Local
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Birth control is the key to women’s freedom. Here’s why
Birth control of some kind has existed for all of recorded human history, and the ability to change when and how one becomes pregnant has been a cornerstone of women’s rights. “What [birth control] has really done is allowed women to control their destinies, and that their destiny can include being a mother and a…
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7 Iowa events for Transgender Day of Visibility 2024
Transgender Iowans need joy these days. Eight separate bills have been considered in the latest session of the Iowa Legislature specifically targeting transgender youth, contributing to Iowa Republicans’ 40 anti-LGBTQ bills in total. Fearmongering legislation—like bills banning people from school bathrooms, or erasing LGBTQ history—has led to further stigmatization of the transgender community. That’s contributed…
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Linn-Mar cutting 19 teachers, 31 staff, cites ‘underfunding’ from state
One of the largest school districts in Iowa announced it was cutting 50 staff positions, including 19 full-time teachers, beginning next school year. The Linn-Mar Community School District announced Thursday it would be forced to cut $2.5 million from its budget for the 2024-25 school year. This comes on the heels of a $3 million…
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Why it’s nearly impossible to find an Iowa dentist who takes Medicaid
Laura Sauls of Dumont has two kids, and their pediatric dentist is only a 15-minute drive away. That was, until that dentist called last fall with bad news: The office would no longer accept Medicaid, which meant they would no longer treat Sauls’ children unless she paid cash. With the closest dentist accepting Medicaid over…
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Read more, spend less: Here’s where you can get free books
Free books are available through several online and in-person resources. Here’s everything you need to know to find free books near you.
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What will happen to 1,276 laid-off Tyson workers in Perry?
What will happen to the 1,276 Iowans who will lose their jobs when the Tyson pork processing plant in Perry closes in June? Roger Kail, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1155, represents workers at that plant, and that is something he is working to figure out. Things had been going…
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1,276 people to lose jobs when Tyson plant in Perry closes in June
1,276. That’s how many people in and around the central Iowa town of Perry will lose their jobs by the end of June, after Tyson announced Monday it would permanently close its longtime pork processing plant there. That’s a HUGE number of workers (and the largest employer in Perry): It’s more than 12% of Tyson’s…
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How ‘fetal personhood’ laws can limit family-planning options like IVF
Enshrining the idea of life beginning at fertilization, before implantation, would threaten Iowan’s abilities to access certain kinds of contraceptives and to in vitro fertilization (IVF). It would also be a serious blow to reproductive freedom. Sally Frank, a law professor at Drake University, explained how the logic works. “If fertilization is the moment of…
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‘Gut punch after gut punch’: IVF patients speak out after Alabama ruling
IVF patients speak out after Alabama ruling regarding IVF embryos. Here’s what you need to know about the Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF ruling.
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Lies and threats: Iowans share what fake pregnancy resource centers are really like
When Mica Chase, then 19 years old, set foot in an anti-abortion center 14 years ago, all they wanted was a free pregnancy test. But when the test was complete and the Cedar Rapids resident said they didn’t want to be pregnant, staff members started talking about religion. They told Chase abortion is murder. They…
