Elijah Decious

1 week ago | thegazette.com | Elijah Decious

Jen Juhl, owner of White Tree Bakery, wipes down a cake pad after decorating a cake for a client as she works in her kitchen of her Mount Vernon, Iowa, home Thursday, November 10, 2022. The business, first started at her home, moved into 117 First St. W. in February 2025. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette) The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. MOUNT VERNON — A bakery started from its owners house has found a more commercial space to call home.

1 week ago | thegazette.com | Elijah Decious

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. NORTH LIBERTY — A small group of restaurateurs are expanding rapidly on the heels of successful openings in Cedar Rapids and Vinton. Xolo (pronounced like “show low,”) opened May 13, introducing their most popular concept to Johnson County with a familiar menu and a new twist on interior design.

1 week ago | thegazette.com | Elijah Decious

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. How long have you been at The Gazette? I’ve been with The Gazette for four years, and that’s four of my seven years in journalism overall. I started over in Storm Lake at the Storm Lake Pilot-Tribune and then I was over in Fort Dodge for a couple years. I came to The Gazette in 2021. Where did you go to school? I went to school at Iowa State University.

1 week ago | thegazette.com | Elijah Decious

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. CEDAR RAPIDS — Tragedy plus time equals comedy, the old adage goes. For many, grief and joy are two sides of the same coin. But for Tim Boyle, comedy isn’t about flipping the coin and leaving it to chance. It’s about control. “If you can make a joke about a situation, you control that. Comedy is so much about control,” he said.

2 weeks ago | thegazette.com | Elijah Decious

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. Iowa’s foster care system is facing challenges amid an increase in children being referred to it. After a downturn of foster families from the system following the pandemic, the Cedar Rapids-based Four Oaks slowly has been rebuilding its safety net of families to care for children in need. But today, there’s still a substantial shortage.