In a three-page email to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office and the Iowa Department of Public Health, Linn County officials questioned and criticized the state’s allocation of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, as well as pleaded for local control to allocate the single-dose vaccine to vulnerable populations. Tricia Kitzmann, who is Linn County Public Health’s […]
Gov. Kim Reynolds
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Gov. Reynolds signs bills eliminating gun permits, giving new legal protection to gun manufacturers and sellers
On Friday afternoon, as the Easter holiday weekend was beginning, Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office sent out a news release stating that the governor had signed into a law a bill eliminating the requirement for a person to be licensed to buy or carry a gun. The bill, HF 756, was passed by the Iowa House, […]
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Gov. Reynolds doesn’t answer question about political divide on vaccines, announces college vaccination programs
As Iowa prepares to for its largest expansion of eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination — everyone 16 and older for the Pfizer vaccine, and those 18 and older for both Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — Gov. Kim Reynolds was asked at her weekly news conference if she any insight into why many people in a […]
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Rita Hart drops her challenge of Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ election, citing the GOP’s ‘toxic campaign of political disinformation’
Rita Hart announced on Wednesday afternoon she is withdrawing her challenge to the 2020 election results in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. Hart, a Democrat, lost the race for the district’s open seat to Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks by six votes, according to the results certified by the state canvassing board. “After many conversations with people I […]
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Online students will have to return to school buildings for statewide standardized tests (Updated)
Update: On Tuesday, the Iowa City Community School District sent out an email “intended to clarify” the email it sent on Monday to families of students in the district’s Online Learning Program regarding the standardized test students in Grades 3-11 are required to take. There will be an online version of the ISASP test conducted […]
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Iowa Supreme Court hears arguments in state’s attempt to ban funding for Planned Parenthood’s sex education programs
The Iowa Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in the state’s appeal of a district court ruling that a 2019 law blocking Planned Parenthood of the Heartland (PPH) from receiving government grants to conduct sex education programs for Iowa teens was unconstitutional. At the time the ban on PPH was passed in 2019, the […]
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Iowa Senate Republicans push through bills eliminating gun permits and giving gunmakers new legal protections
The Iowa Senate passed two bills concerning gun sales on Monday. The first removes the requirement for a person to be licensed to buy or carry a gun, and the second provides broad immunity against lawsuits to gun manufacturers and dealers. Both bills passed the Republican-controlled chamber on party-line votes. HF 756 and HF 621 […]
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Iowa Poll: 41 percent of Republicans say they won’t get vaccinated for COVID-19
In a new Iowa Poll published on Sunday, 41 percent of the respondents who identified themselves as Republicans said they have no intention of being vaccinated against COVID-19. Among those who said they voted for Donald Trump in November, the rate of vaccine rejection was even higher, with 45 percent saying they have no intention […]
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HUD may sue Iowa if bill allowing landlords to discriminate against federal housing aid recipients is signed into law
The Iowa Senate passed a bill allowing landlords to discriminate against anyone receiving federal housing assistance on Wednesday. The Senate had previously passed the bill on a party-line vote, but Republicans in the Iowa House amended SF 252 (formerly SSB 1079) when it passed the bill on Monday, so the Senate had to approve the […]
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All Iowans will become eligible for COVID-19 vaccination on April 5, Reynolds says
All adults in Iowa will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination starting on Monday, April 5, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced at her news conference on Wednesday. The new eligibility expansion will be contingent on the vaccine supply increasing. According to Reynolds, Biden administration officials assure the nation’s governors vaccine supplies will soon begin to […]
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Iowa Department of Public Health signed a $1.58 million deal with GOP-connected contact tracing company
With no public announcement, the Iowa Department of Public Health approved in January a contract extension for a company with ties to the Iowa Republican Party that the department hired in November to provide COVID-19 contact tracing assistance, Ryan Foley of the Associated Press reported on Friday. The three-month extension will pay MCI $1.58 million. […]
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One day after Gov. Reynolds signs new voting restrictions into law, a lawsuit is filed to overturn them
On Monday, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a bill that restricts early voting, voting by mail and voting on Election Day, and makes it easier to remove people from voting rolls and harder for third-party candidates to get on the ballot for statewide and federal races. The bill criminalizes possible errors made by local […]
