Cedar Rapids Headlines 12/16/12

Armed Robbery at Casey’s General Store in Cedar Rapids

Around 1:20 a.m. at the Casey’s General Store, 1201 First Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids. Aman wearing dark clothing and a black ski-mask entered the store, showed a handgun and demanded cash from the clerk, officer said early this morning.

He then ran away with an unknown amount of money.Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to call police at (319) 286-5491. Tips can also be left anonymously by calling Linn County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-CS-CRIME (272-7463).

We have got to get a grip on the crime taking place in this city!

Westdale Mall (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Westdale Mall Sale in Cedar Rapids Sets up Partial Demolition Byers, a Realtor at Gibbs Lamb Drown Commercial in Cedar Rapids and developer of the successful Marketplace on 1st retail center across First Avenue East from Lindale Mall, cautioned that a few details need to be worked out before his investor group closes on the property purchase. However, Frew, president/CEO of Frew Development Group and the project manager of the city’s downtown convention complex and hotel projects, said Friday that he and his group have signed the land lease deal with Byers, adding, “Our company is certainly expecting the project to happen.” “I think it’s all going to come together,” Frew continued. “At long last we’re in a position to move this project forward.” Frew, who is based in Denver, Colo., came close to buying the mall earlier this year before last-minute problems over existing tenant leases caused him to set his purchase offer aside. Frew said the current redevelopment plan is the same as the earlier one. That is, to create a “multiuse destination” around the mall’s anchor stores with a development of apartments, condominiums, retail stores, offices, restaurants, a park and a hotel. The site, he said, will come to be known as Westdale, not Westdale Mall, and he said it will not be unlike the transformation that turned Southglenn Mall in the Denver area into The Streets at SouthGlenn. “It will be a city within a city, a place where people shop, eat, work, play and sleep,” Frew said Interesting idea, wonder where they came up with it.

Thrift Store Raises Money For Senior Citizens In Linn County CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – A new Cedar Rapids thrift store is using their sales to help seniors in need. Changing Hands Thrift Store will raise money for a organization called Seeds 4 Seniors. That organization was started by the Neighborhood Church in Cedar Rapids and provides food and medical supplies to needy seniors in Linn County. The store is located at 2737 16th Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids, next to the Dollar General. If people would like to donate unwanted items they can drop them off at the store anytime during business hours. The store is open Monday – Saturday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.. On Mondays and Thursdays, all senior citizens receive an additional 50 percent discount in the store. Support our local seniors and check out the thrift store!