Commentary
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4 reasons why the WNBA should expand to Iowa
The WNBA is ready to expand, and it should expand to Iowa—giving us our first professional team. The WNBA starts up this weekend, and it’s arguably getting the most attention since its founding in 1997. Everybody knows that’s largely due to Iowa Hawkeye Caitlin Clark, who broke nearly every record and won nearly every individual…
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Opinion: I was an Iowa legislator. Where’s the substance to today’s bills?
In today’s hyper-partisan, emotion-fueled political environment, where policy proposals are seemingly presented and defended with facile slogans and tribal appeals, how can any citizen differentiate between the truly good and beneficial ones and those that either serve only a few or harm or denigrate others? I would like to advance a modest proposal based upon…
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Kalbach: Gov. Reynolds ramps up her attacks on public schools
We’re just past two weeks into the 2024 legislative session, and Gov. Kim Reynolds is already ramping up her crusade to defund our public schools through an unproven voucher plan. This year, Reynolds wants to transfer another $179.2 million of our tax dollars to private schools. It’s a terrible idea that will lead to additional…
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An open letter from Iowa journalists covering a school shooting
A single gunman opened fire in the cafeteria of Perry High School in Iowa, on Thursday, Jan. 4, killing one sixth-grader and wounding seven others before taking his own life. The Iowa Starting Line staff covered this tragedy and here are our reflections on what that experience was like and how it has affected them. Ty…
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Guest post: My name is mine, not the government’s
In the fall of 1972, I was a shy ninth-grader entering Mt. St. Ursula in the Bronx. My legal name was Mary Bernadette, but I always went by my middle name, Bernadette. The first day of classes, teachers had us standing in the front of their rooms until our names were called to be seated.…
