By Ellen Ballas, Iowa City Voter suppression was obvious in Iowa City during early voting for the recent local election. Poll workers told me they weren’t permitted to use the printer that produces a label with information which allows us to vote. Instead, voters were asked to hand write answers on a preprinted form attached […]
Letters
‘Cowboy Justice’: A first-hand account of the deadly 1991 UI campus shooting, 30 years later
It’s Nov. 1, 1991, an ordinary Friday afternoon, the day after Halloween. I’m sitting alone in a big office on the fifth floor of Van Allen Hall, where the Physics Department at the University of Iowa is housed, when I hear a loud noise on a floor below: Pop pop pop. That sounds like gunshots, […]
Letters to the editor: Vote Megan Alter for Iowa City Council
By V Fixmer-Oraiz, Iowa City As the 2021 Iowa City Council election draws closer, I look forward to casting my vote for Megan Alter. I served with her on the Housing and Community Development Commission for two years and have witnessed firsthand her passion and commitment to social and racial equity. She is not afraid […]
Letter to the editor: COGS stands in solidarity with Deere strikers
To the members of all UAW Locals on strike against John Deere and Company, We, the members of UE Local 896 / COGS, graduate workers at the University of Iowa, are in solidarity with your brave and necessary strike actions. While John Deere brought in record profits this year, they have offered you inadequate wage […]
Letter from Susan Mims: Jason Glass will get my one and only vote for the Iowa City Council. Here is why.
By Susan Mims, Iowa City In November 2009 I was elected to the Iowa City Council. I’ll step down in December having worked with a variety of colleagues over those 12 years, and having a good perspective on what works. Through the majority of those years, the city has had councilors with a diverse set […]
Letter to the editor: A call for submissions from the Scrap the MRAP project
By Martha Hampel, co-organizer, ScrapTheMRAP.org “Scrap the MRAP”, a joint project of Iowa Civil Liberties Council and ICPD Watch, is calling for pro-peace, anti-war, anti-militarization-of-police art submissions from local artists, to be exhibited at the Iowa City Public Library on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021 from 1 to 4 p.m. Original artwork in all styles, media […]
Three letters to the editor in support of Iowa City school board candidates
Local elections take place Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. By Michael Tilley, Iowa City With four years of prior experience as a board member, Ruthina Malone is an exemplar of what a school board member should be. I was proud to have supported Ruthina when she ran for school board in 2017, and she lived up […]
Letter to the editor: The terminal corruption of the Iowa GOP
By Kent Williams, Iowa City On Oct. 9, 2021, former President Trump came to the Iowa State Fairgrounds for a rally. He took the opportunity to publicly endorse Senator Charles Grassley. Grassley responded not by praising Trump, but saying “…if I didn’t accept the endorsement of a person that’s got 91 percent of Republican voters […]
Letter to the editor: A response to Little Village’s ‘War on Meat’ issue
By Zoë Woodworth, Coralville Firstly, my overall response to the “War on Meat” issue. When I first saw the cover of this issue, I thought, “Cool!” I assumed the issue would contain some discussion of the environmental, ethical and economical merits of plant-based diets and how adopting a plant-based diet is one of the most […]
Letter to the editor: Vengeance isn’t healing
By Amel Ali, Vice Chair of the Iowa City Truth & Reconciliation Commission The women who started the “Abolish FIJI” movement at the University of Iowa really had a lot going for them. They received thousands of signatures on a change.org campaign, almost 2,000 followers on the Abolish FIJI page and so many people were […]
Letter to the editor: There is one simple first step to creating a carbon-neutral world
By Peter Rolnick, Iowa City; State Coordinator for Citizens’ Climate Lobby We understand the challenges we face with the changing climate. We understand that we have to act quickly to make sure the world of our children and grandchildren is livable (business as usual, promising as it is on many fronts, will not be fast […]
Op-ed: Tiffany O’Donnell has surface style and troubling substance
By Chad Cooper, Cedar Rapids When Tiffany O’Donnell announced her candidacy for mayor of Cedar Rapids in late March, one couldn’t escape the notion that her campaign was being built on that bedrock of political popularity: name recognition. Press releases and media reports overflowed with mentions of O’Donnell’s years as a news anchor and highlighted […]




