Iowa Starting Line

Sign Up for the Iowa Starting Line Newsletter


  • Get in Iowans, we’re going boycotting

    Plus: Protests, rallies, and more Share with a friend Amie here. It’s Tuesday of our shortened Thanksgiving week. That means this will be your only newsletter from me this week. Remember to boycott the big box stores promoting authoritarianism (see below), shop small this Saturday (and every day you can!), and (most importantly) enjoy time…


  • Iowa tied for worst for hospital quality

    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 of course, reader replies! Name a snowplow is back in Black Hawk County: Enter your clever names here. Yes, it’s normal to mow right now: But Iowans had to tell…


  • Trump just smoked Iowa’s hemp industry

    Plus: Protests, rallies, and more Share with a friend Amie here. It’s Tuesday, and I’ve got protests/events, the seven tactics used by authoritarians, and this week’s viral post.   But first: If you don’t care about your civil liberties, or whether anything could go wrong during pregnancy, Iowa is a pretty good place to raise a…


  • The mysterious death of a Marshalltown movie star

    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 of course, reader replies! The record-long government shutdown is over: Here’s when different things (air travel, back pay) should start getting back to normal. Des Moines bar apologizes for letting Nazi…


  • 🥶 Hell must have frozen over: Miller-Meeks held a town hall

    Plus: Protests, rallies, and more Share with a friend Amie here. It’s Tuesday, and I’ve got protests/events, a quick explainer on community organizing, and this week’s viral post.   But first: It was so cold Monday. (pauses for “How cold was it?”)   It was so cold that THIS happened: Rep. Miller-Meeks announced the town hall—her first…


  • Marshalltown shows us how to resist ICE

    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 of course, reader replies!   My take: Don’t ever let a Nazi in your Iowa bar.   I’m still getting lovely autumn scenes from y’all—keep them coming! “We waited until the…


  • 🗳️ Did you vote yet? It’s Election Day!

    Plus: Protests, rallies, and more Share with a friend Amie here. It’s Election Day Tuesday! Plus, I’ve got protests/events, a quick authoritarianism explainer, and this week’s viral post.   But first: It’s time to throw the bums out, keep the good ones in, and decide where your tax money should go. It’s city/school Election Day! Forgot all…


  • 🎃 Happy Halloween!

    Plus: Your emails and Positively Iowa Share with a friend 🗣️ It’s Friday and All Hallows’ Eve (lest you think even one US holiday has been untouched by Christianity). Hope you saved some of that candy for the trick-or-treaters!   My take: We’ve had a couple of wins for the Constitution in Iowa lately. A…


  • Iowa’s trees are at full color

    Plus: Protests, rallies, and more Share with a friend Amie here. It’s Tuesday, so I’ve got  protests/events, a quick authoritarianism explainer, and this week’s must-see video.   But first: It’s *finally* peak fall color season up in Northeast Iowa, two or three weeks late! My backyard maple and mulberry trees. (Amie River/Iowa Starting Line) If you…


  • Why it took nearly a century to bring Halloween to Des Moines

    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 of course reader replies! Amie Rivers Newsletter Editor, Iowa Starting Line Email me   Why it took nearly a century to bring Halloween to Des Moines Two kids celebrating on…