Iowa
Iowa law banning books including 1984 and Ulysses blocked by US federal judge
A lawsuit brought by publishers and authors including John Green and Jodi Picoult has led to a portion of a law banning Iowa school libraries and classrooms from carrying books depicting sex acts being halted.
On Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the measure, writing that it had been applied unconstitutionally in many schools and that books of “undeniable political, artistic, literary, and/or scientific value” had been caught up in it, including Ulysses by James Joyce, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, Beloved by Toni Morrison and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
This is the second time that US district judge Stephen Locher, a Joe Biden appointee, has blocked the ban. The law, Senate File 496, was first approved by Iowa’s Republican-led legislature and governor Kim Reynolds in 2023, however, Locher placed an injunction on it in December 2023 after authors and publishers sued the state.
The preliminary injunction was reversed by the US Eighth Circuit appeals court last August, leading publishers and authors to file a second complaint, arguing that the ban violates free speech and “goes far beyond prohibiting books that are obscene as to minors because it prohibits books with even a brief description of a sex act for students of all ages without any evaluation of the book as a whole”.
In his decision, Locher wrote that the ban has resulted in “forced removal of books from school libraries that are not pornographic or obscene”, and that unconstitutional applications of the law “far exceed” constitutional applications.
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The ultimate fate of the ban still hangs in the balance, as Iowa officials could appeal this week’s ruling.
In response to Locher’s decision, Iowa attorney general Brenna Bird, a Republican, said that parents “shouldn’t have to worry about what materials their kids have access to when they’re not around.”
“This common sense law makes certain that the books kids have access to in school classrooms and libraries are age-appropriate,” she added. “I’m going to keep on fighting to uphold our law that protects schoolchildren and parental rights.”
The Iowa law is among several book banning measures enacted across the US in recent years. Publisher-led lawsuits have also been brought in Florida and Idaho.
Other books unconstitutionally caught up in the law, wrote Locher, include Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Song of Solomon and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, and Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Hazzard County, a Cedar Rapids bar, has announced they are opening a new location in Iowa City.
The Iowa City location will open in the Pedestrian Mall at 118 S Dubuque Street, where The Field House was previously located.
According to its Facebook page, the bar will feature a country theme, similar to the Cedar Rapids location.
The bar will also feature TVs to tune into games.
Hazzard County is set to open August 1, 2025.
Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.
JOHNSTON, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa National Guard is honoring 1,800 Iowa soldiers who are being deployed to the Middle East for Operation Inherent Resolve.
The Iowa National Guard will hold 24 send-off ceremonies across the state from May 28-30.
The ceremonies will provide Iowans the chance to show support for service members and their families.
All are welcome to attend.
“These send-offs are a vital tradition,” said Major General Stephen Osborn, Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard. “They represent not only the courage and dedication of our soldiers but also the unwavering support of the communities that stand behind them. We encourage Iowans to attend, show their gratitude, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our troops as they embark on this important mission.”
Ceremonies are being held in several eastern Iowa towns, including:
- Dubuque (133 IN A Co) – Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. at the Dubuque Armory, 5001 Old Highway Road
- Iowa City (133 IN B Co) – Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Melrose Readiness Center, 4540 Melrose Road
- Davenport (133 IN D Co) – Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at the Davenport Armory, 5300 W Kimberly Road
- Waterloo (133 IN HHC & G Co) – Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. at Cedar Falls High School, 2701 W 27th Street, Cedar Falls
- Mt. Pleasant (224 BEB A Co) – Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the Theatre Museum of Repertoire Americana, 405 E Thresher Road
- Cedar Rapids (224 BEB C Co) – Thursday at 2:00 p.m. at the Cedar Rapids Armory, 1500 Wright Brothers Boulevard
- Davenport (224 BEB HHC, B & E Co) – Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the Mississippi Fairgrounds Speedway, 2815 W Locust Street
- Cedar Rapids (334 BSB HHC, A & B Co) – Friday at 5:00 p.m. at the Cedar Rapids Armory, 1500 Wright Brothers Boulevard
Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.
The Iowa Hawkeyes have prided themselves on their strong defense for much of the Kirk Ferentz era, but the problem is they lost a ton of key players on that side of the ball this offseason.
Perhaps most notably, Iowa lost all three of its starting linebackers from 2024, which includes Butkus-Fitzgerald Award winner Jay Higgins.
Iowa has managed to piece things together in previous years after losing strong talent, so there is no reason to believe that the Hawkeyes won’t be able to do it again, but in this new NIL era, it may become considerably tougher for Ferentz and Co. to make significant moves.
Well, evidently, Iowa has identified a linebacker that it truly wants on its roster moving forward: three-star Georgia product Billy Weivoda.
The Hawkeyes just made an offer to Weivoda, and now, he will be visiting Iowa City for three days between June 13 and 15.
Weivoda is a class of 2026 recruit, so he obviously won’t be able to suit up for Iowa for a couple of years, but at least the Hawkeyes are getting ahead of things by trying to lock down a linebacking corps for the future.
The Alpharetta, Ga. native is the 56th-ranked linebacker in the country, via 247 Sports’ composite rankings. He is also the 78th-ranked player in the state of Georgia overall.
Weivoda also has upcoming meetings slated with Appalachian State, Jacksonville State and Virginia Tech, so Iowa may certainly have an edge from a prestige perspective. He already took a visit with Georgia Tech back in January.
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