The Iowa Department of Public Health launched a new site on Friday that is intended to make finding a COVID-19 vaccine provider for Iowans currently eligible to be vaccinated easier. “Vaccinate.iowa.gov will provide information about eligibility resources available to assist Iowans, and answers to frequently asked questions,” Gov. Kim Reynolds said, announcing the site at […]
Gov. Kim Reynolds
State Republicans pass bill to restrict early voting, voting by mail and voting on Election Day in Iowa

Just eight days after it was introduced in the Iowa Legislature, a bill that would make it harder to vote but easier to remove people from voting rolls, and creates new criminal liability for local election officials, received its final approval. On Wednesday night, the Republican-controlled Iowa House of Representatives sent the bill to Gov. […]
Republican lawmakers advance bill that cuts off state funding to any city that reduces its police budget

A bill that would halt state funding to any city or county that reduces the budget of its local law enforcement agency is making its way through the Iowa Senate and House of Representatives. SSB 1203, known in the House as HSB 230, was introduced last Thursday and approved by subcommittees in the both the […]
‘It’s voter suppression’: Iowa Republicans target voting access, citing Trumpian election conspiracy theories

At least 33 state legislatures around the country, most of them controlled by Republicans, are working on bills that restrict voting. Iowa is one of them. “These bills are an unmistakable response to the unfounded and dangerous lies about fraud that followed the 2020 election,“ the Brennan Center for Justice said in a report on […]
Gov. Reynolds cancels plans for a ‘one-stop shop’ website for COVID-19 vaccination scheduling

Two weeks after announcing the state was going to launch a website that would be “a centralized registration and referral system” for people trying to schedule a COVID-19 vaccination, Gov. Kim Reynolds said no such site will be created. The governor described the planned website as “a one-stop shop where Iowans could provide their information […]
State Sen. Jim Carlin, a hardcore Trump supporter, becomes the first declared candidate in the 2022 U.S. Senate race

The 2022 U.S. Senate election in Iowa now has its first official candidate. On Monday, Republican state Sen. Jim Carlin announced he is running for the seat that Chuck Grassley has held since 1981. Carlin has served in the Iowa State Senate, representing part of Woodbury County, since winning a special election in 2017. He […]
‘A place like this is needed now more than ever’: Johnson County’s GuideLink Center prepares to open

The GuideLink Center, a mental health access center in Iowa City that has been in the works for more than a decade, is just days away from opening its doors. The 18,000 square-foot facility at 300 Southgate Ave will provide rapid assessment, triage and stabilization for adults experiencing a mental health or substance abuse crisis. […]
Gov. Reynolds uses elimination of COVID-19 restrictions in fundraising pitches

Gov. Kim Reynolds is fundraising off her elimination of Iowa’s few COVID-19 restrictions, telling supporters she is standing up to “radicals on the Left” who “want to shut Iowa down.” The governor tweeted out that message on Thursday morning, and asked “Are you with me?” Iowa is coming back and we are coming back strong. […]
‘Absolutely mind-boggling’: Gov. Reynolds didn’t ask for the IDPH’s opinion before eliminating statewide mask mandate

Gov. Kim Reynolds did not consult with the Iowa Department of Public Health before eliminating the limited statewide mask mandate that had been in place since mid-November, according to state Sen. Claire Celsi. The Des Moines Democrat tweeted on Monday that she “listened in on a phone call” between interim Iowa Department of Public Health […]
Gov. Reynolds eliminates Iowa’s few significant COVID restrictions

Gov. Kim Reynolds is eliminating the state’s few remaining significant COVID-19 restrictions, even though the Iowa Department of Public Health confirmed earlier this week that a more contagious variant of the virus is circulating in the state. On Sunday, the state’s limited mask mandate will end, and the restrictions on the size of gatherings and […]
Five Linn County school superintendents ask Gov. Reynolds to prioritize vaccinating school staff

Five Linn County school superintendents sent a joint letter to Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday asking for additional COVID-19 vaccine doses to be allocated to the state’s priority populations in light of the Feb. 15 deadline for school districts to provide all in-person instruction. The superintendents ask state officials to reallocate 64,000 doses of vaccine […]
ICCSD families will have to choose all in-person or all online instruction as new state law limits district’s options

Following Gov. Kim Reynolds’ signing of a new law requiring school districts to offer an all in-person class option, the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) announced it will discontinue the hybrid model of education it implemented when limited in-person instruction resumed last fall. “Effective February 15, 2021, the District will no longer offer the […]