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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Why Some Iowa Lawyers Avoid Federal Court And The 8th Circuit
While most politically-engaged Iowans are well-aware of the ideological leanings of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Iowa Supreme Court, they may not realize how skewed to the right the federal appeals court that covers the state has become. The Eight Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri…
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Access To Legal Abortions Keeps Getting Trickier In SE Iowa
For 13,100 women living in Burlington, Iowa, it keeps getting trickier to access affordable reproductive health care. The town’s Planned Parenthood provider closed in 2017. It forced residents to travel about 80 miles away to Iowa City just for routine checkups and to get birth control. Dr. Michael McCoy, chief medical officer for Great River…
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Cory Booker: Win Back Senate To Bring Sanity Back To Courts
To combat the partisanship of the Supreme Court, Cory Booker said his main goal is to target one of the root causes for the radicalization: the Senate. In the first event in a series of conversations with the 2020 presidential candidates, hosted earlier this week by Des Moines Area Community College and Iowa Public Television,…
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How Kamala Harris’ Plan Would Address Iowa’s Rape Kit Backlog
Justice after a sexual assault is hard for victims to find, and Kamala Harris wants to make it a little easier. On Thursday, Harris announced a plan to eliminate the backlog many states have of untested rape kits, the equipment used by investigators to collect DNA samples and evidence from victims of sexual assault during…
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Steve Bullock: Appoint More Western Judges, Consider Court Expansion
Montana governor Steve Bullock has a new idea for the type of justices he’d seek for the Supreme Court. After touring an ethanol plant and a grain co-op earlier this week, Bullock told Starting Line he would pursue justices who come from the Midwest or Western regions of the country. “I think that when you have…
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Klobuchar Plans To ‘Hit The Ground Running’ On Court Nominations
Senator Amy Klobuchar was in the room when Brett Kavanaugh testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, prior to his confirmation. She was one of the senators who asked him about his past and called for an FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations against him made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Now, with Kavanaugh…
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Rebalancing Court Ideology A Priority For Julián Castro
Though Julián Castro hasn’t released a comprehensive plan concerning the courts in America, he recently shared some of his ideas for the types of judges he would appoint. At a meet-and-greet event in Omaha, Nebraska on Sunday, Castro told an audience of about 200 people that he would protect reproductive rights with his judicial appointments. …
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‘She’s Powerful.’ Kamala Harris Draws Large Crowds, Renewed Iowa Interest
Three days. Five cities. Lots of Iowans. During this past week around Independence Day, Senator Kamala Harris visited Iowans and journeyed across half of the state, gathering crowds, endorsements and lots of support. Harris connected with Iowans in Central and Western Iowa, drawing intrigued caucus-goers (and a few out-of-staters) to events in West Des Moines,…
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Kamala Harris In Iowa: Go On Offense On Women’s Health Rights
Senator Kamala Harris has told everyone during this 2020 campaign that she’s a fighter. She’s touted her time as the Attorney General of California, prosecuting banks and holding corporations accountable. She’s told the story about being raised by parents who were civil rights activists. And at a NARAL-sponsored town hall in Des Moines, Harris emphasized…
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Beto O’Rourke Explains His Supreme Court Term Limits Plan
As the Supreme Court weighs in on key issues like gerrymandering and the U.S. Census, Democratic presidential candidates have been rolling out court reform ideas while on the campaign trail. Former Beto O’Rourke recently announced his idea for limiting the amount of time justices serve on the Supreme Court. Currently, justices have lifetime appointments, but…
