Why this tax?

City officials pitched the LOST as a tool to ease pressure on property taxes while creating a more diversified revenue stream. The rationale: with Iowa’s state legislature limiting other revenue tools and property tax increases politically unfeasible, the sales tax offers a way to capture spending from visitors and local commerce rather than relying solely on homeowners. 

What it will apply to – and who will pay

Essentials such as groceries, prescription medication, and gasoline remain exempt under state law and are unaffected by the surcharge. The 1 % increment will apply to most taxable retail sales and services within city limits. Meaning in practice, anyone shopping or receiving taxable services in Iowa City will shoulder the cost at the point of purchase. Businesses are responsible for collecting these revenues. Which means local merchants will see it built into their tax obligations, but will not experience major structural changes beyond that.

Economic and business impacts

For firms, the immediate impact is small as the tax is modest and incremental, and most businesses will simply add the extra penny per dollar to existing tax lines. That said, there are a few considerations:

• Highly price-sensitive goods or services might see a marginal drop in demand, especially from cross jurisdiction shoppers who compare local tax burdens.
  
• The city’s pitch argues the LOST tax could actually support business growth by improving infrastructure, expanding housing supply, and enhancing downtown amenities.
  
• Capturing spending from the cities’ uniquely affluent visitor traffic means more local control and the potential for reinvestment at home.
  

Where the funds go

By law, half of all LOST revenue must be allocated to property‐tax relief. The city’s ballot commitment specified that the remaining half will be distributed among three broad categories:

• Affordable housing initiatives,
  
• Community partnerships with nonprofits and services,
  
• Public infrastructure and facilities.
  

Supporters

Supporters have framed the measure as protecting homeowners, improving affordability, and investing in core community needs. Local retail and service-sector stakeholders, particularly those inside the city’s commerce zone, generally backed it on the premise that the tax helps capture out-of-town spending and creates a more stable municipal budget. An increasingly pressing concern in light of the end of American Rescue Plan funds and financial threats from the federal and state levels.

Opponents

While there was no high-profile, organized mass opposition in Iowa City, some have pointed out the regressive nature of such taxes, even though essentials are exempt. Others have expressed concern that when times are lean and superfluous spending slows down, the tax base could shrink, depriving the city of expected revenues. 

What’s next

Collections are slated to begin July 1, 2026, and the city has committed to transparent annual reporting on how the revenue is collected and spent.

For Iowa City, this marks a shift: the city is betting on its cultural prestige and believes capturing more of the economic activity within its limits will empower both households and local businesses, while aligning investments with pressing needs in housing and infrastructure.

The post Iowa City Passes (LOST) Sales Tax appeared first on KRUI Radio.

AI  automation is already here, while a general intelligence or robot overlords may be a concern for the future, LLM or large language models, image generation, and a plethora of often freely available software have begun to find their way into higher education, leaving those in charge of curricula playing catch-up.

From a student’s perspective, AI offers convenient and democratised support, especially during off‑hours, and can supplement human help. Learning how to engage with AI deliberately, rather than passively, is emerging as a key skill that the university has positioned itself as providing.  i.e., not just “use AI,” but “use AI well”.

After tracking more than 4000 students’ use of AI on coursework from 2024-2025, the university’s own research found “No significant relationship between how frequently students used AI tutors and their course performance.”

“Imagine a world where our graduates are not competitive in the job market because they lack basic AI literacy. A world where our researchers are falling behind because all their peers are finding ways to accelerate their research. A world where our students aren’t as successful in their academic pursuits as those at other universities. A world where our people lack a fundamental understanding of the ethical, privacy, and reliability issues around AI. It’s our responsibility to adapt to the world being transformed by AI.” (Iowa)

The Chemistry Department’s associate professor of instruction, Adam Brummett, received a grant of nearly $50,000 for a project titled “Utilization of AI to Expand Timely, Personalized Feedback Across Cultures.” With goals to harness AI algorithms to generate feedback for students, based on instructor prompts and student data. (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences)

On October 8th, the School of Journalism and Communication hosted author and writing educator John Warner for his book tour titled “Only Humans Write”. His Lecture was attended by many students and faculty from the university seeking guidance on how to navigate education’s future. Many educators felt betrayed by their colleges’ embrace of what they see as detrimental to the core purpose of a degree.

“AI is a tool of automation, not intelligence,” said Warner while speaking at the public library to an eager and packed crowd. “Do not mistake the volume of information for expertise”.

Warner urged students to resist deskilling by outsourcing the process of writing and warned that removing the necessary friction of education for efficiency’s sake risks producing undeveloped adults alienated from their own critical thinking. Speaking directly to teachers, he suggested they protest the insistence from higher-ups and their peers on the usefulness of AI and resist what he characterized as “technological determinism”. Citing the international community’s quick responses to ban reproductive cloning in the 90s as an optimistic example of how technological progress is not inherently fatalistic.

