This week, after Republicans on an Iowa House subcommittee advanced a bill to eliminate the power of local governments to offer broader civil rights protections than the state does, Ames became the latest city in the state to amend its municipal code to protect the rights of transgender and nonbinary residents. HSB 664 was drafted […]
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Posted inCommunity/News
Bill making it near impossible to designate Iowa waterways as impaired due to fecal bacteria contamination advances
A bill that advanced in a House subcommittee and committee Tuesday would prohibit a water segment from being designated as impaired unless the Iowa Department of Natural Resources identified the percentage of fecal bacteria coming from each animal species that contributed to its impairment. Every two years, the DNR must submit a list to the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa House Republicans advance bills to eliminate local civil rights protections, allow parents to force LGBTQ kids into ‘conversion therapy’
Republican members of two Iowa House Judiciary subcommittees advanced two bills on Monday that continue the anti-LGBTQ agenda Gov. Kim Reynolds and legislative Republicans have enshrined in state law since 2022. As the hearings were underway, supporters of transgender rights and advocates for LGBTQ Iowans protested in the rotunda and halls of the State Capitol. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Protesters sing hymns inside Coralville Target as part of nationwide campaign pressuring the company to change its ICE stance
Emily Patton was standing outside the Target at Coral Ridge Mall a little before 2 p.m. on Sunday, holding an American flag and a sign with a simple, direct message: “ICE OUT!” Patton had driven in from Wilton to participate in a protest aimed at the Target Corporation and its relationship with ICE. “Early on, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa’s last adult movie theater attracted loners and swingers alike in Waterloo
When my friends and I turned 18 in the early aughts, we decided we were tired of our parents’ basements. We found our new hang on the north side of Cedar Rapids. Sure, Adult Shop North was the place where people in town picked up their lubricants, toys and triple-X movies, but it also had […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hundreds turn out in Cedar Rapids to support immigrants at ICE check-ins; Ashley Hinson ‘disturbed’ by legal observer trainings
More than 400 people gathered outside the ICE field office in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday to observe and support seven immigrant families attending mandatory check-in appointments. The crowd of supporters shared coffee, hot chocolate, donuts, blankets, hand warmers, books, toys for kids of the families, as well as monetary donations. As each immigrant emerged from the […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Tom Arnold on Trump tapes, his favorite Iowa stuff and the time he challenged his father to a fight
Tom Arnold is among the rarest of Iowans, having survived both the Razzie Awards and the kill floor at Hormel. There’s a generation of us who may have first met him via Roseanne, but the man has spent decades showing up in wonderful places: Austin Powers, True Lies, The Simpsons, The Best Damn Sports Show […]
Posted inLetters
Thoughts on a terror campaign from an Iowan living in Minneapolis
I am no journalist, no reporter, and also not inclined to repackage the uncomplicated and readily evident facts of the last few weeks from my home here in Minneapolis, pretending there’s some fresh angle or hot take you haven’t been privy to. You can believe your eyes when you see the videos of ICE agents murdering […]
Posted inStatewide
Damage from tariffs, Minneapolis killings go unmentioned as Trump complains to Iowans about ‘rigged elections,’ ‘paid insurrectionists’
Wind chills put temps in the single digits, but people began gathering on the street in front of the Horizon Event Center before 11 a.m. on Tuesday to protest Donald Trump. The president was in Clive, Iowa to deliver remarks on “energy and the economy,” according to the White House. Of course, Trump doesn’t really […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Democrat Jennifer Konfrst exits the race for Congress in IA-03; Republican Shannon Lundgren drops out in IA-02
State Rep. Jennifer Konfrst announced on Monday she is dropping out of the race in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. Konfrst, who represents Windsor Heights in the Iowa House, launched her campaign for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House seat currently held by two-term Republican Rep. Zach Nunn in May last year. “I’m deeply proud […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Republican lawmaker pushes Iowa’s private universities to require courses in U.S. history and civics for all students
The chair of the Iowa House Higher Education Committee is asking Iowa’s private universities to fall into line with curricular changes for state institutions that have yet to be passed into law. But the head of the association for Iowa’s private colleges and universities says the institutions can make their own decisions. Rep. Taylor Collins, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
President Trump to speak in Clive on Tuesday
On Wednesday, White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles told reporters President Donald Trump will travel to Iowa on Tuesday, Jan. 27, to deliver a speech on the economy and energy. According to details released on Thursday night, the speech will take place at the Horizon Events Center in Clive (2100 NW 100th St). Doors […]
