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Mar 1, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Herb Strentz |Scott Syroka |Laura Belin |Jim Nelson
On collusion—not separation—of church and state Friday, Mar 1 2024 0 Comments Photograph of the painting The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Bloch, 1890Herb Strentz was dean of the Drake School of Journalism from 1975 to 1988 and professor there until retirement in 2004. He was executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from its founding in 1976 to 2000.
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Feb 29, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Scott Syroka |Laura Belin |Jim Nelson |Bernie Scolaro
Opponents of Iowa rail consolidation must act fast to register concerns Thursday, Feb 29 2024 0 Comments Scott Syroka is a former Johnston city council member. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board announced on February 29 it accepted Canadian National’s request to classify its proposed acquisition of Iowa Northern Railway as a “Minor” transaction.
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Feb 28, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Laura Belin |Scott Syroka |Jim Nelson |Bernie Scolaro
Some Iowa news headlines misrepresented an Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decision on February 27, which resolved a long-running lawsuit over Iowa’s 2021 law banning schools from requiring masks. “Federal appeals court upholds Iowa law banning school mask mandates,” read the headline on a Cedar Rapids Gazette story, also published in some of the Lee Newspapers.
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Feb 28, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Scott Syroka |Jim Nelson |Bernie Scolaro |Nancy Dugan
Iowa Northern Railway deal warrants heightened scrutiny Wednesday, Feb 28 2024 0 Comments Quaker Oats plant in Cedar Rapids, photographed by David Harmantas (Shutterstock). Scott Syroka is a former Johnston city council member. Attorneys for Canadian Pacific Kansas City submitted a 59-page filing to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on February 26 regarding the proposed acquisition of Iowa Northern Railway by Canadian National.
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Feb 27, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Jim Nelson |Bernie Scolaro |Nancy Dugan |Laura Belin
Jack Posobiec speaks at the Turning Point Action Conference in West Palm Beach, Florida on July 16, 2023. Photo by Gage Skidmore, available via Wikimedia Commons. Jim Nelson is a retired Montana Supreme Court justice. It has been said that: “When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and waving the cross.”Early signs are visible in the U.S. right now.
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Feb 1, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | David P. Tilly |Laura Belin |Scott Syroka |Jim Nelson
Members of the public at a January 31 Iowa House subcommittee considering House Study Bill 542, the governor’s bill on Area Education Agencies. (photo by Laura Belin)David Tilly is a former deputy director of the Iowa Department of Education. He gave Bleeding Heartland permission to publish a follow-up letter he emailed to all 150 Iowa state legislators on January 30. His first message to lawmakers regarding Governor Kim Reynolds’ proposed changes to Area Education Agencies is available here.
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Jan 26, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | David P. Tilly |Laura Belin |Scott Syroka |Jim Nelson
David Tilly is a former deputy director of the Iowa Department of Education. He gave Bleeding Heartland permission to publish a letter he emailed to all Iowa state legislators on January 24 regarding Governor Kim Reynolds’ proposed changes to Area Education Agencies. The governor’s bill has been introduced as Senate Study Bill 3073 and House Study Bill 542.
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Jan 25, 2024 | 
leaderadvertiser.com | Jim Nelson
What is more American than that the majority rules – the principle that 50.1% carries the day when decisions affecting all of us are made? The majority wins, and the minority has to accept, even if not graciously, the decision of the greater number. That’s how decisions are made in this country. Right?
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Dec 18, 2023 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Laura Belin |John Hale |Bruce Lear |Jim Nelson
Governor Kim Reynolds gave four of her top staffers raises ranging from 13 percent to 17 percent several months after Republican lawmakers approved a major boost to the governor’s office budget. The large pay increases took effect in early September, according to salary records Bleeding Heartland obtained through a public records request. All staff in the governor’s office had already received a 3 percent raise at the beginning of fiscal year 2024 in July.
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Dec 16, 2023 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Bruce Lear |Laura Belin |Jim Nelson |Scott Syroka
Downsizing AEAs would be another attack on Iowa schools Saturday, Dec 16 2023Bruce Lear 0 Comments Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. Governor Kim Reynolds’ attitude toward public education reminds me of a scene from an old movie called the Longest Yard, starring Burt Reynolds.
