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amierivers.bsky.social
Amie Rivers
@amierivers.bsky.social
1.3K followers 230 following 620 posts
labor journalist @iowastartingline.com // newsletter editor: iowastartingline.com/newsletter // story ideas and hot goss: amie@iowastartingline.com
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amierivers.bsky.social
Get vaccinated, save some lives this winter.
Some scientists and medical professionals are more worried about disappointing vaccination rates, a main reason why flu hospitalizations and deaths were unusually bad during last year's flu season — one of the deadliest this century. "I think we're going to see a really severe season," said Asefeh Faraz Covelli of the George Washington University School of Nursing. Last winter, the overall flu hospitalization rate was the highest seen since the H1N1 flu pandemic 15 years ago. Flu was the underlying or a contributing cause of more than 18,000 deaths, and one seven-day stretch early this year saw more than 1,800 deaths - the highest one-week spike in at least a decade. Child flu deaths also were far higher than usual.
November 22, 2025 at 5:48 AM
amierivers.bsky.social
does he just not know what "groceries" means?
Chicago Tribune The president leaned into that message in their White House meeting, saying he sees his efforts as complementary. He said that just like Mamdani, he too wants to build more housing. The president didn't lay out any new policies as he repeated his claims that inflation has dropped under his watch. "Anything I do is going to be good for New York if I can get prices down," Trump said. "The new word is affordability. Another word is just groceries. You know, it's sort of an old-fashioned word, but it's very accurate. And they're coming down. They're coming down."
November 22, 2025 at 5:07 AM
amierivers.bsky.social
According to the lawsuit, a residential fire occurred at the policyholder’s Nebraska residence on May 5, 2023, and the policyholder immediately filed a claim for losses. In the course of investigating the claim, Farm Bureau’s Special Investigation Unit learned that an adjuster working for the company had used a credit card to pick the lock of the policyholder’s garage near the scene of the fire to determine whether it contained items the insured claimed as being lost in the fire, the lawsuit alleges. Newton and Meskimen allegedly met with Farm Bureau’s general counsel, Wickham, and advised him Farm Bureau had an obligation to inform the policyholder of the illegal access to their garage. According to the lawsuit, the company’s assistant general counsel, Karl Olson, “eventually agreed” to allow Meskimen and Newton to meet with the policyholder and inform them of the illegal garage entry by the adjuster, but barred Meskimen and Newton from disclosing that two third-party vendors hired to investigate the claim had also been inside the garage. The lawsuit claims Olson and Property Casualty Claims Vice President Anthony Kimmi then agreed that all “poisonous” documentation pertaining to the illegal entry, including photographs, should be placed in a separate file using a canceled insurance policy associated with a Minnesota policyholder who had no association at all with Nebraska fire. — Forged signatures: In the spring of 2023, a Farm Bureau agent in Kansas admitted he had forged the signatures of approximately 50 of his policyholders, without their permission, over a period of three to four years, and that the forms contained false and misleading information to support of the clients’ insurance policy applications. Farm Bureau “refused to allow Newton and/or Meskimen to submit this admitted fraudulent conduct to the Kansas Department of Insurance,” the lawsuit alleges, despite a state law requiring such reporting. — Two fired agents: In 2022, Swinton refused to share information with regulators about two fired Farm Bureau agents. In one of the two cases, a Kansas agent admitted to having forged at least 900 various documents with clients’ signatures, allegedly with the clients’ consent, and another 100 documents without the clients’ consent. Swinton allegedly refused to share information with regulators about the two firings. The lawsuit claims that after Newton wrote in an annual report that he had concerns with such matters going unreported, Wickham “was furious” and instructed him to never put anything in writing like that again. — Fraudulent claim: In 2023, after a Farm Bureau agent was fired for filing a fraudulent claim on his own home in Utah, Swinton or others within the company refused to allow Newton and Meskimen to submit information on the agent’s conduct to the Utah Department of Insurance, despite a state law requiring such a referral. — Father’s altered policy: In 2018, the company’s Special Investigations Unit determined an Iowa agent had altered a customer’s policy after a fire so that the policy included a Ford Mustang that was consumed in the blaze. The customer was the agent’s father and a retired Farm Bureau agent. The lawsuit claims Swinton barred the unit from referring the incident to the Iowa Department of Insurance.
