Government & Politics

Panel looks to help communities find and develop the diversity and equity resources needed to greet refugees and immigrants, and create welcoming and inclusive environments for new populations.

An antiviral pill that people could take at home to reduce their symptoms and speed recovery could prove groundbreaking, easing the crushing caseload on U.S. hospitals and helping to curb outbreaks in poorer countries with weak health care systems.

Differences have emerged in the four Cedar Rapids mayoral candidates’ stances on equity in policing, the city’s use of speed cameras, and support for marijuana decriminalization.

Tiffin has seen its population double decade after decade. Now with more than 4,500 residents, the city could see its population double yet to more than 9,000 residents in 2030.

Closures of wood and metal shops have dramatically reduced the opportunities for Anamosa offenders to participate in apprenticeships, shown to reduce recidivism and improve an ex-offender’s likelihood of getting a job on the outside.

Mitchell Stites got 2,200 hours of hair cutting experience as a barber in the Iowa Department of Corrections, using clippers -- no scissors or straight-edges allowed -- to do bald fades and trims to make the men incarcerated with him at Fort Dodge look and feel good.

Last year, the Iowa Department of Corrections and NewBoCo, in Cedar Rapids, started a coding program for women at the prison, funded by a $175,000 grant from the Google Impact Challenge. The pilot project is modeled after NewBoCo’s Delta V program, a 20-week boot camp where individuals with no technical background become Full Stack JavaScript developers.

Trump returned to friendly fields in Iowa: In a recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, he was rated favorable by 53 percent of Iowa voters and unfavorable by 45 percent. It was his best showing in either metric in the poll, the Register reported.