Sunday, April 7, 2013
ALSO: Trying to figure out Iowa City School District enrollment, how to throw an environmentally friendly dinner party, a bunch more jobs available in Coralville, and more.
We've had some great blog submissions this past week as usual. Let's check out some of the posts we've had go up on Iowa City Patch go up on this, the week of April 1 - April 8. Oh and want to Start a Blog of your own on Iowa City Patch? Just click on the "Start a Blog" link and it will guide you through the rest. Check out other blogs every day in our Local Voices section. In the Spirit of Bill Sackter, Coffeeshops Offer 'Belonging moments' Wild Bill's and Uptown Bill's are continuing experiments in the "social" part of social work. School Enrollment Growth Strong in Johnson County, But 325 Students Open-Enrolled out of the District A three-hour school board meeting is hard to summarize, so I'll just bite off a piece of that meeting for …
The University of Iowa has a pink locker room for opponents. But speakers at a state LGBTQ conference last week say that is discriminatory and possibly illegal. What do you think? Vote in our poll and tell us your views in comments below.
Is pink a color for girls and sissies? A way to shame athletic opponents who have to dress in a pink locker room? Or even discriminatory and illegal? Pink locker rooms -- such as the opponent's locker room at the University of Iowa and others around the country -- are about shame, implying that a football team’s opponents are girlish, dainty and weak, said Jill Gaulding at a state LGBTQ Youth conference last week, the Des Moines Register reports. Former U of I football coach Hayden Fry, who first had the pink decor installed, said it's a way to psych out the opposing team. But speakers at the conference said the use of pink to insult men is sexist and homophobic because it reinforces a notion of masculinity that’s focused on being …
Saturday, April 6, 2013
A Letter to the Editor expressing frustration with priorities the Iowa City School District has placed on its spending.
Editor's Note. The following is a letter submitted to the editor. If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, e-mail it to me at stephen.schmidt@patch.com, or post it directly to the site by clicking this link. School Board Priorities Still a Problem Phil Hemingway Iowa City One step forward, two steps back seems to be how we are going. At the April 2nd Iowa City School Board meeting the School Board finally approved Superintendent limitations which would require approval for expenditures greater than $25,000. This was recommended by the Synesi group over a year ago. Well better late than never. Maybe not. It was not put in place soon enough to prevent the mechanic at the Physical Plant from purchasing two E350 vans for $35,533 a …
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Some say expanding the bottle bill will expand recycling and bring new jobs. Others say it will just expand headaches for grocery stores.
Should the Iowa bottle bill be expanded? That's the proposal under Senate Study Bill 1247, which was introduced in the Iowa legislature this week. Under the current bottle bill, pop and beer containers can currently be redeemed for a nickel. Proponents say expanding that to include water and juice containers would increase recycling by another 33 tons of beverage containers a year, create new job and business opportunities and extend the lives of landfills, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported. However, for grocery stores like Hy-Vee, which are required to accept the returned bottles, dealing with the empty containers is already a headache. "We think there are better answers to issues of solid waste recycling and litter control that don't …
Sunday, March 24, 2013
A Mason City man faces assault charges after he allegedly walked up to four prosecutors, asked for one by name and then reportedly struck him. The case has prompted a call for tougher laws in such incidents.
One Iowa county attorney is calling for change in Iowa Law after a man allegedly walked into the Story County Courthouse and assaulted two prosecutors. Major Robinson, 31, of Mason City, is in custody at the Story County jail after he allegedly walked up to four prosecutors, asked for one by name and then reportedly struck him. The incident was captured on video. According to jail records, Robinson is charged with simple assault and willful injury simple assault in the incident. His bond has been set at $24,000. Simple assault is a simple misdemeanor, which carries a potential sentence of up to 30 days in jail and $625 in fines. Do you feel the punishment for assaulting a prosecutor should be more severe? Is the law fine the way it is? …
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Iowa's Sen. Tom Harkin suggests it should be raised by a significant degree, and he says his bill has a chance.
