A judge in Woodbury County has sentenced a man to life in prison without parole for shooting and killing a Native American man from Sioux City.

Back in April, a jury found 22-year-old Yasin Abdi of South Sioux City, NEB, guilty of first-degree murder for the death of 36-year-old Marlon Whiteeyes.

Investigators say Abdi shot Whiteeyes four times after Whiteeyes ran away after trying to break up a fight June 26, 2023.

The sentence is mandatory under Iowa law.

The lawyer of a 20-year-old man from West Liberty who was deported last weekend is saying people should prepare certain documents ahead of going to immigration enforcement check-ins. In the case of Pascual Pedro Pedro, his lawyer, Timothy Farmer was unable to deliver a request to pause his deportation to Guatemala.

Speaking on IPR’s River to River, Farmer recommended preparing an application for stay of deportation, or ICE Form I-246, before meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

“It would have been great if Pascual could have had this application for the stay of removal ready to go and to file it with immigration officers immediately upon being detained at his check-in appointment.”

When members of the nonprofit Escucha Mi Voz delivered Pedro Pedro’s application to an ICE facility on Monday, he had already been deported.

Farmer said people who have an order for their removal and who are required to go in for ICE check-ins should contact their attorney about filling out the form.

As protestors have called on Iowa’s Congressional delegation to bring him home, Farmer says with the current administration, it’s unlikely Pedro Pedro will be able to return to the United States.

“I can't really see any viable options for him to return, you know, unless the level of pressure from the community and the, you know, the nation were to reach just untenable levels for the administration.”

A powwow happening this weekend in northwest Iowa is highlighting the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives.

Red Sky Nation organized the event. The nonprofit was founded by the family of Terri McCauley, who was murdered in Sioux City in 1983. An arrest was made in her cold case earlier this year, and a suspect faces a trial next month.

Trisha River, the executive director of Red Sky Nation, says Native people face higher rates of violence, poverty, drug abuse and homelessness.

“Why does this keep happening? Because it's rooted in systemic racism. It is within different institutions and concepts that stem from centuries of dehumanization and degradation of Native Americans.”

The powwow starts Friday afternoon at Riverside Park in Sioux City and continues through the weekend.

Iowa’s Health and Human Services Director Kelly Garcia says she’s partnering with churches to instill more hope in Iowans who interact with the agency.

Garcia was interviewed on stage at the Family Leader Summit Friday. It’s the first time an Iowa HHS director spoke at the annual event held by the evangelical conservative group. Greg Baker, the Family Leader vice president who interviewed Garcia, says poverty is a spiritual issue and the government wasn’t designed to solve it.

Garcia says she’s traveled the state with Baker to connect with pastors and churches. She says some services are a moral obligation that only the government can do—like child protection and caring for people with severe disabilities.

“We don’t need to be involved in everything. And this is where the government gets it wrong, the notion that we though can somehow solve poverty as a government? No.”

Garcia says the rightful role of government is to be a convener, and she’s working to build partnerships that will reduce social isolation and foster a lasting spirit of hope.

Parts of central and eastern Iowa saw heavy rain Thursday night, with another round of showers and storms forecast for the same area Friday afternoon and evening.

There were reports of street flooding in Dubuque last evening, and levels along the Raccoon River west of Des Moines have risen sharply over the last 24 hours.

A flood watch is in effect through late tonight for a large area of central and eastern Iowa. Alexis Jimenez, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines, says people in the watch area should keep a close eye on conditions if storms develop.

“Definitely still a concern in portions of eastern and southeast Iowa for much of he rest of today. That includes the Des Moines area just because of the vulnerabilities from having so much rain past last night as well. So yeah, we're looking at another 1 to 3 inches, over the areas in the flood watch. There could be some locally higher amounts as well in there.”

Skies should clear overnight, with sunshine in the forecast for the weekend.

Photo courtesy of Bur Oak Land Trust

The Trump administration cut more than $230,000 in AmeriCorps grants to the Bur Oak Land Trust in April. But now, that funding has been restored, after a federal judge in Maryland said the Trump administration did not give enough warning.

Jason Taylor, the director of the Bur Oak Land Trust, says although their funding has been restored, many of the members that worked for the land trust found new jobs after they were laid off in April.

“What we're doing is trying to figure out the best kind of avenue to really focus on, what is going to make it right on their side, and so a lot of it is going to be making sure that they get paid what they had originally been contracted to be paid.”

The land trust is one of a handful of AmeriCorps grant recipients represented by the group Democracy Defenders in the lawsuit. It’s the second case in which a federal judge has ruled against the administration over its $400 million in AmeriCorps cuts nationwide.

The University of Iowa has decided to end its lease on the MacBride Nature Recreation Area. The lease with the Army Corps of Engineers will end in 2029, after more than 60 years. The university doesn’t pay rent, but it is responsible for maintaining the 485 acres of trails and natural growth.

Brad Friedhof, the director of conservation for Johnson County, says it's unlike anything else the University of Iowa has.

“It’s not an urban environment with very landscape-style trees. It’s a wild environment. It’s more realistic to what the state of Iowa was.”

The site has welcomed countless students, campers and members of the community each year.

“I think that's the hardest part for everybody, is, you know, there’s only so many dollars that are being allocated towards conservation efforts, and so having every player at the table you can get is always important. And so we’ve just lost another player at the table.”

A statement from university President Barbara Wilson said continuing the lease would not have been financially feasible, given the university’s current resources. A university committee found that keeping the land would cost $14.8 million upfront in repairs and an additional $1 million each year for ongoing maintenance.

Recently passed changes to federal food assistance programs could add pressure to nonprofits that address food insecurity.

The major domestic policy legislation signed by President Donald Trump last week expands the range of people who must work in order to stay eligible for SNAP. Supporters of the change say it will prevent dependence on government assistance.

But World Food Prize Foundation CEO and former U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says many people will be more reliant on their local food bank or pantry.

“The food banks do a tremendous job, an amazing job. But the sad reality is their capacities are also limited.”

Vilsack made his comments on IPR’s River to River.

According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 15,000 Iowans will be at risk of losing SNAP access when the work requirements take effect.

President Donald Trump has said farmers should have a say in whether their laborers who are in the U.S. without legal status should be deported. But U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said this week automation and Medicaid work requirements would help fill the gaps left by deporting migrant workers.

Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson says immigrants should have legal pathways to enter certain industries.

“This is a workforce visa, not an amnesty issue, and we need to make sure that we have those legal pathways for people to come here to work in critical industries like agriculture. So that’s what I look forward to working with the administration on.”

Hinson also praised the "Big Beautiful Bill," which directs nearly $170 billion to immigration enforcement. She says the law extends more resources to rural hospitals by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes $50 billion earmarked for rural health care, but some estimates say rural hospitals could lose three times that much over the next decade through other changes in the legislation.

Hinson says she referred to Iowa’s rural health care financing system as a model when voting for the bill.

“I think very clearly in this bill, we were able to refocus and expand some protections for rural hospitals, providing that targeted funding to rural care and then giving states the flexibility to support local providers through that process.”

The bill also caps the amount states can tax Medicaid providers. These taxes allow states to receive matching funds from the federal government for Medicaid reimbursement, which is important for providers in rural areas to stay open.

With President Donald Trump’s major priorities addressed by the recently passed "Big Beautiful Bill," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, says the law includes measures that will help Iowa farmers.

“That includes updated reference prices, more support for crop insurance and an increase in the death tax exemption. However, there's still plenty of work for what we call the smaller Farm Bill package, so the Senate Agriculture Committee still has a lot of work to do there.”

Now, Grassley is turning his attention to a new Farm Bill.

In a call with reporters Thursday, Grassley outlined several provisions he wants in the so-called “skinny” Farm Bill, such as limits on farm subsidy payments, a nationwide ban on state laws like California’s Proposition 12 and reforms to the Commodity Credit Corporation.

“In recent years, this pot of money has become a slush fund for administrations of both political parties to dispose of it as they want to. The Constitution is clear that Congress has the power of the purse, and I'm going to make sure that power of the purse comes back to control what goes out of the Commodity Credit Corporation.”

The CCC finances various agricultural programs through the USDA, and borrows up to $30 billion annually from the Treasury Department to fund its operations.

This month marks the third anniversary of the launch of 988, the nationwide hotline for mental health support.

Last year, Iowa’s two call centers answered nearly 50,000 calls, texts and chats.

Emily Blomme is the CEO of Foundation 2 Crisis Services, one of the two centers contracted with the state to answer 988 calls.

She says about 90% of situations can be resolved with a crisis counselor over the phone, but finding and retaining these counselors remains a challenge.

“If you imagine, you know, working eight hours a day, picking up the phone and not knowing what's on the other end of that. You know, is that a person who is experiencing a relationship issue, or is that something where someone's in a suicidal crisis?”

The federal government recently announced it will shut down a service within 988 that specifically addresses the needs of the LGBTQ population.

CommUnity is one of seven call centers nationwide that has a special contract with the federal government to take calls from a line for those who are LGBTQ.

