Disability Pride began as a single day of celebration when the Americans with Disabilities Act became law on July 26, 1990. In 2015, July officially became Disability Pride Month on the 25th anniversary of the ADA. Representing decades of disabled-led activism, including an historic 26-day occupation of the San Francisco federal building in 1977 over […]
Eastern Iowa
Posted inCommunity/News
Planned Parenthood to close Iowa City Health Center — one of its last two clinics in the state
Planned Parenthood is closing its Iowa City Health Center at the end of July. After the center shutters on Friday, July 31, the Susan Knapp Health Center in Des Moines will be the only Planned Parenthood facility in the state offering in-person medical services. The Des Moines center will also continue to provide telehealth services […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
A Quad Cities writers’ conference dating back to the ’70s returns this week with a who’s-who of eastern Iowa poets, novelists and professors
For 21 years, the Quad Cities’ David R. Collins Writers’ Conference has helped writers turn ideas into stories, first drafts into polished manuscripts and creative goals into achievable next steps. The conference returns to Augustana College in Rock Island June 25–27 with expanded programming, new opportunities for writers and its most diverse lineup of workshops and events to date.
Posted inCommunity/News
After 23 months in ICE custody, Sudanese man seeks release from Muscatine County Jail
A judge has ordered the federal government to state why it has jailed, for almost two years, an immigration detainee now being held in the Muscatine County Jail. A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa by Mutasim Ibrahim Abdoulrahman Nour, a citizen of Sudan, against U.S. Immigration and Customs […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The 2026 Quad Cities Juneteenth Festival celebrated a long-running local tradition in a new location
The sun was shining on Saturday as people gathered on 2nd Street in downtown Davenport for the Quad Cities’ annual Juneteenth Festival. The location was different this year — it’s traditionally been held in LeClaire Park, closer to the river — but the celebration was the same as always, with music, dance, speeches, food and […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Photos: Pokey’s Fest 4 had the longhairs and baldies head-banging in Iowa City
The fourth, expanded iteration of hardcore and punk festival Pokey’s Fest commanded three venues over three stormy nights in Iowa City, and saw the debut of a slick new band. There were last-minute revisions to the lineup and day-of venue changes thanks to uncooperative weather, but would it really be Pokey’s Fest if there weren’t […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hair Art, the tornado-proof salon that never raised its prices, is closing after more than 28 years in Iowa City
Man Kwi Park plans to treat June 30 like any normal Tuesday. She will open Hair Art, her one-chair salon at the corner of Linn and Court Street, at 9 a.m., and spend the next 12 hours cutting the hair of whomever walks in. (And it will be walk-ins; Park does not take reservations.) At […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Club Basix has brought gaiety to Cedar Rapids since 1997, from dime draws and darts league to drag shows and derecho aid
Since late 1997, you can drive down 1st Ave and and pick out Cedar Rapids’ only gay bar with ease. Club Basix has been out and proud from the start. The first day it was open, original owner David Thompson mounted Pride flags around the entire roof. “I boarded up that middle window in the […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Iowa City couple who sued the Trump admin for delaying their naturalization ceremony are now citizens
Two months after they filed a federal lawsuit because their naturalization ceremony scheduled for January had been abruptly canceled for no apparent reason, longtime Iowa City residents Sunday and Regina Goshit were finally sworn in as U.S. citizens this week. “It’s 25 years of waiting; 25 years of being in this country,” Sunday Goshit told […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
A free festival for punks of all ages, Chroma63 returns to Waterloo with a local lineup, pop-up skate park and 40 years of Iowa show flyers on display
On the website for the Waterloo Center for the Arts, you’ll find a list of perennial outdoor festivals hosted in the museum’s RiverLoop Amphitheatre. You may notice one of the events is not like the others. Nestled amongst the likes of Cedar Valley Stem & Stein and the Holiday Arts Festival is the Chroma63 Arts […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Veteran rock trio TsuShiMaMiRe and new Q.C. power group Sheer Image had scene kids reveling at Raccoon Motel
Amidst the growing humidity and heat of early June, a nearly sold-out crowd gathered on 2nd street outside and in of The Raccoon Motel in Davenport. The night’s enthusiasm was twofold. Not only did it see the return of the long-running Japanese girl punk trio TsuShiMaMiRe, but this was also the debut performance of a new Quad City hardcore band, Sheer Image.
Posted inCommunity/News
City Park Pool will not reopen this summer, Iowa City Parks and Rec announces
Construction delays have pushed the debut of Iowa City’s new public pool to 2027, the Parks and Recreation Department announced Friday afternoon. Last summer was the first time since Harry Truman was president that there was no outdoor public pool open in Iowa City. City Park Pool, which had been a central part of local […]
