Marion

And in this case, that's what happened to 20-year-old Melody Hoffman.

[instrumental music] Tom Peterson is currently a sergeant with the Marion Iowa Police Department, where he works in investigations.

He's also a part-time task force officer with the US Marshal Service and an active shooting trainer instructor.

And at the time of this case, he was a senior investigator.

And Marion is Tom's hometown.

He knows the streets inside and out, and after a stint in the Air Force, he realized that what he really wanted to do was to come home and protect the town that he's known his entire life.

So Marion, Iowa is on the eastern side of Iowa.

We got about 43,000 citizens here, that there's not a whole lot of businesses.

"I'm so excited," one woman sang as she sped away with her sapling Thursday.

The Marion-based Monarch Research Project has distributed more than 21,000 trees to Linn County residents this year, bringing the nonprofit's total to more than 141,000 trees in the past six years.

Though impressive, that total is only a fraction of the trees the county lost in the August 2020 derecho.

But the nonprofit is in it for the long haul, Monarch Research Project co-founder Clark McLeod said.

Next article is entitled Cedar Rapids Man Accused of Using One Thousand Six Hundred Dollars in Fake Bills for Local Facebook Sale.

The Cedar Rapids man...

A Cedar Rapids man is accused of paying a Marion woman one thousand six hundred dollars in counterfeit bills Friday for a Facebook Marketplace sale, according to a Linn County Attorney's Office criminal complaint.

A seventy-eight-year-old Marion woman reported to Marion police that she sold her Toro zero-turn lawnmower, fertilizer, and an aerator for one thousand seven hundred dollars to Nathan Starr, a forty-seven-year-old Cedar Rapids man, according to the criminal complaint and jail records.

That's a...

Who'd, who'd have guessed y- a, as a young man growing up in Marion, Iowa, that you'd be in the-

Dude

... big spotlight now?

Like, so the kids in the club, the families that he gets, uh, connected with, like they are all his family.

Yeah.

And, oh man, that man, I still remember one time [laughs] he came to Marion and I, I can't even, I can't remember the circumstance, but it must have came to Marion to like put me through a workout, and then we hung out after.

Mm-hmm.

Iowa's 2026 National Math Stars come from 18 public school districts and four accredited non-public schools.

The Iowa City School District has six National Math Stars and the Lindmar District in Marion has three.

Eastern Iowa schools, with one National Math Star each, are Marion Independent, Heritage Christian in North Liberty, and Summit Schools in Cedar Rapids.

The names of the students were not released by National Math Stars.

National Math Stars, a non-profit founded in 2023, is dedicated to ensuring mathematically extraordinary students have the resources they need to reach the frontiers of math and science.

Central has dropped back-to-back games after starting three and zero.

Clear Creek Amana at Marion, 7.30 p.m. at Marion High School.

Number six, Clear Creek Amana is four and one.

Marion is one and four.

CCA has the look of a legitimate district title contender, opening district play with a 41 to 28 victory over Grinnell last week.

The Clippers have won six of the last eight in this series, including a 35 to 13 decision last year.

They'll be favored again Friday against a Marion squad that has been held to a touchdown or less in four of its five games.

Decorah at Cedar Rapids, Washington at Kingston Stadium, seven o'clock.

Here is today's community briefs feature.

Chocolate Walk returns to Uptown Marion.

The annual Chocolate Walk and Shop returns Friday to Uptown Marion, inviting participants to stroll the district, shop, and enjoy chocolate treats along the way.

The event, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m., also includes live performances throughout Uptown.

It's a wonderful chance to explore Marion, support local, and savor the start of fall.

Tammy Schlampp.

of the Marion Chamber of Commerce said in a news release.

Shoppers have a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to participating Uptown Marion businesses by presenting a receipt at the welcome booth in the North Plaza.

Okay, I'm turning to the Iowa Today section for our government notes.

The headline is Marion to Pilot Vacuum Leaf Collection.

Also, Cedar Rapids to Pick Up Flood Damaged Items.

The City of Marion this fall will launch a pilot program to help residents dispose of fallen leaves.

The Vacuum Leaf Collection program will run each Wednesday from October 7th through November 25th, weather permitting.

Students who, not students, I'm sorry, residents who wish to participate must notify the city by noon the Monday before their desired collection.

Corridor MPO seeks trails feedback.

The Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization is seeking resident feedback as it plans for trail and bikeway improvements in Linn County.

Next article.

Marion Police Chief Explains Tech Expansion.

City Upgrades Equipment Retains Data Ownership.

Article by Grace Neeland, The Gazette.

Marion The Marion Police Department is expanding its digital capabilities through a new partnership with Axon Enterprise, the tech company behind the department's body cameras, tasers, and other equipment.

Marion City Council members this month approved a $988,000 five-year agreement to consolidate and expand its Exxon contracts.

The MOV combines several pre-existing contracts while also adding services like new drone capabilities.

Police Chief Jeremy Sprague, 47, said the MOV should help streamline the city's work with Exxon and ensure timely routine upgrades to department's technologies while also expanding certain services.

The ten worst dates for animal collisions in Iowa are the first, are in the first half of the month, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Marion, Cedar Rapids recovering from heavy rains.

By Fern Alley.

Marion and Cedar Rapids are in recovery mode after heavy rainfall over the weekend damaged homes and businesses.

Both cities are determining the extent of the damage in areas that flooded.

Kim Downs, Marion's deputy city manager, said the city received eighty reports of sewer backups from residents.

Mike Duffy, assistant public works director with the City of Cedar Rapids, said his department received one or two calls since the initial forty to fifty The Gazette previously reported.

While Downs said residents were primarily affected by sewer backups in Marion, Duffy said most of the sewer backup calls in Cedar Rapids were made for downtown businesses.