IOWA

In the first panel of “The Alter Ego Story,” if there were such a comic book, a word balloon would hover above Erin Tapken. Making a go of it since October 1996, her Marion shop, Alter Ego Comics, is now older than Tapken was when she opened it.

NATION

Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have elected a black woman as president of the Undergraduate Association for the first time in the school’s history.

Amid the backdrop of nationwide Black Lives Matter protests building on the demonstrations over Michael Brown’s death six years ago, Ella Jones was elected the first black mayor of Ferguson, Mo., last week.

Fast Company recently debuted a new list: the Queer 50, recognizing 50 LGBTQ women and nonbinary people in business.