On Saturday, hundreds of cities across the country will see people take to the streets for a No Kings Day of Peaceful Action to protest President Trump’s policies. According to national organizers, there will be more than 2,500 No Kings Day events nationwide. Republican leaders have been denouncing this protest in even stronger terms than […]
Paul Brennan
Posted inCommunity/News
Johnson County shoppers can do good with canned goods (and other groceries) when Shop for Shelter returns Saturday
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, staff, board members and volunteers from the Domestic Violence Intervention Program and Rape Victim Advocacy Program (DVIP & RVAP) will be at Johnson County Hy-Vees and Fareways to collect donated goods from shoppers during the 21st annual Shop for Shelter. “The goods collected at this […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Collections are fragile,’ but conservationists say they’re being ignored as the State Historical Society moves out of Iowa City using prison labor
Behind the Centennial Building in downtown Iowa City on Monday morning, workers began to load a truck with parts of the collections housed in the research facility and archives of the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI), the building’s occupant since 1956. SHSI announced on June 17 that it would close the Iowa City facility, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘We’re on a knife’s edge’: Art Cullen chides Reynolds’ meanness, Big Ag’s death grip on Iowa land and livelihoods
“When I was a kid in the 1960s, you could drive from Carroll to Storm Lake, and see cattle lining green hills the entire way,” Art Cullen said in a matter-of-fact voice. “Now it’s all row crops, and cattle in feedlots. It’s a different situation. Those green hills are plowed up.” That transformation, the economic […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
DMPS sues consulting firm that vetted Ian Roberts; DOJ criminal complaint against Roberts unsealed
The Des Moines School Board is suing the consulting firm that conducted its search for a superintendent in 2023, resulting in the hiring of Ian Roberts. The board made its decision during a special session that began at 8 a.m. on Friday. The lawsuit against JG Consulting, a Texas-based firm, was filed in Polk County […]
Posted inCommunity/News
With elections in November, an Iowa City Council candidate forum is set for Monday night
Candidates for the Iowa City Council in November’s election will meet to discuss the issues at the League of Women Voters of Johnson County Candidate Forum on Monday night. The 90-minute forum will take place in the assembly room of the Iowa City Senior Center (28 S Linn St), and is scheduled to begin at […]
Posted inCommunity/News
DMPS was ‘victim of deception,’ says school board; former superintendent Ian Roberts transferred from Woodbury County Jail to DOJ custody
On Wednesday evening, the Des Moines School Board issued a statement in which Chair Jackie Norris called the board “a victim of deception” by Ian Roberts, who the board hired as superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) in May 2023. It was a noticeable shift in how the board has talked about Roberts since Friday, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
As state and federal officials target speech they disapprove of, free speech proponents will rally in Iowa City Wednesday
Freedom of speech, and the importance of protecting it from powerful opponents, has become an urgent topic of discussion since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. His administration has, among other actions, aggressively targeted international students expressing opinions or engaging in protest it dislikes for deportation, pressured universities to change curricula to […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Today it’s our family. Tomorrow it can be another’: Hundreds rally to demand release of man violently seized by ICE in Iowa City
Hundreds of people crowded around the stage on the Ped Mall late on Friday morning to rally in support of Jorge Elieser González Ochoa, the Iowa City resident violently seized by ICE agents as he was working at the nearby Bread Garden Market on Thursday morning, a little over 24 hours earlier. He requires medical attention, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
ICE violently seizes an immigrant worker at Bread Garden Market in Iowa City
Shortly before 11 on Thursday morning, two men who eventually identified themselves as “federal agents” violently seized a worker at Bread Garden Market on the Ped Mall in Iowa City. Neither man was wearing a uniform or displaying a badge or identification as they tackled Jorge Elieser González Ochoa, forcing him to the floor. After handcuffing […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Shannon Lundgren, House floor manager for Iowa’s anti-abortion bills, becomes fourth Republican running in 2nd District
On Tuesday, Shannon Lundgren became the fourth Republican to join the race in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. Lundgren currently serves in the Iowa House of Representatives District 65, which covers parts of Dubuque County. She and her husband, Charlie, own the Trackside Bar & Grill in Peosta. “I’m running because I love Iowa and I […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘We are here, we are going to keep flourishing’: Semana Cultural Latina returns to Iowa City with art galore
After six years, Semana Cultural Latina returns to Iowa City on Thursday. The week-long event celebrating Latino culture and art starts with an evening of family friendly short films from the Mexican Film Institute (Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía) at FilmScene. The week continues with programs and exhibitions at the Iowa City Public Library, Public Space […]