The day after Warner’s warning, Tippie College of Business alum Nate Herkmann gave a lecture as part of the UIowa Applied AI series. His and the department’s embrace of technology stood in stark contrast to the school of journalism event. 

“Think of AI as leverage, not a replacement,” said Herklman. “A person who uses AI is 10x more productive.”

Nate is the co-founder of TrueHorizon, a tech startup he began in 2024 immediately after graduating from university. TruHorzions’ business model looks at firms’ workflows and digital infrastructure to design and suggest the implementation of AI software to automate companies’ goals. Since then, Herlkman has grown the business to over $150,000 a month in sales and also operates an AI education YouTube channel with more than half a million subscribers.

During the lecture, Nate outlined his vision for the future of labor dominated by 1-man startups and a “golden ratio”, where 60% of tasks will be replaced,  30% will be AI-assisted, and 10% will remain for a human touch.

The majority of the event was dedicated to actually teaching the students in the audience how to use AI and automate many of their day-to-day tasks, such as typing and slide creation, with AI tools like Gamma and n8n.

“I’ve logged more than half a million words in WhisperFlow because I don’t type anymore,” said Herklman on his use of speech-to-text programs.

These local examples represent 2 extreme ends of a very real and consequential debate occurring across the country. While those in certain careers view the technology as once in a lifetime opportunity and the future of their fields, others, often in at-risk jobs including music, English, and graphic design, see these developments as plagiarizing and stealing from the very people the technology is attempting to replace with zero credit or compensation. 

“If paying people for their work kills the (AI) industry, then it should be killed.” (Warner)

Starting in July 2026, House File 252 will require that teachers’ preparation programs include instruction on computer science, AI, and computational thinking.

The post Between Silicon and Soil: AI’s Impact on Iowa’s Academic Landscape appeared first on KRUI Radio.

After the death of an American who passed away after accidentally consuming counterfeit medication in September of 2024, the DEA aggressively began an investigation into these pill mills through operation Press Your Luck to combat the threat of online, often foreign-based, pharmacies targeting American consumers. Law enforcement has since seized more than 357,000 deadly doses of fentanyl in Iowa since January alone.

DEA testing has found that almost half of all counterfeit pills they seized with fentanyl contained a lethal dose. Meaning many who order from these contaminated sources or think they are taking licensed prescriptions are at risk of overdose on first use.

Many of these sites purport to be legitimate, U.S.-based, or FDA-approved sites, but are actually working with drug traffickers to fulfill online orders with fake pills. These website operators are going to great lengths to make the websites look like legitimate online pharmacies –  offering 24-hour customer service, posting online reviews and safety facts, and offering deep discounts to deceive customers into believing they were buying from a reputable business.

Sites currently identified as selling counterfeits include

• www.Curecog.com
• www.Pharmacystoresonline.com
• www.Careonlinestore.com
• www.yourphamacy.online 
• www.MD724.com
• www.Greenleafdispensarystore.com
• www.Whatishydrocodone.weebly.com
• www.Orderpainkillersonline.com
• www.USAMedstores.com 

Drug traffickers can advertise on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. These advertisements are in disappearing, 24-hour stories and in posts, which are promptly posted and removed. Once contact is made, drug traffickers and potential buyers often move to an encrypted communications app like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.

Fentanyl has become responsible for 70% of overdose deaths in the US and is the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 18 and 45.

“For parents, talk to your children early, at a young age,” said special agent Travis Ocken of the DEA’s Omaha Division: “Don’t shelter them so they don’t hear about this information. As parents, we want our children to be able to come to us with questions and know someone is there supporting them. If young adults don’t feel comfortable coming to us as parents to learn the true dangers, they’re going to go somewhere else. Whether it’s TV, friends, or social media, it’s often glamorized”. 

Signs a seller may be suspicious include

• Sells prescription drugs without requiring a valid prescription from a healthcare provider
• Offers much cheaper prices than what is typically seen in the market
• Lists prices in a foreign currency
• Does not contain proof of a valid pharmacy state license or DEA registration 
• Medicine arrives in broken or damaged packaging or in a foreign language
• Medicine does not have an expiration date or is expired

Strides in Naloxone technology and accessibility have been a huge asset to communities combating overdose deaths; down almost 20% since 2024. Naloxone displaces the opioid molecules from the brain’s receptors and reverses the respiratory depression caused by an overdose within two to eight minutes. State and local programs have begun offering free Narcan in offices and vending machines, including in Johnson County as of last August.

However, how lawmakers and institutions should approach the opioid crisis still poses an uncomfortable debate for many, especially in Iowa’s legislature, where bills advocating harm reduction and decriminalizing fentanyl test strips have been repeatedly introduced and failed to pass. Under current law, the paper test strips used to detect trace amounts of fentanyl, xylazine, or analog alterations are classified as “drug paraphernalia” and warrant a simple misdemeanor.

