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 […]
Tara McGovern
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: Coralville deserves leaders who are serious about helping constituents
By Tara McGovern, Coralville A city does not run on autopilot. If a city council is not engaged and proactive, people with too much power and too little accountability make bad decisions that affect everyone. I cannot take a candidate seriously who refuses to acknowledge that our city’s $36,000 contract with a private AI surveillance company […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Trans Day of Visibility 2024 in Iowa City includes a variety show, art workshop and rally featuring the JoCo7
There will be a rally on Sunday to celebrate Trans Day of Visibility at College Green Park in Iowa City, featuring speakers discussing the issues facing transgender Iowans, as well as a performance by the Quire of Eastern Iowa. The Southeast Iowa Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) is one of the celebrations that will be […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Jury acquits Tara McGovern on all charges related to the Oct. 16 protest outside the Iowa Memorial Union
It took a Johnson County jury just a few hours on Thursday to decide Tara McGovern was not guilty of both charges for which they had been arrested last November. The charges against McGovern, who was referred to as Tara Dutcher, their married name, throughout the proceedings, were related to an Oct. 16 protest at the Iowa Memorial Union and attracted much local attention and were even covered by the Washington Post.
Posted inCommunity/News
‘It’s a matter of principle’: Tara McGovern prepares for trial as the only JoCo7 protester to not take a plea deal
Since coming to Iowa City in 1995 to attend the University of Iowa, Tara McGovern has made a name in the arts: a professional musician, well known as an accomplished fiddler, a music therapist, an arts instructor. At the same time, McGovern has also carved out a place as an activist for social justice causes, […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Art in the time of COVID-19: Tara McGovern
Today is St. Patrick’s Day. It’s been my favorite holiday since childhood, and a big part of that has always been the music, the love of which was passed down from my mother and grandmother right along with the family lore and recipes. That music, at least the live version of it, will be largely […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Keith Reins and Tara McGovern — Folk Songs You Never Sang In Grade School
Some of the best musicians in Iowa City and environs are not chasing a career in music. Keith Reins, for example, is a player and collector of folk songs who also works as a professor of English at Kirkwood Community College. After hours, you’re likely to find him at folk music sessions around Iowa City: at Hilltop Tap, Mickey’s or Uptown Bill’s Coffee House.
