Politics

When Hy-Vee unexpectedly dismissed 121 corporate employees in March, some questioned if the West Des Moines company violated the state and federal WARN Act provisions. The grocer got around this accusation by saying it offered 102 of the mostly headquarters and IT employees retail store positions—some of the laid-off workers who spoke to Starting Line…

First-term Rep. Ashley Hinson will have closer scrutiny over her early voting record from a new effort launched last week in Iowa. The Unrig Our Economy campaign will highlight where Hinson, a Republican, stands on economic issues impacting working-class Iowans. Organized by several Iowa local and progressive groups, the effort will focus in on issues…

The Affordable Insulin Now Act passed largely along party lines in the US House. But a dozen Republicans broke ranks and voted with Democrats–including one of Iowa’s Republicans. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who represents Southeast Iowa, sided with Iowa’s lone Democratic House representative, Rep. Cindy Axne, in voting for the bill, HR 6833, which now goes…

While last year’s disastrous Des Moines Taco & Margarita Festival left people feeling shellacked, the Iowa Cubs hope to leave a better taste in festival-goers’ mouths after announcing their own Taco & Margarita Festival on Friday. The I-Cubs festival is slated for July 9 at Principal Park in Des Moines.  A lot of people had…

A modified version of the Republican-led teacher curriculum-review bill is being debate on the Iowa House floor this evening. The new version of the bill, House File 2577, trimmed the estimated cost of implementing the new “transparency” policies from $27.4 million annually for school districts to $16.4 million annually, according to the nonpartisan Iowa Legislative…

Hy-Vee has been under closer scrutiny this past week after a wave of layoffs at their corporate headquarters and IT departments, as well as follow-up comments by their CEO demeaning the former staff for not taking retail jobs in their stores. The timing of the layoffs happened to coincide with actions by the Iowa House…

Iowa teachers are being taxed on their $1,000 “thank you” bonuses from Gov. Kim Reynolds. “Those are subject to state and federal tax withholding,” confirmed Tim Bloom, Newton Community School District director of business services. Bloom said this was based on guidance from the Iowa Department of Education, which Reynolds delegated to handle distribution of…

In a meeting where conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine rhetoric were shared heavily by elected officials, the Iowa Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill banning COVID-19 vaccine requirements for enrollment at child care centers, K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities. HF 2298 passed on Wednesday with the five Democratic senators voting “no.” The bill would apply…

Gov. Kim Reynolds said the “real tragedy” behind the March 7 fatal shooting outside of East High School in Des Moines was the educational system letting those kids down. Reynolds made those remarks to the media during a Wednesday press conference at the Des Moines International Airport. She was there to announce that $100 million…

Long overdue improvements to the US Postal Service (USPS) passed the US Senate on Tuesday, bringing the promise of stability and reform to a service that has struggled financially for years. Though the bipartisan vote didn’t receive much local news coverage, the legislation will fix a major source of concern for the country’s mail service…