Althea Cole

Cedar Rapids

Opinion Columnist at The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA)

Opinion Columnist, @gazettedotcom Also: Proud voter worker. And: Professional pet-sitter. I walk weird: #Rheum Opinions: Mine #FightForFreelancers GO CYCLONES!

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Articles

‘Rare’ noncitizen voting is still too much

1 week ago | thegazette.com | Althea Cole

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. In October 2017, a friend of mine who worked in the Secretary of State’s office at the time told me about opposition to a proposed rule about to be implemented under Iowa’s new voter ID bill passed earlier that spring.
Kim Reynolds, a good Iowan and good governor

1 week ago | thegazette.com | Althea Cole

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. I know a gal. Like me and many others, she’s a lifelong Iowan who never needed to look outside our happy little flyover state to make a life for herself. My fellow Iowan worked as a motor vehicles clerk in her county treasurer’s office many years ago.
Opinion: Reynolds sides with Big Energy over her allies

2 weeks ago | thegazette.com | Althea Cole

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. I recently received a notice of proposed rate increase from MidAmerican Energy. I’m sure quite a few of us in Eastern Iowa did. The energy giant, headquartered in Des Moines, is seeking permission from the Iowa Utilities Commission to add an “automatic adjustment clause” to our bills.
Opinion: Don’t ruin democracy for others

3 weeks ago | thegazette.com | Althea Cole

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. While the U.S. Senate was in recess, Sen. Chuck Grassley became the first in Iowa’s congressional delegation to offer up the pound of flesh craved by angry Iowa leftists and hold public town hall meetings. Will other members of Iowa’s congressional delegation follow suit? I hope so. Facing constituents in public isn’t the sole function of the job, but it’s an important one.
Iowa cosmetology training needs a makeover

1 month ago | thegazette.com | Althea Cole

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. The Iowa Legislature last Monday took a big step to make training more accessible for aspiring barbers and hairstylists. House File 711 would add the option to receive apprentice-style training at a salon, barbershop or beauty parlor under the supervision of its owner.
Opinion | Today marks five years since COVID-19 shut down Iowa

1 month ago | thegazette.com | Althea Cole

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. Exactly five years later, the memories from that first year of the COVID-19 pandemic remain as surreal as the year itself. March 16, 2020 was the day Iowa began shutting down in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. I sat on my couch that Monday morning watching President Donald Trump and Gov. Kim Reynolds give consecutive press conferences with urgent updates on the pandemic.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits need changing

1 month ago | thegazette.com | Althea Cole

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. When it comes to nutrition, there can be uncertainty about what the role of government should be in ensuring that the poorest Americans have access to healthy, affordable food. Many Americans, however, are certain about one thing: Our federal government — and our states — must reform how governments deliver food assistance.
The Iowa Legislature removed gender identity from civil rights law. Here’s why it should never have

1 month ago | thegazette.com | Althea Cole

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. Of all the testimony I saw last week as Iowa legislators debated removing gender identity protections from the Iowa Civil Rights Act, it was comments from Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, that piqued my interest as he challenged Rep. Steve Holt, floor manager of the bill, on immutable characteristics subject to civil rights protections and whether they are truly immutable.
Opinion | Are private schools more privileged than public?

2 months ago | thegazette.com | Althea Cole

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. Two years after Education Savings Accounts were signed into law to allow Iowa families to spend their portion of per-pupil funding at a private school of their choice, over 27,000 Iowa students are actively exercising the option commonly known as school choice. Many had already been paying for their private school out of pocket on limited incomes.
Which president beat up his would-be assassin?

2 months ago | thegazette.com | Althea Cole

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. Which U.S. President signed the treaty to purchase Alaska from Russia? Question 2 Which President later served in the government of the Confederate States of America? Question 3 Who was the only President to have served in combat during the Great War, also known as World War 1? Question 4 John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama were the second and third sitting U.S. senators in history to become president.

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Althea Cole @AltheaCole

20 Apr 25

PREACH.

Neeraja Deshpande @neerajadeshp

@LDRNationalist @wrldclass51nn3r The kids themselves aren't inherently hard or bad, it's that in the absence of discipline and rules, but with lots of therapyspeak, teaching them becomes an impossible task.

Althea Cole @AltheaCole

18 Apr 25

This happens, sadly, most often in states that aggressively enforce disability laws via monetary penalty. It's why I — as a card-carrying cripple — am critical of some laws intended to make life more accessible for "people like me." When these laws are exploited, I am exploited. https://t.co/N8nHEGNM25

Althea Cole @AltheaCole

16 Apr 25

But now they have to define "sex," so here's a bit of advice in the words of Dorothy Zbornak: "Rose, if you have to ask, it does not matter anymore." https://t.co/5ALmUu3rQW