Gov. Reynolds wants to starve Iowa’s safety net and, consequently, its people. In her recent Condition of the State address, Governor Kim Reynolds used her platform to kick struggling Iowans while they are down. At one point in her speech, Reynolds lamented that Iowa’s “safety net has become a hammock.” The implication, of course, is […]
Letters
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Letter to the editor: Johnson County, wear your mask!
By Kent Williams, Iowa City Last weekend I visited the North Dodge Hy-Vee, the Coralville Hy-Vee. Only about half the people were wearing masks. When I’ve visited other businesses, the people working there weren’t wearing masks. At my chiropractor’s office, no one was wearing a mask. If you visit the popular stores near Kalona, no […]
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Letter from Joe Bolkcom: Iowa’s workforce crisis, dangerous prisons and neglected state parks are the result of GOP policy
Iowa’s workforce crisis and rural decline can be traced to irresponsible Republican tax and economic policies year after year. Their actions bring to life the words of their puppet master Grover Norquist who said, “I’m not in favor of abolishing the government. I just want to shrink it down to the size where we can […]
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Letter to the editor from RAYGUN’s Mike Draper: Why I’m helping launch Little Village Des Moines
By Mike Draper, founder and owner, RAYGUNshirts Seeing an arts-culture-and-news alternative magazine in Des Moines has been on my mind for years. I think the kind of connection these publications gave the community hasn’t been replicated by the internet. So this might be the perfect era to see if a print publication would work. Coming […]
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Letter to the editor: A year of climate change and records broken
By Jerry Schnoor, Iowa City Extreme climate events led the news in 2021. Among the rarest events, an unprecedented heat wave in the Northwest that busted all records. Portland was scorched by an average high temperature of 112 degrees F from June 26-28, when normal high temperatures are in the seventies. Seattle, Washington set an […]
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Op-ed: Why The Lord of the Rings movies matter 20 years later
A disembodied melody punctured by sharp whispers; the resounding voice of Lady Galadriel demands your attention to the darkened screen. The commencement of arguably the best adapted fantasy series ever has begun — that is, 20 years ago. Sunday, Dec. 19 marks the 20th anniversary of Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Lord of the […]
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Letter from Joe Bolkcom: Are rural Iowa communities better off today than they were five years ago?
By Joe Bolkcom, Iowa Senator, Iowa City Iowa Republicans’ tax and economic policies have hollowed out Iowa’s small communities and rural landscape. Their big business approach to every problem have resulted in everything getting bigger: worker shortages, farms, packing plants, chemical and fertilizer companies, tractors, consolidated schools, convenience store chains, food and childcare deserts, CAFOs, […]
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Letter to the editor: Securely store your guns, Iowa City
By Lo Whittington, Iowa City Less than 48 hours after a presentation to the school board of the Iowa City Community School District from concerned citizens on the subject of preventing gun violence in our schools, parents received a notice from the ICCSD of a nationwide gun violence threat to schools promoted on social media […]
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Letter to the editor: White nationalists’ war on woke
By Mary Gravitt, Iowa City White nationalists are waging a war on woke, accusing crowds of African-Americans of using woke as a code word against White privilege, which nationalists declare is a communist/socialist plot. Woke is Black slang which originated from two sources: Spike Lee and the Bible. Blacks have always been castigated for speaking […]
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Letter to the editor: Miller-Meeks running for reelection is bad news for Iowa
By Don Paulson, Letts I see that Republican Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks has decided to run for re-election in the new Iowa 1st District. That’s bad news for the people living there, for she has a terrible voting record. Recently she voted against the infrastructure bill, HR3684, calling it “socialist.” Iowa has the most deficient bridges […]
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Letter from Joe Bolkcom: I will not seek reelection to Iowa Senate
By State Sen. Joe Bolkcom, Iowa City I will not seek re-election to the Iowa Senate in 2022. I am deeply grateful for the trust, guidance and strong support I have received from the people of Iowa City and Johnson County. It’s been a privilege to work every day to make life better for everyday […]
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Letter to the editor: Voter suppression can already be felt in Iowa City
By Ellen Ballas, Iowa City Voter suppression was obvious in Iowa City during early voting for the recent local election. Poll workers told me they weren’t permitted to use the printer that produces a label with information which allows us to vote. Instead, voters were asked to hand write answers on a preprinted form attached […]
