I don’t understand all the hub-bub about the new location of the public library. Over the last few months I have read a number of stories on the Gazette’s website and for some reason continued on down the page to view the comments. I am shocked that not only do people have emphatic opinions on the subject but are quite rude and presumptuous with them.

Personally, I want the library back. I don’t care if it’s at True North, Emerald Knights,  KCRG or back in it’s previous spot (and I understand that this is impossible according to FEMA guidelines). Now that these decisions are made, perhaps people can be grateful that we’ll get another part of our city back and they can throw their hostility elsewhere.

I am just happy it’s coming back.

Brewed Awakenings, the First Avenue coffee shop that serves as a second home to many Coe College students, says it could be forced to close unless business improves.

Owner Heather Younker acknowledged Friday that the business is in a fight for survival. She said its painful to admit, but she’d rather customers knew upfront that the business needs their support than to have them long-faced if the business closes unexpectedly.

“It’s hard to admit that Brewed is going through a hard time,” she wrote in a e-mail. “But in the wake of the downtown restaurant blend closing, we didn’t want Brewed to be another casualty.”

Younker blamed the business’ problems on the continued reduction in downtown traffic caused by the June 2008 flood, and by the recession. Brewed Awakenings, 1271 First Ave. SE, was not directly affected by the flood, so Younker said she can understand how much worse business conditions must be for businesses affected directly.

Younker set up a Facebook page, “Save Uptown College District & Downtown Businesses,” to share the message of struggling businesses.

One other way people can help, Younker said, is to join the 3/50 Project. The nationwide project aims to help independent local businesses. It encourages people to pick three small local businesses each month and spend $50 total.”

Information on the project is available at www.the350project.net

Here’s the e-mail Heather started circulating early Friday:

Dear Friends of Brewed Awakenings Coffeehouse:

I write this on behalf of many small, locally owned family businesses like Brewed Awakenings who are in the midst of a deep struggle for survival. We have been serving our wonderful customers for over 6 years now but we don’t know how much longer we will still be able to do so. The affects of the flood to downtown traffic and the recession have finally caught up to us.

It’s hard to admit that Brewed is going through a hard time. But in the wake of the downtown restaurant blend closing, we didn’t want Brewed to be another casualty. We were not a flooded business but we are feeling the affects of the flood. If we are having this struggle, I can’t even imagine how much harder it is for others downtown.

We heard many people comment that if blend had just appealed to the people of Cedar Rapids, maybe they could have stayed open. Thus, we don’t want to wonder what might have been for us, so we humbly appeal to the amazing people of Cedar Rapids. If we just had 30 more customers daily, we could begin to recover from the events that have slowly been eating away at our bottom line. Please consider adding a stop at Brewed (and other small businesses in the Uptown College District & Downtown) to your weekly routine.

How else can you help? Join in a movement to help save our local small businesses. Learn more about The 3/50 Project (www.the350project.net) which encourages people to pick 3 local small businesses each month and spend $50 total. What local businesses would you miss if they were no longer there? Make it a goal to spend money there this month.

Also, I have started a Facebook page called “Save Uptown College District & Downtown Businesses.” Become a Fan & share what local businesses you’ve been to recently. Let’s talk up our amazing local businesses & get them more foot traffic. It’s really up to us to save our local businesses. They cannot survive without our support

And, will you take time to forward this email to anyone you know? I would love your help in getting the word out.

Thanks for your care and support for small business.

Iowa City troubadour Ben Schmidt has captured the flavor of love and loss, floods and keepsakes and hummingbirds in “Silt.”

This eclectic collection is fueled by Schmidt’s strong poetic voice and stellar guitar playing, which runs the gamut from rootsy fingerpicking to a Spanish flair on “Virgin.”

The title track showcases Schmidt’s fine, low gravely vocals and nice guitar work with a hook that stays with you long after the song is through: “At the end of the day we are silt and sediment / a dirt line to remind us where we’ve been. … I long to be gone with the water.”

“Cigar Box” turns the mood to a lighter shade with a country flavor and a plucky tempo as he sings of a woman who keeps all her treasures in a see-gar box. You just have to smile.

