Isabella Murray

The Des Moines Police Department saw a significant uptick in their use of force from 2015 to 2019, according to an analysis released by the city. The overall use of force employed by DMPD more than doubled from 2015 to 2019, with a significant jump occurring between the years 2017 and 2018, when incidents rose…

Student absenteeism, a metric Gov. Kim Reynolds previously presented as a necessary requirement for Iowa school districts to request permission to move to learning online amid the pandemic, is actually just a guideline. At a Thursday morning press conference, Reynolds backtracked on earlier statements that a county’s 14-day coronavirus positivity rate must be more than…

Student absenteeism, a metric Gov. Kim Reynolds previously presented as a necessary requirement for Iowa school districts to request permission to move to learning online amid the pandemic, is actually just a guideline. At a Thursday morning press conference, Reynolds backtracked on earlier statements that a county’s 14-day coronavirus positivity rate must be more than…

Student absenteeism, a metric Gov. Kim Reynolds previously presented as a necessary requirement for Iowa school districts to request permission to move to learning online amid the pandemic, is actually just a guideline. At a Thursday morning press conference, Reynolds backtracked on earlier statements that a county’s 14-day coronavirus positivity rate must be more than…

In Iowa, some school districts are playing a game of musical chairs in order to skirt mandatory quarantining for students exposed to COVID-19, a method health experts warn may only put students at greater risk for infection. Since early September, Waukee and Woodbury Central Community School Districts have told teachers to get students up and…

A recent Iowa Department of Education change to K-12 absentee standards would make the meeting threshold for virtual learning during threats of COVID-19 even more difficult for school districts. Contradicting previous guidance from the state, deputy Iowa state epidemiologist Dr. Ann Garvey said on a Sept. 3 webinar for school administrators that students who are quarantined…

It was easy to forget Pottawattamie County’s disproportionately high COVID-19 rates as about 1,500 largely mask-less motorcyclists in July danced and drank across four closed-off downtown Council Bluffs blocks at the first ‘Bikes on the 100 Block’ event of the summer. The event occurred after its organizers—several local bars and an Omaha-based Harley Davidson dealer,…

It was easy to forget Pottawattamie County’s disproportionately high COVID-19 rates as about 1,500 largely mask-less motorcyclists in July danced and drank across four closed-off downtown Council Bluffs blocks at the first ‘Bikes on the 100 Block’ event of the summer. The event occurred after its organizers—several local bars and an Omaha-based Harley Davidson dealer,…

Illinois resident James, 18, made his decision on which college to attend in March, back near the outset of the pandemic in the U.S. The northwest suburban Chicago teenager chose Miami University in Oxford, Ohio — a school that has now pushed back in-person class until Sept. 21 because of the pandemic. Since Aug. 17,…

Illinois resident James, 18, made his decision on which college to attend in March, back near the outset of the pandemic in the U.S. The northwest suburban Chicago teenager chose Miami University in Oxford, Ohio — a school that has now pushed back in-person class until Sept. 21 because of the pandemic. Since Aug. 17,…