2021
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Why Conservative Candidates Saw Success in Ankeny But Flopped In Waukee
School boards handle a variety of issues from approving milk contracts to voting on building projects, but opposition to mask mandates and diversity standards seemed to be the biggest talking points in many Iowa races, and Ankeny and Waukee were no exception. Ankeny’s top three vote-getters in last Tuesday’s school board election were conservatives Joy…
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How Iowa Members Of Congress Explained Their Infrastructure Bill Vote
Long-standing efforts to pass an infrastructure bill and make some legislative progress have produced results. On Friday the House of Representatives passed the bipartisan infrastructure plan (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act). Rep. Cindy Axne was the only member of the House from Iowa that voted in support of it. Included in the infrastructure bill are…
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John Deere Strike Continues After UAW Rejects Second Offer
United Auto Workers (UAW) members rejected a second six-year contract from John Deere on Tuesday, meaning they will remain on strike. More than 10,000 UAW members—a bulk of whom are in Iowa—have been on strike since Oct. 14 in a showdown with the multinational manufacturer over wages, benefits, retirement benefits, improved working conditions, and more.…
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Candidates Opposed To Ames Schools’ Black Lives Matter Week All Lose
A nearly year-long debate over diversity in the Ames public schools came to a head yesterday in the school board election, and the three candidates who championed inclusion were victorious. Amy Erica Smith led with 20.77% of the vote, Kelly Winfrey followed with 19.52%, and Brett Becker had 17.4%, according to unofficial results. The fight…
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Cedar Rapids Mayoral Race Heads To Uncertain Runoff
Incumbent Cedar Rapids Mayor Brad Hart may not make it to the inevitable runoff for the city’s top job. Candidates Tiffany O’Donnell and Amara Andrews earned more votes than he did on Tuesday, but because no one got 50% of the vote, a runoff election is triggered between the first and second place winners. The…
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Homophobic Candidates Defeated In Ottumwa Races
Rick Bick won’t have to worry about trying to illegally bar LGBTQ events in Ottumwa as he was defeated by Rick Johnson in Tuesday’s mayoral contest. Johnson captured 2,272 votes to Bick’s 1,026 votes. During a forum before the election, Bick compared LGBTQ people to pedophiles and his comments were heavily criticized by local and…
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Waterloo Reelects Mayor Quentin Hart After Contentious Election
Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart beat two opponents to secure his fourth two-year term. Hart defeated challengers Margaret Klein and Sophia Mays and captured 7,786 votes with all precincts reporting, according to unofficial results from the Black Hawk County Auditor’s Office. Klein had 5,456 votes while Mays received 154 votes. [inline-ad id=”0″] This was Hart’s first…
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Grassley: Biden’s Border Policy Could Kill 1/4 of World’s Population
The day after Halloween, Sen. Chuck Grassley was spreading some fear of his own on Twitter. Grassley tweeted about the amount of fentanyl that had been seized at the US-Mexico border, claiming it was enough to kill more than a fourth of the world’s population. He blamed the success of Customs and Border Patrol in…
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Thaker’s Social Media History Raises Questions About Waukee Ticket
Elections for local office often come down to who voters feel have the best judgment to lead, especially when the candidates are relative newcomers and don’t have a voting record from past service. Good judgment on important school decisions is what the four members of the Warriors and Wolves United ticket have stressed in their…
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Heavier Downpours Are Worsening Iowa’s Water Quality Problem
More often than not in Iowa, when it rains it pours. And when it pours, more pollutants end up in Iowa’s waterways, which worsens water quality for everyone downstream. Thanks to climate change, that’s happening more and more often. “Any event, even the small events on impermeable surfaces will wash whatever’s on those impermeable surfaces…
