Update:On Friday morning, the Press-Citizen published a profile of the anonymous student, identifying her as Annie Gaughan, 18, from Park Ridge, Illinois. Gaughan reportedly left the UI campus earlier this week and is staying in a hotel in Naperville, Illinois. The return of University of Iowa students to Iowa City is always a bittersweet time […]
Emma McClatchey
Posted inCommunity/News, COVID-19, Top Story
Big 10 to cancel fall football season, despite Iowa voting to play
The Big 10 Conference has decided to cancel all football games scheduled for the fall as precaution against COVID-19 spread, sources familiar with conference deliberations report. According to the Associated Press, university presidents and chancellors from the Big 10’s 14 schools held a previously unscheduled meeting on Sunday night to vote on whether to move […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City’s first LGBTQ safe space
On May 1, 2009, a charter bus rolled into downtown Iowa City, packed with lesbian and gay couples from Missouri (and a rabbi or two). A few weeks earlier, Iowa had become the first state in the Midwest to recognize same-sex marriage. The busload of couples had come to the Hawkeye State to get hitched. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Artifacts to expand into former El Banditos space
After 25 years in Iowa City’s Northside neighborhood, vintage and consignment shop Artifacts is tripling its space. The business, located on the corner of Market and Gilbert streets, is known for its narrow aisles packed with artwork, tchotchkes, vintage clothing, toys, tools, instruments, kitchenware and much more. Owner Todd Thelen said he’s long dreamed of […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Coralville City Councilmember who called Black Lives Matter ‘criminals’ resigns
Longtime Coralville City Councilmember Tom Gill resigned on Friday, three days after making inflammatory statements about Black Lives Matter during a council meeting. “BLM, to a lot of people, is a great organization,” the five-term councilor said near the end of last Tuesday’s Zoom meeting, which was streamed publicly.
Posted inCommunity/News
Coralville City Councilmember says he has ‘zero tolerance’ for Black Lives Matter, calls it ‘a bunch of criminals’
During the public comments period of the Coralville City Council’s Tuesday Zoom meeting, multiple residents inquired about the city’s efforts to oversee and potentially reform the Coralville Police Department, as protesters have demanded. Twice, Councilmember Tom Gill interrupted responses to these questions from his fellow city councilmembers by pointing out there was a work session slated to discuss issues of racial justice following the meeting.
Posted inCommunity/News
Black writers at the University of Iowa describe encounters with racism in Iowa City
Content warning: This article includes stories involving racism and mental health issues, including suicidal ideation. In cities like Minneapolis, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, the myth of Midwest Nice that has allowed white people to ignore systematic racism for decades is being steadily dismantled. Despite its reputation as a liberal haven, Iowa City — like […]
Posted inCommunity/News
El Banditos is moving in with Billy’s High Hat Diner
Iowa City’s Northside Neighborhood has seen a number of changes recently, from the establishment of a temporary mini pedestrian mall to the debut of a racial justice-focused mural on the side of the new Market House building on North Linn Street. On Wednesday, a Northside business announced another big change. Mexican restaurant El Banditos is […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘To hell with it, let’s just get married already’: Megan Gogerty and Chris Rich tap into their creativity for COVID wedding
“Here’s the thing that’s true of every good wedding,” says newlywed Megan Gogerty. “You spend so much time, money and energy worrying about if the napkins are going to match the table setting and is the caterer late and what did I do with my ascot? But then you get there and you realize none […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hiking Kent Park, home to prairies, ponds and picturesque views
F.W. Kent Park in Oxford is one of eastern Iowa’s most picturesque and diverse parks — 1,052 square acres of forest, lakes and prairie and an ideal spot for hiking, camping, picnicking, birdwatching and (in non-pandemic times) letting your kids loose on the park’s playground or at a youth summer camp. Kent Park’s most popular […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Road closure allows Northside restaurants to take to the streets
This summer, Iowa City is home to two pedestrian malls. In an effort to encourage social distancing and outdoor dining as businesses reopen, the city has closed a small stretch of North Linn Street — from Hamburg Inn to the Market Street intersection — to traffic, allowing restaurants to expand their patios into the road. […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Mill is closing after nearly 60 years in Iowa City
A longtime Iowa City institution is officially closing its doors after 58 years, according to a Facebook post on the business’s page Thursday afternoon. The Mill is known for its pizza and spaghetti, vintage pew seating, vine-draped patio and, of course, its performance space.
