2023
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Republican Candidates Commit to Backing Trump Even if Convicted
On Wednesday night, six of the eight Republican candidates in the party’s first presidential primary debate committed to support former President Donald Trump if he wins the party’s nomination—even if he’s convicted in a court of law for the many crimes he’s been charged with. Trump has been indicted four times this year, most notably…
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Iowa Wine and Beer Festivals to Put on Your Fall 2023 Calendar
As we head into the last few months of 2023, raise a glass and mark your calendar for these wine and beer festivals happening across the state. Cheers!
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This Is Why Iowa Schools Need Permission To Use Nicknames
If you are an Iowa parent wondering why your local school district needs your permission to call your child by their nickname this school year, it’s because of a new law spearheaded by Iowa Republicans. SF 496 was a massive education bill championed by Gov. Kim Reynolds and other Republicans that instituted a multitude of…
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Guest Post: The Slow Assassination of Iowa’s Public Education
The Iowa State Fair may be a good place for conspirators to be in public, to say the quiet part out loud, and hardly get noticed. People are too busy eating food on sticks and taking pictures of the Butter Cow. If you happen to walk by the “Fair-Side Chats,” you may have watched Gov.…
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UPDATE: Liberty Counsel Behind Waterloo Repeal of Conversion Therapy Ban
Three months after the Waterloo City Council passed a ban on conversion therapy for minors, the council reversed its decision in a 4-3 vote Monday. The controversial decision comes just days before Cedar Valley Pridefest begins. Why did the council repeal it? Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart, city attorney Martin Petersen, and at least some council…
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Sisters Want To Bring Indigenous Leadership To Sioux City
Meet the two Indigenous sisters running for local office in Sioux City: Trisha Rivers and Jessica Lopez-Walker. Both are enrolled members of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, a sovereign and federally-recognized Native American nation near Sioux City. Rivers is running for Sioux City School Board and Lopez-Walker is running for city council. Both want to…
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To Fight School Book Banning, Johnston Parent Starts Little Library
Another parent in Johnston is fighting efforts to restrict access to books in schools, and she’s doing it with a box in her front yard.
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New Iowa Coalition Targeting Zach Nunn’s Voting Record
Republican Congressman Zach Nunn does not yet have a Democratic challenger for next year’s election, but a new coalition called “Fairness for Iowa” is taking aim at his voting record, arguing he is not actually representing the people of Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. Fairness for Iowa is planning a seven-figure media effort to hold Nunn “accountable…
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What to Know About Donald Trump’s Four Indictments
Over the past several months, former president Donald Trump has become the center of not one, not two, not three, but four criminal investigations, at both the state and federal level. The frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination faces dozens of charges across the four cases he’s been indicted in–91 in total–and has pleaded…
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Video Highlights Of The 2023 Iowa State Fair
Depending on the day, your Starting Line team had up to seven people on the ground to help cover the Iowa State Fair. With that many people working and recording video, you’re bound to accumulate a lot of footage, especially on Saturday where multiple presidential candidates including Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Here…
