2021
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Iowa Preschool Director Shares Challenges Of Teaching During COVID
A flustered, Des Moines-based Grace Preschool Director Kelly Donnelly said she just got all her young students down for a nap before she began pleading with senators on a Tuesday Zoom subcommittee meeting to reconsider legislation that might provide no additional funding for preschools like hers after recent cuts. Teaching during a pandemic over the…
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Derecho-Hit Tree Managers Angered By GOP Bill Raising Taxes
After last summer’s derecho storm brought wind gusts over 100 mph, devastating much of central and eastern Iowa’s crops, infrastructure and foliage, GOP lawmakers are continuing to move a bill forward which would raise property taxes on privately-owned forests in the state. Ninety-three Iowans who participated Monday on a Zoom subcommittee meeting were overwhelmingly opposed…
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How Iowans Of Color Have Dealt With COVID’s Mental Health Strain
The months of February and March this year mark a grim reminder of how the coronavirus pandemic began to change our lives forever one year ago. We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, yet the scars of loss, depression, anxiety and pain remain. A comment that resonated with me…
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Iowans Pleased With How Joe Biden Handling COVID Pandemic
President Joe Biden’s competent handling of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is earning him high marks in a state that supported his opponent in the 2020 election. A new Des Moines Reigster/Mediacom Iowa Poll released today showed that 57% of Iowans approve of the job Biden is doing to bring the pandemic to an end. Just…
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Dems Target Ernst, Grassley COVID Relief Opposition With New Billboard
The Democratic National Committee is taking aim at Iowa’s Senate Republicans on Monday, unveiling a new Des Moines billboard highlighting Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley’s no votes on the sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package. Displayed on 14th Street near the State Capitol, the advertisement notes that the American Rescue Plan will send eligible…
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How To See When Your Stimulus Check Is Coming
Iowans are eager to receive the latest round of COVID relief stimulus checks following the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act by congressional Democrats and President Joe Biden. Fortunately for them, disbursement of those payments have come very quickly, some landing in people’s bank accounts the day after Biden signed the bill into law.…
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Miller-Meeks Heading To The U.S.-Mexico Border
Amid an ongoing examination of Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meek’s six-vote victory over Democrat Rita Hart, the 2nd District representative is expected to join House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday at the U.S. southern border. Axios reported that McCarthy will travel to Texas with “roughly a dozen Republican members to assess the growing crisis at the…
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Iowa Surpasses 1 Million Vaccine Doses Administered
The state’s coronavirus tracking website shows this afternoon that Iowa has officially surpassed administering one million doses of the vaccine. The count as of 12:30 stands at 1,031,962. It’s a notable milestone for the state in its effort to bring the pandemic to a close, even as residents continue to get sick and die from…
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Here’s What Iowans Can Get Out Of Biden’s COVID Relief Law
In the new $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act signed on Thursday by President Joe Biden are far-reaching, rapid-impact economic benefits for Iowans. The bill, which includes extended unemployment benefits, direct payment stimulus checks, increased child tax credits and earned income tax credits, along with local aid, among other provisions, is expected to financially boost…
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GOP Worried COVID Relief Will Stop Plan For Tax Breaks For Wealthy
Iowa Republican legislators are frustrated that money for Iowa in the COVID-19 relief bill could interfere with their plan to provide big tax breaks for the wealthy. In a press conference with Statehouse reporters today, Speaker Pat Grassley said that provisions in the relief bill just signed today by President Joe Biden could impede their…
