Iowa

At six weeks gestation, many people don’t know they are pregnant — their period is only two weeks late — but, as of last Friday, that is the point at which most women in Iowa are barred from obtaining an abortion. Lest they be accused of being unreasonable, Iowa Republicans are quick to point out that their new ban includes exceptions — like for instances of rape. Under the law signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds, individuals who have been raped will have six weeks and four days to report the incident if they want to obtain an…

Photo by Austin Goode, Unsplash Iowa is about to adopt an additional “electric fuel excise tax” on July 1, meaning EVs in the state will now pay “fuel” taxes two different ways, whereas gas cars only pay one – and both of these taxes are higher than what a gas car pays. A large number of states have implemented misguided and excessive “EV fees” to “make up” for shortfalls in road budgets, with the theory that EVs are somehow skipping out on their fair share. Currently, in Iowa, gas…

The Levee Inn is partially submerged by the rising Mississippi River, Monday, April 24, 2023, Davenport, Iowa. Photo: Niko Frazer/Quad City Times (AP)The Mississippi River is overflowing and flooding riverbanks and roads in states across the Midwest, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.The Mississippi River is Drying Out | Extreme EarthOn Tuesday, the Iowa DOT confirmed that there are road closures along the Mississippi River due to the flooding. Some roads near the river are expected to flood later this week,too.…

As companies like Uber transition the world onto the gig economy, and AI promises to eliminate the need for large swaths of the workforce, the great state of Iowa is taking a stand, declaring once and for all that child labor is good, actually.Robinhood App Lays Off 9% of StaffIn a session starting at 3:36 am Tuesday morning, Republicans in the Iowa Senate passed SF 542, a bill that undoes protections for child workers, according to WHO 13 News Des Moines, a local NBC affiliate. It’s part of a broader Republican-led…

Cars parked next to businesses in downtown Bancroft, Iowa, in 2023. Credit: Marian Krzyzowski, a visiting scholar at ISU and the retired director of the University of Michigan's Economic Growth Institute. With the youngest baby boomers sliding into retirement, adults aged 65 and older are expected to outnumber children by 2030. The demographic shift will be a first in U.S. history. But many rural areas, especially in the…

PHILADELPHIA —  Democrats voted Saturday to allow South Carolina to hold the party’s first presidential primary next year, ending nearly 50 years of Iowa and New Hampshire leading the party’s nominating season. Under the new calendar, proposed based on recommendations from President Biden, candidates would face voters in South Carolina on Feb. 3, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire on Feb. 6, then Georgia and Michigan. Party leaders praised the new calendar, saying it will elevate the voices of Black and Latino voters,…

PELLA, Iowa—Pella Corp. has offices and manufacturing plants in more than 30 cities across the U.S. and Canada. But one of the toughest jobs, say executives at this closely held maker of windows and doors, is convincing workers to locate here in its hometown, a rural city of about 10,000 residents 45 miles southeast of Des Moines. The company and its controlling shareholders—members of the founding Kuyper family and its descendants—set out to change that. They have spent tens of millions of dollars in the…

A few years ago, a friend said he had spotted river otters just outside of Fairfield, a small town in southeast Iowa where I grew up. This was big news to me. For most of my life, I thought Iowa was boring. It’s the land of cornfields and hog farms. One of the state’s only claims to fame is that it’s home to the world’s largest truck stop (with 900 truck parking spots, 24 private showers, and an onsite chiropractor and dentist). And while my hometown is something of a spiritual paradise — it’s a hub for disciples of…