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

    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…

  • Local

    Increasingly desperate Iowans stretching food banks to capacity

    Leaders of a dozen food pantries across Iowa are sounding the alarm about a “soaring number” of Iowans seeking help at food banks, putting these already stretched organizations into a “crisis situation.” The leaders and other advocates recently issued a joint press release about “a rising number of Iowans experiencing food insecurity” in the past…

  • Local

    Read a new book from one of these 10 Iowa authors

    You probably have heard all about “The Bridges of Madison County.” Or how occasional Iowa resident Mark Twain counted Muscatine’s sunsets among the best he’d ever seen (and he was a world traveler!). Or how Kurt Vonnegut finished “Slaughterhouse-Five” at the prestigious Iowa Writer’s Workshop. But did you know the state of Iowa continues to…

  • Local

    Iowa City closing an elementary school, blames underfunding from state

    Hills Elementary School will close next school year after nearly 60 years of educating students, and members of the Iowa City School Board cite inadequate state funding as one of the reasons why. “It is the result of chronic and persistent underfunding by the state that has been going on for the past decade,” school…

  • Local

    7 Iowa events for Transgender Day of Visibility 2024

    Transgender Iowans need joy these days. Eight separate bills have been considered in the latest session of the Iowa Legislature specifically targeting transgender youth, contributing to Iowa Republicans’ 40 anti-LGBTQ bills in total. Fearmongering legislation—like bills banning people from school bathrooms, or erasing LGBTQ history—has led to further stigmatization of the transgender community. That’s contributed…

  • Local

    Linn-Mar cutting 19 teachers, 31 staff, cites ‘underfunding’ from state

    One of the largest school districts in Iowa announced it was cutting 50 staff positions, including 19 full-time teachers, beginning next school year. The Linn-Mar Community School District announced Thursday it would be forced to cut $2.5 million from its budget for the 2024-25 school year. This comes on the heels of a $3 million…

  • Local

    Why it’s nearly impossible to find an Iowa dentist who takes Medicaid

    Laura Sauls of Dumont has two kids, and their pediatric dentist is only a 15-minute drive away. That was, until that dentist called last fall with bad news: The office would no longer accept Medicaid, which meant they would no longer treat Sauls’ children unless she paid cash. With the closest dentist accepting Medicaid over…