The tone turns somber again with “Neglect,” an especially poetic song hammering home lyrics about storms in the Heartland. “Ruby Slippers” slips into the wonders of Oz as the music continues drawing rich and vibrant character studies. “Tripwire” tells the most interesting story layered over innovative rhythms, followed by “One Piece Pajamas,” an in-your-face, coming-of-age look at the results of careless, carefree sex. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad and true. “Raccoon Girl” paints such a vivid picture you feel you know this mysterious woman intimately.

“No Explanation” kicks the tempo up a few notches as it skitters over love’s muddy track before “Rain” falls peacefully to bring the journey full circle.

Schmidt’s voice is a powerful, lovely talent in the rich tapestry of Eastern Iowa artists. Hear him Saturday night at CSPS in Cedar Rapids.

– By Diana Nollen

FAST TAKE

Title: “Silt”

Artist: Ben Schmidt

Label: Self-released

Performance: CD release party, 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6, CSPS, 1103 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids

Tickets: $11 in advance at www.iowatix.com or $15 at the door

Information: www.legionarts.org/music/Schmidt.htm

We don’t know if you know this, but, TCR is literally weeks away from returning back to downtown Cedar Rapids to its newly rennovated Iowa Theatre.

Check out these videos of the rennovation process.

The lobby, with original 1928 plasterwork:

The box office and lounge:

The BATHROOMS!

Want to check out the theatre for yourself? Tickets are on sale now for the first show back downtown — The Producers. Tickets to the opening night gala are sold out, but tickets remain for the rest of the performances from Feb. 27 to March 14. Tickets are $20 to $25 for adults, $15 for youth, with $12 rush tickets. For ticket information, go to www.theatrecr.org

CEDAR RAPIDS — It appears Kelsey Madsen, a 2008 Linn-Mar High School graduate, is going to be on “American Idol” tonight (1/20).

It’s a big secret who appears on the ninth-season premiere of the popular Fox Network show. But Madsen, 20, won the KFXA-Fox 28 contest last year to go to the Orlando auditions in July.

The Orlando episode airs at 7 p.m. Winners in regional contests advance to Hollywood to compete for viewers’ votes and a shot at musical stardom.

Madsen is the daughter of Chris and Erik Madsen of Cedar Rapids.

The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS — A downtown restaurant that reopened after being flooded in June 2008 will close Thursday, a victim of too much debt and a slow local economy.

Blend Inc., 221 Second Ave. SE, reopened on Oct. 25, 2008, after sustaining significant damage.

Owners Andy Deutmeyer, Vic Kuper and Mark Young took on substantial debt to remodel and restore the trendy restaurant, obtaining a 4 percent loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The loss of the Paramount Theatre and Theatre Cedar Rapids, which drew many people to Blend for dinner before a show, was particularly evident, though, in the fourth quarter of 2009.

“It had a huge impact,” Deutmeyer said. “We knew without a strong fourth quarter this year, we were going to be in pretty bad shape. All of our worst fears were realized, and we knew we were out of options.” Deutmeyer and Kuper said the theaters typically meant 150 diners each evening. The sharp economic decline also meant fewer business travelers — another key aspect of Blend’s clientele.

“If we had not had the flood, we would have been able to make it through,” Kuper said. “The SBA left us undercapitalized from the beginning. We had a good fourth quarter of 2008, so the SBA told us that we didn’t really need any additional money.

“That wasn’t the case, because we had a slow spring and summer, and we were counting on the fourth quarter to bring us back to zero. We would normally have some cash flow to carry us into the new year, but that didn’t happen this year.” Blend employs about 20. Deutmeyer said the decision to close was made Dec. 23, and the staff learned of it Saturday.

“Many of those people have worked for us since we opened,” he said.

Steve Emerson, who owns the building where Blend is located, said more flooded businesses are likely to close.

“I think this is the time period when you’re going to see more businesses close because of financial impact of the flood,” Emerson said. “I also don’t think this means the demise of downtown Cedar Rapids. The downtown is coming back strong, but it will take time to do so.”

– GEORGE FORD

There are only two Monday Night Football games left. Week 15 brings us to Cocktails & Company at 1625 Blairs Ferry Rd. in Cedar Rapids for a game between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants. The defending Super Bowl champions are struggling to save their season and the Redskins are hoping to play spoiler on their home turf.

