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 […]
Liz Bennett
Posted inCommunity/News
‘A middle finger to hardworking Iowans’: Iowa House and Senate approve bill to cut unemployment benefits
On Wednesday, the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate both passed versions of a bill that will cut unemployment benefits and is designed to force unemployed Iowans to take jobs that pay less than their former jobs more quickly than current law does. The bills passed both chambers with only Republicans voting for them. Cutting […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Breanna Oxley will run for Linn County Board of Supervisors instead of Iowa Senate
Breanna Oxley, who launched a campaign in June for the Cedar Rapids-based Iowa Senate seat soon to be vacated by Rob Hogg, announced on Friday she will run for the Linn County Board of Supervisors instead. “After much encouragement and many calls, I decided that I will be running for Linn County Supervisor!” Oxley said […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Democrat Liz Bennett kicks off campaign for state Senate, reflecting on the less-divided Iowa of decades past
“I’m running for state senate to make sure that every single Iowan gets a fair shot in Iowa,” Liz Bennett told the people crowded into a room at The Bohemian in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday night for her campaign kick-off event. The Cedar Rapids Democrat is in her fourth term representing Cedar Rapids in the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘It’s time for action’: Hundreds march in Cedar Rapids to push for police reform and other changes
About 15 minutes into Saturday’s march in Cedar Rapids, protesters stopped at the intersection of 19th Street and Bever Avenue. They used chalk to draw and write various messages in the outline of #BLM, an emblem for Black Lives Matter. Twenty minutes later, the protesters stopped again. This time it was at the intersection of […]
Posted inCommunity/News, Features
Branstad signs sweeping gun legislation, detractors and proponents react
Governor Terry Branstad signed the most sweeping change in gun legislation in Iowa history, House File 517, into law yesterday. All the Johnson and Linn County Republican legislators voted for the bill, and all the Democrats voted against, with the exception of Kirsten Running-Marquardt (D-Cedar Rapids), who was absent. It passed the Senate on April […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Seeing red: Republicans take control of Iowa Legislature, Democrats vow to fight
By Lauren Shotwell and Eleanore Taft With the gaveling in of the 2017 Iowa Legislature, Republicans took control of both chambers. With control of the Iowa House, Senate and the Governor’s Office, Republicans stand poised to take action. “Today is a new day, a day that we embark on a new direction in Iowa,” said […]
