TRM Weekly

Sept. 13, 2022

Elle Wyant is taking on an election-denying candidate focused on federal issues and with a history of extreme conservatism. Read about her historic race for Iowa House District 91 here.

Are birds of prey at loud university football games a way to educate the public about nature, or a case of exploiting animals for marketing? Letter-writer Lynn Gallagher chimes in; read it here.

With almost 4 million American renters likely to face eviction soon, and affordable housing a key need in most communities, here's a look at average monthly rental rates in Iowa and Illinois, plus the most expensive rental regions within them.

Source: RentData.org, 2022

NEWS BITS

ILLINOIS

NEW LAW BANNING CASH BAIL TRIGGERS MISLEADING CHICAGO CAMPAIGN FLIERS

Campaign fliers created to resemble newspapers, and bearing race-baiting images and misleading words, are being distributed throughout Chicago, reports Axios Chicago. Key targets of the fliers: incumbent Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and Illinois' new law banning cash bail starting Jan. 1, which opponents claim will make it harder to detain murderers and drug dealers.

FIRST-EVER FARMWORKER HEALTH AND WELFARE CENTER COMING TO UIC

We'll know more about the health needs of farmworkers, and be better equipped to address them,  through a new center and study centered with the University of Illinois-Chicago. The new Great Lakes Center for Farmworker Health and Wellbeing will start with a census of migratory, seasonal and H2-A visa farmworkers, also try to track work-related injuries, and eventually may lead to efforts to assess stress levels among migrant and farmworkers. (UIC Today)

WATCH FOR NEW STRATEGIES IN ILLINOIS TO ADDRESS GROWING HATE CRIMES

Why are advocates pushing Illinois legislators for stronger and more accurate hate crimes reporting? The State Journal-Register reports that factors include a 339 percent increase nationwide in hate crimes against Asian Americans; a record number of deaths of transgender and gender non-conforming Americans (47), and the fact that 23 "hate groups" have now made Illinois their home.

IOWA

GRANT TO BRING 385 "AFFORDABLE" RENTALS TO 11 CITIES

Federal tax credits totalling $100 million over 10 years will fund affordable homes in Adel, Audubon, Bondurant, Boone, Carroll, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Grinnell, Hiawatha, Ottumwa, and Winterset, reports WHO 13 Des Moines.

JUDGE REJECTS PARENTS' LAWSUIT IN LINN-MAR SCHOOLS 

The parents who sued Linn-Mar schools over a policy to protect transgender students failed to prove the policy poses "irreparable harm" to their own kids, and dismissed the suit, reports Iowa Starting Line. 

"SECLUSION ROOMS" IN CEDAR RAPIDS SCHOOLS DECLARED ILLEGAL 

The Cedar Rapids School District, which used seclusion rooms to discipline almost 5,000 students from 2019 to 2021, will dismantle all of those rooms, end seclusion and restraint as a form of discipline, and begin staff retraining within 30 days following a settlement agreement with the federal Justice Department (KMTV 3 News Now).Des Moines 17-year-old facing 20 years in prison for killing her alleged kidnapper in 2020 returned to court Tuesday, reports the Des Mines Register.

TEEN WHO KILLED ALLEGED RAPIST WILL NOT FACE JAIL TIME

Peiper Lewis, the Des Moines 17-year-old who faced up to 20 years in prison for stabbing her alleged rapist to death in 2020, will not serve jail time. (Des Moines Register)

NATIONAL

NATIONWIDE RENTAL, EVICTION CRISIS LOOMING

Almost 4 million Americans are expected to face rental eviction in the next several months, due largely to a 25 percent increase in rental rates since early 2020. (Yahoo News).

COMEDIAN JERROD CARMICHAEL WINS EMMY FOR "ROTHANIEL"

Jerrod Carmichael, whose HBO special "Rothaniel" also served as his worldwide "coming out" as a Black gay man, won an Emmy Monday for the special that broke ground for sharing the challenges revealing one's gayness to family.(The Root).

REVERED MATTHEW SHEPARD AWARD GOES TO QUINTO, RAINBOW

Satirist Randy Rainbow and actor Zachary Quinto will be honored by the Matthew Shepard Foundation with the Making A Difference award for "replacing hate with understanding, compassion, and acceptance." (Matthew Shepard Foundation). Previous honoreees include the late Cong. John Lewis, actor George Takei, skater Adam Rippon and Barbara K. Roberts, the first female governor of Oregon.

SHA'CARRI RICHARDSON CASE WON'T LEAD TO END OF CANNABIS BAN 

The cannabis ban that caused world champion runner Sha'Carri Richardson to be suspended from the Tokyo Olympics last year is likely to stay in place, reports High Times. A circulated list of substances that will be banned still includes the plant, a year after Richardson tested positive for marijuana and triggered a second look at the policy.

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