No matter the question, the answer is always pickleball. “Pickleball meets you where you are,” said Emma Clark, a career coach at Cornell College. Clark grew up playing racquetball in Illinois, but the sport isn’t as popular today, so she searched for a racquetball-adjacent activity instead. When the Smithfield Tennis and Pickleball Center in Cedar […]
Adria Carpenter
Posted inCentral Iowa
‘The next generation’ of Iowa skaters are carving out a community in the nation’s largest skatepark
On any sunny afternoon, the Lauridsen Skatepark in downtown Des Moines is filled with locals and out-of-towners, amateurs and pros, teens and 20-somethings. And right along with them, you’ll find the Subsect Kids Skate Crew, a group of skaters who are among the youngest at the park. “They really found and created their own space […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘We all suffer from the loss of them’: How the AIDS crisis shaped the next generation of LGBTQ activism in Iowa City
This is the final article in a three-part series examining the legacy of HIV/AIDS in Iowa City. In the early 1980s, Rev. John Harper was a fresh-faced graduate student at the University of Iowa and a semi-active member of the Gay People’s Union. He’d heard about some disease affecting gay men in New York and […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘No one believed that it would ever come to this place’: Fear and hatred clouded efforts to care for Iowa’s early AIDS patients
This is the second article in a three-part series examining the legacy of HIV/AIDS in Iowa City. Read part one here. It’s October 1980, and Jack Stapleton is treating a 19-year-old girl diagnosed with a rare lung infection: pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Stapleton, then an internal medicine intern in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, became interested in […]
Posted inCommunity/News
During the ‘wild, bucking ’70s’, Iowa City’s lesbian and gay communities were often at odds. A crisis brought them together.
This article is part one in a three-part series from Adria Carpenter exploring the history of HIV/AIDS activism in Iowa City. Part two and three will be published in the weeks to come. In the early 1980s, Rev. John Harper was a fresh-faced graduate student at the University of Iowa and a semi-active member of […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Q&A: Snail Mail talks break-ups, Paramore, gay ’80s fiction and the ‘sad girl’ stereotype ahead of Mission Creek
Lindsey Jordan’s music is sometimes soft and innocent, sometimes loud and gut-wrenching, but always heartfelt. In the six years since the release of her first EP, the singer-songwriter and guitarist has cultivated an intimate sound, reminiscent of bygone days. Jordan — performing under the name Snail Mail — started playing guitar at 5 years old. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Parents and labor leaders protest Republican plan to loosen child labor laws
Hundreds of union workers and parents filled the Iowa State Capitol with chants of “Our kids are not for sale!” on Monday afternoon. The group, organized by Progress Iowa, rallied in the rotunda to protest a bill that would loosen child labor laws in the state, allowing 14- to 17-year-olds to work jobs that are […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Use of the UI food pantry is up, with international students disproportionately relying on the support
Rajorshi Das had visited the University of Iowa’s food pantry before, mostly out of curiosity. But rising food costs have since made it difficult to buy kitchen staples, even from supermarkets like Aldi and Walmart. So they’ve gone to the food pantry more and more, now out of necessity. “I have seen a very discernible […]
Posted inUncategorized
Best of the CRANDIC: Wilson’s Orchard and Farm is welcomed into a new agrihood
In summer, there’s raspberries and strawberries, cherries and tomatoes, apples and blueberries. The apple season carries over into fall, along with pumpkins and blooming flowers. From above, the lines of orchards and plantings crisscross over 90 acres. Wilson’s Orchard and Farm, a short trip off Hwy 1 north of Iowa City, is a “you-pick” orchard […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Eastern Iowa’s queer softball league has had a home run of a year
It’s been a promising year for the Lambda Softball Association of Eastern Iowa (LSA). After a two-year process, LSA and Iowa City became the 48th member of the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA). To become a member city, LSA had to meet with the NAGAAA board of directors and delegates from each member […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City roller derby athletes show new batch of beginners how to roll (and fall)
It’s the second day of 101 Bootcamp. There are seven new recruits for the Old Capitol City Roller Derby (OCCRD) team. Tart of Darkness #323, Cara Delaney, straps on her knee pads and elbow pads, her wrist guards and mouth guards, followed by her skates and helmet. She glides around Scanlon Gymnasium comfortably, easy as […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Havenpark tenants fight predatory rent increases: ‘Our piece of the American Dream needs to be protected’
Lory Van Allen moved into Modern Manor, a manufactured home park, because it was once an affordable place to live. Before Havenpark Communities bought her neighborhood earlier this year, her rent was $340, a sizable portion of her fixed income. In one year, her rent has increased 20 percent, going up $35 last December, and […]
