Nikoel Hytrek is Iowa Starting Line’s longest-serving reporter. She covers LGBTQ issues, abortion rights and all topics of interest to Iowans. Her biggest goal is to help connect the dots between policy and people’s real lives. If you have story ideas or tips, send them over to nikoel@new.iowastartingline.com.
Nikoel Hytrek
Latest from Nikoel Hytrek
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Take a Free Yoga Class at an Iowa Park This Summer
If you’re looking to get outside for a low-impact workout, several cities around Iowa have you covered. Take a look at the cities offering yoga classes this summer:
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Beat the Iowa Heat This Week at One of These Free Cooling Centers
With hotter temperatures in the forecast this week than Iowa has seen all year, cooling centers are opening up around the state where people can recover in an air conditioned place for free.
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Reynolds’ Legal Argument For Lifting Injunction On Abortion Ban
While abortion up to 20 weeks remains legal in Iowa as the state’s latest ban works its way through courts, Gov. Kim Reynolds is trying to expedite that ban despite most Iowans supporting safe and legal abortion access. On Reynolds’ behalf, Attorney General Brenna Bird filed an appeal on Friday to ask the Iowa Supreme…
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Bicycle-Friendly Iowa Route Maps Just Dropped for 2023-2024
As cyclists crossed the state for RAGBRAI, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) announced it just released its latest bicycle map for the 2023-24 season.
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Reynolds Attacks Judges For Blocking, Overturning Abortion Bans
Even as she prepared to sign her second abortion ban as Iowa’s governor, Kim Reynolds took time to attack three Republican-appointed Iowa Supreme Court justices. Reynolds, also a Republican, accused three members of that court—Chief Justice Susan Christensen and Justices Thomas Waterman and Edward Mansfield—of playing politics. “While half the bench expressed the opinion that…
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Judge Places Temporary Block On Iowa’s New Abortion Ban
Abortion in Iowa is legal again up to 20 weeks. Polk County District Court Judge Joseph Seidlin granted a temporary injunction on Monday to block enforcement of the new law which banned abortion around six weeks, too early for most to know they’re pregnant. “The current state of the law in Iowa remains, at least…
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Reynolds Signs Iowa Abortion Ban Bill At Evangelical Summit
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Iowa’s new six-week abortion ban into law in front of about 2,000 evangelical Christians at the Family Leader Summit in Des Moines on Friday. “The passage of this legislation by even a wider margin this time sends an unmistakable message,” Reynolds said. “Iowa’s 2018 heartbeat law was not hypothetical. It was…
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GOP Candidates Show Support For Iowa’s New Abortion Law
During the first half of Friday’s Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines, one Republican candidate shared his thoughts about abortion and Iowa’s newly passed six-week ban, while two other “pro-life” candidates avoided the issue despite the friendly setting. Across the country, solid majorities support abortion being legal in all or most cases. In May this…
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State Offering Grants to Replace Trees Killed by Emerald Ash Borer
The emerald ash borer has wreaked havoc on Iowa’s ash trees since 2010. A new grant from the federal government will help cities, schools and organization replant.
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ACLU Files Suit to Stop Iowa Abortion Ban
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa and Iowa abortion care providers filed a challenge to the abortion ban passed Tuesday. Here’s what that means.
