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Teachers union joins lawsuit with bestselling authors, largest U.S. publisher to challenge Iowa book restrictions

The Iowa State Education Association and Penguin Random House filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday challenging parts of a state law prohibiting books that depict sex acts from being available in Iowa K-12 school libraries. It’s the second lawsuit filed against Senate File 496 this week. On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of […]

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Election roundup: History is made in DSM and CR, an incumbent defeats an incumbent in IC, school board voters send a message, bond votes go both ways

There were some history-making victories in the city and school board elections on Tuesday, as voters in Des Moines elected the city’s first woman mayor and, in Cedar Rapids, a member of the LGBTQ community won a seat on the city council for the first time. But for the most part, Tuesday’s elections followed the […]

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Trump still has overwhelming lead among Republican caucusgoers, even though they feel he isn’t anti-abortion enough

Donald Trump has an overwhelming lead over every other GOP candidate for president in the latest Iowa Poll, just as he has in every other poll conducted this year. According to the new poll results, which the Des Moines Register published over the course of this week, Iowa Republicans aren’t concerned that the 91 felony […]

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Iowa Democratic Party starts its new caucus process: Democrats can now request mail-in ballot to vote for president

The Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) began accepting requests on Wednesday for the mail-in ballots it will use for the presidential candidate preference part of its 2024 caucus. The new mail-in vote replaces the in-person selection process at precinct caucus meetings. The in-person part of the 2024 Iowa Caucus on Jan. 15 will be devoted to […]

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‘More than 1,000 books’ removed from Iowa schools, as districts work to comply with new state book ban; Scholastic apologizes for book fair ‘bigot button’

The impact of the book banning provisions in SF 496, which Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law in May, is becoming clearer as the Des Moines Register continues to update its database of books pulled from classrooms and school libraries. “More than 1,000 books have already been removed from 39 public school districts,” the Register […]

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Iowa Dept. of Education doesn’t know how much the new school choice program will cost this year, but it’ll exceed estimates by millions

A total of 18,893 applications for Gov. Reynolds’ new school-voucher-style education savings account (ESA) program were approved this year, the Iowa Department of Education disclosed on Thursday. That’s far more than the enrollment estimate provided to lawmakers by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency (LSA) when the bill creating the program to divert public school funds […]

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Iowa dog breeders responsible for 36% of all violations in the U.S. last year

Iowa’s dog breeders had the worst record of compliance with federal regulations in 2022, accounting for 36 percent of all violations cited nationally. The U.S. Department of Agriculture cited dog and cat breeders and brokers for 795 violations in 2022, a total that excludes citations for “missed” inspections resulting from USDA officials not gaining access […]

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