Cocktails & Company is a large sports bar that features live music on the weekends and is also the ‘unofficial’ home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since this bar hosts bands, there is always plenty of room for a large party to grab a seat and watch the game on one of the four HDTVs, or if the game is big enough, on one of two HD projectors. Cocktails also has a side room which is home to several pool tables, dart boards and video games to help pass the time if the game is boring.

The bar features several rotating draft choices as well as a full line of bottles. Cocktails is one of the few bars on the Pints & Pigskins tour which served pitchers of beer, reasonably priced at around $7.

The menu at Cocktails is quite large and has many tasty items to choose from. In addition to burgers, salads and wraps, they also offer pizza. The pizza wasn’t anything unique, but it was pretty good and really nailed my craving for bar pizza. Cocktails also has a few types of wings, including a “Cocktails specialty” wing which is generously coated in a spicy batter and fried to perfection. They were great and I can’t wait to have them again.

This was a good bar to take in a game, although I really wish I would have attended for a Steelers game. I’ll have to make a mental note for next season. The food was good, beer was cold and
there was plenty of space for all the Monday
Night football groups.

— DEREK

 Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin are about to set out on a US co-headline tour with special guest Flyleaf that will play U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids on Jan. 27.

Tickets On Sale Friday at 10 a.m.

General Admission tickets are $39.75 and will be available at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, or by phone at 1 (800) 745-3000 or online at Ticketmaster.com

The Toronto-based rock band Three Days Grace is comprised of Adam Gontier (vocals, guitar), Neil Sanderson (drums, piano), Brad Walst (bass), and Barry Stock (lead guitar). The band’s most recent release Life Starts Now debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200 charts making it the highest debut ever for the band. “Break” the first single from Life Starts Now has reached No. 1 on the Active Rock BDS Charts and Top 5 at Mainstream Rock.

Their first album, the self titled Three Days Grace, was released in 2003. The album generated 3 hit singles, “I Hate Everything About You” which reached No. 2 on the Mediabase Modern Rock charts and Top 5 on the Mediabase Mainstream Rock charts, “ Just Like You” which went to No. 1 on both the Mediabase Modern Rock and Mediabase Mainstream Rock charts, and “Home” which went to No. 2 on the Mediabase Mainstream Rock charts. One-X, the band’s sophomore album was released in 2006 and debut on the Billboard Album Chart at No. 5. That album also produced 3 No.1 Mediabase Mainstream Rock singles “Animal I’ve Become,” “Pain” and “Never Too Late.” For 2007 Mediabase ranked Three Days Grace as the # 1 artist in airplay across all rock formats (Modern Rock, Active Rock, Mainstream Rock). That same year R&R/Billboard also ranked Three Days Grace as No. 1 Active Rock Artist of the Year, No. 1 Rock Artist of the Year and # 2 Modern Rock/Alternative Artist of the Year.

Both Three Days Grace and One-X have been certified Platinum. Three Days Grace has sold over 4 million albums worldwide.

Multi-platinum rockers Breaking Benjamin (Ben Burnley, vocals/guitar; Aaron Fink, guitar; Mark James, bass; Chad Szeliga, drums) returned with a vengeance this year with their latest release Dear Agony which debuted # 4 on Billboard’s Top 200, while their first single “I Will Not Bow”, an anthemic rocker, spent 5 weeks at #1 at Rock radio and was recently named #1 rock song of 2009 by AOL Radio listeners.

Over the course of their nearly decade-long career, the band has had five No. 1 singles, and “So Cold” from their 2004 album We Are Not Alone spent an amazing 37 weeks in the Top 20 on the Billboard singles chart.

Dear Agony, released on September 29, 2009, debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top 200. The band’s 4th album is a career high, selling 135,000 copies in its first week, debuting No. 1 on iTunes album chart, and has over a quarter of a million sales to date. The previous two Breaking Benjamin releases – 2004’s We Are Not Alone and 2006’s Phobia – have been certified platinum.

Week 13 brings us to Buffalo Wild Wings at 1100 Blairs Ferry Rd. in Cedar Rapids. This week’s Monday Night matchup is takes us to the great state of Wisconsin for a game between the Green Bay Packers and the Baltimore Ravens at Lambeau Field.