Sarah Nelson, the CEO of CommUnity, says calls to that line have been increasing, but the feds recently informed her it will end July 17.

“One of the things that the LGBTQ line did was signal to these youth and young adults that, you know, this was a safe space for them to utilize.”

Nelson says as a result, CommUnity anticipates laying off 49 employees statewide.

The Axiom 4 spacecraft carrying Iowa native astronaut Peggy Whitson and three crewmates is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station as soon as Thursday to make the flight home, with a splashdown planned in the Pacific Ocean.

Some reports say the trip may be extended several days, through at least Monday, though there’s no official word on an undocking date from Axiom Space, SpaceX or NASA.

This is day 14 for Whitson and her team on what was scheduled to be a two-week visit.

During an Axiom Space interview earlier this week, 65-year-old Whitson said her team has made excellent progress on some 60 experiments during the research mission on the orbiting laboratory.

Whitson says she’s been particularly focused on advancing a breast cancer study nicknamed CLEO, a project she started during her first Axiom mission in May of 2023.

“We’re continuing on the Cancer in Low Earth Orbit study where we’re growing cancer cells and treating them with two different types of drugs to see if they will be more effective at affecting and stopping the replication of the cancer cells.”

Considered the United States’ most experienced astronaut, Whitson has now spent some 690 days in space, more than any other American.

A 9-year-old central Iowa boy has won a national award for being a civic leader.

Henry Menninga of Des Moines has helped organize mock elections to teach people about elections, he distributes care packages to homeless individuals and he writes thank you notes to locally owned businesses in his neighborhood.

Menninga said helping people makes him feel happy.

“I feel like I just want to help everybody.”

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate hosted a ceremony at the Statehouse and presented Menninga with the Medallion Award from the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Pate said he was “blown away” by Menninga's dedication to his community, which includes organizing garbage clean-up at a city park.

Menninga's mother said her son gets an idea and he follows through — like the snacks, hand warmers and hats he distributes in care packages for homeless people.

“Driving to his school downtown when he was five and he would see them on the street and so he asked me on the way home: ‘What can we do to help them?’ And I just said: ‘There’s lots of different resources for them. I’m not sure exactly what we could do.’ And he said: ‘Well, let’s make them bags and you post it on Facebook so people help me get the stuff.’”

Menninga is one of just 100 people in the country this year who’ll be getting the medallion for civic engagement. Pate said Menninga’s story is a reminder that effective leadership isn’t about age, it’s about having the courage and determination to care for others.

The Sierra Club Iowa Chapter released a report that summarizes habitat loss in the state and calls for urgent action to expand corridors that connect wild areas.

Thomas Rosburg, a professor of ecology and botany at Drake University, says Iowa has lost over 90% of its wetlands and prairies and around 75% of its forests and woodlands in the last 200 years.

“And that’s of course a tremendous conversion from what once was a tremendously diverse and bountiful and productive landscape to, again, a landscape where biodiversity is threatened.”

He says expanding and improving habitat corridors along streams and rivers could help connect the state’s remaining prairies, wetlands and forests.

Adding more native grasses and wildflowers alongside roadways could also make a difference. According to the Tallgrass Prairie Center, 62 counties and 25 cities in Iowa do this.

A traffic stop for an equipment violation took a tense turn Tuesday night in Des Moines.

Des Moines police say the unidentified 41-year-old man sped away from the traffic stop and led officers on a chase that ended outside a house. The man ran inside, and police say he barricaded himself in the basement and armed himself with what’s described as a makeshift spear.

According to officers, other residents of the house moved outside to safety as the suspect made homicidal statements, including threats to stab officers.

After seven hours of negotiation proved unsuccessful, a tactical unit deployed tear gas into the house and took the suspect into custody.

A fire broke out inside the house as the event ended, the cause of which is under investigation.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said there will be “no amnesty” for workers on farms and in food production plants who are facing deportation.

“The promise to America to ensure that we have a 100% American workforce stands. But we must be strategic in how we are implementing the mass deportations so as not to compromise our food supply,” Rollins said during a news conference in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. “Ultimately the answer on this is automation, also some reform on the governing structure.”

Rollins said it’s up to Congress to come up with a permanent fix to the immigration system and that now is not the time to compromise on the president’s promise of mass deportations.

“When you think about there are 34 million able-bodied adults in our Medicaid program … There are plenty of workers in America.”

The ag secretary’s comments follow President Donald Trump hinting that his administration was working on legislation that allowed farmers to be able to “vouch” for their migrant workers who may be in the U.S. without legal status.

During Tuesday’s news conference, Rollins said the president has been “unequivocal” that there will be no amnesty, and mass deportations will continue “in a strategic and intentional way.”

As nitrate levels remain high in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, state officials have announced a new, three-year water quality project in central Iowa. The $1.94 million effort will focus on the Beaver Creek Watershed, which drains parts of Boone, Webster, Greene, Dallas and Polk counties.

Water from Beaver Creek flows into the Des Moines River — north of the metro — and eventually into the Mississippi River.

Beaver Creek Watershed Coordinator Justin Grieff says the goal of the new project is to add more infrastructure and practices on farmland that can help remove nitrates from water before they wash into streams and rivers. Two ways to do that are with underground saturated buffers and bioreactors that help treat field tile drainage.

“Think of like a Brita filter that you pour water in and it filters through.”

Grieff says the project also supports more oxbow wetlands and promotes cover crops.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is allocating $244,100 to the project. Other partners include the Boone Soil and Water Conservation District, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Polk County Public Works and The Nature Conservancy.

Photo courtesy of Naomi WolfTornabane

A political newcomer is running as a Democrat in western Iowa’s 4^th Congressional District. Ashley WolfTornabane decided to run for office after the only Democrat in the race, Ryan Melton, suspended his campaign.

WolfTornabane, 35, is a stay-at-home mom from Storm Lake. She says she always wanted to help others.

“I'm going to listen to everyday Iowans and actually do what they need, rather than doing what the special interests want.”

WolfTornabane says her priorities also include health care, education, LGBTQ rights and creating a feasible pathway to citizenship for immigrants.

GOP candidates for the 4th Congressional District race include Chris McGowan, head of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, and Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl.

The district includes 36 counties and the cities of Sioux City, Ames and Marshalltown. It’s currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, who is exploring a run for governor.

Read more.

James Kelley

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Iowa Public Radio

Dozens of people gathered Wednesday outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Cedar Rapids to protest the deportation of a 20-year-old man with no criminal background.

Several local organizations organized a protest outside of the ICE facility where Pascual Pedro Pedro was detained during an annual check-in. Pedro Pedro spent the last seven years in eastern Iowa, but is now back in Guatemala, where he was swiftly deported over the weekend.

Alejandra Escobar is with the nonprofit Escucha Mi Voz.

“What happened in this office … we don’t know the details. But we do know some things. One is that Pascual was denied due process, a process that every single person deserves.”

Members of Escucha Mi Voz say they have scheduled meetings with the offices of U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley and Iowa’s 1^st District Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks to ask them to help bring Pedro Pedro back to the U.S.

Clay Masters

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Iowa Public Radio

The Des Moines area is now in its fourth week of a lawn watering ban tied to high nitrate levels in rivers that supply the water system.

Central Iowa Water Works Executive Director Tami Madsen says nitrate levels are fluctuating because of the rain. She says warm, dry weather will improve the situation.

“We are just really waiting for mother nature to do her job and help us with this nitrate situation.”

Madsen says nitrate levels in either the Des Moines or the Raccoon rivers need to drop below the federal limit for a sustained period of time before they can lift the ban.

She says the majority of customers are complying with the ban. Water usage has dropped by 90% compared to a typical day in Clive, a suburb of Des Moines.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl is running for the U.S. House in western Iowa's 4th District. The Republican from Missouri Valley says he brings a proven record of conservative leadership, service and results to the 2026 race.

Current incumbent Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra is exploring a run for governor of Iowa.

Windschitl was first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 2006 at the age of 22 and has been House majority leader since 2019. He represents District 15.

His campaign announcement detailed top priorities, including defending the Second Amendment and constitutional freedoms, securing the southern border, protecting the unborn, cutting taxes and holding Washington responsible.

Read more.

Democrat Taylor Wettach announced he’s running for the U.S. House in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District. The lawyer from Muscatine decided to run for Congress after his law firm made a deal with President Donald Trump.

Wettach is a seventh generation Iowan who grew up in Muscatine in southeast Iowa. He says he left his law firm, where he practiced trade and national security law, after it agreed to do pro bono work for the president. Now, Wettach says he wants to use his economic policy experience to make life more affordable for Iowans.

“It's high time that we have leadership that actually listens to our small businesses, our farmers, makes sure that sure that folks can actually sell the goods they’re making and get a fair price for them. And I would fight for that from day one.”

Democrats Christina Bohannan, Bob Krause and Travis Terrell are also running in the primary for Iowa’s 1^st District seat, which is currently held by Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

Thanks in part to a state grant, a colorful three-story-tall mural is now complete in downtown Manchester.

