Author: ayres

Entering a Roundabout and See Flashing Lights Behind You? Keep Calm, and Carry On

It’s 5:30 p.m., and you’re just hitting the road for your commute home. With kids buckled in the back seat and the bag of groceries you just picked up tucked away in the trunk, you’re homeward-bound – and then you see flashing emergency lights in your rearview mirror. And to complicate matters, you’ve just entered… Read More »

South Carolina Dam Failures Point to Need for Emergency Action Plans

This map provided by the state of South Carolina shows the large number of roads and bridges closed across the state as of Monday, October 12. Lives lost. Houses under water. Roads and bridges washed away. Dams failing. The images and stories coming out of South Carolina over the continuing catastrophe have been horrific and… Read More »

From Trashy to Classy: Turning a Closed Landfill into a Community Asset in Cedar Rapids

Iowa isn’t known as a mountainous state. But there’s a hill in the heart of Cedar Rapids – a closed landfill known as Mount Trashmore – that looms along the Cedar River just southeast of downtown. The hill is highly visible from the vast majority of downtown Cedar Rapids, which is about 120 miles east… Read More »