KIM REYNOLDS

The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that Democratic Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer qualifies for the primary ballot, rejecting a lower court decision and allowing her to continue her campaign for the nomination.

Month by month, more of the roughly 40 million Americans who get help buying groceries through the federal food stamp program are seeing their benefits plunge.

Iowa Democrat Abby Finkenauer’s hopes of running against Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley this fall may hinge on a state Supreme Court ruling on three petition signatures.

A state court judge has concluded that Democrat Abby Finkenauer cannot appear on the June 7 primary ballot for U.S. Senate because she didn’t gather enough petition signatures, knocking off the candidate considered by many to be the party’s best chance to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley.

Iowa was Barack Obama’s unlikely launching pad in 2008 to become the nation’s first Black president.

Dozens of Black Democratic candidates are seeking office in heavily Republican states that former President Donald Trump won easily in 2020.

Iowa is nearing passage of a dramatic reduction in unemployment benefits to try to force people to fill thousands of open jobs and reverse a trend in which the governor argues the state's “safety net has become a hammock." A measure supported only by the Republicans who control the Legislature would reduce allowable unemployment payments from 26 weeks to 16 weeks, placing Iowa among only six states with such severe limits. Currently, 40 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico pay up to 26 weeks of unemployment benefits, and Iowa has held to that standard for nearly 40 years.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was one of the more high-profile targets of political violence when prosecutors say a group of men who were angry about pandemic restrictions plotted to kidnap her.

The first Iowa Poll of 2022 includes an early test of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and likely Democratic challenger Deidre DeJear.

Iowa science writer: The rare transgender female who plays sports may have little advantage — or no advantage at all.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed legislation that will immediately restrict participation in women's college and K-12 sports to biological females.

The legislation goes into effect immediately.

Transgender Sports Iowa Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signs a bill that prohibits transgender girls from participating in women's sports at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, March 3, 2022. he bill prohibits transgender females from participating in girls high school sports and women’s college athletics. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette via AP) (Nick Rohlman)DES MOINES, Iowa — (AP) — Iowa Gov. “Iowa girls today and every generation to come will be able to pursue the things they love to the best of their abilities," Erzen said. Republican leaders made the bill effective immediately, so any transgender students playing sports may be required to immediately stop. The district's lobbyist opposed the bill because it believes the legislation discriminates against transgender girls and women and the district is concerned it conflicts with federal anti-discrimination laws.

The ban takes effect immediately. The ban applies to K-12 schools and community colleges as well as colleges and universities that are part of the NCAA or NAIA.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed into law a bill that prohibits transgender females from participating in girls high school sports and women’s college athletics, rejecting opponents' argument that she would harm vulnerable children to solve a nonexistent problem.

Republican elected officials across the U.S. are criticizing President Joe Biden over his energy policies and want to ramp up domestic production as a way to help wean the nation and its allies off oil from Russia.

Kim Reynolds was tapped to give the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. But they plowed ahead anyway, raising the price at the pump by 50% and pushing inflation to a 40-year high. With Texas and Arizona leading the way, I, along with Republican governors from several states have sent resources to the border. And we’ve actually gone to the border—something that our president and vice president have yet to do since taking office. While Democrats in D.C. are spending trillions, sending inflation soaring, Republican leaders around the country are balancing budgets and cutting taxes.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds delivered the Republican response to the State of the Union address Tuesday.

Kim Reynolds delivers her Condition of the State address before a joint session of the Iowa Legislature, on Jan. 11, 2022, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File) (Charlie Neibergall)DES MOINES, Iowa — (AP) — Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad was confirmed as the Trump administration's ambassador to China. It’s not what he promised when he took office.”Reynolds had endeared herself to Iowa’s increasingly GOP-leaning electorate in no small part by opposing much of the Biden administration’s pandemic policy. She resisted mask requirements and joined other states in lawsuits to fight the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates.

The GOP wants to show voters that some Republicans just want to keep schools open, lower taxes, and stop teachers from talking about critical race theory.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds delivers the Republican response to President Biden's first State of the Union address.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds hit President Biden on inflation and crime, among other things.

Kim Reynolds delivers her Condition of the State address before a joint session of the Iowa Legislature, on Jan. 11, 2022, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File) (Charlie Neibergall)DES MOINES, Iowa — (AP) — Iowa Gov. Last June, she dispatched about 30 Iowa State Patrol officers to the U.S.-Mexico border for roughly two weeks to assist with law enforcement. Kim, great job,” Trump said of Reynolds to a crowd of thousands during the rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The Des Moines Register's Iowa Poll in November showed 88% of Republicans approving of the job she was doing, higher even than her state's GOP Sens.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, delivering the Republican rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday, painted the picture of a country in the grip of several crises.

Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds' response to the pandemic, with few restrictions, has gotten her national attention.

President Joe Biden sat through many State of the Union speeches as a senator and vice president.

Governors and lawmakers in numerous U.S. states are seeking to add to the financial squeeze on Russia over its war against Ukraine.

Top issues to expect in President Biden's address are his response to concerns about rising inflation and fatigue about the pandemic as well as steps taken to threaten Russia's financial stability.

The Michigan Democrat will speak on behalf of the progressive Working Families Party, in a rare instance of a formal response by a member of the president’s own party.

Kim Reynolds speaks during a news conference at Iowa Spring Manufacturing, Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, in Adel, Iowa. Reynolds will deliver the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1, GOP congressional leaders announced Tuesday. Reynolds is the 43rd governor of Iowa and has served since May of 2017. She was the first governor in the country to require schools to open for full-time in-person learning. Reynolds became the first woman to serve as Iowa governor.

GOP leaders praised Reynolds for her permissive coronavirus policies in Iowa and for her fight against so-called "critical race theory."

Kim Reynolds speaks during a news conference at Iowa Spring Manufacturing, Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, in Adel, Iowa. Reynolds will deliver the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1, GOP congressional leaders announced Tuesday. Kim Reynolds will deliver the Republican response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on March 1, GOP congressional leaders announced Tuesday. “She handled COVID by choosing freedom over lockdowns and personal responsibility over mandates – leading to real economic recovery from the pandemic," McCarthy said. Reynolds is the 43rd governor of Iowa and has served since May of 2017.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1.

WASHINGTON — (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to deliver GOP response to Biden's State of the Union address. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

New cases per day have tanked by almost a half-million nationwide since mid-January, the curve trending downward in every state but Maine.

Propelled in part by the wildly contagious omicron variant, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has hit 900,000, less than two months after eclipsing 800,000.

With the brutal omicron wave rapidly loosening its grip, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. are falling in 49 of 50 states, even as the nation's death toll closes in on another bleak round number: 900,000. The number of lives lost to the pandemic in the U.S. stood at over 897,000 as of midday Friday, with deaths running at an average of more than 2,400 a day, back up to where they were last winter, when the vaccine drive was still getting started. Similarly, an early-warning program that looks for the virus in sewage found that COVID-19 infections are declining in the majority of participating U.S. communities, according to data posted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The news from Gov. Kim Reynolds comes one day after the state reported another 156 people died from COVID in its weekly report.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in letters to seven governors, is reaffirming the need for members of their states' Army and Air National Guards to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine or lose their Guard status.

Democratic lawmakers in California, Maryland and Washington passed far-reaching policing reforms this year in response to the 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.

A state audit report on government spending released Monday accused Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds of using nearly $450,000 in federal coronavirus relief funds to pay salaries for 21 staff members for three months last year and concealing the spending by passing it through the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. State Auditor Rob Sand said a review of the state's payroll system shows the money was used to pay the Republican governor's office staff, but it's unclear why she had to take federal money to pay the salaries. “What is not clear, is why these salaries were not included in the governor’s budget set prior to the fiscal year and prior to the pandemic,” he said in the audit report.

A coalition of 10 states has filed a lawsuit challenging a new rule by President Joe Biden's administration requiring millions of health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Republican governors, lawmakers and attorneys general are forming a wall of opposition to President Joe Biden's plan to require vaccinations or COVID-19 testing at all private employers of 100 workers or more.

Several high-profile school board candidates who fought COVID-19 restrictions and anti-racism classes have lost their election bids.

The legislation protects employees who do not get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Under a newly passed vaccine mandate exemption bill in Iowa, employees who are fired for refusing a vaccine would be guaranteed unemployment benefits. Gov. Kim Reynolds says she will sign it.

The first Black chair of Iowa’s Democratic Party says he received a series of racist messages, including a lynching threat, after writing a newspaper op-ed criticizing former President Donald Trump and the state Republican officials who stood with him at a recent rally in Des Moines.

The House’s second-ranking Republican, Rep. Steve Scalise, is refusing to say that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen.

Trump Rally People gather ahead of an appearance by former President Donald Trump at a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa., Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021. “Trump won! Trump won!,” came the chant from the crowd spread across the sprawling Iowa state fairgrounds. Grassley, who voted to certify the vote, has been quiet about Trump's continuing claims of a stolen election. On Saturday night, Trump endorsed Grassley and pledged to endorse Reynolds separately in the months ahead.

