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The wife of a defeated Boone City Council candidate is accused of assaulting three people—including one of whom she blamed for her husband’s loss—following Monday’s Boone Utility Commission meeting. According to a criminal complaint, Amy Rasmussen, 54, took exception...
Amid a growing teacher shortage in Iowa, attacks on teachers’ abilities to teach are driving more away from Iowa schools. Neal Patel, a science teacher in the Johnston Community School District, announced at a committee meeting last Thursday that he plans to resign at...
School boards handle a variety of issues from approving milk contracts to voting on building projects, but opposition to mask mandates and diversity standards seemed to be the biggest talking points in many Iowa races, and Ankeny and Waukee were no exception. Ankeny’s...
Incumbent Cedar Rapids Mayor Brad Hart may not make it to the inevitable runoff for the city's top job. Candidates Tiffany O'Donnell and Amara Andrews earned more votes than he did on Tuesday, but because no one got 50% of the vote, a runoff election is triggered...
Rick Bick won’t have to worry about trying to illegally bar LGBTQ events in Ottumwa as he was defeated by Rick Johnson in Tuesday’s mayoral contest. Johnson captured 2,272 votes to Bick’s 1,026 votes. During a forum before the election, Bick compared LGBTQ people to...
A guest op-ed from Ann Brown, treasurer for Amara Andrews campaign for mayor of Cedar Rapids The position of mayor of Cedar Rapids is one of the highest offices in the state of Iowa that, by all accounts, SHOULD be held by a Democrat, but hasn’t been for almost 12...
For the first time in years, the mayor's race in Waterloo is a competitive affair, as well as a particularly contentious one. Three-term incumbent Quentin Hart faces off against Councilwoman Margaret Klein and Waterloo resident Sophia Mays. Hart is campaigning on...
Editor's Note: Story has been updated with a statement from Ottumwa Pride. Ottumwa mayoral candidate Rick Bick compared the LGBTQ community to pedophiles when questioned about whether he'd approve permits for things like gay pride events. Bick made the remark Monday...
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that she will travel to the US-Mexico border in Texas on Wednesday, joining other Republican governors “to witness firsthand the crisis playing out.” Travel expenses courtesy of us, Iowa’s taxpayers. This is the latest political stunt that...
Many of Iowa’s school board races in November are shaping up to be unusually hyper-partisan contests, with far-right candidates challenging incumbents over masking policies and the teaching of American history. In several high-profile cases, they're being publicly...
The road to justice and equity can be long and full of hardships; however, for Kameron Middlebrooks, that road became his passion and purpose in life. Kameron is the 3rd Vice President for the Des Moines Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of...
A few weeks ago, I had to take my husband to the emergency room in the middle of the night. Almost immediately the doctor said, “We have to intervene him right away.” I was instantly stressed. Not only was my husband on the verge of surgery, but we were in a hospital...
You could call Tuesday’s Woodbury County Board of Supervisors meeting an airing of grievances as activists, community members, and union officials clashed with board members over the use of American Rescue Plan funds. The reason for the conflict is the upcoming...
Proponents of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act had a message for Iowa’s two Republican US Senators during a Friday rally in downtown Sioux City to support the bill. “If Senator Grassley and Senator Ernst aren’t going to support us, we can replace them,”...
In preparation of the upcoming Iowa State Fair and in light of the dominant Delta variant, Polk County officials want to make sure more people are protected from COVID-19. To do that, they’ve set up a new incentive. Today, if someone gets their first or second dose of...
The issue of worker shortages at restaurants has come up again as nine Burger King employees quit en masse over working conditions in Lincoln, Nebraska. The workers' actions went viral after they put up on the restaurant's sign "We all quit," later explaining to local...
I like to pretend the “Godfather III” does not exist; however, it gave us a line that has truly resonated with me as of late: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” So without going into much backstory on a movie you truly should never watch, the quote...
Two weeks after state Sen. Rob Hogg announced his upcoming retirement from the Iowa Senate, the field of Democrats looking to fill his seat in the chamber is getting a shake-up. State Rep. Liz Bennett announced last night that she is officially running for the Senate...
It all started when a podcast host pointed out how little Americans know about how their government works or how they can influence it. So a group of Iowans came up with a plan to change that. The plan is called Democracy Defenders of America, a non-profit,...
Scott County has a new auditor, but local Democrats are pushing for a quick special election to give the voters a say in the matter. Yesterday morning, the Scott County Board of Supervisors met to announce and vote on a replacement for longtime Democratic County...
If at any time last year you received unemployment benefits, a portion or all of those benefits will not be taxed. Iowa’s Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne worked with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D) to add a provision to President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan, the...
The Iowa Senate on Wednesday advanced justice system funding that Democrats say is too low in light of the recent murder of two employees at the Anamosa state penitentiary. Passed through the Senate Appropriations Committee 11-8 with Democrats opposed, the bill...
Iowa House Democrats say they’re concerned with little communication between House and Senate Republicans, a lack of public input and early adjournment in the chambers during the weeks leading up to Iowa’s $8 billion budget allocation. On Tuesday during an Iowa House...
The moment was finally here! I was eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and I was ecstatic. The opportunity to feel some safety against the virus and gain some sort of normalcy was within reach. It has been more than a year since the pandemic started and we...
The recent murder of two employees at the Anamosa state penitentiary was caused by “grossly inadequate staffing” and years of disinvestment in the corrections system, AFSCME Council 61 President Danny Homan said on the Capitol steps on Tuesday, despite his repeated...
A bill advanced in the Iowa Senate on Monday that would prohibit cities and counties from regulating natural gas or propane sales triggered a debate on how Republicans value local control this Legislative session. Passed 29-16 along party lines, the bill will bar...
It has been my position that as a U.S. citizen with the right and responsibility to vote, I will vote my conscious. As a person of color, I have always believed that just because a Latino(a) is running for office, it does not mean that I will vote for that candidate....
When Iowa state officials announced this month that the vaccination criteria would expand to individuals under age 65 with obesity, severe obesity (BMI 30) and smokers, many in social media began to play judge and jury. This has stirred harsh commentary, even among...
The trial this week of Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was a disgrace. It never should have happened, but it could occur again as long as John Sarcone remains the Polk County Attorney. The prosecution of a reporter for simply doing her job during a Black...
If the Iowa GOP seeks to run government like a business, passing a voter suppression bill reflects a poor business model, Democrats said tonight during floor debate in the Iowa House. In his opening statement before the House passed a contentious elections bill,...