Iowa City-based artist Thomas Agran was commissioned to paint the river scene on the south side of Honey Creek Furniture. He says every public project is different based on several factors, including logistics and the condition of the wall.

“One of the things that I’m really interested in doing is making murals in communities that don’t look like all the murals everywhere else. It’s really important, especially for the identity of smaller towns, that they are not trying to be anybody other than what they are.”

KMCH

Agran says he went fly fishing on Spring Branch Creek in the Manchester area almost 10 years ago. The experience left a big impression on him and serves as the inspiration for the mural.

“We fished up until dusk and it was just beautiful at the very end of the night, as the fog settled in over the stream. That kind of really beautiful landscape is something that actually a lot of people don’t associate with Iowa. They think a lot about our agricultural heritage and those things are important, but if you don’t really live here, some people don’t know what a beautiful state it is.”

He says people in Manchester were excited to see his progress.

“Sometimes I do murals in tucked away places, and sometimes they are more prominent, like this. So there have been lots and lots of people checking out what’s going on, and of course a lot of enthusiasm. I think it’s really nice for a community as well to be able to watch a mural take shape.”

Agran studied art at Grinnell College and now lives and runs his own studio in Iowa City. He has created murals throughout the state, including in Keokuk last year.

The Sioux City Public Library is the latest to make items available for check out that aren’t books, videos or DVDs. It’s called a Library of Things, according to library spokesperson Matti Smith.

“We had talked about doing it for some time, but there was a lot of questions about what kind of things should we offer, what kind of things will be successful, what does the community need.”

Smith says there are things from a variety of categories that library users can check out, from health and wellness items to games and home improvement tools. She says her favorite item the library offers is the radon test kit.

“Because that’s something that’s incredibly useful, but it’s an expensive piece of equipment that you’ll probably only use once. But this way, we can have — as long as people take good care of the equipment — we can have potentially hundreds of people check out this item.”

Smith says the Friends of the Sioux City Public Library provided the money to buy the items for the Library of Things. Some of the available items include a sewing machine, paper shredder, pickleball equipment, a blood pressure monitor and a karaoke machine.

The state of Iowa is considering hiring a private company to provide health care services in prisons.

The Iowa Department of Corrections is issuing a request for proposals to explore privately-run health services and replace the electronic health record system. The agency is looking for cost savings and solutions to challenges like staff shortages. DOC Chief of Staff Paul Cornelius says no final decisions have been made.

Todd Copley, president of the labor union AFSCME Council 61, says the proposal is a slap in the face to more than 200 prison health workers.

“The employees are already underpaid for what they do, what their expectations are. Now a private company is gonna come in, give them the first opportunity to apply for these jobs that are now going to be open, but at even lesser wage than what they’re already making.”

It’s not clear how much health care staff would be paid, but Copley says they would no longer be eligible for a pension through Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System.

A new research project is testing whether solar panels and farming can share the same land without removing crops or livestock from production. The study at Michigan State University focuses on agrivoltaics, a method of placing solar panels above or between fields to generate electricity while keeping farms active.

At a research station in western Michigan, apple trees will be planted under solar panels in the state’s first field trial. George Smith, director of MSU's ag research program, says increasing energy and food needs are putting pressure on farmland.

"Farmland is a finite resource. We can't produce more farmland, but the demands for food production globally are increasing."

Research backed by the Michigan Tree Fruit Commission could inform future studies on other crops. It may take several seasons before they know how the trees respond.

Read more from Harvest Public Media’s Alexandria Ladiski.

Hours before President Donald Trump flew to Des Moines last Thursday for a rally launching the year-long countdown to America’s 250th anniversary, the U.S. House passed the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

Trump praised the bill for making permanent his 2017 tax cuts, allowing people to list overtime pay on their tax deductions, and adding funding for his proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system.

“Very simply, the One Big Beautiful Bill will deliver the strongest border on Earth, the strongest economy on Earth, the strongest military on Earth and ensure the United States of America will remain the strongest country anywhere on this beautiful planet.”

The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan legislative agency, estimates the proposal will increase the deficit by more than $3 trillion – though some conservative lawmakers have taken issue with the estimates.

Also during his appearance, Trump highlighted his administration’s aggressive deportations to remove people without legal status from the country, but pointed out there could be exceptions for farm workers.

“If a farmer is willing to vouch for these people in some way, Kristi, I think we’re just going to have to say ‘that’s going to be good, right?’ You know, we’re going to be good with it. Because we don't want to do it where we take all the farms. We want the farms to do great like they’re doing right now.”

Read more.

A West Liberty man with no criminal background has been deported to Guatemala. Pascual Pedro Pedro was arrested at an annual check-in in Cedar Rapids. He was then taken to the Muscatine County Jail and deported over the weekend.

His lawyer, Timothy Farmer, says he found out Pedro Pedro had been deported when he went to deliver an application to pause deportation proceedings Monday morning. Farmer says the application was delivered too late, and the process was delayed by the Independence Day holiday.

“I kind of got involved on Thursday, you know, we would have had to file this application that day, which, you know, obviously we didn’t do. And I don’t think we even could have managed that. So, it’s unfortunate, but I know this is part of … this is the strategy, I think, to just deport people so quickly that they don’t have time to respond.”

Farmer says Pedro Pedro was deported under ICE’s expedited removal process, which allows the agency to deport immigrants without a hearing before an immigration judge.

Pedro Pedro’s family is demanding answers for his arrest and organizing protests across eastern Iowa.

The central U.S. has been hit particularly hard by tornadoes this year. So far, 2025 has had the second-most tornado reports in the last 15 years of records.

Scientists say tornadoes have been becoming more common outside of what we traditionally think of as tornado alley, around Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska.

Dan Chavas is a professor of atmospheric science at Purdue University.

“It's been a pretty violent year. We've had quite a number of tornado outbreaks that have resulted in tornadoes that have caused pretty widespread damage and quite a lot of deaths.”

Chavas says climate change seems to be pushing tornadoes east and into cooler months of the year. But there has not been an increase in particularly strong tornadoes in recent years. And increases of weak tornados could be thanks to better detection technology.

This year so far, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and nearby states have seen hundreds of tornadoes.

Read more.

A Democrat who represented the Fort Dodge area for 16 years has published a memoir that begins with her childhood during the early years of the Civil Rights Movement and ends with her hopes for the future.

Former Rep. Helen Miller was first elected to the Iowa House in 2002, three years after she and her husband moved to Fort Dodge.

“I had to figure out being a Black person with a vastly majority white Legislature, how to get things done for my constituents.”

Miller was born in 1945, the day before World War II ended.

“There was a racial incident in South Carolina and my mother and father had to leave. They wound up moving to New Jersey as a result, so race determined where I was literally born.”

Miller, who is 79, started writing the book about four years ago, after attending the Okoboji Writers Retreat. The title of her book is, I Don't Swim: A Memoir.

Editor's Note: Helen Miller is a member of Iowa Public Radio's Board of Directors.

Iowa’s biodiesel producers are applauding the massive spending and tax bill signed by President Donald Trump last week.

The legislation includes several of the industry’s top priorities, including an extension of a major tax credit, known as 45-Z, through 2029.

Grant Kimberly, executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board, credits Iowa’s Congressional delegation for negotiating several provisions that will help smaller biodiesel producers, who have been struggling recently.

“Sen. Grassley in particular was really solely instrumental in making sure that the small producer biodiesel credit was added into this. They call it the 40A, the old program. Bringing it back and adding that in, and that's going to, in particular, help plants in Iowa, the independent biodiesel plants in Iowa and throughout the Midwest.”

Kimberly says biofuels producers are still waiting on more guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department on how to qualify for tax credits.

State wildlife officials are asking Iowans to participate in the annual wild turkey survey, which takes place in July and August. The data helps the Iowa Department of Natural Resources estimate nesting rates and track population trends.

Participants record the number of adult hens and any offspring they see, along with the date and county, on the agency’s website.

Jim Coffey, a forest wildlife biologist with the DNR, says Iowa has had several years of strong turkey hatches, but biologists here and in the Midwest are concerned about long-term population declines.

“We’re actually conducting a research project right now to look at some of those demographic trends that have happened over years, and what we tend to think in some cases, actually, a lot of our timbers have over-matured. Turkeys like specific types of habitat. And then, they’re very, very susceptible to weather fluctuations.”

During “extremely wet years” Coffey says young turkeys spend a lot of energy just trying to maintain their internal temperature.

Researchers are also exploring other factors, like predators and new diseases.

While turkeys are found across all 99 counties in Iowa, Coffey says the largest numbers are in the southern and eastern regions of the state, which are more forested.

The Department of Administrative Services is closing the Centennial Building in Iowa City because of an $800,000 budget shortfall. The center will fully close next year.

Mary Bennett, a retired special collections coordinator in Iowa City, worked for the State Historical Society for almost 50 years. Now, Bennett says state administrators are desecrating the archives she worked to build.