November 20, 2025 at 6:33 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
always a connection @rushthewriter.bsky.social
November 20, 2025 at 5:27 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
From Escucha Mi Voz:
A fundraiser for Noel Lopez De La Cruz of Mt. Pleasant is here:
www.gofundme.com/f/keep-noel-...
Escucha Mi Voz Condemns Imminent Deportation of Longtime Mount Pleasant Resident Noel Lopez De La Cruz Trump Administration and ICE ignored due process, community ties, and basic human decency Iowa City, Iowa – Escucha Mi Voz Iowa is condemning the imminent deportation of Noel Jesús Lopez De La Cruz, a 24-year-old landscaper from Mount Pleasant who has lived in Iowa for more than 20 years, has no criminal record, and is being sent to Mexico, a country he has not known since he was two years old. “My heart is broken,” said Noel’s mom, Escucha Mi Voz member and Mount Pleasant resident Mercedes De La Cruz. “Noel has lived in Iowa since he was two years old. This is the only home he knows. He grew up here, went to school here, works here, and he has never been in trouble. I don’t understand how a country that watched my son grow up can now throw him away like this. They are tearing our family apart.” “This is the reality of Trump’s mass deportations: ICE is ripping a young man who grew up in our schools and works in our neighborhoods out of the only home he has ever known and dumping him in a country he can’t even remember,” said Escucha Mi Voz organizer Alejandra Escobar. “That is not justice or public safety; it is state violence against hardworking families, and we condemn it completely.” Earlier this year, Noel was falsely accused of a misdemeanor offense after a small amount of marijuana was found in a car where he was a passenger. The criminal charges against him were fully dismissed. Despite that, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took custody of Noel from a local jail, transferred him between county facilities and an ICE detention center, and pursued his deportation. Under a new Department of Homeland Security policy backed by the Trump Administration, Noel was treated as if he had just arrived at the border, even though he has lived almost his entire life in Iowa. This policy stripped immigration judges of the ability to grant him a bond hearing, …
November 19, 2025 at 9:46 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
"We look forward to continuing to partner with the Administration"
"The Court's decision today recognizes that Meta faces fierce competition," Meta chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead said following the ruling. "Our products are beneficial for people and businesses and exemplify American innovation and economic growth. We look forward to continuing to partner with the Administration and to invest in America.
November 19, 2025 at 7:59 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
I read before that Mohammed bin Salman had a fantasy of going down as a great man in history, an Alexander the Great type of figure. But yesterday's shambolic display in the Oval Office showed the pathetic reality— the fidgety crown prince of Saudi Arabia has to rely on Trump, America’s geriatric, Temu pharaoh, to save him.
November 19, 2025 at 7:07 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
it's totally not the Center for Indoctrinating Fascism and it is definitely not doing that
iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/11/18/u...

iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/11/18/u...
As planning for the launch of the University of Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom ramps up, the center’s interim director is working to address concerns from the public and others about the center’s intent and offerings. Interim Director Luciano I. de Castro said in an interview Tuesday ahead of the center’s first advisory board meeting that Iowans should show their gratitude to the top scholars who will help advise the center during its infancy and help find the leader to steer it in the future. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and her “advisers” were involved in the search for scholars to recommend for the council, de Castro said, suggesting names to be brought to the board of regents. “Governor Reynolds insisted on writing to every scholar in our committee, because I think this was a very important vision that she had, and I really appreciate it,” de Castro said. “I’m grateful that she was able to see the value of associating this center with these scholars from top universities.” A nine-person executive committee with a five-four split between scholars and other members was approved by the group, but councilmember and former state Sen. Liz Mathis questioned whether there should be political balance among the group members. Regent Nancy Dunkel brought up the same concern in discussion of the advisory council when names were first proposed, to which Hensley said at the time and emphasized Tuesday there is political balance. “I think in designing the executive committee, since there are already five faculty members, the four people who are non-faculty should at least have a balance,” Mathis, a Democrat, said. “That’s all I’m asking for, is fairness in that.” Tom Gallanis, a law professor at George Mason University, said he was concerned at the insinuation that all committees in the state must be politically balanced, and those in the advisory council shouldn’t be factoring in politics when deciding on who would be best to serve on the executive committee, whose job it will be to handle the director search. He was joined by other scholars who repeated throughout the meeting that the center is supposed to be an academic institution, not a political one, and should be treated as such. “This is not a fundamentally political operation. It is fundamentally a matter of academic norms and intellectual quality,” Mark Bauerlein, professor emeritus of English at Emory University, said. “To call it politics is to introduce precisely the degradation and distortion that has led to the necessity of centers like this in the first place.”
