Recently I had the pleasure of handing diplomas to graduates. I did nothing to help these individuals reach this milestone. I was standing on a stage facing the students, who had surmounted myriad odds to achieve their place on the steps to the stage. I was facing all the people to the left and right, sitting […]
Tag: Iowa
Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board opens investigation into Melissa Vine campaign
“I voted” stickers are scattered over a table at a polling site in Des Moines on Nov. 3, 2020. (Photo By Perry Beeman/Iowa Capital Dispatch) The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board decided Thursday to open an investigation into Melissa Vine’s campaign in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District Vine, running as a Democrat the district, was […]
Iowa center called police nearly 1,000 times in 3 years before teen killed staffer, records show
Officers responded nearly 1,000 times in the past three years to an Iowa juvenile treatment center where a staff member was killed by a 15-year-old resident, according to police records. Kathleen Galloway-Menke was assaulted May 8 at the center, Ellipsis Iowa. Her family’s attorney, Trever Hook, said the 50-year-old mother of two daughters suffered brain […]
Dave Ramsey delivers wake up call to Iowa couple making nearly $200,000
‘You guys are seriously broke’: Dave Ramsey delivers wake up call to Iowa couple making nearly $200,000 It doesn’t matter how much you make if you spend it all and then some. That’s what Aaron from Des Moine, Iowa discovered as he and his wife succumbed to “lifestyle creep.” Despite earning a base salary of […]
Priest arrested in Florida appears in Iowa court
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A priest who was arrested in Florida last month after he was accused of sexually abusing boys appeared in an Iowa court on Monday. Father Leo Riley‘s arrest in Florida is tied to alleged abuse in Iowa in the 1980s. He’s charged with five counts of sexual abuse. Riley appeared in […]
State For Years Reported Incorrect Iowa High School Graduation Rates
This article was originally published in Iowa Capital Dispatch. High school graduation rates have been incorrectly calculated for up to a decade due to a legacy code error, the Iowa Department of Education said Friday. The state’s four- and five-year graduation rates were calculated using a legacy code that did not account for mobile students. […]
Iowa officials need an attitude adjustment when it comes to trying to keep secrets
The leaders of Iowa’s legislative and judicial branches have sent clear messages this year about the importance of the state’s transparency-in-government laws. Will elected officials and other public employees hear them? The Legislature multiplied most civil fines for violations of open meetings laws by five, and the Iowa Supreme Court reiterated its precedent that egregious […]
Is your Iowa nonprofit organization at least a century old? We’d like to hear from you.
The Des Moines Register celebrates its 175th anniversary in July, and we’re planning special coverage throughout the month. But we didn’t want to make this just about us. We’ve asked other Iowa businesses that are a century or more old to share news about their operations for an online listing, and we will feature a […]
Iowa law allows police to arrest and deport migrants. Civil rights groups are suing
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Civil rights and immigrant rights groups filed a lawsuit on Thursday alleging that Iowa’s new law making it a crime to be in the state if previously denied admission to the U.S. is unconstitutional. It’s the first legal action taken against Iowa in response to the law, though the U.S. […]
Iowa Supreme Court rules for University of Iowa, reverses $12.8 million payment to contractor
The Iowa Supreme Court recently sided with the University of Iowa, reversing a lower court decision and nullifying a decision that would have forced the university to pay nearly $12.8 million in restitution. The state’s high court ruled on April 26 that a previous jury decision awarding Cedar Rapids-based Modern Piping, Inc. an eight-figure restitution […]
Crow Tow insists it isn’t ‘predatory.’ A lawsuit and an Iowa legislator could test that.
Crow Tow’s sweeps of the crowded parking lot at Aspen Apartments on Des Moines’ east side began last fall ― and anger quickly followed. Residents complained their cars disappeared, sometimes two at a time. Tow truck drivers shined flashlights in vehicles in the middle of the night to find those without parking stickers. Residents who […]
Iowa City’s tobacco permit moratorium will address safety concerns, influx of vape shops
Amid concern from the Iowa City City Council and a flurry of new tobacco and vape shops, the City of Iowa City will stop issuing new tobacco permits through the end of the year. The moratorium will begin around June 4 and run for about seven months through Jan. 1, 2025. The pause will allow […]