“If you think about taxpayers paying 168 years to make sure this treasure was kept safe and sound and intact, and then now for, as I said in the board meeting, it is a joke that for less than a million dollars, you're going to take the thing down.”

Bennet started a petition to prevent the closure. She says the decision was made without public input.

“I entered into deeds of gifts with people and made promises on behalf of the state that we would take care of their treasures and that we valued them. And so they gave them up. And then now I feel like that trust has been violated.”

She says the Des Moines facility can only take 40% of Iowa City’s collection. The rest would be privatized, divvied out or destroyed.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say as people head out to have fun on the Fourth of July, they need to be extra cautious around rivers.

Susan Stocker is the boating education coordinator for the Iowa DNR. She says heavy rains have created faster currents across the state. Stocker says swimmers and boaters should keep an eye on objects in the water.

“If people think that they see a branch up above the surface of the water, it could be attached to a 40-foot tree just below the surface. So that is a huge challenge.”

Stocker also notes that life jackets save lives, and by law, anyone under the age of 13 must wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket while on a watercraft, even a canoe or paddle board.

Staying sober is also essential, she says, since alcohol and drugs contribute to half of all boating fatalities in Iowa. That’s higher than the national average.

“What people don't realize is, even though everybody's surrounded by water, they forget to drink water, so they get dehydrated, the environmental stressors like the wind and the sun and the glare of the water, those actually enhance the effects of alcohol.”

Recently, two people died while swimming in Iowa rivers. The body of a man was pulled from the Des Moines River in Des Moines Monday night and a woman disappeared in the Missouri River near Sioux City Sunday night.

President Donald Trump’s priority tax and policy bill is headed to his desk after passing the U.S. House a second time with support from Iowa’s four House members.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act extends tax cuts passed in Trump’s first term. It also increases spending on defense and immigration enforcement.

Iowa Reps. Randy Feenstra, Ashley Hinson, Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks voted in favor of the legislation.

Miller-Meeks, who represents Iowa’s 1st District, told Newsmax the bill will make the United States more competitive.

“And we’re going to make sure that our borders are secure, that we are energy independent and energy dominant so we can keep pace and compete globally around the world economically.

Feenstra, from Iowa’s 4th District, said on the House floor the bill is key for economic growth.

“This bill will help our Main Street businesses grow, invest, hire, and increases the exemption for the death tax which will help save 2 million family farms.

Iowa Democrats said their votes could harm hospitals and health care providers because the bill is expected to cause nearly 12 million Americans to lose coverage through Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.

Read more.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, says he’ll employ legislative means to overturn California’s Proposition 12, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a petition by the Iowa Pork Producers Association challenging it.

Prop 12, passed in 2018, dictates that uncooked cuts of pork sold in California must come from animals given 24 square feet of floor space.

He said he was not surprised by the Supreme Court’s decision. The measure survived a separate challenge in 2022, and Grassley says it’s time for a different approach.

“I thought from a previous decision on another subject, maybe three or four years ago, that the chances of getting the Supreme Court to overturn Proposition 12 would be very difficult and we'd have to do it by legislation.”

Grassley says he’ll introduce an amendment to the upcoming Farm Bill that would repeal Prop 12.

“I and the pork producers and other people in the Midwest are going to try to accomplish it as an amendment to the five-year farm bill.”

China is a major buyer of U.S. agricultural goods – including specialty products that have few alternative markets. Some producers worry on-again off-again tariffs with China could hurt America's reputation as a reliable seller.

In Missouri's capital, Jefferson City, Tony Clayton has worked in livestock exports to China and more than 60 other countries over the last three decades. His company, Clayton Agri-Marketing, employs trucks, cargo planes and ocean freight vessels to transport live pigs, cattle and other animals for breeding.

The roller coaster of tariffs and pauses this spring has made it difficult for Clayton to plan future sales, not only to China, but to countries around the world. He feels like America's brand as a reliable seller has been tarnished in a way that won't be easy to recover from.

"The damage is deep on this one. There's not a week that goes by that I don't have three to four customers ask the question, 'What's happened to the United States?'"

Read more.

The Figge Art Museum in Davenport is one of just 10 museums chosen to receive historic works from the National Gallery of Art’s permanent collection.

The works are being loaned to museums as part of the gallery’s two-year “Across the Nation” initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Co-senior curator Vanessa Sage says the exhibition includes major Northern European works that are typically reserved for cities like New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

“These are really considered master works. A lot of the artists here, like Lucas Cranach the Elder, or Frans Hals, Anthony Van Dyck, these are really storied names, and even during the time that they were painting, they were exceptionally well-regarded and influenced other artists that were working at the time.”

The paintings date from 1537 to 1700.

The exhibition opened over the weekend and will be on display through April of 2027.

Federal education money earmarked for English language learners, migrant students, summer programs and professional development has been put on hold by the U.S Department of Education.

The Iowa Department of Ed has encouraged superintendents to use leftover funds from past years while the programs are up in the air.

Theron Schutte is the superintendent of the Marshalltown Community School District, where more than a third of students are English language learners. Schutte says much of those funds go towards paying contracts for staff that work with underserved populations.

"We're already committed to paying for those contracts for the coming year, so a loss or a reduction of those funds would have a significantly negative effect on our general fund budget for this next year, and then we would have to make some very difficult decisions going forward.”

Stacey Cole is the superintendent of the Storm Lake Community School District, where more than 40% of students are English language learners.

Cole says if the money doesn’t come through, she predicts the district would have to end some of the federally funded programs and resort to paycuts or layoffs.

“Many, many districts were already saying, we don't know how we're going to keep providing the services that we're trying to provide now – we were already there. This is going to cut us to the core.”

The U.S. Department of Ed says it’s reviewing the funding to make sure taxpayer money is spent in alignment with the president’s priorities and the department’s statutory responsibilities.

An AmeriCorps program where adults over the age of 55 help seniors with basic tasks is putting a pause on its services. Administrators in Waterloo say they received notice that the Office of Management and Budget is withholding $400,000 in federal grants.

The program served 87 clients — seniors who are looking for meaningful relationships and cannot handle day-to-day tasks on their own.

Vicky Buss has been a volunteer with the AmeriCorps Senior Companion Program for 13 years. Prior to the funding pause, she had two clients that she saw five days a week while she earned a stipend of just $4 an hour. On most days, she would help them exercise, eat and sort through their mail.

Buss says she plans to continue visiting her clients occasionally despite the funding pause.

“They glow when I get there every morning when I step through the door, you know, they just light up because they know that, 'Oh man, she’s here.' And then if I have to cancel because of something then it hurts them, because they just, you know, miss me.”

Mary Pat Moore is the public relations director for Hawkeye Community College, which applies for the federal grants to administer the program’s services.

“What we learned through COVID is that when we cut people off and they’re isolated, we see all sorts of mental health problems, but it becomes a real issue. So, the day-to-day activities and basic things that they’re providing is really important, and it’s also really important that they’re providing the companionship.”

Moore says there was no reason given for why the funds were put on hold. She is hopeful that the federal funds will be released so the program’s more than 50 volunteers can resume their work.

The Iowa Hospital Association says proposed cuts to Medicaid under the federal reconciliation budget bill could potentially close some of the state’s hospitals.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated nearly 12 million Americans could lose health coverage by 2034 under the cuts proposed in the version of the bill passed by the Senate this week. That’s to offset the loss in revenue from proposed tax cuts in the bill.

It would mostly affect those on Medicaid, the joint federal and state health coverage program for low-income and disabled Americans.

Chris Mitchell, the president and CEO of the Iowa Hospital Association, says recent increases in Medicaid payments at the state level have pulled many rural hospitals out of operating in the red. The federal bill threatens to undo that progress.

“That's when things get problematic, and where the discussions have to happen, where hospitals could potentially close.”

He says many of the state’s rural hospitals will need to make difficult choices if they lose Medicaid revenue.

“You're really looking at a reduction of services. What services do we have to discontinue and laying off staff when we already know that the majority of hospitals are still facing significant workforce shortages?”

The bill is now headed back to the U.S. House to vote on again.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is not running for governor, but will run for reelection in 2026.

Bird was considered a possible candidate to run in the Republican primary to replace Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The Des Moines Register reports that instead she will seek a second term as attorney general.

Bird says there is still more work for her to do in the attorney general’s office and that she will run a fierce election campaign.

Nate Willems, a lawyer and former state representative from Cedar Rapids, is the only Democrat so far to announce a campaign for attorney general.

With nitrate levels still high in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, Central Iowa Water Works says the lawn watering ban remains in effect, but certain backyard activities that use significantly less water are fine.

Tami Madsen, the regional utility’s executive director, says this includes watering flowers and vegetable gardens with a watering can or hand-held hose.

“Lawn watering can take up to 30 million to 40 million gallons per day of our available capacity. And playing in slip and slides and filling up kiddie pools are a very insignificant fraction of that amount of our capacity.”

She says nitrate levels in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers will need to be below the federal limit for drinking water for a sustained period before CIWW begins a phased roll-back on the lawn watering ban.

