The River Cities’ Reader’s July 2025 cover story was prompted by two civil rights activists who spoke during public with business at the Davenport City Council meeting on June 25, 2025. As of July 5, 2025 that video previously available the evening of the council meeting and for days afterwards at the city’s website is no longer available. The activist Tanawah Downing has published he and his partner Jessica Saxton’s remarks to the city council at their Facebook and that can be seen at www.rcreader.com/y/tanawah. Their presentation June 25, prompted the Reader to secure an interview with Tanawah Downing a couple days later. Continue reading Tanawah Downing Interview with Todd McGreevy, June 27, 2025→
On February 11, 2025, more than 75 concerned citizens gathered in room 102 at the Iowa state capital for the House Environmental Protection Sub-Committee hearing regarding House File 191 (now HF927 see below) proposed legislation from Iowa District 87 (Van Buren County) State Representative Jeff Shipley. [As of March 24, 2025 the House bill has been renamed to HF
The proposed bill opens with: “An Act relating to the intentional emission of air contaminants into the atmosphere.” The room was packed wall to wall with people of all ages, including mothers with their young infant children. These citizens were there to support Shipley’s bill to be passed out of this subcommittee onto the broader committee funnel to hopefully make it to the House floor for debate and passage. The effort had been broadly supported by ClearSkiesIowa.com founders who generated more than 1,700 petitions online and hand-signed from across Iowa. The subcommittee is made up of Republicans Sam Wengryn (District 42/Decatur County) and Craig Johnson (District 67/Buchanan County) and Democrat Ken Croken (District 97/Scott County). After listening patiently to more than a dozen citizens state their concerns and support for this effort to outlaw geoengineering, or aerial spraying of contaminants in Iowa, Croken was the only “No” vote to move the bill to the larger committee.
[Publisher’s Note: This article linked above first appeared in the Reader’s March 2025 issue #1031 monthly print edition on March 6, 2025. That same day the full House Environmental Protection commitee voted to recommend to the House “Do Pass” with 11 yays and 5 nos, 1 excused.
HF191 was subsequently retitled to HF927. On March 24, 2025, Representative Shipley stated in an email “Rep Wengryn and I just filed this amendment language to HF927. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=91&ba=H-1167. Basically we delete the language directing the environmental protection commission to adopt rules, and instead just declare the intentional emission to air contaminants a felony. We also added more language explicitly prohibiting the federal government. Lastly we call for a study committee for the DNR to figure out how they can detect substances associated with these practices and discuss cloud seeding impact on Iowa agriculture.” ]
Incumbent Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane (Republican) and challenger Tom Gibbs (Democrat), convened for nearly an hour to answer questions from the People’s Forum membership (questions previously provided) and those in attendance provided on note cards to the moderator (approximately 30 people in attendance) at this open to the public forum. The event was held inside a spacious meeting room at the Eastern Iowa Community College downtown Davenport, Iowa campus.
Incumbent Scott County Auditor Kerri Tompkins (Republican) and challenger Matt Trimble (Democrat), convened for nearly an hour to answer questions from the People’s Forum membership (questions previously provided) and those in attendance provided on note cards to the moderator (approximately 30 people in attendance) at this open to the public forum. The event was held inside a spacious meeting room at the Eastern Iowa Community College downtown Davenport, Iowa campus.
Aaron Dail talks with Andrew Lehman about the big gets for this year’s John Deere Classic Tournament. Among them is West Des Moines’s Caitlin Clark, the celebrated Hawkeyes basketball guard, “the closest thing the state of Iowa has to The Beatles right now,” whose nine-hole club-off with Waterloo’s Zach Johnson will be well-attended. “We’ve seen such a positive response since we announced that [Clark is] coming,” Lehman said, Continue reading Aaron Dail Interview with Andrew Lehman, New John Deere Classic Tournament Director, June 20→
In the “Crows” segment Akira Kurosawa’s 1990 film Dreams, Akira Terao portrays an art student. The student views the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh one minute, and the next he steps inside the canvas, into the worlds Van Gogh rendered. He finds the artist, played by Martin Scorsese, and learns from him his extreme dedication to his work: That he’s forever chasing the sun, that he drives himself “like a locomotive,” and that he had a problem with getting his left ear just so for his Self-Portrait, so he did what any reasonable person would do Continue reading Aaron Dail Interview w Fanny Curtat, June 21, re “Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience,”→
This podcast is the one hour news conference held Tuesday May 30, 2023 around 11am inside the Davenport Police Department in downtown Davenport.
This is in the wake of the City belaying the demolition crews of the building known as The Davenport (formerly The Davenport Hotel) less than 48 hours after the Sunday afternoon partial collapse of the west side of 324 Main Street, which is a 1914 built building diagonally across the street from Davenport City Hall. Said building had as many as 50 residential tenants leasing apartments inside.
Due to the public pressure from displaced and concerned citizens amassing in a near mob like protests outside of City Hall early Tuesday morning, backing down the demolition crews.
Iowa Roots, Election Integrity, Border Invasion, Lying Media and the Power of First in the Nation Caucus Highlight Recent Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate’s Event in Bettendorf, Iowa February 10, 2023
Listen to the audio recording above for Kari Lake’s entire speech and remarks, unedited.
To a standing room only crowd of over two-hundred fans, Iowa GOP officials, local and national news media Kari Lake kicked off her national speaking tour at the Tanglewood Pavilion in Bettendorf, Iowa. Lake was the guest speaker for the monthly Scott County Women’s GOP event.
After decades as a television news anchor in Phoenix, Arizona Lake ran for governor against the then sitting Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in 2022. Lake is contesting her purported loss to Hobbs by 17,000 votes with a lawsuit alleging election fraud, specifically regarding 300,000 ballots without a chain of custody, and election day shenanigans by intentionally printing a 19” image on a ballot that needed a 20” image to be properly tabulated by the election machines. This mishap caused thousands of ballots to be declined by the machinery and created wait times to vote of three to four hours at the polls. Her case in currently under review by an appellate court and details about the first judge’s ruling declining Lake’s complaint is available at this link here: https://www.uncoverdc.com/2022/12/28/the-kari-lake-decision-is-a-travesty-heres-one-reason-why/
Lake referenced her strong ties to, and influences from Iowa and recognized her family in the crowd. Lake was born in Rock Island, and grew up in North Scott County with seven sisters and a brother. Her father was the North Scott High School football coach, where she graduated in 1986.
“Iowa leads the whole charge when it comes to presidential politics. You guys see everyone come through here every four years. I know you take that responsibility seriously. You need to start calling out these candidates say ‘where do you stand on election integrity’ Because if we keep having elections stolen it does not matter how good the candidate is, or how good the policies are,” Lake said.
Explaining how when she first decided to run for governor in Arizone she was advised not to address controversial topics such as vaccines, COVID, masks or stolen elections. Lake explained she disregarded that advice because, “I’m not controlled by the uni-party, I’m not controlled by the political elite,” and that these were the very issues important to the voters.
Pointing to the row of television news cameras elevated at the back of the hall, Lake said of the media: “If you would talk about election integrity your viewership would go up.” Kari Lake says she has tried Iowa-nice plenty, and is about to go Iowa-witch on the media.
She explained she is focused 100% on her Arizona election court case and not running for any new office. “We’re taking our case all the way to the Supreme Court,” she said citing her father’s advice to “stay in the fight.” “I believe we will find some judges who have the courage to do the right thing.”
A crowd member yelled “Trump VP!” and Lake said, “I love the man, and I will do everything I can to help get him elected.”
