I lost my job when the U.S. housing market collapsed in 2008 and unemployment soared, pushing homeowners into foreclosure and the nation into crisis. For the first time in my life, I filed for unemployment benefits, which would keep me afloat for nine long months. A bachelor’s degree didn’t insulate me from financial distress nor […]
Opinion
Letters to the editor: A photo tweeted by Miller-Meeks’ campaign manager should concern voters
By Don Paulson, Letts All Iowans who live in the 20 counties of the new First Congressional District should be appalled and disgusted with Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Her campaign manager, Elliott Husbands, displays a photo on his Twitter page of a room draped with the flags of far-right extremist groups on the wall while […]
Dana James: Black hairstyles have consequences
“His hair is disgusting.” “He shouldn’t be allowed to work here with that hair.” “It’s not professional.” As I sat working at my desk, I could hear snatches of my coworkers’ conversation about the new Black employee’s locs. If my former coworkers had worked in human resources, it’s doubtful he’d have ever been hired — […]
Letters to the editor: Miller-Meeks shuns common sense for Trump loyalty, ‘law and order’ agenda
Miller-Meeks needs common sense By Paul Deaton, Solon Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ recent statement about common sense would make sense if she demonstrated it in her votes. She recently disparaged Democrats and said she was, “…doing everything in my power to fight for Iowan common sense values.” Instead of common sense, Miller-Meeks adopted right-wing policies of […]
Letter to the editor: Cannabis criminalization is failed public policy for Iowa
This March 22 marks the 50th anniversary of an important report from the Shafer Commission, a Nixon-appointed group tasked with studying marijuana and issuing policy recommendations. The group’s findings called for the decriminalization of cannabis possession in the U.S., but alas, the suggestions went unheeded. Our state, 50 years later, remains one of the 19 […]
Letter to the editor: Johnson County’s excluded workers deserved better
By Tom Carsner, Iowa City All Johnson County residents suffered losses from the pandemic, but not all residents were helped by government stabilization or enhanced unemployment checks. Three Johnson County Supervisors cemented this inequality and sidetracked the discussion about ARPA payments by raising irrelevant “what-about” questions and even questioning whether the county could do such […]
Letter to the editor: Miller-Meeks voted against burn pit health benefits for veterans
By Dave Bradley, West Liberty When former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley campaigned for candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks in 2020, she told a Davenport gathering Miller-Meeks will bring moral clarity to the health care reform debate in the country and fight to protect the Trump tax cuts. While the latter may be true, Miller-Meeks is a fraud […]
Video premiere: Anthony Worden and the Illiterati, “That Don’t Make Me Feel Good”
Ahead of what promises to be a slow burn of a show to warm a chilly February night (tonight, Friday, Feb. 25 at Gabe’s), Iowa City’s Anthony Worden and the Illiterati dropped a new video yesterday morning that’s all sludge and precision and genre-bending chewy goodness. This live recording of “That Don’t Make Me Feel […]
Dildos and dil-don’ts: LV reviews area sex shops
It’s the month of Love, and a time for all of us to join together for some sweet, sweet lovemaking. You could go with the standard apparatus you’ve got down there, or up there, or really anywhere, but if you’re feeling like going beyond the norm, there’s always the local porn shop. Of course, in […]
Letters to the editor: How Iowa Republicans are sowing division
By Ellen Ballas, Iowa City Recently we learned that twice-impeached former President Trump urged the seizure of voting machines by federal agencies hoping to overturn the 2020 election. Not one Iowa Republican criticized him, including Senator Grassley and Representatives Hinson and Miller-Meeks. Also recently, Republican Representative Thomas Massie criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci using a neo-Nazi […]
Letter from Joe Bolkcom: Let’s talk weather
We Iowans love to talk about the weather! Not Governor Reynolds. She didn’t mention the recent off-the-charts weather disaster in her rosy Condition of the State address recently. On Dec. 15, Iowans once again experienced a set of events that no one alive has ever witnessed before. A record temperature of 74 degrees. The first […]
Letter to the editor: Miller-Meeks didn’t support the military
By Paul Deaton, Solon Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks should be consistent about where she stands on support for the military. On Jan. 12, she voted against expanding eligibility for educational benefits to our National Guard and Army Reserves in the Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act of 2021. In June, Miller-Meeks said, “I can think […]