A 20-year-old Guatemalan man from West Liberty was arrested by immigration enforcement officials during a routine check-in.

His family says Pascual Pedro-Pedro was attending his yearly check-in at the Cedar Rapids immigration customs office when he was unexpectedly detained.

Pedro-Pedro immigrated to eastern Iowa from Guatemala seven years ago and his family says he has no criminal background.

Reverend Guillermo Trevino is his godfather. He says Pedro-Pedro was a hardworking church member in his congregation.

“Every year he’d have his annual check-in. And every year, everything was fine, and he was able to just back home. And so this year, that he was detained, you know, obviously a lot of emotions on my end.”

Trevino organized a vigil, with dozens of community members gathering outside the Muscatine County jail to protest his detention and ask for his release. Jail officials confirmed that Pedro-Pedro was booked Monday on immigration-related charges.

Trevino says Pedro-Pedro is undergoing ICE’s expedited removal process, which allows the agency to deport noncitizens without an immigration hearing.

South 18th was in terrible shape. The street – which leads to Iowa’s only national cemetery – had been patched up through the years, but never received a proper resurfacing.

Now, it’s a wide, smooth, concrete street with new curbs and gutters, new sidewalks and a new designation. It’s known as the Road of Honor.

Cemetery supervisor Brent Inskeep says the street improvements are about more than just pavement and stone.

“It is a pathway to remembrance. A symbol of respect, and now, thanks to the hard work of many, it reflects the dignity and honor our veterans and their families deserve.”

Bill Smith of Keokuk served on the Road of Honor committee. He’s also a military veteran.

“We need to show respect to all that have served. We are the gatekeepers of this sacred site and the path that leads us here.”

He says people in Keokuk and throughout Lee County care deeply for military veterans.

The ceremony drew more than just local residents. State Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, made the more than 200-mile trip from Story County to Keokuk. This town is important to him.

“In 1864, my great, great grandfather was enslaved in Palmyra, Missouri. [He] escaped, enlisted and became part of the First Iowa Colored Infantry. They were trained in Keokuk, Iowa, so the area has special meaning to me and my family.”

Wilburn is also a veteran, having served in the Iowa Army National Guard.

Wilburn says visitors from the community and from throughout the country will find it a welcoming path as they come to pay their respects to those laid to rest in Keokuk National Cemetery.

Read more.

The new behavior health system combining mental health and substance use disorder into seven districts across the state goes into effect in Iowa this week.

Under the previous system, the state had 13 mental health and disability services regions as well as 19 integrated provider networks for substance use disorders.

Funding for the system will be through the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. The districts will each have a local board to offer input on resources. The state has contracted with the Iowa Primary Care Association to oversee them.

Marissa Eyanson, behavioral health division director at Iowa HHS, says the new system removes silos imposed by the old districts so Iowans can get care wherever they need.

“It also helps us think about how we organize our budget, ultimately, to really get some of the funding targeted into spaces of great need, and really moves us away from having boundaries to how people access.”

Aaron Todd, CEO of the Iowa PCA, says the organization will also work with navigators to help direct Iowans to the resources they need.

“So whether that's a provider, a behavioral health provider, or if it's a community support, it really is dependent on what that person needs. They can help them with paperwork. They can kind of walk with them along that journey.”

Officials say Iowans unsure of where to get help should contact Your Life Iowa for guidance.

A new state law says cities cannot ban the use of fireworks on certain dates, including the Fourth of July.

Some local emergency responders are asking people to behave responsibly as the new law goes into effect.

The law says people can set off fireworks on private property, with the permission of the owner, July 3-4 and New Year’s Eve. The law supersedes any fireworks bans during those dates that city and county governments previously had.

Sergeant Paul Parizek with the Des Moines police says city officials have been spreading the word about the new law.

We will have people who will be assigned to responding to calls for service regarding fireworks in our park spaces. We put some additional signage up to hopefully deter some of that. As far as the phone calls coming in, we’re going to get thousands of them. We know it.”

Parizek says his department has already responded to a handful of fireworks-related incidents as the new law goes into effect.

Cedar Rapids Fire Marshal Steve Mast says people illegally setting off fireworks is always a challenge and he’s hopeful that people will act respectfully towards their neighbors considering the new law.

“I don't know how people will behave. The behavior of people is unpredictable at best. I guess this season, we’re going to have to wait and see how people behave with the use of fireworks. It is something that is always a challenge.”

Mast says the fire department is not doing anything different in terms of its operations, but his crew members are aware that this year will be different. He says last year the department received over 600 calls for service related to fireworks from June 1 through July 8.

An analysis of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers describes nitrate levels in central Iowa as among the highest in the nation.

The report was commissioned two years ago by the Polk County Board of Supervisors to examine the water quality of two rivers that help supply one-fifth of Iowa’s population with drinking water.

The authors found most of the nitrogen in the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers stems from agriculture. Roughly 40% comes from fertilizer, 20% from manure and 20% from nitrogen-fixing crops, largely soybeans.

Matt McCoy is the Polk County Board of Supervisors chair.

“The problems identified in this report are not new to the stakeholders in Polk County, but this report is timely, given the existing conversations around the high levels of nitrates that this community is dealing with currently.”

The new Central Iowa Source Water Resource Assessment comes weeks into a lawn watering ban in the Des Moines area to keep nitrate levels below the federal threshold for drinking water.

During public comments at the Polk County Supervisors’ meeting, Mike Tramontina spoke on behalf of the Sierra Club.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. Again, it doesn’t have to be this way. There are examples. Our rivers can be cleaned up. The Des Moines and the Raccoon can be brought back to drinkable, swimmable and fishable quality – and by natural processes.”

The 200-plus-page report, which was written by 16 scientists from across the country, included a list of regional and state-level recommendations – like more funding for water treatment upgrades and partnerships to scale up best practices on farms.

Iowa County Supervisor Abigail Maas announced she is running for state auditor. Maas also runs a flooring company and farms corn and soybeans in South Amana.

Maas, a Republican, says she's learning how to make the state’s auditing process more efficient by meeting with local government officials. She says she hopes to implement statewide software for local governments to input their budgets line-by-line.

“Long story short, I think what we need to do is also reach out and mend the bond between the state and local governments. We have our county auditors; we have city clerks ... they’re really the boots on the ground. They know what’s going on. They know where to look, where - you know - where we’re missing things.”

Maas says her experience as a county supervisor and in helping cities balance their budgets will set her up for the role of state auditor.

“I know better than most people would on where to look to find the issues and where to find the fraud, and just even the gray area ... it’s not always black and white. There are things that are not explicitly illegal, but I question, are they the best use of taxpayer dollars?”

Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst have helped to pass President Donald Trump’s priority tax and spending bill.

The measure, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, extends tax cuts from 2017 and adds deductions for tips and overtime pay.

It would also add work requirements for some low-income people to qualify for Medicaid health coverage or SNAP food assistance.

The most recent estimate by the Congressional Budget Office says the bill would increase the national debt by $3 trillion over 10 years.

The bill is headed back to the U.S. House, where all four of Iowa's representatives voted in favor of the previous version of the legislation.

As Pride month ends, transgender Iowans no longer have state civil rights protections. Iowa is the first state to take gender identity out of its civil rights code.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the sweeping bill in February, and it went into effect Tuesday.

Maxwell Mowitz leads the LGBTQ rights group One Iowa. He says more people are asking the nonprofit about community support and safe spaces for transgender people.

“This legislation doesn't mean that organizations can't put in their own supportive policies. And I think that that's really important. People think, ‘Oh, well, this is the legislation. So there's nothing that I as a coffee shop owner can do.’ But that's not actually true. You can create a new ceiling. You can create that new protection. So that's a big piece of what we're doing.”

People born in Iowa won’t be able to change the sex designation on their birth certificates anymore. And, as a result of the law, lawmakers were able to ban Medicaid coverage of some gender-affirming care.

Gender identity discrimination complaints that happened before Tuesday can still be filed with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission through late April of next year.

Reynolds and supporters of the law say it’s needed to protect women’s rights.

Read more.

Kevin Techau, the Democratic candidate in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District race, says he’s suspending his campaign.

Techau says his campaign’s fundraising hasn’t met the level the race demands.

Techau is a former U.S. attorney and Iowa commissioner of public safety. He announced his run for Congress in April. Techau was the only Democrat running against Republican incumbent Rep. Ashley Hinson.

President Donald Trump has dropped his lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and pollster Ann Selzer over a poll that inaccurately predicted he would lose Iowa in the 2024 November election.

The poll was released three days before Election Day and showed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris leading Trump by three points. Trump went on to win Iowa by 13 points.

Trump filed the lawsuit last December, claiming the Register and Selzer violated Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act by using the poll for "election interference."

Attorneys representing Trump, Iowa’s 1^st District Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and former state Sen. Brad Zaun filed a motion to dismiss the case in a federal district court Monday.

Robert Corn-Revere, an attorney representing Selzer, said there has been no settlement in the federal case and that it has already been refiled in a state court. He said the move to refile is "procedural gamesmanship" that's "obvious and improper."

