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May 12, 2021 This weekend will mark the start of the second farmers market held during the pandemic. Contributed photo from 2017. By Ben Mikek mikekben@grinnell.edu Grinnell’s summer-long farmers market will be opening on May 13 with many of the same COVID-19 precautions as last year. Grinnell residents will be able to purchase everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to kettle corn twice a week in Central Park.   “The excitement for market seems to be the same every year for me: it’s just seeing all of our vendors again,” said Kendra Vincent, who organizes the market for the Gri...

mikekben@grinnell.edu Grinnell College received 10,513 applications for admissions for fall 2021, a more than 30 percent increase over last year, reflecting a national trend towards more applications to higher education institutions in a year characterized by the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase, both at Grinnell and elsewhere, has been driven by the removal of standardized testing requirements, said Sarah Fischer, Grinnell’s director of admission. “We’ve heard from families … that students applied to more schools and a wider range of schools because they no longer saw a test score as...

mikekben@grinnell.edu The Grinnell College administration is separating the Division of Student Affairs (DSA) from the academic affairs division in an effort to allow for longer-term planning. It remains unclear, though, what concrete impact the changes will have, and students involved in disciplinary processes are wondering whether the new structure will do anything to fix the problems they have encountered. The DSA, which includes Student Health and Wellness, Campus Safety, Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Social Justice, Intercultural Affairs, Residence Life and International Student...

mikekben@grinnell.edu Legislation to restrict the teaching about systemic racism in Iowa public schools died before it could reach the governor, but state lawmakers have since passed a new law that restricts early voting, and are pushing ahead during a busy session with legislation to loosen gun control and fund charter schools. Grinnell’s state Representative Dave Maxwell explained his role in the legislature and his views on controversial legislation at a virtual March 6 event hosted by Grinnell’s League of Women Voters. Grinnell’s newly elected state Senator Dawn Driscoll did not att...

Dr. Laura Ferguson, physician at Family Medicine in Grinnell, receiving her COVID-19 vaccine. Photo contributed by UnityPoint. By Ben Mikek mikekben@grinnell.edu Grinnell College has registered to become a vaccine distribution site, meaning that once COVID-19 vaccines become more widely available they may be administered at the College.    The decision over whether to administer vaccines at the College would be made by public health authorities if they find it necessary, said Heather Cox, the College’s director of emergency management, in an email to The S&B. At the moment, College fac...