A Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful in Iowa is pitching himself as a candidate who believes in the party’s “old Democratic values.”

However, on Saturday, state Senator Zach Wahls hosted a campaign event at a radical activist bookstore, Dog-Eared Books, that has been vocal about abolishing ICE, financially supports anti-ICE nonprofits, holds drag story time for kids, and promotes books banned in schools for their sexually explicit content, among other far-left activism the store engages in. 

Fox News Digital asked Wahls ahead of the event if he was aware of the bookstore’s radical track record and whether he regretted holding a campaign event there, but Wahls never responded.

Meanwhile, Wahls’ campaign website promises Iowans he will work to “secure the border and fix our broken immigration system,” and in posts on social media he has insisted that the nation must have an immigration system based on “law and order.” 

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“I believe in the old Democratic values of hard work and family, not handouts for billionaires and insiders,” Wahls also touts in a campaign video pinned to the top of his X account.

Video obtained by Fox News Digital from outside the Ames, Iowa, bookstore where Wahls held his campaign meet-and-greet event alongside his novelist wife, titled “Reading and Running: A conversation with Zach Wahls and Chloe Angyal,” showed at least one sign right next to the front entrance reading “ICE IS NOT WELCOME HERE” in bold capital letters. The store has hosted events for Wahls’ wife in the past prior to Saturday and sells her romance novels.  

In the wake of the federal agent-involved shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the bookstore created a logo of a dog in sunglasses holding a protest sign that reads “ABOLISH ICE” and even put it on a stickler the store is selling on its website. 

Following the shootings of Good and Pretti, the store also pledged to donate 25% of its sales to a network of mostly anonymous philanthropic groups called the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund. Some of the groups that have been publicly reported to be affiliated with the fund, include anti-ICE groups like the George Soros-funded Headwaters Foundation for Justice, which says it “believe[s] in a future without ICE,” and the Black Collective Foundation Minnesota.

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“Do not retreat. Do not back down. Double Down,” Lulete Mola, president and co-founder of the group, said following the ICE shootings in Minneapolis, according to Inside Philanthropy.

Besides being staunchly anti-ICE, the bookstore where Wahls held his meet-and-greet event on Saturday also has a history of supporting child gender transitions and has worked against Republican lawmakers’ efforts aimed at protecting women by removing “gender identity” from the state’s list of protected classes under Iowa’s civil rights laws.

Dog-Eared Books also has a history of holding drag story time events for kids, including one that featured a 14-year-old teenage drag queen, and touts selling “banned” books that are frequently removed from school districts due to what critics deem is non-age appropriate sexually explicit content. Among them being sold is “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George Johnson, which Dog-Eared books notes on social media is “one of the most frequently banned books in Iowa,” and “Gender Queer,” by Maia Kobabe, a book widely banned in schools for its graphic sexual imagery.   

Meanwhile, the store has also exhibited alignment with radical anti-Israel folks, claiming in a Facebook event post for a “Tattoos For Palestine” event that Israel is “committing a Genocide” with its actions that followed the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. And, a web page on the bookstore’s website, encourages people to join their letter-writing campaign to lawmakers, aimed at promoting its values that include “No human is illegal. All people deserve access to reproductive healthcare. Healthcare is a human right,” and other policy positions that skew to the far-left.

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Fox News Digital also reached out to Wahls after the event and did not receive a response. The bookstore did not provide a response either.

Wahls is vying to take over the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by junior Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and if he were to win, would sit alongside longtime senior Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. Wahls, a former Iowa Senate Minority Leader, is taking on a field of opponents for his upcoming primary race in June. Among his main contenders is Democrat State Rep. Josh Turek.

Before entering politics, Wahls went viral as a young adult after giving a speech in the Iowa legislature about growing up with two moms, amid efforts in the state to amend the portion of the state’s constitution tied to same-sex marriage. He and his novelist wife credit the event for their meeting.

(FOX 2) – Plan on the sun greeting residents in Southeast Michigan on Thursday as temperatures dip.

However, by Friday, snow will be back in the forecast with flakes possible in the early morning.

Big picture view:

Thursday’s temperatures will peak in the low 40s this with some gusts as high as 24 mph.

Fortunately, the sun will be out for the majority of the day, adding some warmth to the air heading into the end of the week. 

Then, around 2 a.m., snow could fall along with a mixture of rain. There will be increasing cloud cover throughout the day as temperatures sink further. The low for Friday will just eclipse freezing conditions.

There will be more wind gusts as well. Snow could accumulate as much as half an inch.

Weekend weather

Rain and snow will likely greet commuters when they’re on the road Friday around 10 a.m. before transitioning to just rain by 2 p.m.

Snow will also accumulate another half an inch, according to the National Weather Service. 

Saturday will have partly sunny conditions and a high of 40 degrees. Sunday will transition to likely rain and snow with a high of 55 degrees.

It appears the brief warm spell that early March brought was only temporary, with freezing temperatures returning the following week.

Every week, the Milwaukee Music Premiere sponsored by Density Studios connects the city’s artists with our listening audience. If you’re an artist with a track you’d like us to debut exclusively on Radio Milwaukee, head over to our Music Submission page to learn how.

Interpreting the meaning behind a song isn’t always easy. Sounds that transmit a particular vibe to one person can give off something completely different to someone else. Even lyrics that seem obvious can be misinterpreted — or misheard entirely (“Excuse me … while I kiss this guy”).

For the new single from his VLNTYN project, Milwaukee’s Jorge Vallentine doesn’t go quite so far as to build an entire world for the listener. But he does show them the door.

More accurately, Valentine explained the entryway in notes provided with “Wrong Turn,” the track we’re helping him premiere today. “Through a mysterious red doorframe, a dark world exists,” he wrote about the song, adding that it “carries you across the threshold into that world’s brooding atmosphere.”

The opening moments of “Wrong Turn” don’t so much kick that door in as cautiously extend a hand toward the knob. An ominous guitar lick punctuated by the occasional kickdrum sets the scene while Vallentine laments, “I took a wrong turn too far back / to remember now.” What he remembers with crystal clarity are the choices he made and how they damaged those around him:

Guess I’m no better than my father
Stumbling through lessons I can’t learn
Hurt myself, hurt lovers
Drowning in deeper waters
I took a wrong turn too far back
To remember now

Like the lyrics, the sonic footprint of the track doesn’t offer relief or resolution. The closest “Wrong Turn” gets to catharsis is a guitar solo around the midway point, but even that would rather maintain the tension than provide any kind of release.

The same feeling carries over to the song’s final moments, with another guitar contribution that walks right up to the edge of a wail before backing off and surrendering to an understated final few lines, followed by a few quick hits on the snare that are more ellipsis than period. It’s an abrupt ending that suggests self-forgiveness isn’t in the cards. “A dark world,” to be sure.

You can listen to “Wrong Turn” by VLNTYN on demand using the player at the top of the page or on 88Nine throughout today (7:30 and 11:30 a.m.; 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.). The single’s official release date is March 18, after which VLNTYN will play shows at Ope! Brewing Co, (April 11) and MKeUltra (May 16).