Republican Sen. Charles Grassley and Gov. Kim Reynolds have embraced Donald Trump’s return to Iowa.

Races for local school board seats have emerged as intense political battlegrounds in the upcoming Nov. 2 elections across the U.S. Parental protests that started during COVID-19 lockdowns are evolving into full-fledged board takeover campaigns.

A group intent on expanding Republican power across state-level offices is rolling out a national effort to diversify and broaden the GOP, with an advisory council headed up by a number of possible future presidential hopefuls.

Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders might be running for governor of Arkansas, but she's not talking much about the state.

Two-thirds of the world's population faces an extreme water shortage at least one month a year. Many of these places are dry, arid deserts with no reliable source of fresh water — other than fog, that is. But fog capture isn't as easy as you might think, at least for us humans. The Namib Desert beetle, on the other hand, has practically perfected the art. Here's how scientists are creating technology based on the beetle's exoskeleton that could help end water scarcity.

Among adults age 18 and over, more than 62% are fully vaccinated. On Friday, 71% of those in Italy age 12 and older have been fully vaccinated. Coaches and other team staff who closely interact with players must be fully vaccinated. The European Commission says AstraZeneca made a “firm commitment” to deliver a total of 300 million vaccine doses by March. More than 13 million South Africans have received at least one vaccine dose, including 5.7 million who are fully vaccinated.

IndyCar will return to Iowa Speedway for a July doubleheader next season.

A hard-to-miss billboard downtown is facing its most vocal opposition by liberals online, despite it being commissioned by a PAC that opposes Gov. Kim Reynolds.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeState of play: The billboard along I-235 East and Keo Way was purchased by OPE! PAC and claims Reynolds contributed to the state's 42% increase in abortions under her tenure between 2018-20. (The numbers are accurate via Iowa Department of

State Fairs in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin are offering COVID-19 vaccinations as the delta variant spreads across the country.

Multiple Republican governors rejected the CDC's mask guidance renewal Tuesday that recommends some vaccinated individuals in locations with greater rates of infection, as well as everyone in K-12 schools, resume mask-wearing in certain indoor venues.

Long before the first presidential nomination contest of 2024, most potential Republican candidates are just getting a sense of the political landscape, tiptoeing through early-voting states and trying to make friends in key places.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, former Vice President Mike Pence and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will attend.

Border Patrol Iowa FILE - In a June 10, 2021 file photo, Iowa Gov. Agreements between Iowa and Texas show Iowa is donating the use of state troopers and their equipment at "no cost to Texas" to fight crime along the U.S. border with Mexico. Reynolds said Iowa sent 29 troopers and that they arrived in Del Rio, Texas, a few days ago. Iowa also has 30 soldiers from the Iowa National Guard providing assistance to law enforcement at the border, Reynolds said. Iowa troopers will not bring their patrol cars and instead will team up with Texas state troopers and Texas Rangers, although one investigator planned to drive an unmarked car from Iowa, the agreements state.

Adventureland Park Accident Visitors arrive at the Adventureland Park amusement park, Tuesday, July 6, 2021, in Altoona, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) (Charlie Neibergall)IOWA CITY, Iowa — (AP) — The Iowa amusement park where a ride accident killed one boy and critically injured another has become increasingly influential in Iowa politics as the state has trended Republican. Adventureland Park CEO Michael Krantz has donated $175,000 to county, state and federal Republican candidates since 2014. The park also has increased its lobbying at the Iowa Legislature, including for a recent law change allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to operate its rides. The park's political impact has overlapped with several incidents in which workers or guests were injured, leading to regulatory fines and lawsuits.

The Iowa amusement park where a water ride accident killed one boy and critically injured another has become increasingly influential in Iowa politics as the state has trended Republican.

Gun Laws Iowa FILE - In this Feb. 10, 2015, file photo is State Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. Gun deaths are rising in Iowa even before a landmark law goes into effect Thursday, July 1, 2021, that will allow people to more easily buy handguns and carry them in public without training or a permit. A record 353 people died from gunshot wounds in Iowa in 2020, including 263 suicides and 85 homicides, an Iowa Department of Public Health spokeswoman said Tuesday. From 1999 to 2001, Iowa averaged only 194 annual gun deaths, including just 25 homicides. Eliminating Iowa’s permit to acquire a handgun will facilitate impulsive purchases that can be associated with suicide and homicide and remove a deterrent against illegal gun trafficking, Webster said.

Gun deaths have been surging in Iowa as a law is set to go into effect that will allow people to more easily buy handguns and carry them in public without training or a permit.