In July, Sen Chuck Grassley introduced and successfully passed the Fentanyl HALT Act, which permanently extends the 2018 order classifying fentanyl as a Schedule 1 drug, allowing greater enforcement authority and harsher punishments for offenders. Since then, a myriad of arrests and long sentences have been issued, in line with headwinds toward a tougher on crime approach and away from increasingly unpopular harm reduction methods, such as in Oregon.

The CDC and DEA advise parents and community members seeking more information about available resources and preventing overdoses to visit One Pill Can Kill | DEA.gov.

The post Law Enforcement Warns Students About Fentanyl-laced Prescription Pills. appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The city manager, Peter Zamansky, in January released a proposal to lay out reductions in spending to shrink the deficit this fiscal year. However, policymakers are looking for larger cuts and structural changes to address the city’s long increasing debt burden.

Image via Axios

One of the largest services under scrutiny is Des Moines’ DART bus system. Reimagine Dart is the city’s response to the decision by the communities of Grimes and Pleasant Hills to no longer contribute to funding the municipal bus service. Des Moines, Polk County, and eight suburban communities (Altoona, Ankeny, Bondurant, Clive, Johnston, Urbandale, Windsor Heights, and West Des Moines) have agreed to retain membership in the transit authority and work together over the next 18 months to redesign the system. However, like many services that aren’t turning a profit at the moment, it will likely be reduced to a shell of its current self as it is forced to decide between speed and coverage.

State lawmakers met May 15 without changing tax law. City leaders say lawmakers acknowledge regional public transit’s unique needs, but have prioritized slowing local budget growth over those needs.

(left: current dart coverage, right: after proposed cuts; image via DART)

An earnings tax on those who live outside of Des Moines but commute to the city for work has been advocated by some to address the transit system’s debts, but such a tax remains illegal under Iowa law. Some argue that earnings taxes create negative market distortions and could exacerbate the current budget crisis further. Policymakers fear an earnings tax would decrease population growth and encourage businesses and workers to move and operate outside the city limits to avoid the tax, further lowering the city’s tax base.

Despite rising deficits and debt, in 2023 Republicans passed the homestead tax credit that gave exemption to senior homeowners and limited property tax rate below 3%. As of January 2025, Gov. Reynolds has fully replaced Iowa’s tired progressive income tax system with a flat rate that is estimated to cost the state $600 million in revenue this year. The city has since relied on support from the American Rescue Plan to make up some of that lost revenue; however, in 2025 that support has also ended.

Faced with a need to stay financially solvent and provide essential services, but unable to enact adequate tax reforms, the city has found its solution is rising property values.

In 2018 the city hired consulting firm CBZ to review the city’s development initiatives, which recommended that investing in curb appeal in wealthier neighborhoods and gentrifying the urban downtowns would increase the Des Moines housing market’s competitiveness and raise home prices and tax revenues without high upfront costs associated with providing public services to the poor.

The out-of-state consultant also recommended the city pause the low-income housing tax credit, or LIHTC, and focus on programs like Invest DSM and ION. 

The city is taking public feedback on CBZ’s recommendations until June 15th and plans to vote on the program’s continuation June 30th.

Programs like Invest DSM and Habitat for Humanity have increasingly been directed toward “revitalization” projects that promise both homeowners and city officials that these projects will increase property values and generate tax revenue for the city. ReflectDSM, the city’s historic preservation plan, announced in 2023 these goals:

• Stabilize and improve property values and the equity held by the citizens in their property
• Protect and enhance the city’s attraction to tourists and visitors
• Strengthen the economy of the city

Increasingly, government programs and partnered NGOs have begun to operate not as public services, but with tax revenue and market desirability as a primary goal.

Image via CBZ

This has taken the form of the city increasingly targeting its resources toward specifically middle- and upper-class neighborhoods that have been identified for their market and taxable potential, with less attention given to lower-income communities that, from the city’s perspective, possess a lower return on investment and high costs to service.

At the same time, available land for development is increasingly scarce in the urban center near jobs and opportunities. NIMBYs have used zoning laws and litigation to make it difficult and expensive to construct affordable housing in those areas. 

One resident in the vicinity of a recent housing development for the homeless in East Des Moines told KCCI, “We don’t want it. We have children; this is a little neighborhood, and we don’t want that kind of stuff in our neighborhood. We have kids.” However, there is evidence that neighborhoods with similar homeless housing projects saw reports of crime drop over 30%.

In 2024, another development proposed by Hope Ministries received majority support from the city council and unanimous approval from the city planning commission to construct affordable group homes between two lots of undeveloped woodlands, but the project was slowed down and ultimately abandoned because of challenges from a handful of homeowners.

