Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers is Iowa Starting Line’s newsletter editor. She writes the weekly Worker’s Almanac edition of Iowa Starting Line, featuring a roundup of the worker news you need to know. Previously, she was an award-winning journalist at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier; now, she very much enjoys making TikToks and memes and getting pet photos in her inbox.

Have a story tip? Reach Amie at amie@new.iowastartingline.com. For local reporting in Iowa that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie’s newsletter.

Latest from Amie Rivers

  • Labor

    Iowa Worker’s Almanac: News and layoffs for Nov. 20, 2025

    News briefs for the Iowa working class for the week of Nov. 20, 2025:

  • Labor

    Mt. Pleasant landscaper Noel Lopez De La Cruz facing deportation. Here’s how you can help

    The kidnapping goon squad gutting our workforce keeps rolling to more cities across the US. Its newest target is Charlotte, North Carolina, and soon ICE and Border Patrol will bring their terror to New Orleans. But deportations of immigrant workers continue to happen everywhere—including in Iowa. The latest: Noel Lopez De La Cruz, a 24-year-old landscaper from Mount Pleasant…

  • Labor

    Iowa Worker’s Almanac: Layoffs and news briefs for Nov. 14, 2025

    News for the Iowa working class for Nov. 14, 2025: Rural hospitals? Never heard of her: At her first in-person town hall in more than a year, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks told Iowans in Keosauqua on Monday she thinks she “strengthened and preserved Medicaid” when she voted to approve President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill—despite attendees pointing…

  • Labor

    UAW president unloads on CNH after Burlington plant closure announcement

    Case New Holland (CNH) announced it would close its Burlington plant by mid-2026, with 200 workers laid off as a result. But the labor union wasn’t going to take that sitting down.

  • Labor

    Iowa Worker’s Almanac layoffs and news for Nov. 6, 2025

    Iowa Worker’s Almanac news briefs: China agrees to buy soybeans, ending monthslong standoff: The world’s largest buyer of soybeans refused to buy anything from the US for months because of Trump’s punitive tariffs. Last week, after Trump lowered his tariff to 10%, China agreed to buy 12 million tons this year, less than half of what it usually…

  • Money & Jobs

    No SNAP? How to help fellow Iowans who are struggling for food

    Well, it happened: SNAP benefits ended Nov. 1 for 42 million Americans for the very first time in history. That includes 267,000 Iowans, 40% of whom are children, going without their grocery money this week. It’s because of the ongoing federal government shutdown, now the longest in history. Democrats won’t vote to end the shutdown without extending healthcare subsidies that keep ACA payments low,…

  • Labor

    Nov. 1 is a big day in the government shutdown—here’s why

    Saturday is Nov. 1, and Nov. 1 is when the monthlong federal government shutdown—assuming it hasn’t been lifted—will become very personal and very real. There are two big reasons for that. First: Nov. 1 is when SNAP benefits will end for 42 million Americans, the first time it will have ever happened. That includes 267,000 Iowans…

  • Labor

    Iowa Worker’s Almanac: Layoffs and news for Oct. 30

    Nunn, Ernst beg Trump for China deal: President Donald Trump is supposed to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping today to iron out a trade deal after China has refused to buy US soybeans for months. US Sen. Joni Ernst, who is retiring, and US Rep. Zach Nunn, running for reelection, signed onto a letter…

  • Labor

    Iowa Worker’s Almanac: Layoffs and news for the week of Oct. 23, 2025

    Iowa Worker’s Almanac: Week of 10/23/25 Iowa farm lobby pushes back on Trump: The Iowa Farm Bureau is among those pushing back against President Donald Trump’s comments on importing beef from Argentina. “We encourage the administration to resist actions that negatively impact the cattle farmers in Iowa and domestic beef production,” said Farm Bureau president Brent…

  • Labor

    Shutdown means no pay for 10K Iowa workers

    The ongoing federal government shutdown is resulting in lots of Iowans not being paid—and it’s not just federal workers. There are more than 10,000 Iowans who are federal workers, according to the Iowa Federation of Labor. “Working people are already struggling to pay our bills, and the Trump administration is offering no relief,” the group…