Why is The Courier delivered by the post office now? Your Call the Courier questions

Q: Why’s there no work being done on La Porte Road north of San Marnan?

A: The city of Waterloo is waiting on an amendment to its federal grant that is providing funding for that section of road, according to Jamie Knutson, the city’s engineer. Once that amendment is completed, the city will be able to go out for bids.

Q: Why did The Courier go from having a paper delivery person to having the post office deliver it? It is nothing but problems since we went to the postal service.

A: Lee Enterprises made the change because of the increasing difficulty in finding independent contractors to act as carriers.

Q: Data centers are said to use a lot of electricity and water for cooling. What happens to that water? Is it recycled or is it just wasted?

A: The Environmental Protection Agency states about 80% of the water evaporates and the remaining water is discharged to municipal wastewater facilities with air cooling and server liquid cooling methods. A closed loop system is more water-efficient, reducing freshwater use by up to 70%.

Q: I was wondering how long Highway 63 south heading to Tama is going to be closed for construction.

A: The Iowa DOT stated the project is supposed to end in mid-October.

Q: Are illegals given any training on driving on our roads and streets? Driving has become so dangerous in roundabouts and people ignoring stop signs and stop lights. There’s just been a noticeable difference.

A: We’re not sure how undocumented immigrants would be the cause of why you are seeing more bad drivers.

Q: Is Doug Wagner from WMT Radio in Cedar Rapids ill or did he leave his employment at WMT?

A: iHeartMedia, which owns the station, laid off Doug Wagner and co-host Rebecca Kopelman in late June due to the company losing millions of dollars in the past years. The AM radio station is still on the air but the show lineup is nationally syndicated shows.

Q: We would like to know how many members of the United States Congress are over 80 years old.

A: There are 26 members of Congress that are 80 years old or older. The oldest is our senator, Chuck Grassley, at the age of 92. The next oldest are Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Kentucky) at 88, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-California) and Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) at 87 and Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Jim Clyburn (D-South Carolina) at 86.

Q: I’m curious as to what happened to that young woman in her 20s who fell out of a car way out on Ansborough. I believe they said she fell out but they never said what happened or why. Do you know?

A: Our reporters are working on finding out what happened to the deceased, Tejanna Hatt, who died after falling out of her car on July 4. Once we find out, we will let our readers know.

Q: Why did The Courier stop putting celebrity birthdays in the paper?

A: The Courier recently switched wire services from the Associated Press to Reuters, and Reuters does not provide celebrity birthdays.

Q: With hundreds of people going missing every year, why is Nancy Guthrie so important? We never heard of her before.

A: Probably because her daughter, Savannah Guthrie, is famous.

Q: Is actress Carol Lynley still alive?

A: No. She died of a heart attack in 2019 at the age of 77.

Q: How much money does the city of Waterloo make on the Waterloo Open golf tournament?

A: The city’s leisure services department charged the tournament $2,500 for course usage and rental. The golfers visiting Waterloo also spend money in the community.

Call (319) 291-1550 to leave a voicemail or email newsroom@wcfcourier.com with your question.