Buffalo Wild Wings is a massive sports bar with two locations in both Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. This is the first ‘chain’ bar the tour has visited, but Wild Wings definitely has sports viewing experience perfected. The space is so large that they are able to include eight giant HD projection screens on all four walls. Even if you are on the complete other side of the bar you can still see all the action. In addition to the projection screens, they have countless smaller TVs everywhere. Buffalo Wild Wings subscribes to all the sports packages, so no matter what game you are interested in (Canadian national curling championships anyone?), they can put it on a TV for you.

If you haven’t been to a BWW before, chicken wings are the primary draw. They have 14 different sauces to choose from. If you need a little more than wings, they also offer burgers, wraps, salads and ribs. The food is pretty standard, but the sauces really make the food stand out. Spicy Garlic is one of my favorites. Give Blazin a chance if you dare.

Buffalo Wild Wings has a ton of beers on tap, everything from the standard domestic options, to imports and rotating seasonals. They also offer a Beer of the Month special, so check back each month to see if your favorite is featured. Even with the beer of the month, the beer prices across the board were a bit higher than the other establishments we have visited, but they were not completely out of line.
Buffalo Wild Wings is a massive sports bar and has the most TVs of any of the places we have visited to date. The diverse beer selection is a big positive but the standard food is a minor drawback. Even so, there is enough seating and the space big enough to handle large groups.
— DEREK

Think it’s too soon to start talking about Christmas?

Not when the conversation involves the now annual Ugly Holiday Sweater Party and the rest of the activities for the Fire & Ice Festival in downtown Cedar Rapids.

Here’s the scoop. We want you to have plenty of time to start digging out those lovely glitter and sequined sweaters.

UGLY HOLIDAY SWEATER PARTY

It’s time to get Ugly.

The Cedar Rapids Downtown District and ImpactCR present the Ugly Holiday Sweater Party and Contest Saturday December 5 at Volume ( 329 2nd Avenue SE). Doors open at 7PM with the official contest to start at 8PM. This ugly party will serve as the grand finale to the 2009 Fire & Ice Holiday Festival in downtown Cedar Rapids. Admission into Volume will be waived from 7PM-9PM.

The official contest will take place at 8PM. Contestants can pre-register online at hooplanow.com or the night of the party. Contest entry fee is $5 and you must be 21 to participate. Categories for prizes will include Best Full Ensemble, Best Walk Off, Ugliest Sweater, and People’s Choice.

Contest participants will be eligible for various prizes including trophies, gift certificates and a VIP Party Room at Volume valued at $250.

Spectators will be able to cheer on their favorite contestants while enjoying drink specials from Fleck Sales including $1.50 bottles of Miller, Miller Lite and MGD 64 and will feature Fireside Nut Brown beer at a discounted price.

Thanks to supporting sponsors Fleck Sales, Volume, Hoopla and Z102.9! For full details on this and all Fire & Ice Festival Events, visit downtowncr.org.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

3 to 7 p.m.: Chili Challenge (Armstrong Centre Food Court 222 3rd Ave. SE) Some healthy competition from local individuals and businesses with guest judges and great specials for patrons to enjoy! Download a chili challenge application at downtowncr.org.

6 p.m.: Holiday DeLight Parade (Starting at 6th Street SE heads down 2nd Avenue loops around 2nd Street and up 3rd Avenue to Greene Square Park) This year’s theme is Dashing Through Downtown! Download a parade entry form at downtowncr.org.

Post Parade: Santa and Friends Meet-and-Greet (Smulekoffs 1st Street SE) Meet Santa, Mrs. Claus, elves, and reindeer post parade to share your holiday wish list

6 to 9 p.m.: Ugly Holiday Sweater Party-hosted by ImpactCR & CRDD (Volume along 2nd Avenue SE) Bust out your holiday best and be prepared to strut your holiday gear at 8 p.m. for great prizes!

PARADE REGISTRATION

Entries are now being accepted for the 26th Annual Holiday DeLight Parade scheduled for Dec. 5 in downtown Cedar Rapids.

This year’s parade entitled “Dashing through Downtown” will begin at 6th Street SE down 2nd Avenue, 2nd Street and back to 3rd Avenue SE into Greene Square Park. Awards for parade entries will include originality, creativity, appearance and overall use of this year’s parade theme “Dashing through Downtown.”

Early registration is available through November 13.

Completed registration forms or parade inquiries can be sent to Events Director Jill Wilkins (jill@downtowncr.org or 319-398-0449). For a schedule and registration forms, go to www.downtowncr.org.