Politics

Zearing City Clerk Karen Davis, who filed the city’s budget almost four months late and blamed it on Juneteenth, will not lose her job despite pressure from residents on city officials to dismiss her. This decision was announced Wednesday during a special Zearing City Council meeting; this was the third special Zearing City Council meeting…

After finding out that Pieper Lewis, a 17-year-old sexual assault survivor from Des Moines who killed her rapist, would have to pay $150,000 in restitution to his family, thousands of people across the internet raised close to $400,000 to free her of a burden they felt was unjust. Pieper’s attorney argued during Tuesday’s sentencing that…

Residents of Zearing, Iowa, won’t pay property taxes this fiscal year, but they aren’t exactly happy about it. “I hope the taxpayers in this town understand that, ‘yes,’ your taxes were reduced, ‘yay, we got some more money in our pockets,’’” said one Zearing woman sarcastically at Monday’s city council meeting. “…In the meantime, what’s…

A self-proclaimed Nazi drove around Des Moines on Sept. 11 in a U-Haul truck that he dubbed the “9/11 Hate Bus” with signage that blamed Jewish people for the terrorist attack. The truck had a Swastika flag specific to an Iowa Nazi group attached to the front of it and signage on the sides targeting…

In what some might consider a stunning upset, Des Moines and not Lake Okoboji is considered the weekend getaway destination of choice for Iowans, according to a poll conducted on behalf of Iowa Starting Line. According to the poll, 28% of respondents said Des Moines is their favorite weekend getaway followed by Northwest Iowa’s Lake…

If all goes well, the city of Sheldon will have a new $3.5 million water tower up and running by June 2024, almost a decade after Public Works Director Todd Uhl first mentioned the need to the city council. For years, the new water tower was a mainstay on Sheldon’s five-year capital improvement plan but…

Depending on your primary news sources, I’m either an “elitist” or one of the 429,000 Iowans burdened with a collective $13.3 billion in student loan debt who will have a portion of it forgiven by an executive order from President Joe Biden. Biden announced Wednesday that up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt will…

Rep. Jennifer Konfrst didn’t mince words when asked about the Spirit Lake School Board approving a plan to arm 10 staff members. “This is common sense: Guns don’t belong in school, period,” Konfrst said during a Thursday Iowa Democrats press conference that also featured Gubernatorial Candidate Deidre DeJear, State Sen. Herman Quirmbach, and Party Chair/State…

Gov. Kim Reynolds blasted President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive small amounts of federal student loans for individual borrowers—$20,000 is the highest amount that can be forgiven for certain borrowers—and tied it to inflation. “At a time of skyrocketing inflation, declining wages, and a national recession, Washington has again turned its back on hardworking Americans…