Newsletters


  • Why are queer Iowans leaving the state?

    Share with a friend It’s Monday, June 23, 2025. Amie here. I talk about loss and grief sometimes here (normalize it, right?), so I wanted to also take time to share my joy: Over the weekend, my brother and his wife had a child: my new nephew!   The squishy newborn photo is my brother’s…


  • 💜 Fairfield photographer wins top prize

    Share with a friend It’s Friday, June 20, 2025. 🗣️ It’s Friday; time for the takes!    My take: Juneteenth was yesterday, the anniversary of when our country actually granted freedom to all. I’ll be celebrating at the 30th annual Waterloo Juneteenth this weekend (while trying to stay cool amid this heat wave).   If…


  • Tenants union in Johnson Co. goes on offense against private equity

    Share with a friend It’s Wednesday, June 18, 2025.   Remember the 2023 story of mobile home residents in Johnson County whose parks were bought by investment company Havenpark Communities, then had their services taken away while their lot rents were jacked up?   They started a couple of tenants’ unions—the Iowa Manufactured Home Residents…


  • Investigating Iowa’s growing cancer rate

    Share with a friend It’s Monday, June 16, 2025. Amie here. We’re starting a big project at Iowa Starting Line that I’m really excited about:   Investigating why Iowa’s cancer rates are so high, and growing so fast.   We’re looking for your stories. I’ll start with mine. My mom with her mother and father,…


  • Regents try their own diversity ban. Professors fight it

    Share with a friend It’s Friday, June 13, 2025.   If you haven’t already, please take our short survey about Iowa Worker’s Almanac. Thanks! ~Amie   The Iowa Legislature passed a bill this session banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and trainings by “public entities,” including Iowa’s public universities.   And they spelled out exactly…


  • 🎧 Guess who’s next up running for Ernst’s seat?

    Share with a friend It’s Wednesday, June 11, 2025. On this week’s episode of Cornhole Champions, Amie, Zachary, and Avery discuss: State Sen. Zach Wahls of Coralville announced this morning that he’s running against Joni Ernst for her US Senate seat. Less than 12 months after Perry lost 1,200 jobs when Tyson shuttered their pork plant,…


  • All the No Kings Protests in Iowa This Weekend

    Share with a friend It’s Monday, June 9, 2025. Amie here with some interesting things to start your week: No more 99 counties? Getting rid of some of our counties is something Iowa DOGE is apparently considering. Email me: Would you want your county on the chopping block? Want to help track Iowa’s bumblebees? Learn more…


  • Fighting Against Local ICE Agreements—And Winning

    Share with a friend It’s Thursday, June 5, 2025.   Can you take this short survey? We’re trying to see what people like and don’t like about Iowa Worker’s Almanac, and you can help. Thanks! ~Amie   Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is raiding workplaces across the country, showing up in tanks and wearing tactical…


  • 🎧 She Told Ernst ‘People Will Die’

    Share with a friend It’s Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Following a scandal involving an alleged romantic relationship with a military lobbyist, US Sen. Joni Ernst faces new controversy.   As a member of President Donald Trump’s party, she was on the road recently to defend his tax bill that will force an estimated 13.7 million people to lose health insurance…


  • ❗️ Joni Ernst Defends Medicaid Cuts: ‘We Are All Going to Die’

    Share with a friend It’s Friday, May 30, 2025. 🗣️ It’s Friday: Time to hear from ISL readers! 🐶 This is Crosby. “We have a music icons naming convention for our pets— we’ve had Dylan and (Mama) Cass, and Crosby’s feline sister is Cher,” says Crosby’s human Matt U. “The two things he values most…