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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Sand Tours, Touts Des Moines’ Facility Use Of Public Funds To Help Homeless
Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand recently received a crash course on Primary Health Care’s Homeless Support Services in Des Moines, and how state and federal funding keeps the program afloat. What makes Primary Health Care’s Homeless Support Services unique is that a person’s needs—from a shower and clean clothes, to dental care and prescription refills—are…
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Reynolds’ Activist Advisors On Schools Have Dramatic Falling Out
It was after midnight on May 20, 2021, but every face in Gov. Kim Reynolds’ private office at the State Capitol Building was full of maskless smiles. They had succeeded. Reynolds signed a law that banned schools from requiring masks. At the governor’s shoulder, two Central Iowa moms stood with wide grins and big signs.…
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Iowa Republicans Start Insulting Workers As They Try To Block Loan Forgiveness
Since President Joe Biden announced his plan to relieve college graduates from a portion of their crushing student loan debts, Republicans have gone all-in on criticizing the idea of relief. And that’s also meant indirectly—and sometimes directly—criticizing the people benefitting from the program. Most of the time, Republican attacks suggest people getting loan forgiveness aren’t…
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How Mike Franken And Chuck Grassley Compare On Gun Laws
Sen. Chuck Grassley holds a pristine A+ rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund while Mike Franken, his Democratic challenger, has an F rating, which should give a clear indication of where the two stand on the issue of gun control. During a Columbus Junction town hall held less than a week after the school…
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Axne And Nunn Clash Over Abortion Rights Stances In Debate
Unsurprisingly, abortion was the most fiery topic to come up in the debate between Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne and Republican challenger State Sen. Zach Nunn. Both candidates for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District have campaigned on the issue, and on Thursday both were given a chance to explain their positions. “There’s no one that should be making…
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Franken Targets Grassley Over His Corporate PAC Donors
Mike Franken, Iowa’s Democratic US Senate Candidate, has been calling out Republic Chuck Grassley for accepting campaign contributions from corporations as the former Navy admiral tries to unseat the longtime senator. Specifically, Franken’s campaign has called out the money Grassley’s received from political action committees (PACs) connected to corporations and tying those donations to how…
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‘It Hurts.’ LGBTQ Linn-Mar Students React To Controversy Over School Policy
When he was in middle school, Ren figured out how to avoid the bullies. He knew he could take the long way around in hallways or avoid certain areas so he didn’t have to hear slurs or the name he doesn’t use anymore. It didn’t always work, of course, so Ren also faked being sick…
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Biden Administration Approves Iowa DOT Electric Vehicle Plan
Soon, electric vehicle charging stations will be available along hundreds of miles of Iowa roadway. The US Department of Transportation (US DOT) approved Iowa’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Deployment Plan on Tuesday. Iowa will receive $51.4 million over five years in federal funding to install high-powered chargers for electric vehicles along about 742 miles of…
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Ashley Hinson’s New Ad Overplays Role In Baby Formula Shortage
The latest campaign ad for Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) starts with one of the half-truths she’s known to trot out. “When the baby formula shortage hit, Ashley Hinson worked to increase the supply,” women say at the beginning of Hinson’s “WORKS FOR MOMS” ad which dropped last Thursday. That’s not quite correct, though she did…
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Johnston School Board Postpones Approving an Equity Audit
After several contentious meetings about the issue, the Johnston School Board voted 1-6 on Monday on an approval of a district equity audit, postponing a project led by former DEI director Louis Fountain who resigned in August. According to some board members, the concern wasn’t with the audit but with Iowa City-based West Wind Education…