President Barack Obama raised Republican ire when he proposed the nation's minimum wage should be raised from $7.25 to $9 an hour. He also got some guff from the left, such as Iowa's Senator Tom Harkin, who says in a Des Moines Register aritcle that the minimum wage should be raised even higher. President Barack Obama got “some bad advice” when he suggested boosting the minimum wage to only $9 an hour, Harkin said. Harkin thinks it should be $10.10 an hour – raised by 95 cents a year until 2016. It’s currently $7.25. [...] Harkin said 340,000 Iowans would get a pay raise if the bill he filed with 26 co-sponsors is approved. Of those Iowa workers, 60 percent are women, 82 percent are adults not teenagers, 22 percent are parents, 50 percent…
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Iowa is one of six states in which a large majority of state employees pay nothing toward their health insurance. Fair or unfair? Tell us what you think in the comments.
About 200,000 public workers in Iowa won’t get pay increases in the fiscal year beginning July 1, but neither will they have to contribute toward the cost of their health insurance policies, a decision reached in binding arbitration that Gov. Terry Branstad calls “unfair to the majority of Iowans.” The arbitrator’s decision means that for the first time since collective bargaining for public employee wage contracts began in the 1970s, state workers won’t get an across-the-board pay raise, the Des Moines Register reported. Leaders of Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees say that’s a fair tradeoff for not having to pay for health insurance. Branstad, however, said it’s a disappointment. “This is …
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Tell us what you think in the comments.
The Iowa Senate is expected to approve a plan to expand Medicaid, allowing thousands of Iowans to be added to the government health insurance program, but House Republicans and Gov. Terry Branstad are opposed to the idea. More than 100,000 Iowans would receive insurance in the Medicaid expansion and the federal government would pay for their coverage for the first three years and 90 percent of their coverage after that, as reported in the Des Moines Register. Branstad has said he is afraid that after this federally funded period, Iowans would eventually pay the bill for this expansion due to the current federal budget crisis. GOP governors in other states such as Florida and New Jersey have decided to expand their programs with the …
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Spokesman said there’s nothing in the state law stopping governor from appointing his son, Marcus, to the Iowa Natural Resource Commission.
A key state senator is questioning Gov. Terry Branstad’s appointment Friday of his son, 29-year-old Marcus Branstad of West Des Moines, to the Iowa Natural Resource Commission. Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, said the appointment was “inappropriate” and raies questions about “patronage, conflicts of interest and independent decision-making,” the Des Moines Register reported. Danielson heads the State Government Committee in the Democrat-controlled Senate, where he said the younger Branstad my face a tough confirmation battle. Tim Albrecht, the governor’s spokesman, said Marcus Branstad is an avid sportsman and brings a passion for the outdoors to the commission, which weighs in management practices at public lands and state parks and…
Monday, February 25, 2013
An article intended to give new space for the Iowa Patch poll has so many comments it has become unwieldy. If the debate continues on to a point where this is necessary, I can start another thread for it as well.
Hello all: This is the overflow thread for the gun debate started here: Some users have commented to me that the gun permit thread has become fairly hard to follow now that it has reached 530+ comments, so I thought I would start a new thread for overflow. If I see there is interest in continuing discussion on this thread I will probably temporarily close comments on the original post so new comments can all be redirected here. Note: If you want to reference a previous comment made in the thread before, you can link directly to thread comments by clicking the time link below your username. By the way, if you'd like to comment on this week's Patch Poll, it's here: Iowa Patch Poll: Should Cities Have More Say Over Strip Clubs?
JAD
9:56 am on Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Wow! These men are sensitive on this topic. Deb, you are funny! Yes, there are more pressing issues to deal with than the pink locker room at the U of I and it is obvious what the implication is of the pink locker room. Ignorance is bliss. more ›