Iowa has a law that intends to make drug users plead guilty to a lesser charge or suffer the consequences of prison and a large fine: the Drug Tax Stamp law (DTS), Chapter 453B Code of Iowa. Enacted in 1990, the DTS specifically addresses illegal drugs; all substances legally obtained and sold are exempted, so […]
Your Town Now
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Your Town Now: Researching the Denver high
Our recent trip to Denver found businesses open, people shopping, clerks running cash registers without apparent error, public transit running smoothly, restaurants serving food, the weather channel reporting local weather and abstract expressionist works hanging evenly on the walls of the Clyfford Still Museum. In response to the question at the front desk “What brings […]
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Your Town Now: Stop pot prosecution now
If you generally don’t vote in local primary elections but are pissed off by current County Attorney Janet Lyness’ practice of prosecuting nearly everyone charged with victimless crimes, such as possession and use of marijuana and public intox, you can do something about it. Make it a priority to vote—and to get your friends to […]
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Your Town Now: Is Fiberight right for Iowa City?
The City of Iowa City is contemplating signing a contract with a company called Fiberight for trash-to-ethanol conversion. Fiberight is a Maryland-based company that creates cellulosic ethanol and biogas from materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill. After a Fiberight presentation at a city council meeting in early January, it was decided that […]
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Your Town Now: How the 2013 Citizen Survey got it wrong
Last August, our city conducted a staff-initiated survey of a select group of Iowa Citians: 95 percent were white, 93 percent homeowners and 74 percent had a household income of $50,000 to $150,000 or more. The purpose of the so-called Citizen Survey was to assess the general level of community satisfaction regarding various city services […]
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Your Town Now: Iowa City’s 2014 Outlook
Having appreciated “Auld Lang Syne,” it’s time now, in the cold light of January, to consider several issues that are locally important for 2014. Emerald Ash Borer Is On the Way On Nov. 1, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported that 25 eastern Iowa counties are quarantined because of the emerald ash borer (EAB). If residents […]
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Your Town Now: What’s the matter with Iowa?
On Nov. 5, several U.S. cities voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana: Lansing, Jackson and Ferndale, Mich. and Portland, Maine. Lansing mayor Virg Bernero backed the measure there, which received 62 percent of the vote, saying the “public is far ahead of politicians on this issue,” and in Portland, 69 percent of voters approved […]
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Your Town Now: With marijuana arrests in the name of public safety, what do we stand to gain?
How long must we go on having our homes and private spaces invaded for the purpose of arresting marijuana users? The city’s desired goal of…
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Your Town Now: ICE in Iowa
It may have been just another Iowa City arrest for some, but in the minds of several community members it was a call to the picket line. Toting young children and clutching homemade signs, protesters made their way to the Johnson County Jail on April 27 to demonstrate support for a formerly imprisoned mother of two.
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Your Town Now: Justice Center returns for a May 7 vote
Guess what: the Johnson County Justice Center proposal is back from the dead. In November of last year, opponents of the proposal to build a new, bigger jail in the heart of Iowa City (at a cost to the public of $48.1 million) cheered when it fell 4 percent short of the 60 percent supermajority […]
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Your Town Now: Neighborhood Nirvana
In an unprecedented meeting on Feb. 26, representatives of the City of Iowa City and the University of Iowa student government (UISG) sat down to discuss student concerns, namely with city safety provisions, student-landlord relations and all things downtown.
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Your Town Now: The city council’s Chauncey decision is remarkably opaque
The Iowa City Council’s 5-1 decision last month to move ahead with Marc Moen’s Chauncey building project settled the question of what is to become of the corner of Gilbert and College, but the decision also led some local dissenters to look upon the council with an eye of suspicion. One such group with the […]
