It’s the Friday news roundup: July 19, 2024.

😢 Today, Starting Line is without its chief political correspondent, newsroom leader, and all-around great guy to work with.

Ty Rushing’s last day with Iowa Starting Line was yesterday. He’ll join the University of Iowa faculty in the fall, teaching journalism classes and (we assume) generally livening things up in Iowa City.

If you spot him around town, tell him we said hey (and we already miss him)!

Read his final column for Starting Line here (featuring plenty of insider stories!).

Ty Rushing, left, with the rest of us, at last year’s Starting Line Christmas party.

🌮 Taco ’bout a deal: Ty loves tacos so much he enshrined it in his Twitter bio. In honor of his moving to eastern Iowa, here are 12 taco spots you have to hit up in the Cedar Rapids area.

🦞 For the Eastern Iowa foodies like Ty: Here are five places with really good seafood options in Iowa City, and five small-town restaurants nearby that you shouldn’t overlook.

💕 On a personal note: Ty is an award-winning journalist who advocates for other Iowa journalists, and a wonderful coworker who makes us all better at our jobs. He’s an Emmy-nominated documentarian and a sought-after guest on the politics shows. And he’s a fun-loving guy with a heart as big as his personality. I wish him all the best at the U of I, and know we’ll run into each other again down the road.

I’d also love to hear your experiences with Ty—email me if you have one to share.

We’ve got taxpayer money to blow!

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that more than 30,000 applications were approved for the second year of her taxpayer-funded private school tuition program.

Reynolds provided the update while sharing the stage with former US Education Secretary and prolific voucher advocate Betsy DeVos during last week’s 2024 Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines.

The governor did not provide a specific number of approved applications. However, 30,000 applications would total $234,780,000 in taxpayer dollars for private school tuition.

The Iowa Legislature allocated nearly $180,000,000 to vouchers—an unlimited line item in the state budget—for the 2024-25 school year. This projection is more than $50 million higher than that amount.

Read that story here.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives on the floor during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Trump picked his vice presidential nominee and it is J.D. Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” and dude who thinks women should stay in violent marriages.

Our question: What do you think of this pick?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apologized on Tuesday after new video leaked of a phone call between him and Donald Trump in which Trump—in the aftermath of the attempt on his life on Saturday—appears to be trying to persuade the third-party candidate to endorse his campaign.

During the call, Trump went off on a conspiracy-filled rant about vaccines as part of his effort to get Kennedy, a noted anti-vaxxer, to support his campaign.

Bonus: Kennedy isn’t even sure what his own stance on abortion is, arguably one of the biggest issues in this year’s election.

Diego has had some bad luck finding a forever family, and he’s hoping you could be the one. He promises he’s a good boy: he loves to play and he’s very friendly. He’s made friends with other cats at the shelter and he loves the attention he gets from staff. If you’re on the lookout for a new buddy, check him out at the Humane Society of North Iowa.

Winnie is full of energy and would love to come with you when you’re exercising. She’s not a fan of kids and she needs some time to warm up and adjust to a new space, but she loves toys and she’d love to come home with you. Check her out here.

Question of the Week: Will Project 2025 affect your vote?

• “Yes, I haven’t fought for equal rights my whole adult life to have these losers take over.” ~Nancy B.

• “It was really bad when Kevin Roberts went on TV and said that America’s 2nd Revolution is coming with this Project 2025 and we had better get ready (on the left) to receive it and bow down to it without shedding anyone’s (the left’s) blood. They talk about arresting and deporting millions of immigrants … seeking to make all schools religious tools and delete the Department of Education as well as the public school system … I can’t think of anything more repugnant than someone telling me to become a Christian to remain free and in my country. I am already a Christian—just not one of the MAGA desired ones.” ~Cassandra A.

Davenport Starbucks unionizes:

• “awesome. union yes.” ~Michael W.

• “Starbucks workers, even part-time workers, were well taken care of … If the company has to raise their prices they will lose some business.” ~Paul B.

More of Paul’s thoughts on unions:

• “John Deere is moving a plant to Mexico because the unions here asked for too much.” ~Paul B. 

Summit approval could affect water quality:

• “Numerous beaches and recreation areas were already closed, due to contamination, from farming operations gone bad. The Iowa Utility Board decision to grant Summit approval against public concerns may be about to rain down on them and their self-proclaimed reputations as Iowa’s ‘experts.’” ~Martin M.

Praise for Positively Iowa:

• “Thank you for some light and happy news. So depressed about politics these days!” ~Brad K.

The North Liberty Community Pantry will host Pantrylympics 2024 from 3-5 p.m. Saturday at 350 West Penn Street in North Liberty. Games will be accessible and include “Speed Dating” cans, “The Pantry is Right” price guessing, “Compost Toss,” and more. For more information, call 319-626-2711 or email casey.gaylord@northlibertycommunitypantry.org.

AFFIRM, the youth group of the Cedar Valley LGBTQ+ Coalition, will host Capture the Flag from 7-9 p.m. Sunday at St. Timothy’s United Methodist Church in Cedar Falls. Click here for more information.

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