News Roundup
Well, we didn’t announce this two weeks ago as perhaps we should’ve, but Grinnell has been on Spring Break since then, and it has meant that our coverage is a little less than usual. (And, when I say “usual,” I’m basing it on our one week of good coverage.)
Still, here are some stories we’ll be watching as more of us get back to campus in the next day or two:
- The “tax on coolness” (Vilsack’s cigarette tax increase) is stalled. Everybody but me seemed to like the idea, but it turns out that house Republicans agree with me that regressive taxes are bad and that we can find other ways to finance a solid health care system that everyone has access to. Or maybe they have different reasons…
- Jim Nussle is under investigation by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. The allegations have something to do with not reporting funds from Nussle’s congressional campaign account that were spent on his gubernatorial bid. Whether or not these are really terrible charges, the current political climate could mean that any proof of wrongdoing — even on a really small scale — will devastate him. (The party also blogged about this.)
- Iowans protest the terrible right-wing immigration bill in Washington and, more notably, in Marshalltown. The Marshalltown protest included 80 middle and high school students, which seems really cool. Less cool: “[Marshalltown Police Chief] Walker said he didn’t know what the signs said because they were in Spanish and he has no Spanish-speaking officers.” And if they do it again, it sounds like he’s going to arrest them.
- And the Register likes to think that Iowa’s house races are the awesomest in the country. That sounds exciting!
Our coverage will get better again soon, we promise.
Add comment March 31st, 2006