A spokesperson for Gannett, the Register’s parent company, said it’s possible Trump will attempt to re-file the lawsuit in state court, and that the company will continue to defend its rights under the First Amendment.

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This post was updated at 1:40 p.m. July 1 to include information about the case being re-filed in state court.

The U.S. Supreme Court says it will not hear an appeal from the Iowa Pork Producers Association in a case challenging California Proposition 12.

The law requires uncooked pork cuts sold in California to come from breeding pigs with at least 24 square feet of floor space.

Proponents say it supports better animal welfare.

The Iowa Pork Producers Association argued this law discriminated against out-of-state citizens and gave California pork producers “unfair lead time” to comply.

California argued there is no unfair advantage because almost all its pork comes from out-of-state producers.

The Supreme Court’s decision comes two years after it ruled 5-to-4 in favor of Prop 12 in a different case.

Eldon McAfee serves as legal counsel for the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

“We believe ultimately that this is an issue of interstate commerce that should be handled by Congress, federal legislation. And the courts have stated that.”

Nearly one-third of all pigs in the U.S. are raised in Iowa.

A special election has been set to fill the seat of an Iowa lawmaker who died last week of pancreatic cancer.

The late state Sen. Rocky De Witt, R-Lawton, was in his first term when he died at the age of 66. Before being elected to state office, De Witt served as a county supervisor in Woodbury County.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has scheduled the special election for Aug. 26 in Iowa’s Senate District 1, which covers a part of Woodbury County and Sioux City.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to open a facility in south Texas to defend against a parasite that once terrorized American ranchers and is posing a new threat.

Screwworms are heading through Mexico toward the U.S. They were pushed out of the country in the 1960s by dropping sterilized insects from airplanes.

The new facility at an inactive air force property in south Texas will be a staging area for that same technique.

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said it was just one of her department’s investments to keep screwworms out of the country.

A separate production facility to make more sterilized flies would also be housed at Moore Air Base, but Rollins said it would take several years to build.

Ranchers and researchers say that more support is needed though. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, is from a district along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“I’ve got a piece of legislation, Stop the Screwworm Act, that will deliver $300 million long-term on how we solve this problem. This isn’t a Texas issue, this is a United States issue.”

USDA is also partnering with universities in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico to improve its methods to fight the insect.

Iowa-based media company Lee Enterprises is being sued by three current and former employees over alleged privacy violations.

The three allege that Lee Enterprises failed to implement the appropriate cybersecurity measures to protect its employees’ personal data, like their name and social security number. They say this led to a data breach in February, where the personal data of nearly 40,000 employees was compromised.

The plaintiffs are asking for class-action status, and Lee Enterprises has not filed a response to their complaints.

Lee owns six newspapers in Iowa, including the Quad-City Times in Davenport and the Sioux City Journal. The company is based in Iowa and operates over 70 newspapers across the country.

Earlier this year, Lee agreed to pay $9.5 million to subscribers whose data was compromised in a separate data breach in 2022.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has issued an executive order requiring public universities to report incidents of antisemitism that have happened since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The order also directs the Iowa Board of Regents to review antisemitism policies and to report to the governor’s office by Nov. 1.

In a statement, Reynolds noted many colleges and universities have condemned antisemitism on their campuses, but she wants to be clear it has no place in Iowa.

As part of the executive order, the Iowa Department of Education will share teaching materials with K-12 schools about the Holocaust and Jewish history.

The search continues in the Missouri River near Sioux City for a missing swimmer.

Witnesses say a woman was about 10 feet from shore when she was pulled under the water and did not come back up early Sunday night.

Rescue crews from South Sioux City, Nebraska and Sioux City couldn’t find her with a drone or boats equipped with sonar.

They called off Sunday night’s recovery operation due to darkness before heading out again Monday morning.

Researchers at Iowa State University have found more than half of the rural counties in the contiguous U.S. don’t have enough practicing private attorneys.

In Iowa, 18 out of 99 counties were classified as a legal desert. Lee County in the southeast tip is in the “critical” category. Others are “urgent” or “emerging.”

David Peters led the study. He’s a professor of agricultural and rural policy.

“A lot of the lawyers that are still practicing in a lot of these emerging legal deserts are five to seven years away from retirement, and there’s no future pipeline to take over their practice.”

Peters says the legal system only works if people have access to legal representation.

Along with county-level Census data, the researchers analyzed state policies aimed at addressing legal deserts.

Peters and his researchers see potential with licensed legal paraprofessionals. They can provide certain legal services without a law degree and without direct supervision by an attorney, such as family law and administrative hearings.

“And why we really advocate for LLPs is that the time and cost of becoming an LLP is far less than what is it to become a licensed attorney.”

Peters says that makes it easier to recruit from communities where people already have strong ties.

Half a dozen states have LLP programs. Iowa does not.

The Johnson County Board of Health is urging people to make sure their children have received their measles vaccines after a case was confirmed in the county earlier this month.

In an op-ed, the board warned that children are especially at risk and said falling vaccination rates have led to preventable outbreaks across the country. They say confidence in the measles vaccine has been eroded due to disproven claims that there is a connection between the vaccine and autism.

While the risk of death for a person who has measles is three in 1,000, the risk of death from getting vaccinated is less than one in a million.

Starting July 1, 18, 19 and 20-year-olds in Iowa will be able to carry handguns under a new law. Under the law, they will be able to acquire handguns or handgun ammunition through private parties in the state.

However, state officials say licensed gun dealers are still restricted from selling or transferring handguns to anyone under 21.

Art Roche is a board member with Iowans for Gun Safety, which opposes the new law. He says the group is concerned it could put more guns more easily into the hands of people who may not be equipped to use them responsibly.

“We're not interested in taking guns away. We're interested in being very thoughtful and very deliberate and very careful about how we introduce new avenues of gun availability into Iowans’ hands.”

Supporters say 18-year-olds are granted other rights such as voting and should have the right to carry a handgun.

Richard Rogers, a board member of the Iowa Firearms Coalition, says the change falls in line with past federal court rulings. He says he thinks denying young adults the ability to carry a handgun leaves them more vulnerable.

“Will people abuse their rights? Yes. People will abuse their rights all the time, but safety isn't achieved by stripping rights from responsible young adults. What we need to do is foster a culture of personal responsibility and accountability, and that's what's going to make us all safer.”

Farm equipment manufacturers say there’s a shortage of talent in cybersecurity. The annual CyberTractor Challenge gives university students hands-on experience in a growing and evolving field. University students from across the country recently met in Ames for the annual event.

Anish Nag was one of two dozen students trying to find security flaws.

“Today is the first day that we've actually started hacking. We’re still trying to play around with the systems, with the networks.”

The students tried to make tractors do things they’re not supposed to do during an ethical hackathon.

James Johnson is vice president and global chief information security officer at John Deere, the company that started the CyberTractor Challenge four years ago. He says the need for cybersecurity has grown alongside precision agriculture, including GPS-guided machinery, internet-connected sensors and other data-driven technology.

“The more dependent we are on technology, the bigger the challenge that we’re going to have as a company, and frankly, as an industry. So, this not just about John Deere, this event this week. It’s about, how do we make the industry more resilient and more secure?”

Johnson says attracting more talent to cybersecurity benefits manufacturers, farmers and the national food supply.

Read more.

Cornell College in eastern Iowa has started using a new method to give prospective students more accurate information about the cost of attendance.

While many colleges offer net price calculators through their websites, Cornell has started sending personalized cost estimates directly to students, through a program called Save Your Seat.

Enrollment vice president Wendy Beckemeyer says the new system is meant to help families who may not know about net price calculation tools.

“The idea behind Save Your Seat is to take away the friction and to use the tools that we can, that we have available to us, and the information that we have to send each student a refined estimate.”

The estimates are based on calculations from the Department of Education and a database of financial aid information from within the school. This week, the school sent out over 19,000 postcards and 16,000 emails to prospective students.

Beckemeyer says she has seen the estimates spur students to move forward in the application process.

Second District Rep. Ashley Hinson says she hopes to pass President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act as soon as possible, which includes deep cuts to Medicaid.

The bill is working its way through the Senate. It includes tightening restrictions on states that provide Medicaid benefits to people in the U.S. without legal status.

“Illegal immigrants shouldn’t get Medicaid, full stop, for example. So I’m going to fight to ensure that, whether it’s included in reconciliation or not, we find another way to make sure that illegals never steal a dime of taxpayer funded resources that should be instead going to vulnerable Iowans.”

Several provisions in the bill have been struck down by the Senate Parliamentarian, whose job is to ensure that the bill complies with laws around budget reconciliation.

Second District Rep. Ashley Hinson says she is continuing to fight for funding that will be used to rebuild a bridge in Cedar Rapids.

The bridge provides key access to the downtown area and will be improved to avoid flooding risks.

City officials changed the bridge's name from the Arc of Justice — which is based on a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.— to the Eighth Avenue Bridge once President Trump took office.

