“What has José done except ask for freedom from brutality?” Rev. Marc Schlegel-Preheim of First Mennonite Church of Iowa City asked at a protest in front of the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Thursday. About 100 people were gathered on the steps of the courthouse to support José Yugar-Cruz, a 37-year-old asylum-seeker from […]
Jon Green
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: Reelect Jon Green to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors in District 2
By Paul Deaton, Iowa City Jon Green should be re-elected in the newly created Johnson County Supervisor District 2. He was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2021. As board chair, Green led the process of gaining consensus on a jail proposal. When you see the jail referendum on the November ballot, Jon’s […]
Posted inCommunity/News
A stolen Pride flag was restored and a proclamation challenged this Trans Day of Visibility in Johnson County
Speaking to the crowd gathered at College Green Park in downtown Iowa City for the Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) rally on Tuesday, Katie Freeman began by talking about the sounds — shouts, chants, angry and despairing screams — they heard in protests inside the Iowa State Capitol last year as Republican lawmakers voted 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, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘People are hungry — starving — for principled leadership’: Jon Green on his decision not to honor Charlie Kirk in Johnson County
At the beginning of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors work session on Wednesday, Board Chair Jon Green noted that it was Constitution Day, the annual national commemoration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1789 by the members of the convention that drafted it. The work session was also happening one […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Students across Iowa walk out of class to protest anti-LGBTQ bills: ‘We want to keep our friends alive’
Students at schools across Iowa walked out of class on Wednesday to protest against more than two dozen anti-LGBTQ bills Republican members of the Iowa Legislature have introduced this year. The bills include sweeping so-called “education reform” bills. One would prohibit teachers and schools from mentioning any gender-related issues to younger students, force all Iowa […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Election 2022: Johnson County remains a Democratic stronghold, as Republicans sweep to victories statewide
Johnson County remained a bright spot for Iowa Democrats on Tuesday, even as Republicans dominated Election Day statewide. Every Democrat in a statewide race carried the county by a large margin, even as they were defeated by Republicans. The only possible exception to that pattern is the Auditor of State race, which was still too […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Cresting at the right time’: Franken wins, Reynolds forsakes fellow Republicans, and other takeaways from the primary election
Retired Adm. Mike Franken easily defeated Abby Finkenauer to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in what was the highest profile contested race in the nation on Tuesday. Franken won 55.2 percent of the vote and carried 76 of Iowa’s 99 counties, including Johnson and Linn, according to the unofficial totals published by the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
COVID-19: Iowa adds 13,000 new cases; Gov. Reynolds celebrates legal win; Johnson County passes new mandate
Over the last seven days, Iowa hit new highs for the year in the number of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the number of patients hospitalized with the virus, according to the latest weekly update from the Iowa Department of Public Health. IDPH reported 13,039 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, a significant jump […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Jon Green elected to Johnson County Board of Supervisors in landslide victory
Democrat Jon Green easily won Tuesday’s special election to fill the vacancy on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. Green earned 9,718 votes, or 66.1 percent of all votes cast, according to the totals published by the Johnson County Auditor’s Office. Republican Phil Hemingway won 4,504 votes, or 30.6 percent of the total, and Brian […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘It’s time to let the next generation of Iowans take the reins’: Senate candidate Dave Muhlbauer meets with Iowa City Democrats
“What makes me unique to Iowa is that I’m not unique,” Dave Muhlbauer told the small group of Johnson County Democrats gathered on the makeshift patio behind George’s Buffet on Wednesday afternoon. “I’m an Iowan.” Muhlbauer, a farmer in western Iowa and a former member of the Crawford County Board of Supervisors, launched a nine-city […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘We can steer ourselves to a better, more equitable future’: Jon Green on why he’s running for the Johnson County Board of Supervisors
“I think this is a tremendous opportunity to really shake things up,” Jon Green told Little Village when asked why he was running for the open seat on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. Green, the former mayor of Lone Tree, was selected Tuesday night as the Democratic candidate for the special election to fill […]
