The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is forecasting drought conditions to spread farther eastward in Iowa.

Iowa lawmakers sent a bill to the governor’s desk Monday that would make major changes to Iowa’s 44-year-old bottle and can deposit program. If the bill is signed into law, grocery and convenience stores could refuse customers’ empty beverage containers.

The perennial grain can produce an annual crop even as it stays in the ground for up to four years. Its deep root system helps pull carbon out of the air and makes it more resistant to floods and drought.

Iowa House Republicans will not pass the governor’s proposal for state-funded private school scholarships this session, according to House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford.

Western Iowa university students took to restoring one of the nation’s largest urban prairies back to its natural state.