The Daily Iowan
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022
THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA COMMUNITY SINCE 1868
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50 years and counting The Iowa City Farmers Market is celebrating half a decade with live music and other activities on Aug. 27.
Daniel McGregor-Huyer/The Daily Iowan
Iowa City residents gather for the Iowa City Farmers Market on Washington Street on May 6.
Marandah Mangra-Dutcher Design Editor When Iowa City local Abby Anderson peruses the vibrant aisles of produce and flowers at the Chauncey Swan Parking Ramp every Saturday, she has her daughter by her side, which helps the Iowa City Farmers Market tradition continue on for generations. Anderson, along with thousands of other patrons of the Iowa City Farmers Market, grew up visiting the market and has attended the 50-year-old weekend event throughout her life. 2022 marks the Iowa City Farmers Market’s 50th anniversary, which the City of Iowa City will celebrate on Saturday during regular market hours with added activities, live music, and a vendor raffle.
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As a pastor in Iowa City at Resurrection Assembly of God, Anderson shares the market with her daughter and other children she interacts with through her job. “I have a lot of kids that I take care of, and whenever they’re with me on a weekend, I always make them come and get some Farmers Market tokens,” Anderson said. “They have to go buy something from the farmers and thank the farmers and take that time to appreciate where their food is coming from and the people who are putting the labor in.” Farmers Market tokens were introduced in 2016 and provide a centralized system of payment for vendors. The market takes credit cards, debit cards, electronic benefits transfer, and the special Supplemental Nutrition Program for women, infants, and children in exchange for $5 tokens which
are then given to the vendors. Michelle Wiegand, the City of Iowa City recreation program supervisor of special events and communications, said the Farmers Market started under the College Street bridge in 1972. “We’ve gone from this sort of like, inconsistent, maybe one vendor, maybe one to 20 vendors during the first season, to now having 150 vendors, live music, kids activities, hot food vendors, and food trucks,” Wiegand said. The market consists of a wide array of products, Wiegand said. “We hear from a lot of people who can do kind of a one-stop shop for a lot of people they can get their veggies and fruit for the week,” Wiegand said. “They can get their meat that they might be using that week, they can get pasta, and they can even get a
Construction delays pause Nest Iowa City move-in The Nest Iowa City apartments scheduled new move-in dates for its residents due to construction delays.
Fourteen years after the museum’s building was destroyed in the 2008 flood, the University of Iowa’s large artwork collection will once again be on display on campus later this week. Page 1B
gift for friends.” Iowa City Farmers Market vendors are required to produce the products they sell because there are no resellers allowed, Wiegand said. “We are producer-only, so you do know that when you’re buying from a vendor, you are buying stuff that is made locally or produced locally, and that you’re supporting that vendor,” Wiegand said. For patrons like Anderson, she said it’s worth it to purchase produce at the market as opposed to going to a regular store. “I want to make sure that just because I might be able to get jalapeños at the grocery store, quickly and whenever, I want to try and get them from farmers who care about the land here,” Anderson said. MARKET | Page 2
COVID-19 reinfection, variants continue to concern UI researchers Updated University of Iowa COVID-19 guidance is allowing the university to establish a new normal as a researcher warns about reinfection risk and variance of the disease. Eleanor Hildebrandt Managing Editor
ident of operations and development, wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan that construction issues prevented residents from being able to move into the building in August. “On Aug. 10, our general contracting partner informed us that due to construction delays, this move-in date would not be possible,” he wrote. “Our development team and general contractor have been battling supply chain issues, labor shortages, and material shortages throughout the duration of construction.” Smith wrote the delay in occupying the building was not known until days before the original movein date. “Up until Aug. 10, we were still confident we could
COVID-19 variants remain a concern to University of Iowa officials and researchers as students return for the most normal looking academic year since 2019. Stanley Perlman, UI professor of microbiology and immunology who has studied coronaviruses for 40 years, said it isn’t time for pandemic thinking to end as variants still alter researchers’ understanding of how the virus’s transmission works. “Our concept of transmission has certainly changed over the two years of the pandemic,” he said. “In the beginning, we thought it was spread by large droplets, but we know now it’s spread by respiratory droplets, including really small ones.” Perlman said the coronavirus — specifically the omicron variant — has mutated itself to become more transmissible, so reinfection is more likely to occur as immunity lessens and people can be infected with multiple strands. “This variant is a little different from previous versions because it is highly mutated, so there were lots of chang-
NEST | Page 2
COVID-19 | Page 2
EPI: Iowa Republicans look to restrict abortion
Following the June overturning of Roe v. Wade, Iowa Republicans took strides to restrict abortion within the state over the summer. Current efforts, however, are stalled by district court cases. Page 3A Construction continues on The Nest Iowa City apartments downtown on Aug. 21.
Burge Market Place eliminates hot breakfast
One of the University of Iowa’s dining halls eliminated some of its breakfast options while Housing and Dining looks to fill open chef positions. Page 3A
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Isabelle Foland News Reporter The Nest Iowa City apartment building is delaying residents’ move in until early September, leaving hundreds of the complex’s residents without housing. The 11-story apartment complex, located on 123 E. College St., started construction with the Minnesota-based Tailwind Group a few months after approval from the City of Iowa City in January 2021. The lease start date for residents was anticipated to begin on Aug. 19, three days before University of Iowa classes started. Several last-minute issues related to supplies occurred, pushing back the movein date by 13 days. Brandon Smith, the Tailwind Group’s vice pres-
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