Vanessa Miller

Kirkwood Community College last week raised the tax levy rate for property owners across its service area by 5 cents – bringing its overall property tax levy to $1.39 for the upcoming 2024 budget year, or 3.8 percent above the current rate.

Even in a world where celebrities and presidents are just regular people with real lives, actor Ashton Kutcher said he continues to find awe and wonder in three places: extraordinary craftsmanship; genius — like the ability to reorder the mundane; and generosity.

In the hours after State Auditor Rob Sand in March refused to approve another University of Iowa Athletics Department settlement until Athletics Director Gary Barta was gone, UI President Barbara Wilson heard from members of the public asking her to heed -- or not heed -- Sand’s call.

Lawyer for female athletes complains Tulane law professor did not talk to female athletes before filing report

For the third straight year, the North Liberty-based Iowa Donor Network has been designated a “tier 1 organ procurement organization” -- placing it among just 15 of 56 such organizations nationally to achieve the top designation.

One of those projects is a $40 to $49 million expansion and build-out of its six-year-old Stead Family Children’s Hospital that -- with price escalations during construction, court-ordered payouts post-construction, and faulty work requiring widespread window repair -- already has seen its price swell from a $270.8 million budget to up to $450 million.

While in the weight room on a typical Tuesday morning in late March, several members of the Iowa Wesleyan University volleyball team saw their Apple Watches light up. It was an alert about an email calling the entire school to a mandatory meeting. And the board of trustees would be there.

Nearly two months after Iowa Wesleyan University President Christine Plunkett in February asked Gov. Kim Reynolds for $12 million in federal COVID-relief funds to help her campus stay open, Plunkett in March sent another email telling the governor – who had yet to decide – that time was up.

Nationally, 59 million people live in rural areas — including 9.7 million high schoolers — compelling 16 colleges and universities to form a new “STARS College Network.” The STARS initiative, which stands for “Small Town and Rural Students,” aims to expand and create new pathways to college for students who might not otherwise plan to attend.

Conservative commentator Matt Walsh – as part of his nationwide “What is a Woman” documentary tour – is planning a visit to the University of Iowa this month, inciting some complaints, concerns and an online petition to shut down his lecture.

Mercy Iowa City this morning is holding a series of “all staff” meetings to announce upcoming changes for the 194-bed hospital — including the appointment of a new CEO, the hire of a operations-improvement consultant, and a new plan to end its relationship with MercyOne.

“The Secret Schoolhouse” is a one-time event planned for 7:30 p.m. April 12 in The James Theater in Iowa City. The covert operation will require a ticket – a “golden ticket.” And they aren’t available for purchase.

“I hope that they got some confidence,” 10-year-old Chandler Felton, of Ely, said about the Iowa women’s basketball team upon its return to a massive crowd of cheering fans Monday. “I hope that they feel like there’s lots of supporters out there for them. And that they should be really proud.”

Iowa Wesleyan University — the state’s second oldest college now careening toward closure next month — wasn’t the only higher education institution in February to ask Gov. Kim Reynolds for a cut of Iowa’s billions in federal COVID-relief funds to help overcome “significant obstacles” and stay open.

Heather Heddens’ high school heroics came on the court in the 1970s when girls played six-on-six basketball. The game changed to 5-on-5, full-court basketball in 1994, but the enthusiasm the sport stirs among Iowans remains the same.