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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 1d

Iowa’s revenue dropped by $780M last year, and more cuts are coming: State projections show another $437.5M loss in 2026 from Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and a slowing farm economy.

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 1d

On the latest episode of Cornhole Champions, Zach talks with both women, now the hosts of the "Blooming After Grooming" podcast, about confronting the systems that failed them and how they moved forward.

Watch here:

Different states, different justice (w/ Sarah Hedlund and Diana Mondragon) - Cornhole Champions #42

YouTube video by Iowa Starting Line

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 1d

Twenty years ago, Sarah Hedlund and Diana Mondragon were students groomed and sexually abused by the same high school teacher. When they found each other decades later, they discovered their paths to accountability looked completely different simply because of which state they lived in.🧵⬇️

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 6d

On the latest episode of Cornhole Champions, Zach sits down with investigative journalist Carey Gillam, whose work has been at the center of how powerful agricultural interests suppress critical public health research.

Watch here:

Iowa's $400,000 scandal: Research on ag pollution buried (w/ Carey Gillam) - Cornhole Champions #41

YouTube video by Iowa Starting Line

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 6d

Iowa has the second-highest cancer rate in the nation, and it's getting worse. A million-dollar study confirmed what many suspected: ag pollution is poisoning our water and making Iowans sick. However, after scientists completed their research, the $400,000 to promote it disappeared. 🧵⬇️

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 6d

Read more of Shubatt's thoughts on job market and being a young adult in an increasingly tumultuous political era here:

150+ interviews, zero job offers: Iowa job market 'rough,' says grad

The Iowa job market is abysmal right now, and one recent University of Iowa graduate is frustrated with how "rough" it is.

iowastartingline.com

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 6d

Sophia Gilligan Shubatt of Dubuque just graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law and is a newly licensed attorney. But in the past nine months, she’s applied to “more than 150 jobs.” Of those, a handful granted her an interview. She’s received no job offers.

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 6d

The Iowa job market is abysmal right now, which is particularly hard on new graduates and those just trying to get started in their field. 🧵⬇️

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Reposted by Iowa Starting Line

Amie Rivers @amierivers.bsky.social · 14d

ICE violently abducts Jorge Elieser Gonzalez Ochoa of Iowa City today; video from Escucha Mi Voz: drive.google.com/file/d/1-fDV...

ESCUCHA MI VOZ MEMBERS CONDEMN ICE ABDUCTION AT BREAD GARDEN MARKET IN IOWA CITY
Three ICE agents - including Agent Billy Walker of Cedar Rapids - abducted Escucha Mi Voz lowa member Jorge Elieser Gonzalez Ochoa, an essential worker who lives with his wife and children at the Catholic Worker House
Statement on ICE Raid at Bread Garden
Escucha Mi Voz lowa member Alejandra Escobar released the following statement after ICE abducted essential worker Jorge Gonzalez at Bread Garden Market in lowa City earlier today:
"Escucha Mi Voz lowa condemns today's unprovoked and dangerous ICE action at Bread Garden Market in lowa City. In the middle of a busy grocery store, ICE officers — including agent Billy Walker - used excessive force to abduct Jorge Elieser Gonzalez Ochoa, disrupting business operations and endangering workers and customers alike.

This reckless action is an attack not only on Jorge and his family, but on our entire community.
Immigration enforcement has no place in grocery stores, schools, churches, or neighborhoods. By storming a local business and terrifying customers, ICE trampled on the dignity and safety of lowa City residents.
We demand Jorge's immediate release and an end to the violent tactics of ICE that put our communities at risk. Escucha Mi Voz lowa stands with Jorge, with Bread Garden workers and customers, and with all immigrant families who deserve to live and work with dignity and justice."

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 14d

Reacting to the failing grade, companies say Sierra Club’s mark oversimplifies utility planning.

Read more at Iowa Capital Dispatch and follow @iowastartingline.com for more.

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 15d

On this week's episode of Cornhole Champions, Starting Line alum Ty Rushing returns to talk about teaching the next generation of journalists, dramatic career moves, and becoming a professional rookie again.

Check it out and subscribe here:

Why local journalists beat parachute reporters every time (w/ Ty Rushing) - Cornhole Champions #40

YouTube video by Iowa Starting Line

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 20d

The suit also argues the decision to terminate was based on the content of Kargol's speech rather than his performance as a teacher. It cites a public condemnation from Superintendent Fisher as a personal disagreement with the post, instead of a professional evaluation.

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 20d

The suit says neither Kargol's profile nor the post, which said "1 Nazi down," linked him to his employment at Oskaloosa High School, and that the post was not made in the classroom, on a school device, or during school hours.

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 20d

Kargol has since filed suit against the school district and superintendent Michael Fisher, on the grounds the termination violates his right to free speech.

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 20d

Oskaloosa art teacher Matthew Kargol was fired this week for a post he made in the aftermath of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk's assassination. 🧵⬇️

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 23d

Accompanied by family and colleagues, newly elected Iowa Sen. Catelin Drey was sworn in Monday, breaking the longstanding GOP supermajority in the state legislature.

📷: Avery Staker/Iowa Starting Line

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 24d

The ruling of the case marks an end to those like it in Iowa. This year, Iowa became the first U.S. state to rescind gender identity protections in state civil rights law, meaning trans and nonbinary Iowans who face similar discrimination moving forward will not be able to seek such reparations

Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 24d

The students and Iowa Safe Schools leaders accused the state of discrimination in a lawsuit filed in 2022. Courts ruled in their favor on Sept. 10, 2025.

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 24d

When then-executive director Nate Monson pushed back by citing gender identity protections in the state's civil rights law, the entire group was ordered out of the building and threatened with arrest if they returned.

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 24d

That year, Iowa Safe Schools brought a group of 150 students to visit the Capitol when building security and Iowa State Patrol officers denied trans teenagers in the group access to a bathroom.

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 24d

After three years in court, Iowa will pay $85,000 to several trans students and leaders of Iowa Safe Schools for banning them from the State Capitol in 2020. 🧵⬇️

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · 28d

We've been digging into Iowa's cancer rate. And if there's good news, its that there are things you can do today to reduce your chance of getting cancer.

What you can do to reduce your cancer risk: The big six for Iowans

Iowans are comparatively more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than our neighbors across the country. But one clear message that keeps appearing in our

iowastartingline.com

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Iowa Starting Line @iowastartingline.com · Sep 3