Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers is Iowa Starting Line’s newsletter editor. She writes the weekly Worker’s Almanac edition of Iowa Starting Line, featuring a roundup of the worker news you need to know. Previously, she was an award-winning journalist at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier; now, she very much enjoys making TikToks and memes and getting pet photos in her inbox.

Have a story tip? Reach Amie at amie@iowastartingline.com. For local reporting in Iowa that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie’s newsletter.

Latest from Amie Rivers

  • Local

    12 Iowa towns that are constantly mispronounced

    How many of these town names do you really know? If you’re wondering how European immigrants came up with some of these Iowa town names in the 19th century, and then proceeded to pronounce them the craziest ways you can imagine, read on. Read: Iowa Weird: The History Behind These Iowa Towns’ Color-Themed Names Buena…

  • Local

    Her kid needs CBD to control his seizures. A new Iowa law makes it a crime

    In trying to prevent Iowans from accessing THC in consumable hemp, Republicans now made it illegal for parents to give their children CBD—for some, the only seizure medication that works. Dallas Center mom Erin Farquhar remembers lobbying Iowa legislators years ago to legalize the CBD medication she needs to keep her son’s seizures and behavioral…

  • Local

    Basic income pilot UpLift actually helped Iowans. Here’s how

    The UpLift program not only helped with bills, it helped start businesses, participants in the basic income pilot said—rebuking an Iowa law that banned such programs in the state. People who received $500 per month with no strings attached told their stories Wednesday evening in a Windsor Heights event put on by UpLift, which has…

  • Local

    He tried to scam her. He didn’t know her husband was a journalist

    A Central Iowa woman almost fell for a believable scam about missing jury duty. If you get the same phone call, here’s how to tell it’s a scam. When she went to check her voicemail, Adriana Torres Martínez freaked out. It was “in regards to some legal documentation that I would need to go over…

  • Local

    Hy-Vee will close stores in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Davenport, creating food deserts

    Midwest grocery chain Hy-Vee is closing three stores in low-income neighborhoods, which will have the effect of creating three new food deserts in Iowa. Hy-Vee announced this week it would be permanently closing three stores— a northeast Cedar Rapids store on First Avenue NE, a north Waterloo store on Logan Avenue, and a west Davenport…

  • Local

    Elder fraud on rise: Older Iowans lost more than $16.4 million in 2023

    A new report shows the number of Americans getting scammed is on the rise, and elder fraud is the most common. Iowa ranked 33rd in the nation for elder fraud, or the number of residents over 60 years of age reporting fraud, and 34th in the nation for the amount of money taken, according to…

  • Local

    Harsh: lowa Republicans tried to crack down on THC drinks

    Some Iowa Republicans wanted to crack down on the sale of THC drinks in the state. But the bill they passed won’t really change the drinks you can get.

  • Local

    4 reasons why the WNBA should expand to Iowa

    The WNBA is ready to expand, and it should expand to Iowa—giving us our first professional team. The WNBA starts up this weekend, and it’s arguably getting the most attention since its founding in 1997. Everybody knows that’s largely due to Iowa Hawkeye Caitlin Clark, who broke nearly every record and won nearly every individual…

  • Local

    AEAs cutting workers in wake of Republican legislation

    Iowa legislators said a new bill cutting money for agencies that help students with disabilities wouldn’t affect services. But area education agencies (AEAs) across the state are now beginning to cut their budgets, and staff, because of it. “This is a day of grieving,” one staffer at the Green Hills AEA wrote on Facebook last…

  • Local

    Hail Mary: Iowa has two women’s tackle football teams you can see this summer

    Do you like football? Do you like women’s sports? Have we got great news for you this summer! Women’s tackle football has been around Iowa for the last two decades, and teams (and leagues) have come and gone in that time. (Diehards will remember the Iowa Crush, which played under the now-defunct Independent Women’s Football…