🗣️ It’s Friday. Happy Juneteenth!

Time for Only in Iowa, this week’s photo, Positively Iowa, and news you can use.

Waterloo residents are worried about a potential data center’s water and power issues.
Ames is, too, and Ames vs. Data Centers is holding a town hall tomorrow about it.
They call it saving money, but we’re paying $205K a year to a staffer of Gov. Kim Reynolds for it.
Iowa Republicans really do not want Libertarians on the ballot this November.
Starting July 1, repaying your student loans is about to get a lot tougher.

Amie Rivers

Newsletter Editor, Iowa Starting Line

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Can’t-miss Juneteenth events in Iowa—from performances to educational events

Performers on stage at a Juneteenth event. (Iowa Juneteenth_Basil Townes Jr. and Bert Moody)

There are plenty of ways to celebrate Juneteenth—the federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the US—from parties with live music and food to educational events hosted at museums or libraries.

Find upcoming Iowa Juneteenth events here.

🎤 Celebrate freedom ->

Plus: I can’t let us forget my city! Check out Waterloo’s 31st annual weekend-long celebration here. ⬇️

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🐶 This carload of canines is (from left to right) Luna, Bodhi, Maya, and Bandit (great name for the getaway driver), “all rescues” of reader John F., who said the arrangement reminded him of “Dogs Playing Poker.”

“I parked the truck and walked into the shop to get a few tools,” John writes. “Two minutes later, I came back to this arrangement. I asked, ‘Who’s driving?’ Silence.”

They may be in cahoots, but they’re no snitches!

Send me your pet photos!

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👶 A vital voice on the line: Andrea Ring, an emergency dispatcher, was honored recently with a stork pin for guiding a couple through childbirth on the side of a Clay County highway. Ring was honored, but humble. “I just knew there were some instructions I needed to give her that I was knowledgeable about,” Ring told KCCI.

🦌 Endangered birth: Victoria, an addax or white antelope, was born last month at the Blank Park Zoo, and is now old enough to be on display with the rest of the herd in the zoo’s African Pavilion. The species is critically endangered, with fewer than 100 left living in the wild in Niger.

⚽️ Hometown heroes: The Des Moines Public School District had never won a boys’ state soccer championship. That changed earlier this month, when Hoover High’s team—made up mostly of refugee students who speak a variety of languages—rallied from behind to beat Norwalk for the Class 3A championship.