About 100 people were chanting “Immigrants are welcome here,” as a rally by the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice (Iowa MMJ) began in the rotunda of the Iowa State Capitol on Wednesday afternoon. The rally was the culmination of Iowa MMJ’s annual advocacy day at the Capitol. The Des Moines-based nonprofit advocates on behalf of […]
Iowa State Capitol
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: The Des Moines Symphony summoned a sense of patriotism, despite artillery and a presidential visit clouding the air
I love pop music. I love symphonic music. If those passions haven’t already revoked any of my pseudo-punk-rock cred let me offer one more confession: I love patriotic music. Little Village asked me to do this and I was excited. This would be my first time…
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowans protest bill to give pesticide manufacturers greater protection from cancer lawsuits
Iowans gathered in the State Capitol rotunda on Monday to remember family members who have died from cancer and protest a bill in the Iowa Senate that would create new protections against lawsuits for companies that produce pesticides. “What our legislators should be doing is working on bills that lower the risk for Iowans rather than […]
Posted inCommunity/News
State officials cancel Iowa Satanic Temple celebration, claiming it’s ‘harmful to minors’ without stating why
Last year on Dec. 14, the Satanic Temple (TST) of Iowa’s sanctioned holiday display in the Iowa State Capitol rotunda was vandalized. The culprit was a failed Republican congressional candidate from Mississippi who traveled more than 800 miles just to smash the display, which consisted mostly of electric candles and a cloaked mannequin with a […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Mississippi politician charged with a hate crime for smashing the Satanic Temple display at the Iowa State Capitol
Court filings made public this week show Michael Cassidy has been charged with felony third-degree criminal mischief for vandalizing a holiday display at the Iowa State Capitol in December. Cassidy has said he traveled to Des Moines from his home in Mississippi specifically to smash the display from the Satanic Temple (TST). After the attack, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
A holiday display at the Iowa State Capitol sparks a small satanic panic
It’s been a basic part of the American legal landscape since the 1980s: if a government is going to allow private groups to put religious-themed displays on public property, then all religions must be welcome. That’s why along with more traditional Christian-themed holiday displays at the Iowa State Capitol right now, there’s one from The […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hundreds rally for LGBTQ Day on the Hill, protesting bills ‘meant to scare us back into the closet’
Around 200 demonstrators filled the Capitol Rotunda to protest anti-trans bills making their way through the Iowa Legislature, and meet with their representatives. The rally was hosted by One Iowa, a nonprofit founded in 2005 to advance LGBTQ rights, and One Iowa Action, for LGBTQ Day on the Hill last Wednesday, Feb. 1. Courtney Reyes, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘This is not the end. The end is when we win’: Thousands rally at the Iowa State Capitol for abortion rights
“All of us are here today to stand in solidarity with all of you, as we stand with child-bearing people all over the country,” Luana Nelson-Brown told the more than 2,000 people gathered on the West Terrace of the Iowa State Capitol on Sunday afternoon for the Iowans for Reproductive Justice Rally. Nelson-Brown is the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
COVID-19: More than 9,800 new cases reported; anti-vaxxers rally at the Iowa State Capitol
After three weeks of reporting over 10,000 new cases in each of its weekly COVID-19 updates, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported 9,860 newly confirmed cases of the virus. Although it was it was a decline from the previous update’s total of 10,812 new cases, it also marked the seventh week with a rate […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Protesters banned from Iowa Capitol reach settlement with the state in First Amendment lawsuit
The Iowa Department of Public Safety and Iowa State Patrol (ISP) will no longer attempt to ban protesters from the Iowa State Capitol for participating in protests, as it did last year, under the terms of a settlement approved by a federal judge on Tuesday. The state of Iowa will also pay $5,000 each to […]
