“What has José done except ask for freedom from brutality?” Rev. Marc Schlegel-Preheim of First Mennonite Church of Iowa City asked at a protest in front of the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Thursday. About 100 people were gathered on the steps of the courthouse to support José Yugar-Cruz, a 37-year-old asylum-seeker from […]
Eastern Iowa Community/News
Posted inCommunity/News
U.S. Attorney continues effort to deport South American asylum seeker in Iowa to Africa (Updated)
Update: On Monday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher lifted his order prohibiting ICE from removing José Yugar-Cruz from Iowa. Locher wrote that an April 18 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court left him “little choice” in the case, and ICE can now proceed to deport Yugar-Cruz to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country in […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Josie Nabhan-Warren, a junior at Iowa City West High, is the new Iowa Student Poet Ambassador
Josie Nabhan-Warren of Iowa City West High School has been named the 2026-2027 Iowa Student Poet Ambassador, the highest honor a young writer can receive in Iowa.
Posted inCommunity/News
Community members gather for a vigil in response to Sunday’s Ped Mall shooting
Laments are “a legitimate prayer,” Rev. Nora Boerner told the people gathered at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City on Monday evening. “Anger is a legitimate prayer. Frustration, pain, anything that you are feeling and anything you believe, you can offer to God, Higher Being, Source, whatever that may be.”
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Exactly what asylum law is meant to stop’: ICE again seizes Bolivian man ordered released in January, plans to deport him to Africa
Three months after a federal judge ordered ICE to release José Yugar-Cruz from Muscatine County Jail, ICE has detained the 36-year-old asylum seeker from Bolivia again. ICE has not accused Yugar-Cruz, who has no criminal record, of violating the terms of his release or any other infractions. ICE plans to deport him to the Democratic […]
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
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 […]
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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 […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
En Español: “Raza Maldita,” a poem in Spanish and English
Nadie decide donde nacer, que manos y piernas tener, con que oídos oír o con que ojos ver Algunos nos enaltece el génesis de la sangre y otros cuantos la esconden, guardando en el fondo las semillas de quienes son y fueron ¿Acaso se sonroja o sufre el halcón, delfín, o escorpión por llevar […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Iowa City warns about email scam targeting residents
An old scam is spreading again in the Iowa City area, the city warned residents on Tuesday. Scammers are sending authentic-looking emails that appear to be from city employees trying to collect fees or payments for city services, according to a news release. In a recent incident, a resident received an email containing what appeared […]
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On supply runs to Minneapolis, Iowa City local Charlie Morris saw ICE terror, mass resistance efforts firsthand
On Sunday, Feb. 15, a van with tinted windows sat in the median of an expressway 10 minutes outside Minneapolis. It idled in a Michigan left usually reserved for law enforcement personnel, one that allows for quick pull-outs and pull-overs. But unlike police cars, this van didn’t have any lights or sirens — it was […]
Posted inCommunity/News
With a losing record and low ticket sales, the Iowa Heartlanders will skip the 2026-27 hockey season
The Iowa Heartlanders will not be on the ice for the 2026-27 season, the team’s ownership group announced on Monday, after the ECHL Board of Governors approved the group’s request for “a voluntary suspension of operations.” “This was an incredibly difficult decision that followed months of careful evaluation,” Michael Devlin, the team’s majority owner, said […]
