Cedar Rapids Gazette: Iowa State University is investigating the possibility of entering a public-private partnership for operation of its utility system, following the lead of the University of Iowa, which in December entered into a $1.165 billion agreement with a French firm. Pam Cain, Iowa State’s interim senior vice president for operations and finance, made the announcement in a discussion with a subgroup of regents Thursday morning — as part of her campus’ request to proceed with a $12 million to $14 million replacement of its two remaining coal-fired boilers with natural gas-fired boilers — ending its use of coal entirely.