Features, March 2010 – Sure, an open mic is like a box of chocolates, but Monday night at the Mill is my favorite lime cream-centered, caramel pecan toffee of a weekly free music night in Iowa City.
Since 1981, Open Mic with J. Knight has been an Iowa City institution, a place where up-and-coming talent shares [...]
The little club that everyone loves to gossip about was back on blast for the last few weeks, thanks to at least four events: 1, the place being put up for sale; 2, some slightly disparaging comments made by another LV writer, which in turn sparked an internet mini-flame war; 3, the fact that the [...]
Commentary: February 2010
By Yale Cohn
When I first moved to Iowa City I would get knocked off kilter when attractive women I didn’t know would smile and nod at me when we’d pass each other by on the sidewalk or in an aisle at the grocery store or the public library.
This was a lot different [...]
Selective enforcement. White kids dressed to blend in? No problem. Black & Hispanic kids? OPEN SEASON!
License to roust ANYONE in a parked car, to check their age.
Use age checks to finagle probable cause for searches.
With the curfew as a pretext, police can accost anyone for ’standing around in public.’ From there, anything is possible — [...]
Sporting name tags and hearty appetites, members of Slow Food Iowa City (SFIC) joined together for their 9th annual Harvest Dinner at Iowa City’s La Reyna restaurant Sunday. The event was attended by enough Iowa City restaurateurs, including David Burt of Red Avocado and Kurt Friese of Devotay, to make any local foodie blush.
The series, described by author and producer Chris Burns as science fiction noir meets American suburbia, premiered this Sunday on 87.9 FM Radio Iowa City. With three episodes completed and another four to be recorded next week, Burns is quietly chipping away at his three season story arc. He plans to have the first season completed by winter. [...]
The ability to chug a whole bottle of PBR in one mighty draught only impresses your peers for so long. What was formerly an athletic display of swilling prowess becomes something sad, a little desperate. It is a sign of the need to grow up, difficult as that can be to accept. So how is [...]
When considering the alcoholic beverage of choice for the evening here in Iowa City, only the hardcore eco-warriors factor in environmental sustainability. The hardcore are not surprised that wine shipped to the Midwest creates a smaller carbon footprint when it comes from Napa Valley than when it comes from Bordeaux. Nor are they surprised [...]
Popping into the Mill for some happy hour relief is a familiar experience. Push through the battered wooden saloon doors and life slows appreciably. The cars outside continue to hustle up and down Burlington Street, but that has little bearing upon the glacial pace of activities for those inside.
The first pitch just let fly at [...]
On the lookout for real monsters this Halloween? Lace up your boots and join the search for Iowa’s cryptozoological legends.
Phantom Kangaroos
Vagrant kangaroos are nothing new, having been spotted in a good portion of the eastern United States and pockets of California for over a century. But in the late 1990s there [...]
