Stories

A federal program that provides financial assistance to more than half a million Americans who have contracted HIV or have AIDS will sunset on Sept. 30 unless Congress reauthorizes it, and its prospects seem uncertain.

An Iowa man, whose only previous encounter with the law was a 2006 operating-while-intoxicated conviction, was sentenced to the maximum allowed by state law for failing to disclose to a one-time intimate partner that he was HIV-positive. The case, which has not resulted in the one-time partner actually contracting HIV, has been used as evidence by some who say it’s time that state criminal transmission laws should be re-evaluated.

In a previous report, The Iowa Independent detailed the criminal case of a Bremer County man who was charged and convicted to 25 years in prison under the state’s criminal HIV transmission law. Although this case was by no means the first to be prosecuted under provisions of the statute some consider archaic, its details have provided a springboard for Iowa’s launch into a larger national debate regarding whether criminal prosecutions for diseases are appropriate or constitutional.

The 10th annual HIV/AIDS Conference next week in Des Moines will emphasize care, prevention and public awareness.

“Sometimes people think it’s not going to happen to me because I live in Iowa,” said Patricia Young, HIV/AIDS/Hepatitis program coordinator with the Iowa Department of Public Health. “Sometimes until you know somebody who is living with HIV, it’s [...]

The number of Iowans diagnosed with HIV infection last year rose to its highest level since reporting began in 1998.

After his speech on community service Wednesday Barack Obama took some questions from the predominately collegiate crowd at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

In this video Cornell student and birddogger Abigail Pedersen talks about the issues that concern her and shares her opinion about Barack Obama’s response to her question on HIV/AIDS.

Watch Obama’s response in [...]

Iowans are no strangers to national influence. Every four years large groups, hoping to drive national conversations and set public policy, open offices in the state. The groups’ pet issues are as varied as there is public sentiment and range from education to sub-prime lending, from health care to global warming. There is at least [...]

By the time presidential candidate Bill Richardson arrived for one of his patent job interviews at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, the roughly 100 chairs had been filled and overflow spectators stood beside walls and in the back of the room.
Though some questions were posed at the Tuesday night event about Iraq and foreign policy, [...]