For the government and developers, this means affordable housing projects have become easier in areas with less friction and more available land, and therefore have been pushed to the suburbs and periphery of the city. Along with the city’s ordinances this year cracking down on the homeless and its increased police budget, the poor are being priced out and intentionally pushed further away from urban opportunities and resources, in order to attract residents with more desirable income brackets. Des Moines is forced to compete with its own suburbs to generate housing solutions similar to those seen in Ankeny or Waukee.

The post Des Moines’ plan to solve its budget crisis: gentrification appeared first on KRUI Radio.

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In April 2024, the Iowa Legislature proposed Senate file 2435, which became effective in July of that year. The legislation prohibits the state’s public universities from directing any funds toward DEI-related offices or programs. House Study Bill 57 deals with similar DEI-related subjects, but targets the college accreditation system, while House Study Bill 53 removes defined DEI and critical race theory course material from mandatory course work. HSB 55 and 59 are designed to enforce those laws by requiring publication of all course syllabi and establishing that all finances, vendor contracts, and relevant professor information must now be made publicly available. 

On President Donald Trump’s first day in office, his cabinet directed all federal agencies to terminate any “equity-related” grants and require federal contractors to certify that they do not promote “wokeness” or DEI. Less than two weeks later, Reynolds issued a similar letter to Iowa’s state universities, calling on them to cut all DEI positions and related contracts.

Among other effects, the federal directives and governor’s order resulted in the closure of the University of Iowa’s famous International Writing Program. The Department of State declared that IWP’s grants “no longer effectuate agency priorities” nor align with “agency priorities and national interest.” The UI noted that “More than 90% of funds associated with the IWP’s federal grants are spent domestically, which would have resulted in slightly less than $1 million going back into the U.S. economy over the next year.”

These cuts and paranoid cleansing of “woke” education reached a peak in March, when the UI stated that they plan to close the Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity, along with many of the University’s living-learning centers and veteran/minority councils, following direction from the Iowa Board of Regents.

Also in March, the Iowa House of Representatives passed House Bill 401, which bans state universities’ general education courses from discussing “identity politics” or suggesting that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege are present in the United States or Iowa.  

The bill also mandated that general education curricula at the state’s universities include a “Western Heritage” program requirement, in which students must complete a certain amount of semester credits in course work related to the western canon to graduate. Many worry that curriculum requirements being set by the Legislature, rather than by the Board of Regents, will lead to distorted learning, particularly in history and the humanities. Citing the Legislature’s directives, the Board of Regents already has cut two UI degree programs. 

Rep. Steven Holt (R-Denison), said the bill was vital to “further enforce the principles of Western civilization and American exceptionalism.” He went on to say, “I think we left it up to the so-called experts for many years, and in my opinion, they mucked it up.”

On the same day that House File 401 passed, lawmakers also moved to approve House File 437, which establishes a “Center for Intellectual Freedom” at the UI, and voted along party lines to end caps on in-state tuition and mandatory fees. In addition, they approved a bill that would deny Iowa Tuition Grants to students who attend Iowa private colleges that have DEI programs. 

The Center for Intellectual Freedom is set up to provide courses on American history and programming on civil discourse, and is estimated to cost around $1.5 million per year. The University’s total cost from cutting its 12 employees operating its Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity and other DEI offices totaled just $868,219 in savings.

The day after those bills passed, Trump signed an order directing that “the Secretary of Education shall, to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education.” Reynolds was in attendance for the order’s signing.

Republicans and right-wing think tanks like the Manhattan Institute have suggested transferring the Department of Education’s responsibilities of civil rights enforcement in public schools to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

However, considering the gutting of Education Department and DOJ staff earlier this year and the recent memo from the General Services Administration effectively stating that segregation is no longer an illegal practice for government contractors, it’s unlikely that any federal entity will properly enforce law and protect students. Givng civil rights-enforcement responsibilities to the DOJ is another tool for the Trump Administration to remove the Education Department’s long-held independence and centralize Trump’s authority. As of May 1, more than 250 DOJ attorneys have chosen to walk off the job instead of comply with the executive branch’s directives.

Research is also under attack. A court injunction has temporarily halted the National Institutes of Health’s cuts to Iowa research funding, which would amount to over $33 million and potentially terminate over 20,000 positions. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley posted on X in support of the research cuts.

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With civil protections removed, institutions kneecapped, further control over education returning to the state, and Reynolds’s capture of the judicial appointment system, little stands in the way of the Iowa GOP as they expand their regulatory sights on public libraries and the private sector, threatening penalties and budget cuts for promoting critical race theory or having associations with advocacy organizations.

Along with cuts to staff and budgets, the state has become more involved in policing language and tightening restrictions on faculty and staff speech. In February the Regents made revisions to Iowa’s freedom of expression policy with more clearly defined and punitive measures for digital content it finds objectionable, and moved to scrub all UI websites of references to diversity, equity, and other “divisive” ideologies. 

