If you jump on Melrose Avenue and drive west out of Iowa City, you’ll pass Chatham Oaks, the historic Poor Farm and the National Reserve base. The speed limit is 35 mph, but I’ve never seen anybody go less than 50. You’ll know the dump is coming up when you see huge flocks of birds […]
Community/News
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa can now fully enforce its ‘don’t say gay’ and school book ban law, after appeals court vacates injunctions
Iowa can now enforce all parts of SF 496 — commonly known as the “don’t say gay” bill because of its provisions prohibiting references to LGBTQ topics in K-6 schools, requiring written parental permission to use a student’s preferred pronouns or name if it is does not match the gender listed in school records, and […]
Posted inCommunity/News
UI professor and Iowa City local for 25 years sues Trump administration for canceling his, his wife’s citizenship oaths
“Twenty-six years ago, I touched down at Eastern Iowa Airport,” Dr. Sunday Goshit told the people gathered on the Ped Mall Friday morning. Goshit, an adjunct assistant professor of International Studies at the University of Iowa and an instructor of Intercultural Competence at Kirkwood Community College, recalled how he arrived in Iowa “with a suitcase […]
Posted inCommunity/News
En Español: The recent rash of cartel violence in Mexico didn’t come out of nowhere
¿Por qué la violencia en México? El 22 de febrero fue abatido Nemesio Osegera, alias “El Mencho,” líder de un cartel mexicano. La noticia de su muerte fue rápidamente difundida por medios de comunicación de todo el mundo, junto con fuertes imágenes de las represalias por integrantes del cartel. La impresión es de un México […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Iowa is home to a colorful variety of THC beverage and candy brands. They could all disappear come November.
Last year, after the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, Congress finally passed a stopgap funding bill — and ignited a ticking timebomb for the billion-dollar THC beverage industry. A provision slipped into the bill at the last minute changes federal law to effectively ban hemp-derived cannabis (delta-9) products starting Nov. 12, 2026. Even the […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Where the grass is greener: 10 dispensaries just over the border in Illinois
Since Illinois legalized recreational marijuana in 2020, dozens upon dozens of state-licensed dispensaries have opened or expanded beyond medicinal offerings in the Land of Lincoln. As a result, Iowans willing to hop over the Mississippi for the boutique weed-buying experience have more options than ever. THC products cannot be legally transported across state lines. This […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa Republicans killed another legal marijuana bill this year. After nearly a decade of attempts, 2027 could turn over a new leaf.
Some bills die quietly in the Iowa Legislature. HF 2206 did this year. It attracted minimal attention among lawmakers when it was introduced on Jan. 29, even though the bill had 15 House members as sponsors. It drew even less attention outside the Capitol Building, despite the fact it would have done something polling suggests most Iowans want: legalize the recreational use of marijuana.
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa House passes bill to raise the speed limit on two-lane highways
Two-lane state highways could see speed limits rise from 55 to 60 miles per hour under a bill passed Wednesday by the Iowa House. SF 378, passed 76-16, would increase the default speed limit for all vehicular traffic zones, while keeping in place other limits, like the 25 mph limit in residential and school districts. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
A stolen Pride flag was restored and a proclamation challenged this Trans Day of Visibility in Johnson County
Speaking to the crowd gathered at College Green Park in downtown Iowa City for the Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) rally on Tuesday, Katie Freeman began by talking about the sounds — shouts, chants, angry and despairing screams — they heard in protests inside the Iowa State Capitol last year as Republican lawmakers voted to […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The University of Iowa Powwow is returning to campus, in spite of state’s anti-DEI push
The University of Iowa’s inaugural powwow was held at Iowa City’s Robert A. Lee Recreation Center in April 1990. Organized by the American Indian Student Association — renamed the Native American Student Association (NASA) in 2013 — and the Chicano Indian American Student Union — now the Latino Native American Cultural Center — the powwow […]
Posted inElection Coverage
Voters can now request an absentee ballot for the June 2 primary; three counties face new districted supervisor elections as a result of GOP law
Registered voters in Iowa can now request absentee ballots for the June 2 primary election from their county auditor’s office. The first day auditors can mail the ballots to voters who have requested them will be May 13, the same day early in-person voting begins. Printable absentee ballot request forms are available on the Iowa […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowans in 61 cities turn out for No Kings the third, protesting fresh Trump horrors at now-routine rallies
There were more than 3,300 “No Kings” rallies across the country on Saturday, including 61 in Iowa. The rallies protesting President Trump and his policies took place across the state, in both Iowa’s largest cities and smaller communities like Onawa and Tipton. National organizers estimated the overall participation across the country at 8 million. It is […]
