Iowa
‘Moms for Liberty’ calls for lawmakers to get ‘inappropriate’ books out of Iowa schools
5 Iowa mothers, all members of the conservative “Mothers for Liberty” group, made their case to lawmakers Monday night about their efforts to take away or restrict inappropriate books in faculties.
“This legislature wants to come back collectively and discover frequent floor on defending youngsters from obscenity,” stated Mandy Gilbert, a Johnston father or mother and secretary for the Polk County Mothers for Liberty chapter.
The Home Authorities Oversight Committee invited the ladies to talk about their makes an attempt to enchantment sure books to their native college boards.
Though the general public was not invited to testify, the Capitol’s largest convention room was full of activists on both facet of the difficulty — some nodding alongside in the course of the speeches and others sporting shirts declaring their opposition to banning books.
On a big monitor on the entrance of the room, the audio system scrolled by pictures from graphic novels reminiscent of “Gender Queer” and “Enjoyable Dwelling,” two memoirs about LGBTQ sexual awakening and coming of age. In addition they learn aloud passages from books that debate masturbation, sexual exercise, incest or rape amongst minors.
“Would you learn this out loud to your youngsters and grandchildren? Why not?” requested Carroll resident Amy Dea, after studying an express passage from Offered, a novel about intercourse trafficking. “As a result of it’s not age acceptable. It’s obscene and sexually express. No scholar ought to have entry to this filth in our faculty.”
After studying the passages, the ladies recounted the executive difficulties of difficult the books. A number of of their college districts undertook months-long reconsideration processes, they stated, however in the end declined to take away the books from curriculum or require parental consent earlier than children can entry them.
“The method is just too subjective, too prolonged, and admittedly, there are too many inappropriate books that must be faraway from our faculties,” stated Pam Gronau, an Urbandale mom and laws chair for the Polk County Mothers for Liberty.
Democrats on the committee famous that the mother and father have been in a position to efficiently stop their very own youngsters from accessing sure books they disagreed with, even when the books weren’t eliminated or restricted to all college students.
“My query is … whether or not the method truly, essentially failed them, or have been they merely sad with the end result?” requested Rep. Lindsay James, D-Dubuque, talking with reporters after the occasion.
Rep. Brooke Boden, an Indianola Republican and the chair of the Authorities Oversight Committee, stated lawmakers can even hear from college directors on the difficulty.
Outdoors the committee room, a small group held indicators that condemned ebook banning. Former Iowa instructor Alena Deal with stated she’s involved the push in opposition to inappropriate books is a component of a bigger effort to take away LGBTQ illustration from faculties.
“In case you do not like a specific ebook, you go to the college board,” stated Deal with. “You do not have to have laws that can be utilized to ban something that is pro-LGBTQ, which is the place that is heading.”
Controversial college books and curricula have been a central theme of Iowa politics in recent times.
Gov. Kim Reynolds staked her reelection marketing campaign on “mother and father’ rights” and pushed for the swift passage of a legislation to offer state funds to households who attend non-public faculties.
Inside the first weeks of the legislative session, Republican leaders launched a slew of payments to limit LGBTQ curriculum, create penalties for educating some forbidden ideas, and supply extra transparency to folks.
Reynolds spoke at a Mothers for Liberty occasion final week. She promised to finish “indoctrination” in public faculties and to again laws that will give mother and father extra oversight into which books are made accessible to college students.
Katie Akin is a politics reporter for the Register. Attain her at kakin@registermedia.com or at 410-340-3440. Observe her on Twitter at @katie_akin
JELD-WEN, a manufacturer of windows and doors in Grinnell, has announced it will be laying off 152 workers effective Nov. 7.
The announcement was made on Iowa’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) site.
The company, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, was founded in 1960 and has 18,000 employees, with operating facilities in 16 countries in North America and Europe with 2023 sales of $4.3 billion, according to the company’s website.
JELD-WEN did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Earlier this year, JELD-WEN announced the closing of its Hawkins, Wisconsin facility, affecting 338 employees, and in Vista, California, resulting in the loss of 110 jobs.
The Iowa Hawkeyes lost two players from their football team this week.
Both running back Leshon Williams and wide receiver Kaleb Brown have announced that they will redshirt for the rest of the season and enter the transfer portal at the end of the year.
Despite the two players opting to leave the program, it hasn’t phased head coach Kirk Ferentz. He isn’t worried about the decisions that they made at all.
When asked about Williams and Brown transferring, Ferentz offered a short and brutal quote.
“Not to be callous, but if a player isn’t playing, you don’t lose much.”
Williams had been dealing with an injury throughout the season thus far. Before the injury, he had shown flashes of being a player that could end up making an impact. Unfortunately, those flashes were never able to come to light on the field.