In February Trump ordered federal employees to report hidden DEI coworkers or face “adverse consequences.” House Study Bill 50 will implement annual reviews by the Board of Regents of state universities’ academic programs, which critics fear are designed to enforce compliance with these new anti-DEI policies.

The chilling effect of these moves has been successful, as associating your job or personal opinions with DEI-related topics could lead to the termination of your position, office, or research grants. Many faculty have chosen to quietly avoid being targeted rather than loudly speaking up and risking the attention of Trump or the Iowa Legislature.

Asking to remain anonymous, a history teacher who works in special education in Iowa public schools observed that these cuts will predominantly be felt by children with special needs and in poor communities with already under-equipped staff and services. “Maybe they can divide people on DEI and stuff, but I hope nobody, if they knew what they were doing, would want those with disabilities to have less.” 

The Trump Administration said the arrest of students and financial cuts at Columbia University and deportation of Professor Badar Khan Suri for speech critical of the Administration will be first “of many to come” as the Administration cracks down on demonstrations against the war in Gaza. The federal District Court of the Southern District of Iowa has placed a restraining order against Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s department for its revoking of five UI international students’ visas.

Republicans have successfully captured key state judicial and legislative procedures and used them to strangle the institutions and legal precedents that stand to curtail their agenda and limit their power. All public and private schools in the state have signed letters of compliance with the erasure of DEI practices to protect federal and state funding. With Democrats confused and their current share of Congress too small to fight these bills, it’s unlikely anyone can stand up to Reynolds’s and Trump’s attack on education.

The post Anti-wokeness and Iowa’s dismantling of education appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The elephant in the room for the hottest scene in rock is the departure of one of its most recognizable voices, Isaac Wood. Since then Tyler Hyde, May Kershaw, and Georgia Ellery have taken up the mantle and shred vocals on their last two releases with Ninja Tune records, Live at Bush Hall and Forever Howlong. This lineup shift has also led to a notable shift in sound and topical approach.

The new Black country, New Road pulls from English folk and utilizes fantasy/medieval imagery and instrumentation with underlying narratives and multi-phased tracks. Similar to the 70s progressive rock and Canterbury scenes, the album showcases the band’s mastery of tension and crescendo, using them to build conceptual rock operas like on HMTLD’s 2023 album The Worm. Themes of friendship and adolescence have replaced the mania and edge of their older releases.

I know it’s cliche, but Forever Howlong is certainly a coming-of-age album, or at least explicitly deals with themes of adolescence and uncertainty. The single “Happy Birthday,” for example, is fairly straightforwardly targeted at a sad youth and attempts to remind them to be resilient and have hope, reminding me of the intimate and nurturing nature of McCartney’s “Hey Jude” or Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In the Airplane Over the Sea.”

To amplify these warm themes present on the album, the band uses unique instrumentation like harpsichords and recorders to achieve this innocent, dreamlike state. Black Country, New Road approaches rock with the same musical virtuosity and sincerity as a prime Charlie Parker, and those who think they’ve heard it all will find something worthwhile within these songs.

A good album is better than the sum of its parts, and that’s the case here. When the singles were released I was honestly worried, considering the poppy nature of their first two singles. However, within the context of the album’s entirety the singles become more coherent and stick the landing.

I assumed the sonic evaluation and abandoning of post-punk elements would be the most polarizing change on this new project, but I’m finding for longtime fans it’s actually the lyrical load and delivery. The album is easily their most lucid and wordy, abandoning the surreal and manic imagery of previous songs for a more coherent narrative approach. Songs like “Socks and Forever Howlong” sound particularly sung in the English music hall tradition. If you consider yourself someone who fancies the topical style of musical theater this may be up your alley.

However, to be blunt, like much musical theater, it is overwhelmingly corny and sentimental. That’s to an extent been a Black Country tradition for a while now but this album gives Glee a run for its money. The vocals rarely make room for the instrumentation to breathe and rarely stays in the pocket or settles on a musical idea. Personally I find the tender piano pop ballads and overpowering optimism inspiring, and what makes this record so moving, but if hearing about the power of love and friendship sounds dopey then this likely isn’t for you.

I can’t resist the vibe on Forever Howlong, more than any of Black Country, New Road’s other projects, that these songs were made to be performed live, and I’m incredibly excited to see them touring near Iowa City this spring. The band’s new sound is a welcome one and cements them as the cream of the current rock crop.

The post Forever Howlong: The Windmill scene’s flagship project. appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Last Tuesday House Study Bill 158 was introduced and defines a drag show as a performance where the “Performer exhibits a gender identity that is different from the performer’s gender assigned at birth through the use of clothing, makeup, accessories, or other gender signifiers.” This is open to include the performance of singing, dancing, reading, and almost anything “Before an audience for entertainment.” 

