News
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Republicans want to use a 150-year-old law to ban abortion nationwide
Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration, calls for the Justice Department to start enforcing the Comstock Act of 1873. The old law bans the mailing of “anything designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion,” which could include medical instruments.
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Scolaro: Do we really want vigilante justice in our schools?
On Jan. 4, a 17-year-old Perry High School student killed one sixth-grader and injured five others before killing himself. In response to school shootings, Siouxland Christian School in Sioux City has decided to train and arm school staff members. However, to the contrary, there is no evidence showing that more guns decrease violence. In fact,…
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‘We will not go back’ protestors chant outside anti-LGBTQ bill hearing
About every two minutes, the crowd would roar, stomp their feet, raise their voices, ring bells, and chant at the top of their lungs: “Separate but equal, that’s really fucking evil.” “We will not go back.” “Trans rights are human rights.” “No LGB with the T.” Hundreds of Iowans gathered in the Capitol Rotunda on…
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Iowans call Reynolds’ latest anti-trans bill ‘dystopian’ and destructive
Alexandra Gray compared what is happening in Iowa to a dystopian novel during yet another hearing centered on creating new laws that specifically target trans people and pose harm to Iowans in the LGBTQ community. “What dystopian novel are we in this time because I’m finding us slipping and going backward,” she said. “At one…
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Biden demands grocery stores and food brands end ‘price gouging’ and ‘shrinkflation’
Grocery prices have risen by more than 20% since the beginning of the pandemic and in Iowa, grocery prices rose 6.4% from Nov. 2022 to Nov. 2023. In response, President Biden is demanding grocery chains and food brands lower their prices and stop ripping families off.
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GOP bill to restrict support services at Iowa’s regent universities advances
A redundant bill attacking and restricting measures to increase diversity and support for marginalized people at Iowa’s regent universities passed a subcommittee in the Iowa House on Monday. HF 2327, changes several things about higher education in universities, but the most pressing issue at the subcommittee concerned changes to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). DEI…
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Iowan asks Republican lawmakers to focus on real issues instead of picking on libraries
Wearing a green Raygun T-shirt that touted her support of public libraries, Anita Christensen of Indianola laid out a case for why Iowa’s Republican lawmakers should stay hands-off when it comes to libraries during a Monday Iowa Senate subcommittee on the topic. “I believe that public libraries build community,” Christensen said. “What public entities invite…
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Biden policy to help IRS collect up to $851 billion in back taxes from ultra-wealthy
Using funds provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS has already collected more than $520 million from 1,600 millionaires who had unpaid tax bills of more than $250,000. The IRS could collect as much as $851 billion in additional tax revenue over the next decade.
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‘There’s no reason:’ Iowans question motive of Republican library bills
Librarians don’t want it. The public doesn’t want it. Even the Iowa Leagues of Cities is undecided on the matter, but Iowa Republicans want to change the law to diminish the authority of local library boards and make the institutions more susceptible to political whims. These points and more were raised on Thursday during an…
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Republicans cave to Trump, block border security deal they demanded
After years of claiming that border security was a “top priority” for them, House and Senate Republicans killed a long-awaited, bipartisan deal they insisted on amid pressure from former President Donald Trump.
