News
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Shop your values: Get holiday gifts made at these Iowa small businesses
Looking for a special Iowa-made gift? We’re here with inspiration from fellow Iowans, who told us their favorite local places to shop at the holidays. As a bonus, we’ve added the causes those businesses support—so you can see how your gift goes further than anything you can buy on a big box site. Follow the…
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Guest post: My name is mine, not the government’s
In the fall of 1972, I was a shy ninth-grader entering Mt. St. Ursula in the Bronx. My legal name was Mary Bernadette, but I always went by my middle name, Bernadette. The first day of classes, teachers had us standing in the front of their rooms until our names were called to be seated.…
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Book publisher, Iowans suing state over book bans
A second lawsuit against portions of an education law passed by Iowa Republicans and signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds just dropped this week. Penguin Random House, a major US book publisher, filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging SF 496 for banning some of the publishers’ books from Iowa schools. Joining the lawsuit were the Iowa State…
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7 Iowa families file federal lawsuit to stop anti-LGBTQ+ law
Someone threatened to kill Percy Batista-Pedro when he was a freshman performing in the school play. Now a junior in high school in the Waterloo Community School District, Percy—a transgender student—said he feels like he has a target on his back because of an anti-LGBTQ+ law passed by Iowa Republicans this year and signed into…
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VIDEO: UNI Students Rally for DEI
University of Northern Iowa students rallied Wednesday at the Iowa Board of Regents meeting, protesting the possible removal of diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives (DEI) at the state’s colleges. @iowastartingline University of Northern Iowa students rallied Wednesday at the Iowa Board of Regents meeting, protesting the possible removal of diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives (DEI)…
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How to get help for—and support—transgender Iowans
Max Mowitz started the Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund in 2021 because they saw a need they knew they could fill. “I was connected with so many mutual aid organizations that were doing incredible work, especially after the protests of 2020,” they said. “And I really saw a profound need for this kind of care…
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Trump mocks Reynolds as ‘most unpopular governor’ in America
Former President Donald Trump released a one-minute video blasting Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday, saying she “has gone from a popular governor to the most unpopular governor in the entire United States of America.” A recent poll from Morning Consult indicated that Reynolds was the most unpopular governor in America followed by Florida Gov.…
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Iowa Republican activist found guilty of voter fraud
A Sioux City Republican activist was found guilty of 52 charges of voter fraud by a 12-person federal jury on Tuesday. According to federal court documents, Kim Phuong Taylor, 49, of Sioux City concocted various election schemes in 2020 to get her husband, Jeremy Taylor, elected, including voting on ballots herself for members of Sioux…
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Why the Dec. 5 Waterloo run-off election is big for the LGBTQ community
The Dec. 5 run-off election in Waterloo will be a match-up between a progressive voice on the city council who fights for LGBTQ protections and one who “clearly doesn’t.” That’s according to Jonathan Grieder, the progressive voice in that race and the current Ward 2 representative on the Waterloo City Council. He gave up his…
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Explainer: Why Iowans (likely) will be blocked from voting directly on abortion rights
More states are enshrining access to abortion care in their state constitutions, and some Iowans are wondering if the same can be done here? The technical answer is “yes,” but the more realistic and simple answer is “no.” While polling shows that 61% of Iowans support access to safe and legal abortion, the reality is…
