Iowa Starting Line

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  • Iowa’s Winter Olympians and Paralympians to watch

    Plus: Positively Iowa & pet photos! Share with a friend 🗣️ It’s Friday the 13th, and Galentine’s Day: Time for Only in Iowa, Positively Iowa, this week’s pet photo, and news you can use. (NOTE: I am moving reader replies to Tuesdays to shorten this one up a bit, so find them there next week!)…


  • Valentine’s Day? In THIS economy?

    Plus: Meet a candidate, protests, and a viral post Share with a friend Amie here. We’re still having Valentine’s Day? In THIS economy? (Link goes to the most depressing candy heart messages you’ve ever seen.) Where’s the beef? Beef industry groups are once again looking for nominations for Iowa’s Best Burger. Nominations opened yesterday and…


  • 🗣️ Your letters: ‘Communist bastards’ and Buxton stories

    Plus: Your emails and Positively Iowa Share with a friend 🗣️ It’s Friday: Time for Only in Iowa, Positively Iowa, this week’s pet photo, and reader replies.   I give it three stars: Want to help fight increasing light pollution? Check out the Orion constellation this month or next, then report your findings to the Globe…


  • Iowa’s little-known Black history

    Plus: Meet a candidate, protests, and a viral post Share with a friend Amie here. It’s February, the shortest month, and that clearly sedated groundhog saw his shadow yesterday, meaning six more weeks of winter (ughhhhh).   It’s Black History Month. Here are some cool stories of Black Iowa history you might not know about.…


  • 6 Iowa waterfalls that are even more stunning in winter

    Plus: Your emails and Positively Iowa Share with a friend 🗣️ It’s Friday: Time for Only in Iowa, Positively Iowa, this week’s pet photo, and reader replies.   RAGBRAI route announced: The annual cross-state party on wheels will start this July in Onawa and end up in Dubuque, organizers announced this week. It’s the shortest route…


  • Trump comes to Iowa today. Here’s what to know

    Plus: Meet a candidate, protests, and a viral post Share with a friend Amie here. President Donald Trump is in Iowa today and will be giving a speech at the Horizon Events Center in Clive at 3 p.m. (A link to register for the event has apparently been taken down.)   Are you headed to the…


  • How Iowans are supporting Minnesota’s ICE strike

    Plus: Your emails and Positively Iowa Share with a friend 🗣️ It’s Friday: Time for Only in Iowa, Positively Iowa, this week’s pet photo, and reader replies.   Okoboji is still holding its annual Winter Games this weekend, despite the below-zero temps.   You may be unaware of the true context of MLK’s “I Have a…


  • Are you walking out of work today?

    Plus: Meet a candidate, protests, and a viral post Share with a friend Amie here. Happy 11th anniversary to Iowa Starting Line, started by Pat Rynard as a deep dive into Iowa politics on Jan. 19, 2015. We’ve grown and broadened our scope of news since then, but we still love our politics.   Are…


  • 🗣️ ‘Listen, commie,’ and more angry reader letters

    Plus: Your emails and Positively Iowa Share with a friend  🗣️ It’s Friday: Time for Only in Iowa, Positively Iowa, this week’s pet photo, and reader replies.   Iowa’s first women’s sports bar, Heroics, is now open, and they’re having an official launch party Saturday.   Iowa is the first state to ‘gain more control…


  • Growing backlash to AI traffic cameras in Iowa

    Plus: Protests, viral post of the week, and more Share with a friend Amie here. The Iowa Legislature started up for the year on Monday. We’ve still got the Republican trifecta we’ve had for years now, but thanks to special elections going Democrats’ way, there’s only a GOP supermajority in the House—meaning Senate Republicans need…