2023
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Iowa City Starbucks Files to Unionize the Same Week Ex-CEO Grilled in Senate
A Starbucks coffee shop in Iowa City is the first Starbucks in the state to file for union representation. The move occurred just two days before the company’s former CEO was asked to testify before a US Senate committee for union busting. Thirty-one workers at the Burlington and Clinton Starbucks, at 228 South Clinton St.,…
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Banning Education Won’t Make LGBTQ People Go Away, Students Say
This year’s legislative session has been awash in fearmongering and misinformation about the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly the realities of LGBTQ+ students’ lives. So, instead of allowing adults to define their lives, Starting Line spoke to Iowa youth who are transgender, nonbinary and otherwise on the LGBTQ+ spectrum to get their thoughts. These are their…
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Fry: Bills That Take Food And Health Care Benefits From Thousands Aren’t About That
Rep. Joel Fry (R-Osceola) says it’s a “false narrative” that two bills that kick thousands of Iowans off SNAP and Medicaid are about taking food and health care away from those people. “This is not about taking Medicaid or food assistance away from anybody, so as the narrative continues out in the lobby, if that’s…
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LGBTQ Youth Found Support At Iowa Schools. Now It’s Gone
This year’s legislative session has been awash in fearmongering and misinformation about the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly the realities of LGBTQ+ students’ lives. So, instead of allowing adults to define their lives, Starting Line spoke to Iowa youth who are transgender, nonbinary and otherwise on the LGBTQ+ spectrum to get their thoughts. These are their…
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Brad Zaun Calls For Arrest Of Those Detaining Violent Jan. 6 Insurrectionists
Iowa Sen. Brad Zaun (R-Urbandale) has introduced legislation to defend Jan. 6 insurrectionists, including a specific rioter named in the bill that beat police officers with a baseball bat. Zaun wants officials involved with detaining Jan. 6 Capitol rioters to be investigated and arrested by the federal government and for the Iowa Senate to formally…
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How to Spot the 5-Planet Alignment on Tuesday
(AP) — Keep an eye to the sky this week for a chance to see a planetary hangout. Five planets—Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars—will line up near the moon. Where and when you can see them The best day to catch the whole group is Tuesday. You’ll want to look to the western horizon…
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4 Iowa LGBTQ+ Students and the New State Laws Upending Their Lives
This year’s legislative session has been awash in fearmongering and misinformation about the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly the realities of LGBTQ+ students’ lives. So, instead of allowing adults to define their lives, Starting Line spoke to Iowa youth who are transgender, nonbinary and otherwise on the LGBTQ+ spectrum to get their thoughts. These are their…
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‘Shame On Us,’ Says Iowa Senator As SNAP Restriction Bill Passes
A bill that would add more hoops to jump through for federal public assistance money—legislation that would cost the state millions over the next few years to put in place—passed the Iowa Senate Wednesday. The bill, Senate File 494, passed along party lines, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats against. Sen. Jeff Edler…
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‘Tough, Tenacious’ Minnette Doderer Fought Tirelessly for Iowa Women
Minnette Doderer was a trailblazing politician who served in the Iowa Legislature for 15 years, working on laws that ultimately improved Iowa women’s legal status. Born in 1923, Doderer was born in Holland, Iowa, and graduated from East High School in Waterloo. Women’s rights at forefront She was first elected in a 1964 special election,…
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Reynolds Signs Anti-LGBTQ Bills After Saying She Doesn’t ‘Like’ Doing It
Gov. Kim Reynolds on Wednesday signed bills restricting the rights and freedoms of transgender children, just one day after she told Iowa reporters that her “heart goes” out to the kids who will be negatively affected by the bills. One bill prevents trans students from using the school restrooms or locker rooms of the gender…