They say the new name reinforces the project’s focus on improving infrastructure while it awaits $56 million from the federal government.

Now, Hinson says she doesn’t foresee any challenges in getting the federal dollars.

“We are working directly with the City of Cedar Rapids and with the administration, and all that I know right now is that everything is still moving forward with that project. And we’ve been working hard to make sure that that grant is delivered for the city.”

Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said in a Facebook post that getting federal funding to complete the project must happen before she worries about the bridge’s name.

Sen. Chuck Grassley sent a letter this week to the incoming postmaster general to voice concerns about how the U.S. Postal Service is failing in its mission.

In his letter, Grassley said he “applauds” postal workers for their service to their communities, but “USPS must not let the quality of its service decline as reforms to achieve stronger financial footing are considered and implemented.”

In a news release, Grassley says Iowans have reported issues with bills and checks not being delivered on time, missing mail and increased delays in mail pickup.

Iowa 2nd District Rep. Ashley Hinson met last year with the outgoing postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, and agrees that consumers and businesses need to be able to rely on the USPS to deliver the mail in a timely and reliable manner.

“We have some serious reforms that need to be happening to make sure that not only rural Iowans can continue to receive their mail, but that our network remains resilient in a time when, obviously, people need access to these services.”

A federal judge has decided that Job Corps locations across the state can stay open while a lawsuit moves through the court system. The U.S. Labor Department had planned to cut funding to Job Corps sites operated by third-party contractors, citing cost and low performance.

State Rep. Hanz Wilz, R-Ottumwa, serves on a task force to keep Job Corps open in Ottumwa. The group includes Indian Hills Community College and the local school district.

“We all see this as a very good program, a successful program. I can't speak for the rest of it, but I can certainly speak to Ottumwa. We've done a lot of great things and gave a lot of kids careers, and that's what's breaking the chain of poverty.”

Wilz says the Ottumwa campus should serve as a model for others, and if the program does go away, the task force will try to find a solution.

“It's a nice reprieve, but I think we start to be looking at creative ways to take the program in some way, shape or form forward.”

He says 3rd District Rep. Zach Nunn and Gov. Kim Reynolds have been helpful during the crisis.

After immigration enforcement officials conducted a raid at a meatpacking plant in Omaha, some Iowa farmers are wondering how to protect their employees without legal status in the U.S.

Joe Henry, the state director for the League of United Latin American Citizens in Iowa, said at a virtual event hosted by the Iowa Farmers Union that over 40% of Iowa’s farm workers are people without legal status.

He said there have not been any major immigration enforcement operations in Iowa so far.

“What we’ve seen here is that when people are pulled over for a traffic violation or infraction or maybe going into a federal courthouse, they may get arrested by ICE and then taken to jail. That has happened every so often in the state.”

Henry says farmers should ask ICE agents to show them a written warrant signed by a judge if they show up.

Relay intercropping, where farmers keep living roots in the soil year-round, is rare to see on farms in the Midwest. Most conventional farm fields are bare after harvest until late spring.

But right now, dozens of Iowa farmers are collecting data as part of a research project focused on the practice.

Planting cereal rye and other cold-loving crops prevents topsoil from washing downstream or blowing away. They also suppress weeds, support beneficial microbes and earthworms, and add organic matter to the soil, allowing it to absorb and release water like a sponge.

Another benefit of relay intercropping is that farmers can sell two crops instead of one.

Initial research results show farmers can have overall higher profit margins with relay intercropping, even with slightly lower soybean yields.

Still, the practice relies on having at least one good rain during the second half of summer. Crop insurance poses another challenge, and farmers need markets to sell their harvested cereal rye, either as cover crop seed, livestock feed or for milling into flour.

Despite the challenges, experts say it could work for some farmers and help with flood control.

The American Flood Coalition supported a study that quantified what the downstream impacts would be if relay intercropping were scaled up across a watershed. Researchers found that 500 buildings and homes could have been saved from a devastating 2016 flood in Cedar Rapids, Iowa’s second-largest city.

With more data, the researchers are hopeful they can identify best practices with relay intercropping to help farmers and communities adapt to weather whiplash.

Read the full story from IPR’s Rachel Cramer.

Starting July 1, drivers will be allowed to use their phones and electronic devices only in hands-free mode. The new law is aimed at reducing accidents and crashes from distracted driving.

Law enforcement will only hand out warnings for the first few months. Starting Jan. 1, they can issue citations with $100 fines.

Alex Dinkla is the Iowa State Patrol Public Information Officer. He says this grace period is to educate the public and help people shift old habits.

“Put that device in that Do Not Disturb mode, driver focus mode. Whether you have an Android, whether you have an iPhone – each of those phones has a feature so that you're not tempted by that chime, by that phone call.”

Dinkla says there are easy ways to comply, like turning on speakerphone. People can also set up Bluetooth, plug in auxiliary cables or use phone mounts to use their device hands-free.

Last year, the Department of Transportation recorded more than 900 crashes due to drivers being distracted by their phones or other electronic devices.

Read the full story from IPR's Isabella Luu.

Polk County supervisors say they’re seeing an increased demand for grant funding from public schools and nonprofits.

Supervisor Matt McCoy says the financial disparity between public schools is causing lower-income districts to reach out to the county for funding.

He says less wealthy school districts are cutting extracurriculars because of lower revenue from property taxes.

“I'm seeing more and more inequity in our public school system as it relates to extracurricular activities.”

McCoy says the county has been forced to fill a funding void for public schools. He’s getting calls every day from athletics departments asking for help.

Meanwhile, the cost of food post-pandemic has gone up by around 20%. Housing and other expenses have also gone up. And McCoy says people on fixed incomes are seeing that their dollars don’t go as far as they used to.

McCoy says managing these basic living costs means other grant requests are going to take lower priority.

“We will do what we can do, but we will probably never have enough money to meet all the needs of the community.”

He expects to rotate grants to different organizations each year to make sure each nonprofit gets some help.

Thirty years ago, Mason City news anchor Jodi Huisentruit disappeared.

Although there have been a few leads in the case over the years, her body has not been found.

On Friday, a gathering will take place in front of the TV station where she worked.

Former Minneapolis crime reporter Caroline Lowe is with the group FindJodi, which helped organize the event.

“So striking to me, preparing for this anniversary, is how raw and traumatized the feelings are of the people who are affected most directly that day.”

Omaha news anchor Brian Mastre worked with Huisentruit at KIMT in Mason City. Mastre was one of the first to read news reports about his 27-year-old colleague's disappearance.

“It's hard to believe that not a lot has changed from what I said that day to today.”

So far, there have been no arrests. Authorities say one of Huisentruit’s neighbors, a person of interest, died last year.

Mason’s City police chief says officers continue to work on the case in the hope that they can provide answers to the family and the community.

Red Haw State Park is reopening its campground next week, more than three years after a powerful tornado tore through the southern Iowa park near Chariton.

Chad Kelchen, a district supervisor with the Iowa DNR’s Parks, Forests, and Preserves Bureau, says campers and picnickers will notice some changes at the park.

“With the tornado coming through the campground like that, we were forced to rearrange the campground. We’ve actually subtracted sites, making the sites a little larger and a little easier to get into. We have a few pull-through sites that overlook the lake now, and we have 52 sites in total.”

An EF3 tornado struck on March 5, 2022 with winds that approached 165 miles an hour, leveling wide sections of dense forest. Kelchen says the damage was so severe that some trees weren’t safe to take down without specialized equipment.

“Then things like underground cables were ripped up by tree roots being pulled out of the ground by the winds. There was a lot of unforeseen damage that we found. The further we got into cleaning it up, the more that we found.”

Over the past three years, several events at the park have rallied dozens of volunteers to help remove debris and restore order.

Kelchen says hundreds more trees have been planted since 2022. The park now features a 70-acre lake and more than four miles of grassy trails. The campground is slated to reopen July 1.

State Auditor Rob Sand began his tour of 100 town halls Wednesday night in Waukee, part of his 2026 campaign for governor.

Attendees brought up issues like agricultural pollution, property taxes and the state’s voucher-style Education Savings Account program.

Sand, a Democrat, says he would work on improving the state’s mental health system as governor. He says increasing reimbursement rates for medical providers would be a step in the right direction.                           

“Our reimbursement rates in the state of Iowa for people who provide medical services are abysmal. They're abysmal, and a lot of people do what it makes sense to do, which is go work somewhere else where you get paid more. If we want to have good mental health services in the state of Iowa, we kind of make sure that we're paying people competitive rates.”

Sand will hold his next town hall in Forest City June 30. His tour will continue through the end of October.

Read the full story from IPR's Isabella Luu.

Northwest Iowa state lawmaker Rocky De Witt has died of cancer.

De Witt, a Republican who lived in Lawton, outside of Sioux City, won election to the Iowa Senate in 2022 after first serving on the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors.

Before getting into politics, he worked for MidAmerican Energy as an instrument and electrical tech journeyman.

