Newsletters


  • 🗣️ ‘Who Wants Their TP Hanging Against the Wall?’

    Share with a friend It’s Friday, Apr. 4, 2025. 🗣️ TGIF: Time for the Reader Sound-Off, where you get your say!   But first: We’re bringing back the Pet Photo of the Week! I’ll start running them weekly on Fridays with your letters, so keep sending your pet photos my way! This guy with the sun…


  • 651 Laid Off at Whirlpool in Amana

    Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2025. Amie here, thinking about the 651 Iowans soon to be laid off by June 1 from Whirlpool in Amana, about a third of its workforce.   It’s the biggest mass layoff of the year in Iowa (so far), and the largest since Tyson closed its Perry…


  • 🗣️ ‘This Bill is Bulls—‘

    Share with a friend It’s Friday, Mar. 28, 2025. 🗣️ TGIF: Time for the Reader Sound-Off, where we share some of the feedback you all have sent me directly.   But before I do, I wanted to thank you all for your donations to our fundraising drive!   We had hoped to raise $2,000 from…


  • Anti-Apprenticeship Bill Rushed Through Iowa Legislature

    Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2025. Amie here. There are lots of bills winding their way through the Iowa Legislature in a hurry now.   But this one stuck out.   I mentioned in last week’s newsletter how Iowa Republicans passed a controversial bill stopping local governments from requiring workforce training standards…


  • Guess Who’s Unionized?!

    Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday Thursday, Mar. 20, 2025. Amie here. I’ve written about labor and unions and union organizing in Iowa for Starting Line for a few years now. Yet, I am not, nor have ever been in my journalism career, a card-carrying union member.   That is, until today.   My…


  • 🗣️ ‘More People Will Be Living Hand to Mouth’

    Share with a friend It’s Friday, Mar. 14, 2025. 🗣️ It’s Friday: Time for the Reader Sound-Off, where we share some of the feedback you all have sent me directly. Keep it coming! Share your thoughts here   💗 But first, some Positively Iowa news: 💗    🐶 Iowa has a dog in the fight:…


  • Coralville Costco Would Be 1st in Midwest to Unionize

    Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Mar. 12, 2025. Amie here. I may be changing around my newsletters a bit, but don’t worry: The Iowa Worker’s Almanac isn’t going anywhere.   First of all, news about what folks are going through on the job is kind of the main thing we all worry about:…


  • What’s the Iowa Legislature Up To Now?

    Share with a friend It’s Mar. 11, 2025. Amie here, and we’re bringing you the highlights from this week in the Iowa Republican-dominated statehouse!   Q: How is our politics update different from all the other politics updates?   A: We’re not afraid to call a dumb bill a dumb bill.    Maybe that doesn’t…


  • 🗣️ ‘This is truly a dark time’

    Share with a friend It’s Friday, Mar. 7, 2025. Amie here. We here at Iowa Starting Line do a lot of spouting off.   Now, it’s your turn: It’s the Friday Reader Sound-off! 🗣️   💗 But first, some Positively Iowa news: 💗    🎨 Painting it forward: For cash-strapped families and nonprofit organizations, a…


  • How to Protect Your Trans Coworkers From Legal Discrimination

    Share with a friend It’s Worker Wednesday, Mar. 5, 2025. Now that Iowa Republicans have passed their latest bill attempting to force us all into their pretend gender binary (which won’t go into effect until July 1, if it’s not stopped in the courts before then), it got me thinking:   If Iowa employers can…