Welcome back to Starting Line's Power Ranking series! This week we take a look at the very crowded Republican race (last week we did the Democrats). This one is obviously a lot tougher, especially figuring out how to rank 2 - 5. You could easily make the case that...
Here's a tip: if you're running for president, don't strongly publicly defend a child molester. Mike Huckabee didn't seem to ever get that memo. On Thursday he posted to Facebook an inexplicable defense of the Duggar family, following the revelations that oldest...
It's do-or-die time for the Iowa Straw Poll. The Republican caucus tradition hasn't attracted many major participants yet, with Mike Huckabee and Jeb Bush already ruling the event out. While the other White House hopefuls gather with their campaign teams to decide...
It was not a banner night in the Iowa House for Republicans debating LGBTQ issues and young people struggling with bullying. Up for debate was a high-profile piece of legislation on anti-bullying measures, which had previously passed the Senate 43-7 in a bipartisan...
Just a few weeks ago U.S. News and World Report ranked Decorah High School as the 4th best in Iowa, and in the top 3% of schools nationally. However, many voters and school district administrators in Northeast Iowa worry if local children will enjoy the same...
The "Scooby" van and its important occupant returned to Iowa once again this week as Hillary Clinton made a two-day swing through the caucus state. She met local activists at house parties in Mason City, Waterloo and Dubuque on Monday and Tuesday. Her one public...
Welcome to Starting Line's newest series: Monday Power Rankings! At the beginning of each week we'll rank the candidates' standings in different races, cycling through a number of different Iowa contests. We'll often visit the presidential race on the Democratic...
In April State Representative Ken Rizer visited Waypoint Services, a Cedar Rapids shelter that helps women suffering from domestic violence and other crisis situations. Just a few weeks later, he voted for a budget that slashed funding for the very services the...
As news breaks that an official Martin O'Malley presidential announcement is set for May 30th, Starting Line hears his campaign is beginning to staff up in Iowa for a caucus operation. We've heard from several sources that Joe O'Hern was recently hired to serve as...
Who do Democratic presidential hopefuls need on their side to win in Dallas County? We continue our profile of important Iowa counties. We previously covered Clinton County and Woodbury County. Main Cities: Waukee (largest), Adel (county seat) Population: 77,400...
