Matthew Thornburg

Nov 15, 2024 | bleedingheartland.com | Dani Replogle |Laura Belin |Gerald Ott |Matthew Thornburg

Dani Replogle is a staff attorney with the national advocacy group Food & Water Watch. The Midwest’s iconic prairie potholes and other wetlands across the nation are under attack. A politically motivated lawsuit targeting the popular “Swampbuster” provision of the 1985 Farm Bill aims to erode a policy that has protected wetlands and supported farmers for nearly four decades. The case–CTM Holdings, LLC v.

Nov 13, 2024 | bleedingheartland.com | Lora Conrad |Laura Belin |Gerald Ott |Matthew Thornburg

Lora Conrad lives on a small farm in Van Buren County. Sassafras. One of my favorite smaller trees, Sassafras albidum, is considered native to Iowa. However, it has been found in the wild only in one or two counties along the Mississippi River, one of which is Lee, adjacent to Van Buren where I set out two in my yard. Sassafras is prevalent across the southeast and northeast, including adjacent Missouri and Illinois. It is a member of the Laurel family.

Nov 13, 2024 | bleedingheartland.com | Laura Belin |Gerald Ott |Matthew Thornburg |Bill Bumgarner

For the first time in six years, Iowa’s junior Senator Joni Ernst will not have a position on the leadership team of U.S. Senate Republicans. On November 13, members of the GOP caucus chose Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas over Ernst for Senate Republican Conference chair, the third-ranking leadership position. According to Andrew Desiderio of Punchbowl News, the vote was 35 to 18.

Nov 13, 2024 | bleedingheartland.com | Gerald Ott |Matthew Thornburg |Laura Belin |Bill Bumgarner

Gerald Ott of Ankeny was a high school English teacher and for 30 years a school improvement consultant for the Iowa State Education Association. I read the op-ed Bob Vander Plaats wrote for the Des Moines Register last week. It’s glowingly referenced on the Facebook page of his organization, The FAMiLY Leader. I remember Vander Plaats when he got his knickers in a twist because the Iowa Supreme Court decided the Iowa Constitution’s equal protection clause applied to gay and lesbian people.

Nov 12, 2024 | bleedingheartland.com | Matthew Thornburg |Laura Belin |Bill Bumgarner |Jason Benell

Fifth in a series interpreting the results of Iowa’s 2024 state and federal elections. Matthew P. Thornburg is an associate professor at Misericordia University who studies elections. His mother’s side of the family hails from Greene and O’Brien counties, and he maintains close ties to Iowa and its politics. In precincts lying in the path of the Summit Pipeline, Randy Feenstra underperformed the rest of his district slightly.