Ryan Quinn attended auctions and scoured thrift stores and junkyards for car parts with his family as a kid. In his teen years, he started searching on his own for punk rock albums from artists like The Clash. These days, he travels thousands of miles a month in his minivan, hunting down art, watches, vintage […]
Iowa Freedom Riders: Nobody deserves prison, including the man who could have killed us

“That’s bullshit.” “This is not justice.” “Disappointed, but not surprised.” “What he did is a terroristic act and should be in prison for it.” The news that Michael Ray Stepanek, an Iowa City man who intentionally drove through a crowd of racial justice protesters on Aug. 21 in order to give them an “attitude adjustment,” […]
Iowan’s ‘menacing’ behavior in the Capitol illustrates how much worse the insurrection could have been

A short video captured inside the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6 shows perhaps the most heroic (and heroically restrained) performance by a police officer on that day, as well as the criminal trespassing of an Iowan on the halls of Congress. The officer is Eugene Goodman of the U.S. Capitol Police, the Washington Post […]
Six ways to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday

This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day — Monday, Jan. 18 — will feature virtual celebrations, as well as a car parade and free food in Iowa City. MLK Celebration of Human Rights Kick-off Virtual, 10 a.m. The University of Iowa’s celebration honoring King includes guest speakers, performances and a resource fair. The event is […]
Wear a mask, Iowa Public Health Association asks state lawmakers

The Iowa Public Health Association (IPHA) sent an open letter to the state legislature on Thursday, asking lawmakers to “accept your position of critical role models to the people of Iowa” and “lead by example and always wear a mask during your work at the Capitol and ask others to do the same.” As IPHA […]
Letters to the editor: Iowa’s bottle deposit law is 40 years old. It’s time for some updates.

By Paula Vaughan, League of Women Voters of Johnson County co-president, Iowa City It’s been 40 years since Iowa led the nation with a bottle deposit law. The legislation, introduced by Gov. Robert Ray was adopted by a Republican-majority legislature in 1978 and enacted into law in 1979. This was a revolutionary concept not only […]
Iowa City’s Top Chef Downtown event transforming to an at-home experience this year

For anyone who’s been practicing their cooking skills during the pandemic, the Iowa City Downtown District has an opportunity to put that talent to the test — and it’s also an opportunity to try delicious food and recipes from Iowa City chefs. The annual Top Chef Downtown event allows attendees to taste various entrees, desserts […]
LaLa DeLo reflects on dreams deferred: A Martin Luther King Jr Day playlist
‘Our state has never been stronger’: Reynolds calls for accelerated tax cuts and full-time in-person school, despite pandemic

More than 4,200 Iowans have died from COVID-19, and food insecurity in the state has been pushed to it highest level in living memory by economic damage from the pandemic. Still, Gov. Kim Reynolds told the Iowa Legislature at the beginning of her Condition of the State speech on Tuesday night that “the condition of […]
Linn County has only received an ‘extremely limited’ supply of COVID-19 vaccine, health officials say

Doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are arriving in Iowa and Linn County “very slowly,” and supply of the vaccine is “extremely limited,” according to Linn County Public Health. County public health and medical officials from the local hospitals urged residents during a LCPH news conference to remain patient as it might take the county longer […]
Letter to the editor: Trump exploited good old American cussedness. Let’s reclaim it.

By Kent Williams, Iowa City The rioters at the U.S. Capitol are not people to be admired. They’re deluded, they’re racist, they’ve gone absolutely wrong in a violent and disturbing way. But there is one thing to admire about those Trumpist seditionists: They are soaked head to toe with a peculiarly American attribute, cussedness. The […]
Coralville’s still unnamed hockey team is approved by the East Coast Hockey League

Coralville now has a minor league professional hockey team. Or rather, it will when the 2021-22 East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) season starts. The league officially approved an expansion team for Coralville on Tuesday. The team, which doesn’t have a name yet, was one of two expansion teams approved on Wednesday. The other team, also […]