Republicans eyeing a 2024 White House run are wasting no time in jockeying for a strong position in what could be an extremely crowded field of contenders.

Fifteen Republican governors have sent a letter to the U.S. Commerce Secretary, urging that the U.S. Census bureau release redistricting data as soon as possible.

Kim Reynolds hands out pens to law enforcement officers after signing the Back the Blue bill, at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, in Johnston. Some Republican-controlled states have responded to persistent calls for police reform by moving in the other direction. States where lawmakers pushed back against the police-reform movement included Arizona, Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming, according to an Associated Press review of legislation. Law enforcement, he said, already does a good job vetting officers, including following hiring standards in state law and voluntarily reporting officers who are decertified to a national database. Washington enacted a dozen police-reform laws, including restricting the use of no-knock warrants and designating an independent investigator for fatal police shootings.

After a year of protests over police brutality, some Republican-controlled states have ignored or blocked police-reform proposals and moved instead in the other direction.

As rising murder rates gain attention in American cities, Republicans have ramped up a misleading campaign to cast Democrats as anti-police and lax on public safety.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds complained in a letter sent Thursday that the federal government didn't notify her before flying migrant children into the Des Moines airport in April, then shuttling them to other cities as part of an effort to join them with relatives. In a letter sent to Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, Reynolds called for a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on immigration that should address the Biden administration’s lack of notice when it moves children through the states. Although similar migrant children relocation occurred during the Trump and Obama administrations, Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett said the recent flight was different because it occurred late at night and a federal agency initially denied it had organized the flight.

Unaccompanied migrant children were transported to Iowa and Tennessee this spring without any notice from federal agencies, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Thursday in a call for transparency.Reynolds and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee also claim that federal officials initially denied their involvement. Why it matters: Now the two Republican governors — who both denied the Biden administration's requests to house migrant children in their states — are calling on Congress to investigate the incidents.Stay on to

All eyes will be on Iowa and other Republican-led states these next few months to see if an early exit from federal unemployment benefits truly nudges people back to work. Why it matters: Gov. Kim Reynolds decided to curtail the weekly $300 supplemental aid starting Saturday — making Iowa one of the earliest states to try and see if it moves the needle in labor participation."This is going to be one of the largest experiments in the U.S. labor market that I've ever heard of," Peter Orazem, an ec

A COVID-19 awareness campaign featuring Gov. Kim Reynolds violated an Iowa law that prohibits using public money on self-promotion, according to a special investigative audit released today by state auditor Rob Sand.At least $152,585 of federal coronavirus relief funding was misspent, the audit shows.Just minutes after the audit's release, Reynolds' office responded in a statement saying "any competent reading" of the law shows Sand is wrong.Why it matters: Beyond raising concerns about how stat

GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law that prohibits mask mandates in schools and blocks cities and counties from requiring them in businesses.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said in April she hoped to sign bill to limit transgender girls and women from participating in girls' sports. But no bill emerged.

Federal unemployment benefits will end earlier than expected in 20 states, leaving many worried about paying their bills or getting evicted.

A prosecutor is warning prospective jurors that the trial of a Mexican national charged in the 2018 fatal stabbing of a University of Iowa student will include graphic evidence that will be emotionally difficult to see and hear.

Children are having their noses swabbed or saliva sampled at school to test for the coronavirus in cities such as Baltimore, New York and Chicago.

At least nine states have announced that they will be ending participation in unemployment assistance programs. Here are their reasons.

Sen. Joni Ernst spoke against the attempted purge of Cheney, telling reporters "we've got to come together as Republicans."

Some states are making plans to spend billions of dollars from President Joe Biden's pandemic relief act, though the money has yet to arrive.

The county officials who run elections are facing a slate of new punishments as part of a nationwide Republican campaign to roll back access to the ballot, months after many hailed them as heroes for the creative ways they expanded voting access last year during the coronavirus outbreak.

Republicans are increasingly using food — especially beef — as a cudgel in the culture war.

The Iowa Legislature followed Gov. Kim Reynolds' call to prevent local governments and businesses from making customers prove they've had the vaccine.

As interest in the coronavirus vaccine continues to lag, Iowa public health officials are trying to make it easier to get a shot. Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday that a bus will be set up this week in the parking lot of the Iowa Cubs baseball park in Des Moines for the first two days of games this season, and a similar pop-up vaccination station is planned at the Des Moines Farmers Market this weekend. The state also now allows people who have had their first shot to take their vaccination card to any pharmacy or health care provider to get the second dose.

