Last night I saw a truck with a light-up display of Mariannette Miller-Meeks as a green-faced Grinch. Who did that? –RB, Iowa City The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) did that. The DCCC — pronounced “D triple-C” by political types — announced in an email on Wednesday that it was “launching a new billboard campaign […]
Biden administration
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa, 19 other states sue feds to block staffing mandates for nursing homes
The state of Iowa, where nursing homes have compiled one of the nation’s worst records for staffing-level violations, has joined 19 other states in suing the Biden administration to block the implementation of new staffing requirements. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, seeks to overturn the nursing home […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Federal judge blocks Iowa’s attempt to create its own deportation system
A federal judge in Des Moines issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of SF 2340, the Reynolds administration’s attempt to appropriate the federal government’s power to create and enforce immigration laws, establishing a state-level deportation process. U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher’s ruling came one week after he heard oral arguments in two lawsuits […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Federal judge hears arguments in lawsuits challenging Iowa’s attempt to create its own system to deport immigrants
A federal judge in Des Moines heard arguments on Monday on the attempt by the Reynolds administration to appropriate the federal government’s power to create and enforce immigration laws. SF 2340 makes it a state crime for a person to be in Iowa if they have previously been denied entry into the U.S., or been […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Des Moines area food banks see a record-breaking surge in people needing assistance as June begins
Food banks always see an increase in the number of people who need help at the beginning of summer, as school vacations begin and kids no longer have easy access to the meals at school. But even with that expected increase, the surge the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) Food Pantry Network experienced this week […]
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Iowa City to start charging a fee at its EV charging stations
Next week, Iowa City will begin charging the public to use its electric vehicle charging stations in the city’s parking ramps. Starting Monday, EV drivers topping off their batteries will have to pay 16 cents per kilowatt/hour. The city estimates the average EV driver will pay $4 for a four-hour charging session. “Payment should be […]
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Free rapid COVID-19 tests will be available starting Jan. 19
Starting next week, the federal government will begin distributing free COVID-19 rapid tests through a new website, covidtests.gov. The site will launch on Wednesday, Jan. 19, and “tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering,” according to a written statement published by the White House on Friday. The tests are free and so is […]
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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 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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Biden partners with Uber and Lyft to provide free rides to get vaccinated, as rates continue to slow
As the rate of COVID-19 vaccination slows across the country, President Joe Biden announced a new partnership between the country’s two largest ride-hailing services and the federal government to make it easier for people to reach sites where they can be vaccinated. The partnership was announced Tuesday as part of a set of new initiatives […]