This proposal not only directly attacks the lives of queer individuals, but opens the door for the censoring of arts. Venues and artists worry that entertainment like theater, film, along with religious or traditional dress may make them open to liability and persecution from the state. With the wording of this law, it effectively limits trans people from performing in any public matter.

Any parent who knowingly brings a minor to a drag performance can be charged with a Class D felony and charged up to $50,000 for each violation. The owner or manager of an establishment who knowingly allows minors to attend drag shows could also be charged with a Class D felony, and businesses could be fined $10,000 under the bill.

Lawmakers like Representative Helena Hayes, a Republican from New Sharon, have commented that the bill addresses the concerns of their respective constituencies and that it “Will not be the way it is right now,” as it makes its way through the legislature. They both supported the bill’s existing definition and voted to have it be moved to a general house vote.

Representative Elinor Levin, a Democrat from Iowa City, told the Des Moines Register, “This bill creates a penalty that is so disproportionate as to be almost laughable,” and is “Out of whack,” considering the existing laws in Iowa classify bringing children to events with obscene material is only a misdemeanor.

Protesters gathered at the capitol outside the subcommittee to make themselves heard and demonstrate the violence they felt, and the hypocrisy of the legislature proposals.

This bill is being proposed in tandem with Iowa City’s Free Week, a week long private-public cooperation that provides entertainment and public art for free largely in the city’s downtown district. This included drag shows at local LGBTQ bar and venue Studio 13.

In a public statement, an executive of the venue said, “It’s important to voice your opposition to this bill. Though our venues only allow those over 19 or 21 it would eliminate all ages drag performances, drag at Pride, drag brunches in many locations, drag story time and more, and is a clear violation of free speech. Not to mention the chilling effect this would have on the transgender community. Drag is art and has been a part of society for thousands of years. Stand up to the hate coming from the capital and let your representatives know how you feel. We need to push back against extremism where the main goal is to distract voters from the rich and powerful stealing from us all by keeping us fighting each other.”

Despite the environment of fear and -20 degree windchill, locals came out to Studio 13 on Wednesday of Free Week for a night of karaoke, comedy, and drag to voice their support for the scene in their community.

This is as people have grown concerned over the relationship between the state and cities, who often have conflicting goals. The city officials ignore or work around federal and state orders because they don’t fit the wants or need of the constituents, while others fear possible funding cuts or retribution from a particularly punitive Republican controlled government.

On Monday February 24th, an Iowa house sub committee voted to advance House Study Bill 242. The Senate responded with Senate File 418 that contains similar language and aims to remove mentions of queer people in schools.

The bill would be the first time a state has removed civil rights protections for a population of its citizens, and functionally abolishes any protections for transgender and nonbinary people. This allows for trans Iowans to be denied housing, jobs, services, credit, or education based on their gender identity.

In the Iowa State Capitol Building during the subcommittee hearing, hundreds of protesters from across the state came to voice their opposition to the bill. They filled the rotunda and hallway both in physical presence and in noise, chanting their anger and grief, trying to disrupt the hearing. 

State troopers eventually tried to force protesters out of the hallway. This is despite no restrictions on the protest being set in place beforehand, which is a violation of First Amendment protections. State troopers used violent force, pushing people to the ground, and crushing protesters against each other as they tried to move them. Two protesters were arrested. 

The bill is another in a string of anti-LGBT legislation since 2020, and would be the biggest victory for Iowa’s Christian right and Kim Reynolds’ policy goals which includes the systematic removal of the queer community from public life including restricting their access to medicine, public spaces, and athletics.

Christian lobbyist groups like PELLA PAC, The Family Leader, and Inspired Life were present during the sub committees vote and have been drafting and pushing for the removal of gender identity as a legally recognized class since at least last year’s legislative session when they supported House Bill 2082 which had similar language. PELLA PAC states their goals include cleansing America of “Propaganda promoted by Marxist and atheist bureaucracies.” The civil rights protection they removed has stood in the way of other discriminatory policies the house majority is attempting to pass.

The bill makes specific reference to MAGA talking points and is framed under the guise of “protecting woman.” The bill claims that “equal” accommodations do not mean “same” or “identical” and that, “Separate accommodations are not inherently unequal,” upending legal precedent established in the 1950s by Brown v. Board of Education.

The present bill is moving to the House floor for a vote. It also has passed through the Senate subcommittee. Governor Kim Reynolds could sign it into law as early as Thursday afternoon. 

The post Iowa’s First of Its Kind Anti-Trans Legislation appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Knowles has become a controversial figure for his actions and political views, which includes public opposition of gay marriage, his belief that transgender people’s existence is a delusion that must be eradicated, and arguing colonization and expansion of the American Empire as something justified and noble. Knowles gave a speech in the Iowa Memorial Union entitled, “We are so Back: How the Libs Lost Everything”.  