An Iowa man charged with leaving a threatening voicemail telling Gov. Kim Reynolds she should be "hung for treason" defended his comments Thursday as free speech, saying he was expressing opposition to COVID-19 restrictions.

An Iowa man charged with leaving a threatening voicemail telling Gov. Kim Reynolds she should be “hung for treason” defended his comments Thursday as free speech, saying he was expressing opposition to COVID-19 restrictions. Harvey Hunter Jr., 48, is charged with first-degree harassment for the profane Jan. 5 message he left on a governor’s office phone line set up to gather input over whether Reynolds should continue the partial statewide mask mandate. Hunter called the GOP governor a dictator and said “every single one of you need to be hung for treason for pushing this COVID scam,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Polk County.

Topless dancers can shed coronavirus restrictions beginning next weekend in Las Vegas and get face-to-face with patrons again.

An animal rights activist whose investigations have made him a leading foe of the livestock industry has been charged with trespassing at a pig facility.

The race is on to vaccinate as many Americans as possible against COVID-19, but a significant number of people in the U.S. are still reluctant to get the shots, even in places where they are plentiful.

The U.S. is moving closer toward vaccinating 100 million Americans against COVID-19 in a race against an uptick in cases that health officials fear could lead to another surge of infections.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized two changes to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine that can provide extra doses from each vial.

Ad___JOHNSTON, Iowa — Facing an uptick in new coronavirus cases and a hesitancy among a significant portion of the population to get the vaccine Iowa Gov. State health data shows 555 new positive cases in the past 24 hours and no additional deaths reported. Illinois Department of Public Health officials on Tuesday reported 2,404 coronavirus cases, including 17 more deaths. State health officials say 43% of people have received at least one dose of a vaccine and about 65% are fully vaccinated. ___ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s number of confirmed coronavirus cases reached 39,302, a record high for a second straight day.

In addition to their nationwide efforts to restrict voting access, Republican lawmakers in some key states are seeking greater control over the local mechanics of elections, from voter registration to certifying results. In addition to their nationwide efforts to limit access to the ballot, Republican lawmakers in some states are moving to gain greater control over the local mechanics of elections, from voter registration all the way to certifying results. Brian Kemp signed a bill Thursday to give the GOP-dominated Legislature greater influence over a state board that regulates elections and empowers it to remove local election officials deemed to be underperforming. A South Carolina proposal would give lawmakers new oversight of the members appointed to the currently independent State Election Commission. The board could then remove local election officials and replace them.

Maintaining accurate voter rolls is a bipartisan concern, but there is little agreement on the best way to do it. Republicans say Democrats are too lax, resulting in bloated voter rolls that undermine confidence and invite fraud. Here is an explanation of how voter rolls are maintained, how states do it differently and the conflicts over this year’s legislative proposals. WHAT ARE VOTER ROLLS AND HOW ARE THEY MAINTAINED? In 2016, New York City’s Board of Elections improperly removed more than 200,000 names from the voter rolls.

Inmates Woodard and Michael Dutcher used hammers to attack prison staff members during a failed attempt to escape an Iowa prison, killing a nurse and correctional officer, kidnapping a third employee and severely injuring an inmate who intervened, authorities said Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation via AP)IOWA CITY, Iowa – Inmates used hammers to attack staff members during a failed attempt to escape an Iowa prison, killing a nurse and a correctional officer, kidnapping a third employee and severely injuring an inmate who intervened, authorities said Wednesday. Schulte was also beaten with a hammer when she, like McFarland, intervened to stop their escape, Rahn said. AdAFSCME Council 61 President Danny Homan, whose union represents Iowa prison workers, said he was mourning the loss of two dedicated and experienced public servants. Schulte had worked at the prison since 2007 and previously worked at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown.

States led by Democrats are pushing to expand some gun control laws. AdMaryland lawmakers overrode a veto from Republican Gov. AdALLOWING GUNS IN MORE PLACESSeveral states are expanding where people can take their guns. But 15 states already have laws allowing permitless carry for concealed guns. A similar “Stand Your Ground” measure has been approved by the South Dakota Legislature and is awaiting Republican Gov.

The NCAA Tournament and bars were made for each other, with fans of powerhouse teams like Gonzaga and longshots like Colgate pouring in to cheer their teams. This year, the tournaments back, and bars and restaurants, some shuttered for months, are open for March Madness, though things may look a little different. This year, the tournament’s back, and bars and restaurants, some shuttered for months, are open for March Madness, though things may look a little different. As for those who choose to watch at bars or restaurants, their experiences will vary depending on their location. AdIn Chicago, city inspectors cite bars and restaurants that violate strict capacity rules.