A Senate subcommittee advanced a measure Tuesday to remove the state requirement to maintain a State Historical Society of Iowa research center in Iowa City — a point of litigation as the state has already moved to close the facility. SSB 3033 strikes the state requirement for the Iowa Department of Administrative Services to maintain […]
Iowa City News
Posted inCommunity/News
ICE legal observer training draws overflow crowd in Iowa City
“We are all here because we want to know what to do when ICE shows up in our communities,” Alejandra Escobar told the hundreds of people gathered for the Community Defense and Legal Observer training session Escucha Mi Voz Iowa (EMV) held in Iowa City on Saturday. Escobar is an organizer with EMV, a nonprofit […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Fear travels fast,’ but didn’t stop hundreds in Iowa City from protesting ICE, remembering Renee Good on Sunday
Despite freezing temperatures on Sunday, hundreds gathered on the University of Iowa Pentacrest and marched to the Ped Mall for a rally in response to the killing Renee Nicole Macklin Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis four days earlier. Good was serving as a legal observer of ICE and Border Patrol agents sent to […]
Posted inStatewide
Historians, unions and legislators fight against the clock to save the Centennial Building and its archive
The sign on the door of the State Historical Society of Iowa’s Centennial Building, where the society’s Iowa City research facility has been located since 1956, let visitors on Wednesday know there were only a few days left to access its remarkable archival collections or even the building itself. The Centennial Building has been open […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Downtown Iowa City’s hotelVetro has closed, with Hotel Chauncey soon to follow
Hotel Chauncey will close on Sunday and hotelVetro has already closed. Like SpareMe Bowl & Arcade, which will close its doors for the final time on Wednesday night, the two downtown Iowa City hotels are owned by Hawkeye Hotels. The closure of the two hotels was first reported by Corridor Business Journal on Monday. Hawkeye […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Northern lights appear in Iowa this week
The northern lights dipped far enough south on Tuesday night to bring a dramatic color to the sky over Iowa. The show will continue tonight, but will be primarily visible in the northern half of the state— or at least the parts of it without heavy cloud cover — according to the Space Weather Prediction […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks touts role in firing of teacher over Charlie Kirk remarks
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, speaking to supporters at a fundraiser in Iowa City on Friday, claimed credit for her involvement in the firing of an Oskaloosa teacher over remarks about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Miller-Meeks, speaking at her fifth annual tailgate fundraiser, said there’s “a lot at stake” in the upcoming election. To show voters […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Johnson County shoppers can do good with canned goods (and other groceries) when Shop for Shelter returns Saturday
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, staff, board members and volunteers from the Domestic Violence Intervention Program and Rape Victim Advocacy Program (DVIP & RVAP) will be at Johnson County Hy-Vees and Fareways to collect donated goods from shoppers during the 21st annual Shop for Shelter. “The goods collected at this […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Collections are fragile,’ but conservationists say they’re being ignored as the State Historical Society moves out of Iowa City using prison labor
Behind the Centennial Building in downtown Iowa City on Monday morning, workers began to load a truck with parts of the collections housed in the research facility and archives of the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI), the building’s occupant since 1956. SHSI announced on June 17 that it would close the Iowa City facility, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
With elections in November, an Iowa City Council candidate forum is set for Monday night
Candidates for the Iowa City Council in November’s election will meet to discuss the issues at the League of Women Voters of Johnson County Candidate Forum on Monday night. The 90-minute forum will take place in the assembly room of the Iowa City Senior Center (28 S Linn St), and is scheduled to begin at […]
Posted inCommunity/News
As state and federal officials target speech they disapprove of, free speech proponents will rally in Iowa City Wednesday
Freedom of speech, and the importance of protecting it from powerful opponents, has become an urgent topic of discussion since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. His administration has, among other actions, aggressively targeted international students expressing opinions or engaging in protest it dislikes for deportation, pressured universities to change curricula to […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Today it’s our family. Tomorrow it can be another’: Hundreds rally to demand release of man violently seized by ICE in Iowa City
Hundreds of people crowded around the stage on the Ped Mall late on Friday morning to rally in support of Jorge Elieser González Ochoa, the Iowa City resident violently seized by ICE agents as he was working at the nearby Bread Garden Market on Thursday morning, a little over 24 hours earlier. He requires medical attention, […]
