The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has launched an investigation into whether Iowa’s prohibition on mandating face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 put students at risk in a way that violates their rights. “Specifically, OCR will examine whether, in light of Iowa’s prohibition on local school districts and schools […]
Gov. Kim Reynolds
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Mask mandate issued for all Iowa courthouses by Chief Justice Susan Christensen
Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court Susan Christensen issued a face mask requirement for all of Iowa’s courthouses on Friday afternoon, which requires everyone entering a courthouse to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status. “This requirement applies statewide and does not depend on a particular county’s or area’s positivity rate or transmission status,” […]
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Rally against voter suppression Saturday will gather activists, elected officials and candidates on the Pentacrest
There will be a rally on the Pentacrest in Iowa City on Saturday protesting attempts at voter suppression that proliferated in the wake of the 2020 election, as well as constant lies about voter fraud spread by Donald Trump. “Between January 1 and July 14, 2021, at least 18 states enacted 30 laws that restrict […]
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COVID-19: Reynolds sued over ban on masks in schools; more than 7,000 new cases reported in latest update
One day after a lawsuit was filed against the state over the new state law barring school boards from requiring face masks in schools, IDPH published an update showing another 7,112 Iowans tested positive for COVID-19 during its most recent seven-day reporting period. The new cases included in the Wednesday update pushed the total number […]
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The conspiracy-theory influence on Iowa’s laws and lawmakers
Donald Trump was not welcomed back into the Oval Office on Friday, Aug. 13, as some MAGA loyal predicted. But the failure of such Trumpian prophecies usually does little to dull the fervor of right-wing conspiracy theorists. Encouraged by online influencers and politicians who stand to benefit from the spread of misinformation, an array of […]
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Iowa City mask mandate: UI and ICCSD say they can’t require masks; Mayor Teague discusses enforcement
The University of Iowa will not change its policy of encouraging but not requiring mask-wearing on campus, despite the mask mandate issued by Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague on Thursday night. As a state agency it is bound by state law, a UI spokesperson said shortly after the mayor announced the mandate. On Friday, the […]
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Iowa City issues new mask mandate for schools, restaurants, UI campus and more
Mayor Bruce Teague issued a face mask mandate for Iowa City on Thursday evening, due to the ongoing surge in cases of COVID-19 driven by the spread of the Delta variant in Iowa. “The Delta variant has reached our community, and as the number of positive cases continue to grow, we are now also faced […]
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Gov. Reynolds condemns President Biden’s push to lift school mask ban in Iowa
With only a few days left before schools across Iowa reopen, Gov. Kim Reynolds denounced efforts by President Biden to prevent state governments, including Iowa’s, from prohibited face mask requirements in schools. Briefly speaking to reporters after participating in an event promoting Hy-Vee’s Indy-car racing team at the supermarket chain’s West Des Moines office complex, […]
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‘Iowa is worth the work’: Deidre DeJear officially launches her campaign for governor
Deidre DeJear made it official on Saturday — she is running for governor of Iowa. DeJear’s announcement came just over a month after she announced a listening tour of the state to help her decide whether to run, and three years after her first campaign for public office. DeJear made history with her 2018 run […]
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With COVID cases hitting ‘high’ mark, face masks are now required in Johnson County municipal buildings
Johnson County now requires anyone entering a county-owned building to wear a face mask in response to the surge in new COVID-19 cases in Iowa caused by the highly contagious Delta variant. The county joins Linn County, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty, which had already enacted mask mandates for their municipal buildings. […]
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‘I’m not a scientist’: Gov. Reynolds on face masks; the Iowa State Fair opens as COVID cases keep climbing
The Iowa State Fair opened its 11-day run on Thursday with limited COVID-19 precautions, even though new data from the Iowa Department of Public Health showed new cases of the virus are continuing to increase rapidly and the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patient took a dramatic jump. In its weekly update issued on Wednesday, IDPH […]
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Free speech v. industrial farms: Iowa’s ag gag laws go to federal court
The state government’s various attempts over the last nine years to shield industrial animal farms with an ag gag law were spotlighted in court Tuesday. The injunction preventing the first ag gag law, signed into law by Gov. Terry Branstad in 2012, from going into effect was partially upheld by a federal appeal court, while […]
