Isabella Murray

South Sioux City Community School District’s superintendent in a video last week condemned and threatened student demonstrators who recently protested wide-ranging mistreatment in their district. An April 9 protest of around 100 students outside the Nebraska high school on issues of racial discrimination, religious inequality and LGBTQ treatment in the district was denounced by Superintendent…

Iowa Democratic leadership said there has been little action to mitigate COVID-19 and contact trace at the Iowa Capitol despite mounting positive cases, including two this week associated with the House and Senate. Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls on a Thursday press call said that Iowa Republicans have “refused to protect [Capitol staff, lawmakers and…

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 appropriates an increase of $6.3 million for the Department of Corrections. Democrats and union leaders have…

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 Democrats Facebook Live event, House Democratic Leader Rep. Todd Prichard and Sioux City…

Iowa’s proposed anti-abortion constitutional amendment, which is likely to advance during the 2021 legislative session, will lay the groundwork for a possible future abortion ban, said the state’s Planned Parenthood lobbyist. Slated for another vote in the Iowa House, the proposed amendment to the state’s constitution passed through the Senate last week on a party-line…

Nearly every day since late January, when Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a bill that required Iowa School districts to offer 100% in-person learning options amid concerns of COVID-19, Cedar Rapids Sen. Rob Hogg has been updating his social media accounts with pediatric case counts. The numbers have been increasing lately. “Since January 29,…

Monday marked the first day all Iowans aged 16 and older can receive a COVID-19 vaccine, joining its neighboring Midwestern states that have this week expanded pools of qualifiers. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden pushed forward the national deadline for all American adults to become eligible. With the final stage of Iowa’s vaccination plan now open,…

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 attempts to work with Republican leadership on the problems. Corrections officer Robert McFarland and nurse…

Friday’s close of the Iowa Legislature’s second “funnel” deadline left much of Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds’ agenda for the 2021 session in play. The end of last week’s cutoff meant all policy had to pass the Iowa House or Senate and through a full committee in the other chamber in order to advance this session.…