What makes it autumn in Iowa?

September 15, 2026

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Amie here. I don’t think it even got to 70 degrees yesterday in Waterloo. I was actually contemplating busting out the space heater at one point.

To me, IT’S FALL Y’ALL. 🍁 But what makes it fall to you? Seeing pumpkins along the roadside? Planning fall activities and Oktoberfests? Football coming back? Requesting your absentee ballot? Reply and tell me!

In this issue:

News bites,
this week’s most talked-about post, and
readers share what they think about Iowa’s Amendment 1 and more!

Amie Rivers

Newsletter Editor, Iowa Starting Line

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It’s National Voter Registration Day today—make sure you’re (still?) registered with Starting Line’s handy tool here.
Happy Independence Day tomorrow to our neighbors to the south! Sept. 16, 1810, marks the day Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla issued the Grito de Dolores, or Grito de Independencia, his call for ending 300 years of Spanish rule of Mexico that kicked off the Mexican War of Independence. Mexico would gain independence and its first non-monarch ruler in 1823.
Thursday is Constitution Day, the day in 1787 when the Continental Congress finished and signed the Constitution of the United States of America. It’s a fun little read!
This weekend marks Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.

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Kicked out of two private schools for having a medical need

The Paredes family has used Iowa’s private school voucher system for all three of their boys, so mom Maria expected that her youngest son, Leo, would be treated just like her two older kids.

But Leo has a medical condition, and two private schools accepted Leo—then turned him away when asked to manage his care during the school day.

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Readers are invited to join the conversation. Please include your first name and last initial; your city is optional. Responses may be lightly edited for length, clarity, or typos.

✏️ Send me your takes

“This amendment, besides exposing any pretense that today’s Republican Party cares for all of us as opposed to just their billionaire friends and donors, is yet another sign of how so many of us have seemingly lost our hold on reality….”

👀 Read more of your letters here →