November 19, 2025 at 6:23 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
“If we are to come together as people, why are we glorifying somebody who has a history of divisive activities, including using gun violence to KILL people?” resident Alicia Angeli wrote in a post calling on others in the community to contact the venue and urge them to cancel. “I support everybody, left and right, congregating for a noble cause, but this is NOT IT.” “How absolutely disgusting of The Woodlands. Never stepping foot in there again if this actually happens,” another resident responded. “What the f–k??? Allowed that piece of sh-t here???” another said. The event had been designed as a rally to energize Republican voters ahead of next year’s midterms, with Rittenhouse positioned as a marquee draw.
November 19, 2025 at 4:52 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
my gen z coworker made me this
November 19, 2025 at 4:30 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
Rep. Clay Higgins @RepClayHiggins I have been a principled “NO” on this bill from the beginning. What was wrong with the bill three months ago is still wrong today. It abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America. As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people – witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc. If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt. Not by my vote. The Oversight Committee is conducting a thorough investigation that has already released well over 60,000 pages of documents from the Epstein case. That effort will continue in a manner that provides all due protections for innocent Americans. If the Senate amends the bill to properly address privacy of victims and other Americans, who are named but not criminally implicated, then I will vote for that bill when it comes back to the House.
November 18, 2025 at 7:48 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 7:47 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 7:44 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
= The Gazette The petition states Belt drove to the Bar'N and Grill in downtown Carson where he drank a beer and part of a mixed drink containing a shot of vodka and a shot of Kahlua. While there, he allegedly poked a woman and had a "weird argument" about someone being from Cass County, according to the petition. A customer texted the bartender about the situation. Belt allegedly also leaned into the personal space of other patrons, "rambling" and talking about "uncomfortable topics such as transgender bathrooms." Another patron reportedly told Belt he was "smoked" and should not go to the town hall. Before leaving, the bartender placed his mixed drink in a plastic to-go cup which Belt took with him. He then drove to Carson City Hall for the meeting, according to an interview he previously gave The Nonpareil. Belt's "intoxication on at least seven occasions in the past thirteen months, while acting in his official capacity as a member of the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors, constitutes a violation of lowa Code," the petition states, adding "this misconduct warrants his removal from that office."
November 17, 2025 at 11:53 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
This whole story from @coppercourier.com is maddening. What do you mean the only way they knew his location was a phone tracker because they didn't even tell HIM. What do you mean they were going to SEND HIM TO AFGHANISTAN BECAUSE WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE coppercourier.com/2025/10/29/a...