As for Brown, there were big plans for him coming into the season. But, he was suspended for the first game of the year and was never able to earn his role back.
Clearly, Ferentz is not worried about how his team will respond to the news. Basically, he doesn’t think the losses of them will impact the team at all.
Ferentz isn’t necessarily wrong with what he stated. Neither player had a role that will change how the team has been operating. However, it was the way he said it that was a bit out of line.
Regardless of the role that they players had, handling the situation with a bit more grace would have been a better look.
All of that being said, Iowa is not a program that needs to be graceful necessarily. The Hawkeyes want to win football games and neither Williams or Brown was contributing to that goal so far this year.
Looking ahead to the future, we wish the best to both Williams and Brown. Hopefully, they find success in their future endeavors.
The Iowa On3 Massey Ratings top 25 list as of Oct. 8 underwent some changes compared to last week’s rankings. These updates highlight the competitiveness of Iowa high school football, especially when you consider that only three of the top ten teams remain unscathed.
Meanwhile, two teams ranked 11 to 25 swapped spots. Here’s how the state’s top teams fared after the 2024 Iowa high school football season has reached its halfway point.
The On3 Massey Ratings, officially used during the BCS era, is a model that ranks sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule, and margin of victory.
CLICK HERE to watch your high school’s games on NFHS Network now!
After losing to Dowling Catholic, the Tigers have secured victories against ranked teams. Their latest conquest was against 23rd-ranked Waukee Northwest, wherein Drake DeGroote completed three touchdown passes to Zay Robinson. Valley can extend their winning streak to five games against Waterloo West.
The Maroons survived the fierce opposition ushered in by fifth-ranked Ankeny Centennial in a match that needed three overtime periods to be settled. Dowling Catholic showed resilience despite a 21-3 halftime deficit and scoring their first touchdown with six minutes left in the third quarter. Overcoming that test of character should give the Maroons confidence in their upcoming match against Urbandale.
The Dragons are flying again after clinching their third consecutive victory against ranked opponents. This time, they’ve shut out eighth-ranked Southeast Polk, thanks to their defense, ranked fourth in Iowa high school football. After limiting Ankeny, Waukee, and Southeast Polk to 14 points, Johnston should have no problems defeating Urbandale on the road.
The Bulldogs remain undefeated after five games and haven’t allowed 20 points to an opponent since their season opener against sixth-ranked Pleasant Valley. Bettendorf’s latest result was a 33-14 masterpiece over Kennedy, a game practically over by halftime when the Bulldogs established a 27-6 lead. Bettendorf can improve to 6-0 by defeating Davenport Central this week.
The Jaguars could not translate their fantastic start against Dowling Catholic into a victory. Failing to close out the Maroons after three overtimes handed them their second consecutive defeat. However, they remain in the top ten and could bounce back with easier matchups against Roosevelt and Waukee Northwest over the next two weeks.
In their last match, the Spartans surrendered 28 points to Cedar Falls. While that’s a concern, the second-best offense in Iowa high school football scored a season-high 52 points. Pleasant Valley is on a groove, scoring 101 points in their two previous games. In that case, they should have no problems maintaining the momentum against Muscatine.
After starting the season at 1-3, the Hawks have won two consecutive games, beating Iowa City West and Prairie by a combined score of 73-38. However, their schedule gets more challenging as they face 11th-ranked Liberty and top-ranked Valley in their following two assignments.
The Rams’ shutout loss to Johnston halted their winning streak. That result also brings their record against the top ten teams to 2-2. It’s also a total contrast to their 48-3 win over Sioux City East the week before. Southeast Polk should make a better effort in the next two weeks to defeat No. 13 Waukee and second-ranked Dowling Catholic. Those games are perfect for the Rams’ defense to prove why they are Iowa high school football’s top-ranked defense.
The Titans have scored over 50 points in back-to-back games, defeating Jefferson 56-6. The week before, they scored 55 on Glenwood. Lewis Central can keep their hopes for a perfect season intact by defeating Winterset, Norwalk, and Dallas Center-Grimes in their next three games.
The Comets flew to the top ten after a 29-8 victory over Ballard Community. North Polk’s defense has intensified, allowing only 33 points in its last three games. Before that run, they gave up 68 points to Bondurant-Farrar and Carlisle combined. On deck for the Comets are Indianola this week and Boone on the 18th.
11. Liberty
12. Pella
13. Waukee
14. Linn-Mar (+1)
15. West Lyon (-1)
16. Decorah
17. Xavier
18. Iowa City High
19. Cedar Falls
20. Humboldt
21. Grundy Center
22. Williamsburg
23. Waukee Northwest
24. ADM
25. Western Dubuque
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