One year after a Des Moines towing and impound company lost its contract with Polk County amid allegations of predatory behavior, the controversy ignited a wider discussion about towing laws and the rights of motorists. The towing and impound company Crow’s Auto Service, Inc. (better known as Crow Tow) has been in business for over […]
Mike Kuhlenbeck
Posted inCentral Iowa
Planned Parenthood workers in Iowa and four other states join fight to unionize
Four-hundred Planned Parenthood employees across 28 Midwest clinics may soon be unionized. The majority of Planned Parenthood North Central States (PPNCS) workers have joined SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa, filing for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board on May 26. PPNCS includes clinics across the states of Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota […]
Posted inCommunity/News
University of Iowa Labor Center, slated for closure in 2019, celebrates 70 years
The University of Iowa Labor Center will celebrate 70 years of empowering workers in the Hawkeye State this Saturday, May 7. Surviving the threat of closure and a pandemic, the Labor Center continues to play a vital role in tackling the challenges facing workers statewide. “The Labor Center is our state university’s commitment to the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Iowa can’t wait’: Historic preservationist Matthew Gilbert on the power of place and the urgency to save Black buildings
Matthew Gilbert’s great grandfather, Dr. Lee Burton Furgerson, is an Iowa legend. He was one of the first Black doctors in Waterloo. He contributed to the Iowa Bystander, the state’s leading Black publication. He joined prominent civil rights attorney Milton Fields and Judge William Parker in co-founding a Black bank in 1947 called Blackhawk Savings […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Left Foreign Policy: An Organizer’s Guide’ by Matt L. Drabek
Matt L. Drabek doesn’t just provide tragic history lessons of American hegemony in his new book Left Foreign Policy: An Organizer’s Guide (Base and Superstructure Press). With references as diverse as Noam Chomsky and Star Trek: The Next Generation, he provides the context of ongoing developments that make this book timely. Of equal importance, he […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Farm Boy, City Girl’ by John “Gene” E. Dawson
John “Gene” E. Dawson’s memoir Farm Boy City Girl: From Gene to Miss Gina, A Memoir (MiRiona Publishing) blends personal narrative with the history of his family and the times in which he lived (1931-2020), chronicling his life as a genderfluid gay man coming of age in the changing cultural landscape of Iowa, St. Louis, […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Sweeter Voices Still: An LGBTQ Anthology From Middle America’
The mythology of “the Heartland” (also called “Middle America” or the “flyover states”) is usually rooted in archaic abstractions such as “traditional family values” and conservative ideals. These parts of the American landscape are described as if they are closed off by narrow boundaries, with rigid attitudes imposed upon the diverse populations inhabiting them. As […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Report: Arrests of journalists in the U.S. reached an all-time high in 2020
The number of journalists arrested or detained in the United States jumped 1,200 percent in 2020 compared to last year, according to a new report released by the Freedom of the Press Foundation on Monday. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was founded in 2017 as a repository of press freedom violations in the U.S. Using […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Abandoned Iowa: Vacant Heartland’ by Mitch Nicholson
The origins of Abandoned Iowa can be traced back to the fall of 2010, when author Mitch Nicholson was still an English undergraduate student at a small private college in Marion County. Academic pressures combined with a hot, stuffy dorm room and the claustrophobic setting of a small campus nearly proved to be unbearable and […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Two grassroots groups are fighting against the odds to save The Mill, Iowa City’s ‘cultural crossroads’
If three months into Iowa’s COVID-19 pandemic there were some locals who still hoped life might return to normal someday, the announcement that The Mill restaurant and music venue was being sold off was likely a wake-up call. The Mill, 120 E Burlington St, was a stomping ground for generations of townies and a destination […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Uncategorized
Grinnell College to close campus and shift to online learning amidst COVID-19 pandemic
Grinnell College was the first Iowa college to close due to growing concerns of the international outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by novel coronavirus. Students are expected to leave campus by March 23, and make the shift to online learning to complete their courses in an effort to keep the Grinnell community safe. The […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Grinnell College sexual health information center reopens after shutdown by administrators
The Sexual Health Information Center (SHIC) at Grinnell College reopened on Jan. 29 after the administration closed the office and suspended operations “indefinitely” less than a week earlier. The student-led organization is now limited in the scope to their activities, raising serious questions about SHIC’s future and student autonomy at Grinnell. SHIC started as part […]