They patiently waited by the phone all day for him to call. Luckily, the family all have a location tracking app downloaded on their phones. Soon enough, they were able to locate Rivera at the Central ICE Field Office in Phoenix. At exactly midnight, they finally heard from him, Nicole said. Rivera called his family to alert them of the situation, telling his family that ICE agents blindfolded him during the commute and that he wasn’t sure where he was as a result, according to Nicole. The family informed him he was at the Central ICE Field Office in Phoenix. The next day, Rivera was transferred to the Central Arizona Florence Correctional Center, according to Nicole. During processing, Rivera made a chilling discovery–ICE erroneously put his country of origin as Afghanistan, a country he had never been to, instead of Mexico. Rivera pleaded with them to change it, but he was told it didn’t matter, according to Nicole. “My brother begged them to change. He was scared that we weren’t going to be able to find him,” Nicole said. “They told him straight to his face that it’s the same difference.” To convince officers to update his information, Rivera asked them to check his passport, which was in the car at the time of arrest, Nicole said. According to her, officers told Rivera they didn’t find a passport in the vehicle, but the family is confident it was there. When the family later retrieved the car, the passport was missing, prompting them to believe that ICE agents tampered with his belongings. On Oct. 24, the ICE detainee tracker showed Rivera as a national of Afghanistan. After The Copper Courier reached out to ICE, however, the tracker was corrected to show him as a Mexican national. ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
November 17, 2025 at 4:35 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
Including Iowa:
WHERE CAN YOU USE DIGITAL ID? There are 11 states and territories allowing the use of IDs stored in Apple Wallet for domestic travel at select airports, according to TSA: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio and Puerto Rico.
November 14, 2025 at 11:21 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
38 retired Chicago journalists speak out against ICE in a joint letter to the Tribune:
Chicago Tribune You know us. For years, you watched and listened to our coverage of the Chicago area. As journalists, we did our best to bring you accurate, objective information about the people, events and issues that mattered. We hope we gained your trust. So please trust us now when we say that what is happening in the Chicago area is wrong. The fact that some federal immigration forces may be leaving soon is cold comfort given the damage they've done and what they may do in other cities. We are retired, but our colleagues who are still on the job have shown you a brutal and illegal campaign against fellow Chicagoans, mainly Latinos: violent abductions, gutting families, using tear gas around children, roughing up witnesses, ramming cars and even taking a day care teacher from her school. We covered this city for a living and love it, and we want you to know that what's happening here is not normal. It's eroding all of our rights and should be a warning to other cities that find themselves enveloped in an ICE storm. - Derrick Blakley, Kathy Brock, Chris Bury, Bill Cameron, Pat Cassidy, Lilia Chacon, Muriel Clair, John Cody, Janet Davies, Craig Dellimore, John Dempsey, Mark Giangreco, Theresa Gutierrez, Walter Jacobson, Robert Jordan, Sherman Kaplan, Anne Kavanagh, Rich King, Bill Kurtis, Alan Krashesky, Ron Magers, Carol Marin, Linda MacLennan, Ron Magers, Carol Marin, Linda MacLennan, Paul Meincke, Steve Miller, Phil Ponce, Phil Rogers, Jim Rose, Rich Samuels, Steve Sanders, Andy Shaw, Tom Skilling, Rob Stafford, David Stewart, Jim Williams, Larry Yellen, Linda Yu and Pam Zekman
November 14, 2025 at 5:11 AM
amierivers.bsky.social
It's unclear when SNAP recipients will see the funding on their EBT cards; here's what Iowa says about it:
How soon after the federal government shutdown ends will my benefits be available to me? • Iowa HHS will work as quickly as possible to ensure benefits are available. We will communicate the timing as details are finalized.
November 13, 2025 at 4:05 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
FORTY
November 13, 2025 at 4:03 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
my coworker Avery has a great substack that is part movie reviews and part politics and it is great: acstaker.substack.com/p/bugonia-zo...
The truth is, Teddy’s story is the result of a cascade of interconnected system failures that only leads to such an explosive end. And these failures are features of the system, not bugs. These failures are constructed to guarantee the existence of people like Teddy so they can be used to maintain the level of suffering required for power structures to thrive.
November 12, 2025 at 6:26 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
to add to Lyz's point: some of the most hardcore Trumpers I talked to also loved Bernie.

it's not about liking Trump's policies. it's about giving a "f you" to the system shitting on them, which is exactly what socialism does in this moment.
