Stating that she has “little confidence” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will comply with its own regulations, a federal judge on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction protecting four University of Iowa students and graduates from deportation. The three international students and one international-student graduate are suing Homeland Security for revoking their status as students […]
Community/News
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‘Relatively minor’ and decreasing: Supervisors receive report on the status of Johnson County’s main groundwater source
The title of the report presented to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors during its work session on Wednesday was very technical: “Simulation of Groundwater Flow in the Silurian Aquifer, Eastern Iowa (2020–2045).” That was appropriate given the complex nature of its subject matter. But the report’s ultimate message about the groundwater supply much of […]
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Our liberties she pries: Eight years into a decade in office, Gov. Kim Reynolds has cemented her legacy
A range of emotions could be heard in Gov. Kim Reynolds’ voice as she spoke to reporters at the annual Terrace Hill Easter Egg Hunt on April 12. It was the day after her surprise announcement that she wouldn’t run for reelection in 2026, and Reynolds was clearly feeling sentimental as she reflected on her time […]
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Senate passes bill restricting eminent domain for carbon pipelines
Iowa senators voted 27-22 late Monday to pass a bill to limit the ability of carbon sequestration pipelines to use eminent domain, sending it to the governor’s desk after a drawn-out debate. The decision follows four years of urging from Iowans and House lawmakers for eminent domain reform in response to the proposed Summit Carbon […]
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Rob Sand, the last remaining Democrat in statewide office, announces his run for governor
“A lot of politicians yap about making a place redder or bluer,” State Auditor Rob Sand said in an online video Monday morning, “I want Iowa to be better and truer.” Sand posted the video to announce his run for governor. It was widely expected that Sand would run for governor in 2026. Of course, […]
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Iowa Supreme Court rejects LULAC’s lawsuit over English-only voting materials
The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a district court decision that cleared the way for election officials to distribute voter materials in languages other than English. Without directly addressing the merits of Iowa’s law restricting the dissemination of government records in languages other than English, the court found that the League of United Latin American […]
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‘Nothing more than thought policing’: Winneshiek sheriff asks court to dismiss AG Bird’s lawsuit over his Facebook post
In a motion filed in Polk County District Court on Wednesday, attorneys for Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx called the effort to cut off all state funds to Winneshiek County by Gov. Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird in response to a Facebook post by Marx “nothing more than thought policing.” Marx asked the […]
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‘They said they’re going to break our spirits’: Summer campers toiled in the Iowa heat, endured abuse from church leaders at Shiloh
Titus Walker lived in Hawaii, but he flew to rural Iowa for summer camp. Growing up in an insular church community in the 1980s, it was a blast to hang out with kids his age, even if the Young Adult School of Prophets (YASP) wasn’t much of a vacation. “They would take us out into the fields below Shiloh,” the church’s township south of Kalona, Walker recalled. “At the time it was just plagued with these thorny-ass rose bushes. And we would remove rose bushes all day long.”
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As the semester wraps on Friday, locals will ‘Stand Up for Science’ on the UI Pentacrest
Friday is the final day for classes this semester at the University of Iowa, but the fight of faculty members and students, along with supportive members of the broader community, to protect science from sudden, arbitrary funding cuts and other hostile actions by the Trump administration continues. As part of the fight, Stand Up for […]
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Federal forecaster layoffs may leave Iowans with less warning this storm season
On the afternoon of May 21, 2024, a tornado tore across Iowa. It formed in the state’s heartland, gray and wide above the cornfields. Then it began to barrel directly toward the National Weather Service office in Des Moines. According to Iowa State University meteorology professor William Gallus, the station had a plan. “If a […]
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Jewish stakeholders decry actions against Iowa colleges aimed at ‘antisemitism’
A group of Jewish faculty, staff, students and alumni from colleges and universities across Iowa have penned a letter condemning actions taken against public higher education in the name of fighting antisemitism and protecting the Jewish community. University of Iowa professor Lisa Heineman said her institution has not faced direct attacks on academic freedom, for […]
Posted inStatewide
‘The arts are being systematically attacked’: Iowa arts orgs lose federal funding as Trump administration terminates NEA grants
After making massive cuts at the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and rescinding grants awarded by those agencies, the Trump administration brought its sweeping and arbitrary DOGE-style cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) last week. The NEA sent out emails on Friday to […]
