Over the last seven days, Iowa hit new highs for the year in the number of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the number of patients hospitalized with the virus, according to the latest weekly update from the Iowa Department of Public Health. IDPH reported 13,039 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, a significant jump […]
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Posted inCommunity/News
Abortion rights advocates rally in Iowa City as Roe hangs by a thread
Mica Doolan is open about their abortions. Standing in front of around 60 people gathered at the Pentacrest on Saturday, all bundled in heavy coats and knitted hats, Doolan tells them about their abortion story. “I’ve had multiple abortions. I’ve had three, actually. And I’m proud to say that I have had the right to […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Rob Sand is running for a second term as state auditor, squashing speculation he’d seek higher office
Almost as soon as Rob Sand was elected Iowa State Auditor in 2018, political writers and the Iowa Republican Party began publicly speculating on what office he would run for in 2022. Would Sand, the only Democrat elected to statewide office that year who wasn’t already a longtime incumbent (Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald has been in […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Beadology, a fixture on E Washington Street for 15 years, has moved
“My life pattern has been every 10 or 15 years, a new opportunity presents itself to me,” Karen Kubby said, taking a break from packing up inventory at Beadology. At various points in her life, Kubby has been a high school science teacher, the executive director of the Emma Goldman Clinic and a member of […]
Posted inCommunity/News
President Biden unveils plan to fight COVID spread over winter; hospitalizations in Iowa reach a new high for 2021
“I know COVID-19 has become very divisive in this country, it’s become a political issue, which is a sad, sad commentary,” President Joe Biden said on Thursday. “It shouldn’t be, but it has been. Now as we move into the winter and face the challenges of this new variant, we can put the divisiveness behind […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Iowa City musician Brian Johannesen named Englert Theatre’s new Senior Programming Manager
The Englert Theatre announced today that it has hired someone to fill one of outgoing executive director Andre Perry’s formidable shoes. Iowa City-based musician and promoter (and former Little Village distribution manager) Brian Johannesen has been named the Englert’s senior programming manager, a role the theater codified in the wake of Perry’s departure announcement in […]
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Tiffany O’Donnell wins landslide victory in race for Cedar Rapids mayor
Tiffany O’Donnell won a landslide victory in the runoff election for mayor of Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, becoming the third woman elected mayor of Cedar Rapids. O’Donnell, CEO of the nonprofit Women Lead Change and a former news anchor at CBS 2/Fox 28 in Cedar Rapids, received 13,479 votes, which was 68 percent of the […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Judge halts enforcement of federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health workers in Iowa and nine other states
On Monday, a federal judge in Missouri issued a preliminary injunction stopping the Biden administration from enforcing the mandate requiring workers at healthcare facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid dollars to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The injunction only applies to the 10 states who filed the lawsuit against the mandate. Iowa is one of those […]
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How to vote in Cedar Rapids’ mayoral runoff election Tuesday
Polls will open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday for the runoff election for mayor of Cedar Rapids. The mayor’s race will be the only contest on the ballot, and the only choices listed with be the two candidates who received the highest totals in the Nov. 2 election, Amara Andrews and Tiffany O’Donnell. Since neither […]
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Gov. Reynolds says she’s ‘proud’ of COVID numbers ahead of Thanksgiving; IDPH reports more than 10,000 new cases in the last week
“I’m proud of where our numbers are at,” Gov. Kim Reynolds said regarding COVID-19 during a photo-op with two turkeys at the governor’s mansion on Tuesday, “and we’re going to continue to make vaccines available and encourage people to get them if they want to.” According to the Iowa Department of Public Health’s latest data, […]
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Judge strikes down Iowa’s ban on Medicaid covering gender-affirming medical procedures
In 2019, the Iowa Supreme Court struck down a state regulation prohibiting Medicaid from covering gender-affirming procedures deemed medically necessary, finding it violated the Iowa Civil Rights Act (ICRA). Republicans in the state legislature responded by passing a statute intended to amend the ICRA and make that sort of discrimination legal by prohibiting “any state […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Racist slurs, threats and disparities: Why Iowa City high school students walked out of class Friday
Over 100 Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) students participated in a protest on Friday afternoon, walking out of school as the final period began and meeting on the Pentacrest to discuss racism within the district and what they consider the failure of schools and district administration to address it. On Nov. 8, students at […]
