2015

Just a few weeks ago U.S. News and World Report ranked Decorah High School as the 4th best in Iowa, and in the top 3% of schools nationally. However, many voters and school district administrators in Northeast Iowa worry if local children will enjoy the same quality of education after this year’s contentious school funding…

The “Scooby” van and its important occupant returned to Iowa once again this week as Hillary Clinton made a two-day swing through the caucus state. She met local activists at house parties in Mason City, Waterloo and Dubuque on Monday and Tuesday. Her one public event (well, to press anyway) in Cedar Falls featured a…

Welcome to Starting Line’s newest series: Monday Power Rankings! At the beginning of each week we’ll rank the candidates’ standings in different races, cycling through a number of different Iowa contests. We’ll often visit the presidential race on the Democratic and Republican side (probably the GOP side more since they’ll have more movement), but we’ll…

In April State Representative Ken Rizer visited Waypoint Services, a Cedar Rapids shelter that helps women suffering from domestic violence and other crisis situations. Just a few weeks later, he voted for a budget that slashed funding for the very services the women he met depend upon. As the Iowa Legislature’s 2015 session slogs on…

As news breaks that an official Martin O’Malley presidential announcement is set for May 30th, Starting Line hears his campaign is beginning to staff up in Iowa for a caucus operation. We’ve heard from several sources that Joe O’Hern was recently hired to serve as the Caucus Director for O’Malley’s Iowa team. Jake Oeth, brought…

Who do Democratic presidential hopefuls need on their side to win in Dallas County? We continue our profile of important Iowa counties. We previously covered Clinton County and Woodbury County. Main Cities: Waukee (largest), Adel (county seat) Population: 77,400 (10th largest in the state) About the County: As more and more rural Iowans leave their communities…

Ankeny hasn’t earned the title of one of Iowa’s fastest-growing communities by chance. The lure of one of the state’s best school districts has brought countless young families to the Des Moines metro’s northern suburb. But many Ankeny parents now worry whether that world-class education will remain in the years to come for their children,…

Some folks have misconceptions about Northwest Iowa’s population center, but I would actually rank Sioux City 3rd in the state (behind Des Moines and Iowa City) as the best city for a fun restaurant, bar and entertainment scene. Once a major manufacturing center, Sioux City slowly lost its industry base over the past two decades.…

Good morning readers! As always, a lot happened in the political world this week. Enjoy our Sunday Grab Bag of shorter takes on a number of Iowa and national political topics: The Catch-22 of Keystone and Eminent Domain The most interesting exchange I’ve seen so far from the 2016 trail happened Thursday night at a…

[Guest Post by Senator Rob Hogg] The Climate Reality Project training led by former Vice President Al Gore in Cedar Rapids this week reflected the growing public interest in climate change and its solutions.  Over 120 Iowans from across the state, and nearly 400 people from around the world, attended the three-day training held at…