As eight Senate Democrats broke with their party on Sunday night to vote for a Republican spending bill that would end the shutdown of the federal government but not restore the healthcare subsidies Democrats had made their central demand, the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) was hosting its Liberty and Justice Dinner in Des Moines. The […]
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Posted inArts & Entertainment
Book Review: ‘The Monsters We Make: Murder, Obsession, and the Rise of Criminal Profiling’ by Rachel Corbett
All through college, and for several years after, I was a self-professed true crime girlie. I suspect my interest sprung from watching CSI with my parents growing, nestled up in the secure monotony of Midwest farmland while learning about decomposition and blood splatter. In my mid-20s, several provoking pieces about survivorhood and a handful of […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Seize the means of water testing with a free kit from Nitrate Watch
I wasn’t great at science in high school. Following a set of basic lab protocols was somehow harder for me than memorizing the entirety of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel. I scored even worse on the science portion of the ACT than the math portion, which is saying something. That said, I love […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa food companies routinely violate water pollution permits and rarely face penalties
Deb El Food Products LLC is one of hundreds of Iowa-based companies cited for violating its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit in 2025. Of these, 38 were food or agriculture companies. After months of dumping wastewater that exceeded the toxic compound limits set forth in the permit, the liquid egg company was cited […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Forced to cope with paper tariffs, small comic book and game stores in Iowa are getting creative
You might recall the Stamp Act from 5th grade social studies. Passed on March 22, 1765, it was the mechanism used by the British to fund the standing troops lingering in the American colonies after the Seven Years’ War. In practice, the Stamp Act required that colonists pay a tax on all paper products, ranging […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Report: Iowa’s rate of new lung cancer cases ‘significantly higher’ than national average
Iowans are used to reports on cancer rates containing bad news for the state. Annual reports from the Iowa Cancer Registry and the National Cancer Institute have documented Iowa’s remarkably high rate of new cancers. Only tobacco-heavy Kentucky has a higher rate of new cases. Now, a report from the American Lung Association (ALA) published […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Many stores stopped redeeming empties after Republicans gutted Iowa’s ‘bottle bill.’ Three years later, the Sierra Club is calling for a review.
It’s been three years since Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a bill gutting an important recycling law that had been in place for four decades. SF 2378 changed “the bottle bill” that another Republican governor, Robert Ray, signed in 1978, creating a 5 cent deposit on bottles and cans of soda, beer and wine […]
Posted inCommunity/News
A guide to Iowa nonprofits tackling the biggest issues of our time
“When Americans think of freedom, we usually imagine a contest between a lone individual and a powerful government,” writes Timothy Snyder in his treatise On Tyranny — an Antifa 101 reading assignment, if there ever was one. “This is all well and good. But one element of freedom is the choice of associates, and one […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa Odyssey: Play LV’s board game and read the stories behind the spaces
Pick up a copy of the November issue and turn to page 40 (the centerfold). You can also download a PDF of the Iowa Odyssey game board, or play the game virtually with friends. Game design by Rodney Arthur. Space concepts by Little Village staff. Visual design by Kellan Doolittle. Play-tested by Nolan Petersen and […]
Posted inAstrology
Astrology forecast — November 2025
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the late 18th century, Balloonomania came to Paris. Large crowds gathered to watch inventors and impresarios send hot air balloons into the sky. Spectators were astonished, fearful and filled with wonder. Some wept, and some fainted. I suspect you’re due for your own exhilarating lift-off, Scorpio—a surge of inspiration that […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Wellmark celebrates as judge in lawsuit temporarily restricts parts of Iowa law regulating prescription drug cost negotiators
Iowa’s law putting new regulations on pharmacy benefits managers is temporarily blocked from enforcement for Wellmark Blue Cross-Blue Shield health plans and insurance policies. Chief U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose issued a temporary injunction last week in the case, brought earlier this month by Iowa’s largest health insurer against the state insurance commissioner. The case […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘The Mean Ones’ by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
Tatiana Schlote-Bonne’s sophomore novel The Mean Ones (Creature Publishing) sounds relatively straightforward from the summary: a young girl survives a ritual sacrifice in the woods at summer camp, from which she suffers intense PTSD, and upon finding herself in the woods as an adult she’s faced with familiar horrors. In reading the book, though, the […]
