Q: A few years ago the Courier published an article about a couple opening up a business that offered orthopedic devices, such as braces. Are they still in business and how do I contact them?
A: According to a Courier article, BraceAbility, an online retailer of orthopedic braces, opened for business in Cedar Falls in 2016. Sales are conducted over the company’s website, BraceAbility.com, and Amazon.
Q: About a year ago there was an article about the rating of the different schools in the Cedar Falls community and only two schools, Hansen and Southdale, were high performing elementary schools. Commendable were Lincoln, Orchard, Holmes, Peet and the high school. Acceptable were Cedar Heights and North Cedar – only one level above needing improvement. Has Cedar Heights and North Cedar improved their score to commendable? Hansen is the only school known for the School of Excellence. Why aren’t all the schools in Cedar Falls known for high performing?
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A: The story from December 2017 was about results from the Iowa School Report Card, which had just been released by the Iowa Department of Education. A year later, the Department of Education released similar information in an updated format called the Iowa School Performance Profiles to meet federal and state education accountability requirements. In this report, which isn’t directly comparable to the prior one, Lincoln and North Cedar elementaries as well as Holmes Junior and Cedar Falls High schools were listed as “targeted.” That means the average score on standardized tests for one or more students subgroups is among the lowest 5 percent of the state’s schools. More information is available online at iaschoolperformance.gov.
Q: Was there really a House of the Rising Sun in New Orleans?
A: According to the Go Nola tourism website, no one knows for sure. The song itself has been traced back to a bawdy English folk song that runs, “If you go to Lowestoft and ask for the Rising Sun, there you’ll find two old whores, and my old woman’s one.” There are suggestions the house in New Orleans was an old brothel, a women’s prison which had a rising sun decoration on its gate, or a Rising Sun Hotel that in the 1820s catered to gentlemen looking for company. But there’s no proof for any of that.
Q: Regarding construction on Highway 58 in Cedar Falls: How often does the city regulate the timing on different stoplights? They need to be adjusted so there is a better flow.
A: The signal timings are monitored and can be adjusted if needed. Right now they appear to be working well. If there is a specific time of day and direction of travel of concern, please contact the City of Cedar Falls Engineering Division at (319) 268-5161 who can work with the Iowa DOT further.
Calls are taken on a special Courier phone line at 234-3566. Questions are answered by Courier staff and staff at the Waterloo Public Library.