The IMU functions within the university as being the center of campus life, with them describing it as, “Often the place where the university makes its first impression on potential students, faculty, and staff.” One of the five core values stated of the IMU is inclusion, “Affirming and celebrating all backgrounds and personal identities through inclusive and equitable policies, programs, services, and spaces.”

University of Iowa students, staff, and Iowa City community members gathered outside the IMU to protest Michael Knowles speech taking place within the building. For many of the protesters this was another episode in a long series of right wing influencers hosted and sponsored on university grounds. The election, the war in Gaza, and the general assault on LGBT rights has brought the student body’s divisions to the forefront and forced the university to question what does it mean to be tolerant.

“It seems to be a pretty big event, and it seems a little questionable to me,” said a protester present at the speech, “you know, hosting a homophobic, transphobic person at a university which like has policies ostensibly protecting gay and trans people.”

Another protester stated, “I think that inviting him and giving him this much of a platform 一 I think there is a difference than if he just came into the park and like, put some stuff up. But he’s being hosted in a university building with two policemen in the lobby providing protection. They clearly have this organized as a major event inside the IMU. It’s kind of what the entire building seems to be centered around right now, which is a bit, not just inviting, but explicitly platforming, and I think that’s like a fallacy of equality.” 

Those in attendance made efforts to affirm individual identities and made a point of stressing how the speakers’ and university’s actions have affected the mental health and sense of safety on campus for queer students. “The falling on free speech thing doesn’t really carry water anymore, because the last time they invited Matt Walsh or whatnot, there was conflict. It seems like they’re just spending more and more money on this extra police. So yeah, they’re 100% at fault,” one student commented on the university’s involvement, “I understand free speech but that dude can get that on the Daily Wire so that’s his free speech, but he need not come here. I understand why the YAF brought him here, but take him to some other venue because this is state sponsored. So, how are you going to feel safe in this school? Because it feels like, to our trans community, it feels like they hate me, and at best they’re indifferent to our voice.”

The overall well-being of transgender students was also a major concern of protestors, especially in light of the recent presidential election. As one protestor said, “Our trans sisters and brothers are scared right now, and this is like throwing fuel on the fire. We want to meet the fascists at the gate and let them know that we don’t give a shit about your president. We’re here to take care of our people.”

The two groups were sandwiched in between a 24-hour fundraising event for the University of Iowa’s largest student organization, Dance Marathon, which added to the crowds. Many of the passersby approached by KRUI had no knowledge of the YAF’s event and were simply trying to use the building to attend the Dance Marathon fundraiser or were there for academic purposes. 

However, a few onlookers contributed their opinion of the event. Many of them viewed the protest in a positive light, with one saying, “I think they’ve done a really good job organizing, and I know there’s a lot of different voices on campus, so it’s nice that people on more of the progressive side can have their voice heard and the conservatives can be inside and listen to a speaker. It’s awesome. It should double in size.”

Protestors were especially on edge given the large police presence inside and outside the IMU as on October 7th of 2023, peaceful protestors were arrested after demonstrating against a different anti-trans speaker at the IMU. They were charged with either disorderly conduct or interference with official acts. Those protestors were detained a month later in November of 2023. None of the participants were arrested at the protest and no property was damaged, but according to those present, Johnson County police officers reportedly pushed, grabbed, and behaved aggressively towards them.

Through this process, protestors learned that the UIPD and Johnson County Sherriff’s Office have both been involved in monitoring protests. UIPD has installed cameras that pan, tilt, and zoom around campus. This is along with monitoring social media accounts, searching specific terms leading up to events on platforms, and analyzing search results based on posts’ geolocation. It has been reported that UIPD tracks protestors based on their face, build, clothing, walk, temporary injuries, and their cars as they are leaving protests. That is why during the November 11th protest, a majority of protestors wore nondescript clothing, face masks, said to put their phones into airplane mode, and parked away from the IMU. It was also requested that no photos be taken that could identify protestors based on their faces.

Along with these precautions, many protestors were weary of stepping away from the corner section of the IMU due to the arrests last year that came from people blocking the intersection of Jefferson and Madison. This comes after the Iowa state government passed the “Back the Blue” law in 2021 which strengthened qualified immunity for police officers, banned common protest tactics like obstructing a street, and increased penalties for other protest actions. UIPD officers also came out to the crowd of protestors handing out “Free Speech at Iowa” cards that labeled what things protestors could and could not do.

Inside the IMU, Michael Knowles’ talk focused mainly on the criticism of transgender people and progressivism in western society. His traditional views on gender were on full display stating that women should grow out their hair so that their pronouns and identity are apparent. He also said that, “The transgender issue is not chiefly about women’s sports. We want that too, it’s a matter of justice. But most people don’t actually care that much about women’s sports. The trans issue is not even chiefly about protecting children, it is about the liberal elite trying to castrate little kids.”

