Nikoel Hytrek

Did you know Iowa can boast one of its own as a Nobel Prize-nominated poet? April is National Poetry Month, and Iowa has had its fair share of noteworthy poets. But perhaps our most successful is Paul Engle. Paul Engle was a lifelong Iowa poet who cared so much about writing he created programs to…

The Iowa Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday morning about ending the injunction on Iowa’s six-week abortion ban. Peter Im, staff attorney at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, argued for Iowa abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood and the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City. “We’re very hopeful on the merits,” he said at a press…

The office of Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird (R) announced Friday that Iowa will no longer pay for emergency contraception—morning-after pills—or abortions for sexual assault victims. “While not required by Iowa law, the victim compensation fund has previously paid for Plan B and abortions. As a part of her top-down, bottom-up audit of victim assistance,…

One in four high school seniors say they’re eliminating some colleges from their searches because of the politics of the state the school is in, according to a new student poll conducted this year by Art & Science Group. Around 24% of all students surveyed said they were making college decisions based on a state’s…

School districts across the state have scrambled to update students and parents after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill to restrict where transgender children can go to the bathroom on March 23. Several large Iowa districts released statements intended to reassure families of transgender students and update them on what the new law, which took…

Being openly, obviously transgender can be risky, especially when the Iowa Legislature—and legislatures around the country—pursue laws to restrict trans people’s rights. But the bright side to coming out is finding a community, and that’s what the Trans Lives Festival on Saturday aimed to foster and celebrate. For the third time since 2019, First Unitarian…

Protections for Iowa dogs could become federal law, if two bills reintroduced by Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa 3) pass. Nunn, three other Republicans and two Democrats, reintroduced former Rep. Cindy Axne’s (D) bipartisan bill, nicknamed Goldie’s Act. The bill would crack down on loopholes for enforcing the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and strengthen requirements for…

This year’s legislative session has been awash in fearmongering and misinformation about the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly the realities of LGBTQ+ students’ lives. So, instead of allowing adults to define their lives, Starting Line spoke to Iowa youth who are transgender, nonbinary and otherwise on the LGBTQ+ spectrum to get their thoughts. These are their…

This year’s legislative session has been awash in fearmongering and misinformation about the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly the realities of LGBTQ+ students’ lives. So, instead of allowing adults to define their lives, Starting Line spoke to Iowa youth who are transgender, nonbinary and otherwise on the LGBTQ+ spectrum to get their thoughts. These are their…

This year’s legislative session has been awash in fearmongering and misinformation about the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly the realities of LGBTQ+ students’ lives. So, instead of allowing adults to define their lives, Starting Line spoke to Iowa youth who are transgender, nonbinary and otherwise on the LGBTQ+ spectrum to get their thoughts. These are their…