by the priest, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti.
The archbishop said Rossetti’s statements “linking UFOs to demonic presence and the Center’s recent use of social media gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.”
“There’s a danger here,” Rossetti said in a May 29 video posted on his Facebook page addressing UFO sightings and the existence of aliens. “As an exorcist I wanted to raise that danger. And that is that demons like to hide. … They don’t want us to know what they’re doing because they’re more effective when we don’t realize it.”
“They can kind of get into your head, you know, and manipulate things in the world to influence us to do evil.”
“It’s my personal belief that probably many if not most of these UFO sightings are in fact demons,” Rossetti added.
Rossetti also said that people can be good Catholics and believe there’s life on other planets, though he does not personally believe life exists elsewhere.
In a statement posted on the St. Michael Center website, Rossetti said he was saddened by the action of the archdiocese.
“I ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church’s Magisterium, particularly in the cited video on ‘aliens and the demonic,’” he said. “I believe it is of the utmost importance to be obedient to the Church and I will continue to endeavor to subject all that I do and the Center to be thus obedient.”
Rossetti, who has over 148,000 followers on Instagram, is a prominent psychologist as well as an exorcist. His center has specialized in offering spiritual healing for priests troubled by various difficulties.
In 2023, he told The Associated Press there was increasing and renewed appetite for information about demonic possession and exorcism.
Washington, D.C
Nurses at Washington D.C.’s largest hospital call on leadership to reverse planned cuts to maternal health
RNs at MedStar Washington Hospital Center say closure of postpartum unit will disproportionately harm marginalized and underserved communities
Union nurses at MedStar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC) in Washington, D.C. are demanding that management stop the planned closure of an entire postpartum unit, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU). The hospital notified the union on May 26, 2026 of its intention to eliminate 11 maternal health beds and displace eight nurses by July 26, 2026, leaving MWHC with one postpartum unit.
In a follow-up town hall with staff nurses, Chief Nursing Officer Ariam Yitbarek confirmed the closure. Other leaders have additionally informed staff that the hospital will strictly limit scheduled C-sections and inductions for patients from numerous D.C. maternal health organizations. The list of organizations includes many that primarily serve low-income patients, immigrants, and patients of color, all communities with significantly higher risks of maternal mortality. Additionally, staff were informed that Kaiser Permanente, which notably insures a large number of DC city employees and even many of MWHC’s own workers, will see a strict limit on scheduling inductions and C-sections for their patients as well.
“Closing postpartum unit 5F will gravely impact those most affected by health disparities,” said Stephanie Sims-Coates, RN in the neonatal intensive care unit. “Our low-income families and families of color will be most affected by this closure. Families trust the medical staff at MWHC and plan to come to us for their care. In a city where Black women make up 90 percent of pregnancy-related deaths despite being only half the population, the hospital’s decision to close this unit is a significant mistake.”
Community leaders and healthcare workers are joining the call for MedStar to put patients before profits and keep the unit open. This past weekend, nurses met with D.C. mayoral candidate and Ward 4 councilwoman Janeese Lewis George about the planned closure and the impact it would have on DC’s most vulnerable residents.
“Maternal mortality is a crisis for Washington, DC, and our healthcare system needs to address the crisis immediately, rather than exacerbate the challenges that birthing parents face,” said Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George. “Now is the time to invest in health care, rather than make cuts. I want to work with the hospital to identify solutions that work for patients and the provider.”
“In my time at Washington Hospital Center, I’ve seen the hospital tout its Safe Moms, Safe Babies program and host a community baby shower specifically designed to call attention to the maternal mortality crisis,” said Marcqueata “Tiya” Butler, RN in the Mother/Baby unit. “Their current plan to shut down 11 postpartum beds betrays the hospital’s stated commitments. They are aware of persistent inequities in access to care. We are calling on the hospital to consider the impacts on the community, safeguard the mothers and infants of DC and commit to addressing the maternal mortality rate.”
In 2024, MedStar Health, a registered non-profit, reported $9 billion in operating revenue.
NNOC/NNU represents more than 2,200 registered nurses at Washington Hospital Center.
National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.
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