After Knowles’ talk was over, KRUI staffers asked individuals what they thought of the event. One pair of event attendees said, “We’re both independent voters so we went and checked out the event inside and it was kind of what you would expect for something like this. All he was saying was kind of recycled talking points.”

Another attendee said, “I thought he was great, I thought he had good opinions. I don’t necessarily attend the University of Iowa but I’m not planning on it either, especially because of the kind of liberal ideologies that are here. I appreciated him coming out and sharing his opinion. I mean, that’s what press is about, it’s about people being able to share their opinions openly and not get demeaned for doing so.”

Debates around DEI, trans rights, and the general paradox of tolerance will likely continue to unfold on campus as the university juggles the safety and interests of its students, while attempting to maneuver and adapt to legislation that’s increasingly antagonistic towards academia’s discretion. “I think that there is a general pattern of ‘if you are tolerant, you have to tolerate me being hateful’,” said one demonstrator attending the protest, “that’s kind of what the university seems to have gone with with hosting these kinds of people, and it’s philosophical nonsense.”

This article was written with aid from Amanda Moy, Julia Wilson, and Claire Peery.

The post Michael Knowles and a Case Study of Tolerating Intolerance appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The federal government has recognized this and has attempted to address the rising shortage for decades. More recently the Biden administration has implemented multiple programs including investing in primary care facilities, and loan forgiveness for doctors who practice in rural and designated crisis counties. The programs have totaled more than a billion dollars yet haven’t had any large or noticeable impact on the shrinking pool of available doctors. This crisis has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which has caused many providers to burn out or retire early. In a report by the company Definitive Healthcare, more than 60% of doctors nationwide said their workload has increased since the pandemic, and between 2021 and 2022 more then 70,000 or 6% of physicians left the field.

There’s more behind this provider shortage then just burnout. People aged 65 and older are the fastest growing cohort and by 2030 nearly 80 million Americans will be in that category. On the supply side, young doctors and students are finding less incentive to become physicians. The pay and labor gap between physicians and other specializations that require just a few more years of education has caused many doctors to reject family medicine in favor of more specialized fields that come with higher pay and less workload.

A common culprit for the pay discrepancy between physicians and specialized fields falls on the RUC, a body of doctors that advises insurance companies and the federal government on how medical procedures should be priced. The RUC routinely rates general care procedures at a significantly lower cost than more specialized care, meaning doctors in general care get lower compensation from insurance for their work. In response to this market failure, nurses and physician assistants have filled the gap.

Between 2013 and 2019 the portion of healthcare visits handled by nurses and physician assistants nearly doubled, and according to the National Institutes of Health, “The proportion of visits delivered by nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the USA is increasing rapidly and now accounts for a quarter of all healthcare visits.” The trend of non-physicians filling the role of primary care has only grown since the pandemic, and continues to be one of the ways healthcare providers are attempting to meet demand with rising overhead costs and a shrinking pool of doctors. This practice has been touted as providing equal care while cutting costs by 25%.

Amy Sheaffer, President of A-1 Medical Staffing in Iowa has been in the field for over 20 years and says this isn’t the first time there’s been a shift in nurse’s responsibilities. “During World War I, the Red Cross created a volunteer nurse aid program as many nurses became overworked and tired. In the late 1960s, the physician assistant position was created as there was a shortage of primary care physicians due to access to healthcare and insurance increasing,” Sheaffer describes. 

She says what she is seeing today with many doctors leaving the medical field is nothing like we’ve seen throughout history. Sheaffer notes though that many nurses are altering their roles and how they approach their job to fill in some of those gaps. “Nurses are reconsidering their priorities for a better work life balance and choosing flexible work opportunities. We are also seeing many trying to further their education to practice advanced nursing. This allows them to be properly compensated and assist in reducing the physician shortage by filling the primary care gap,” she said.

She also notes that as the healthcare landscape evolves, so do the roles within it. The increasing complexity of insurance policies and hospital billing has placed a heavier burden on medical staff, requiring more administrative oversight than ever before. Just as past workforce shortages led to the creation of new roles, today’s challenges in reimbursement and claims processing have given rise to specialized professionals who focus on Denial Management. These experts work to ensure that hospitals and clinics receive proper payment for services rendered, reducing financial strain on both providers and patients.

While this shift in roles has cut costs, it has pushed much of that onto lower paid and overworked nurses and physician assistants. Consumers and lawmakers worry this trend may lead to a weakening in the doctor-patient relationship and worsen health outcomes for patients. Some worry that this will lead to a healthcare gap between people in different economic classes, with the wealthy being able to retain a personal physician, while those with less money will have to deal with an incongruent, rotating cast of doctors for routine checkups. So far though, data suggests that outside of emergency or specialty care situations, nurses and physician assistants have similar patient outcomes to traditional family doctors.

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