May 2021
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Democrats Rally To Force Special Election In Scott County
Scott County Democrats are racing against the clock to trigger a special election for the county’s top election job. The drive is in response to the Scott County Board of Supervisors voting to appoint Kerri Tompkins as the Scott County auditor without public discussion, comments from citizens or holding a special election. Democratic leadership from…
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Cindy Axne And Firefighters Take On Mental Health Stigma
First responders have done a lot in the last year, and it’s taken as much from them as anyone else working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. To give back, and to keep them running, the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan include money specifically for mental health services. Last year, Gov. Kim…
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GOP Supervisors Pick New Scott Co. Auditor, Democrats Push For Special Election
Scott County has a new auditor, but local Democrats are pushing for a quick special election to give the voters a say in the matter. Yesterday morning, the Scott County Board of Supervisors met to announce and vote on a replacement for longtime Democratic County Auditor Roxanna Moritz, who resigned last month. The board’s three…
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Farmer Dave Muhlbauer Launches Senate Run, First Democrat In Against Grassley
A farmer from Crawford County with a family history of winning as a Democrat in rural Western Iowa announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat held by Chuck Grassley today. Dave Muhlbauer, 37, a recent county supervisor and fifth-generation family farmer, kicked off his bid with a video that sought to redefine to Iowa…
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Want Iowans Back To Work? Help With Child Care.
Josie Farley, a young mom who works as a para-educator at Sioux City Schools, likely wouldn’t be able to work without child care. “The amount of daycare, how much it costs for daycare … I would have no money to live after paying daycare [if I didn’t work],” she said. Her two-year-old son goes to…
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Iowa Now Governed By Right-Wing Internet Memes
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds finished out the 2021 legislative session in fitting fashion late Wednesday night, signing into law a hastily-passed bill to immediately ban schools from enforcing mask policies. Just over her shoulder during the ceremony was an anti-mask, Q-Anon conspiracy theorist who held a sign that suggested masking children was abuse. Reynolds signed…
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Last-Minute Victory for Trans Iowans in the Iowa Legislature
From the start of session to a surprise, last-minute push, the 89th General Assembly has a been a minefield for LGBTQ Iowans. Particularly those who are transgender. The longest-lasting push to restrict the rights of trans youth in the state has been one to ban trans girls from participating in school-sponsored sports. The basic idea…
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Iowa GOP Lays Groundwork To Restrict Or Ban Abortion
Continuing a fight they’ve been waging since 2018, Republicans in the Iowa Legislature have fully passed language to deny the right to abortion exists in the Iowa Constitution. The proposed state constitutional amendment passed today in the Senate and last night in the House is mildly amended from the language it had earlier this year.…
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Infrastructure Plan Would Bring ‘Significant’ Help For Deficient Iowa Bridges
For years, Iowa has been the reigning champion in number of structurally deficient bridges in the state. The ranking comes from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, which found 19% of Iowa’s 23,982 bridges are structurally deficient — 4,571 in total. According to the ARTBA, 1 in 3 bridges in the United States need…
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National Right-Wing Org Bragged About Quietly Influencing Iowa’s New Voting Law
In March, the Iowa state legislature passed a new election law that made it harder for Iowans to vote by shortening early voting, putting restrictions on absentee ballots and changing the way the voter list is maintained–despite widespread opposition and clear evidence that the 2020 election ran smoothly and accurately. Yesterday, Mother Jones broke a…
