Fatou Traore, a longtime Iowa City resident, has been deported to Sierra Leone, a country to which she has no connections. Traore was seized by two ICE agents on Sept. 24, when she arrived at her sister’s house at approximately 6:30 a.m. to drive her to work. The agents displayed no identification and did not […]
Eastern Iowa Community/News
Posted inEastern Iowa
With Fatou Traore still in ICE custody, supporters plan Cedar Rapids rally; Grassley says his staff will look into helping
Family, friends and supporters of Fatou Traore are holding a rally and vigil at the federal building in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday morning as they continue their efforts to secure the release of the longtime Iowa City resident from ICE detention. Traore, an immigrant from the West African county of Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire), has […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law allowing $1.4 billion in tax incentives — roughly $777,000 per job — for steel mill project
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law Friday a measure changing a state’s economic development program that could provide nearly $1.4 billion in tax incentives for a $15 billion steel mill project planned in southeast Iowa. “Today, we advance the most consequential economic development project ever to come to our state,” Reynolds said. The governor signed […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hundreds rally to free Iowa City mother seized by ICE and facing third-country deportation; Miller-Meeks asks for stay from DHS
Early last Thursday morning, ICE agents seized a longtime Iowa City resident as she was preparing to drive to work with her sister. Fatou Traore came to the United States in 2005 from the Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire), a West African nation. In 2011, an immigration court judge granted her an order of withholding of […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The Reynolds administration is appealing the ruling that saved the Centennial Building and archives
The Reynolds administration is appealing the district court ruling that it cannot eliminate the Iowa City research center and archives of the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI). Lawyers from the Attorney General’s Office filed notice on Friday that the administration is appealing Judge David Cox’s Sept. 17 decision to the Iowa Supreme Court. Cox […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Photos: Epstein survivors speak in Cedar Rapids as bookmobile of released files tours Midwest
The rolling “Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room” stopped in Des Moines, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids last week. On Sunday, Raygun hosted the bookmobile at its CR retail store, as well as a reading by survivors of Epstein’s abuse. It marked the first time Epstein survivors have made an appearance with […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Cedar Rapids Public Library’s new branch opens with a ribbon-cutting ceremony
Despite the inclement weather on Saturday, the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new westside branch of the Cedar Rapids Public Library attracted a large crowd. Work on the project began in 2022, when the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation acquired land for the new branch near the corner of 20th Avenue SW and Wiley Blvd SW. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City Police Department officers fatally shoot a person while responding to call Tuesday evening
Two officers from the Iowa City Police Department fired their guns at a person reportedly holding a knife early Tuesday evening, striking and killing the subject. The incident occurred on the street in the 600 block of Southgate Avenue. The officers arrived at the scene at “approximately 5:36 p.m.” in response to “a report of a […]
Posted inCommunity/News
DVIP/RVAP marks 47 years with a bingo bash fundraiser at Big Grove
DVIP/RVAP is marking its 47th anniversary this week with a fundraiser at Big Grove Brewery & Taproom in Iowa City. The three-hour “Birthday Bingo Bash” is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. “It is events like this that not only raise funds for our work but also allow the community to show survivors […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Immigrant Welcome Network celebrates three years of helping new arrivals find homes, jobs and community in Johnson County
The Immigrant Welcome Network of Johnson County (IWNJC) held its third-annual gala on Saturday in Coralville. Themed “Dreams without Borders,” the event surpassed its fundraising goal by $3,000, taking in $38,000 in donations to support its mission of helping newly arrived immigrants in the area get settled. The Unitarian Universalist Society Sanctuary was alive with […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa’s largest population of Pacific Islanders are the Marshallese, ‘a very loving people’ displaced and sickened by U.S. nuclear testing
On May 23, government officials from the Republic of the Marshall Islands traveled 6,000 miles to commemorate their country’s Constitution Day in Dubuque. The Iowa city has gathered to mark the Marshallese holiday since 2005. “Today is more than a national celebration,” Isaac Zackhras, Vice Speaker of the Marshall Islands’ parliament told the crowd in […]
Posted inStatewide
RFK Jr. visits Dubuque community health clinic facing major Trump budget cuts, as Iowa experiences a measles outbreak
“I love to visit places like Crescent, ’cause they do everything right,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told reporters after touring Crescent Community Health Center in Dubuque on Wednesday. “From the very beginning, the focus was on removing barriers and ensuring access to care — regardless of income, insurance, or background,” […]