To say, “Socialism won’t sell in the heartland” sounds good as a cable news quip, but it is a superficial analysis that ignores the deeply radical roots of this place, the creeping poverty, and social alienation, in favor of a fictitious Midwest that lives in the pages of the political imagination — all Gods, guns, trucks, and beers. Sure, those guys exist, but if you talk to them, as I have done during my 20-year career in journalism in Iowa, I can tell you those guys are mad about the job market. They are unable to get good health care, buy a house, or grab hold of even one part of the American dream. They voted for Trump’s radical politics. It shouldn’t be hard to sell them on a different kind of radicalism. There was a lot already broken about our politics, and whatever else remained intact, Trump is smashing. Running the same old centrists wearing their flannel and leaning against a pile of hay is the kind of thinking that keeps voters and politicians locked in losing cycles. We need a new kind of politics for a new kind of era.
November 12, 2025 at 6:06 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
Immigrant hotel workers in Coralville will ask the city council to protect them from illegal ICE raids tonight.

The livestream: reflect-coralvision.cablecast.tv/internetchan...
TONIGHT: Coralville Workers and Residents to Urge City Council to Protect 4th Amendment and Workplace Safety Rights Coralville, IA - Tonight at 6:30 p.m., immigrant workers living in Coralville and working in a city-owned hotel will join newly elected officials to stand up and speak out at the Coralville City Council meeting. The group will call for local Fourth Amendment due process and workplace safety protections from warrantless ICE raids in city facilities and local workplaces. Among those planning to speak out: 1. City Councilor-elect Katie Freeman, elected last week by Coralville voters; 2. three Coralville families separated from loved ones by ICE this year; and 3. two immigrant workers employed at the Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel & Conference Center owned by the city. The proposed Due Process and Workplace Safety Resolution reaffirms constitutional protections against unreasonable searches, ensures city employees ask to see judicial warrants before allowing ICE access to non-public areas, and strengthens trust between immigrant workers, local government, and local businesses. Similar actions are already underway in lowa City and Johnson County, where hundreds of workers and residents have urged adoption of comparable resolutions. WHO: Coralville residents, workers, and City Councilor-elect Katie Freeman WHAT: City Council meeting and public call for 4th Amendment workplace protections WHEN: Tuesday, November 11 at 6:30 p.m. WHERE: Coralville City Hall, 1512 7th St, Coralville, IA LIVESTREAM: https://reflect- coralvision.cablecast.tv/internetchannel/watch- now?site=1
November 11, 2025 at 10:48 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
Marion County Sheriff's Office is 2nd Iowa agency to agree to help ICE.

They're only deputizing one guy and here's what he says he'll be doing: www.iowapublicradio.org/live-updates...
In Marion County, only one officer was approved to work with ICE. Deputized officers can question people they suspect don’t have legal status while carrying out routine duties, like traffic stops. They can also issue arrest warrants and immigration detainers. “This isn't something where you put on a mask, kick in a door or something like that,” said Marion County’s deputized officer, Lt. Reed Kious. “This is somebody [that] comes across somebody with a detainer order, or someone commits a bad crime against somebody else.”
November 10, 2025 at 11:22 PM
amierivers.bsky.social
Journalist-minded writers can learn new tools to expand their storytelling into younger eyes and ears, meanwhile journalism-minded influencers would learn about ethics and tools to create their own original reporting. After all, were all after the same goal: Sharing stories and reaching new audiences.
November 10, 2025 at 3:39 AM
amierivers.bsky.social
everythingishorrible.net partisan branding is very popular with the media and savvy political commentators, most voters find it incredibly alienating. Voters have strong partisan commitments; any political scientist will tell you that partisan affiliation is by far the strongest predictor of voting habits (only race comes anywhere near it.) Partisan identity is how the vast majority of people who don't pay close attention to politics—and the vast majority of people who do!-think about and interact with politics. When people vote for a candidate, they are voting for the party as much as the person. If the person then turns around and thwarts the party at every turn, people feel betrayed. Even people on the opposing side often are mistrustful of politicians who won't support their party. You may think that partisanship is good or you may think that partisanship is bad (I think it depends!) But there's little question that the bipartisan moderation that a lot of elite commentors find irresistible repels the bulk of the electorate.
November 9, 2025 at 6:40 PM