A post on his Facebook page called De Witt a “fierce defender of the Second Amendment and a true patriot and public servant.”

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a statement that said, in part, “In just three years, Rocky made a profound impact in the state legislature, all while heroically battling cancer. He was a dedicated husband, a loving father, and a grandfather. His family and friends remain in our prayers.”

Members of the eastern Iowa nonprofit Escucha Mi Voz and Bernie Sanders’ Fighting Oligarchy Project organized a protest of the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill in Cedar Rapids.

The groups delivered a letter to U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst’s regional office, urging her to vote against the bill because of its proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. The bill also proposes $45 billion for immigration-related detention.

Alejandra Escobar with Escucha Mi Voz says the bill will target immigrant families through its provisions related to agreements between states and Immigration Customs and Enforcement.

“They're just gonna be out there, like, on immigration raids instead of doing their police work, you know. So it means just giving money to tear families apart, and I’m concerned about that.”

The bill is currently working its way through the Senate, ahead of Congress’ self-imposed deadline of July 4.

Iowa is second only to Kentucky for the highest rate of new cancer diagnoses in the country, but unlike Kentucky, which can attribute its high cancer rates to smoking, researchers don’t know why cancer is so prevalent in Iowa.

Mary Charlton, the director of the Iowa Cancer Registry, which collects and analyzes state cancer data, said Iowa is high across many factors that can increase cancer risk.

“We have over a quarter of Iowans report zero physical activity outside of their job. We also have one of the highest binge drinking rates in the country. We still have almost 15% of our population who smoke cigarettes.”

Charlton said she hears a lot of concerns from Iowans about environmental exposures, but understanding why people get cancer in general is complicated.

Researchers are looking into these connections. A study that the federal government has been running for the last 30 years follows about 90,000 farmers and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina to understand their cancer risks. The study so far has found some associations between certain farm chemicals and specific cancers, but determining if they’re actually carcinogens requires more in-depth studies.

The Iowa Environmental Council and the Harkin Institute at Drake University in Des Moines announced this spring that they are launching an initiative to look at environmental and agricultural factors and cancer rates in Iowa.

Other research has been slow. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has long put off a health assessment of nitrate in drinking water, which comes from fertilizer runoff. Recent research has linked it to a potential increased risk of colorectal cancer and other health issues at levels lower than what the EPA currently deems safe to drink.

Read the full story from IPR’s Natalie Krebs.

An ordinance that will fine people $10 for blocking public sidewalks in Cedar Rapids received pushback at a city council meeting on Tuesday.

The revised ordinance will lower the fine from potentially hundreds of dollars to $10 for blocking a public sidewalk, but it will also allow law enforcement officials to remove the person and require them to move their things within 72 hours, drawing concerns from some at the city council meeting.

Members of the public, like Cedar Rapids resident Gretchen Lawyer, said it isn’t an effective way to get people off the streets, adding that the ordinance could interfere with people’s First Amendment rights to peacefully protest.

“Criminalizing people's presence on sidewalks or in other public spaces does nothing to address these systemic issues. Instead, it deepens people’s struggles by subjecting them to fines, criminal records and further displacement, making it even harder to get stability in their lives.”

Cedar Rapids Police Captain Charlie Fields says the ordinance is meant to address safety concerns in the downtown area.

“It's pretty simple — if you’re blocking the sidewalk and other people can’t use it, we’re going to come out and ask you to move. We don’t write everybody we stop a speeding ticket. We don’t write everybody that parks illegally a parking ticket. We don’t tow every car that’s parked illegally. We give warnings. We ask people to move, and we will continue to do that.”

The ordinance will go into effect once it is officially published in the coming days. It was approved unanimously by the city council.

Siouxland Chamber of Commerce president Chris McGowan is running for Iowa’s 4th District congressional seat.

McGowan, a fourth-generation Iowan from Sioux City, is the first Republican to launch a campaign in the district that’s represented by Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra, who’s taken steps to run for governor. 

McGowan is a veteran of the Iowa Air National Guard and an attorney who leads the private, nonprofit Siouxland Initiative as well as the area’s chamber of commerce.

He says he’s focused on “protecting and supporting Iowa’s traditional values." His vision for Iowa’s 4th District includes creating a strong and robust economy and building a strong national defense, including at the southern border, by supporting the armed forces.

“I’m the son of a Vietnam veteran. I’m the father of six children and my five oldest children have all chosen a path in the armed forces. Understanding the importance of national security and understanding the priorities that the Trump administration has established for national security are critically important to this race and to the future of our country.”

McGowan is likely to face a Republican Primary in 2026. Republican State Sen. Lynn Evans, a retired superintendent from Aurelia, has formed an exploratory committee for a possible run for Congress.

For years, gates have been used on Interstate 35 in northern Iowa to close the roadway during winter storms. Now they’re being installed across the state, including near Ankeny.

The DOT’s Bob Ellis says a blizzard in February led to the decision to install five gates on the city’s northbound I-35 ramps.

“We had multiple accidents just north of 36th Street between 36th and Huxley, where the interstate pretty much closed itself, so those gates would come in handy where we just don’t let any more people get onto the system.”

Ellis says the DOT started putting the gates along Interstate 80 last year, starting in Altoona and heading east to Davenport.

“They have come in handy over east and a few of the larger accidents, even in the non-winter season that we were able to close one of the gates just so people wouldn’t get on anymore.”

He says the DOT works with local law enforcement and the traffic management center to make appropriate determinations.

Rep. Randy Feenstra says President Trump hopes to sign his “Big Beautiful Bill” on or before the Fourth of July. The measure still needs to pass the U.S. Senate.

Feenstra, who fully backs Trump’s bill, says it will grow the economy and help rural America, small businesses and manufacturing.

“It delivers historic tax cuts, literally for every family, it's gonna save about $10,000 a year. It supports workers, it supports our farming community by getting rid of some of the death tax.”

Critics of the bill say it provides tax breaks to the wealthy, increases the deficit and cuts too much from social services.

Feenstra, who represents Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, made his comments during a town hall meeting held by phone, where he fielded mostly friendly questions.

The Republican recently announced plans to run for governor after Gov. Kim Reynolds decided not to run for a third term.

Rachel Cramer

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Iowa Public Radio

Due to elevated nitrate levels in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, the nitrate removal facility at Des Moines Water Works has been running for nearly 70 days.

The federal threshold for nitrates in public drinking water is 10 milligrams per liter.

Chemist Lisa Morarend says staff test samples of river water each day.

“There's a big difference between having 11 milligrams per liter of nitrate in the rivers — that's fairly easily treatable, we only have to take out one milligram per liter — versus, you know, an extended period of 14-15. There were times this year where it was up close to 20 for an extended period of time. That's a lot of nitrate that we have to remove, and that strains our capacity.”

Morarend says the Des Moines area lawn watering ban that went into effect June 12 has relieved some of that strain.

Treated water from Central Iowa Water Works, the regional utility, continues to meet federal nitrate standards.

Read more.

Axiom Space

A private space crew of four soared into orbit during a middle-of-the-night launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Retired NASA astronaut and Iowa native Peggy Whitson is serving as commander. Whitson has set numerous spaceflight records, including the most cumulative time in space by a U.S. astronaut. This mission will add to her 675-day record.

This is the fourth mission brokered by Axiom Space. The Ax-4 launch comes after multiple issues delayed the mission.

Read more.

A special investigation by the state auditor’s office revealed a former city clerk in the eastern Iowa city of Conesville made over $127,000 in improper payments. Of those, nearly $50,000 were made out to herself through payroll and other reimbursements, She also spent $12,000 using the city’s debit card. The payments were made over a period of nine months, ending in April 2024.

The city clerk said she used the money for her kids and on personal Amazon purchases, often making the payments to herself look like official payroll checks.

State Auditor Rob Sand says this type of behavior is becoming more common in smaller towns throughout Iowa.

“This was an issue that I would bring to the attention of judges at sentencing when I was the chief public corruption prosecutor for the State of Iowa, pointing out that more and more often we were seeing people in local offices, where there simply aren't the same checks and balances, making off with taxpayer money.”

Sand says it's important for local government officials to share duties to improve accountability.

“We need to make sure that it isn’t one person who has the keys to the kingdom. We also need to make sure that we’ve got good oversight, right? We need to make sure that our city and county officials, all of our elected officials, are always saying, ‘show us the bank accounts,’ we want to see what’s going on.”

The report also revealed over $20,000 in uncollected utility payments, resulting in lost revenue for the city. Sand says disciplinary actions against the former city clerk will be handled by law enforcement officials.

According to a new state law, Iowans can legally shoot off fireworks anywhere in the state July 3-4 this year.

Kim Sandtoe operates one of two permanent Jake’s Fireworks buildings in central Iowa and says they’ve already had people calling to ask about it.

“We’ve seen an increased interest in fireworks products. People that are new to fireworks, as well as those that have maybe bought more conservative items previously and are now looking to try some things they haven’t tried in the past.”

Sandtoe runs the Urbandale operations and estimates sales are up 10 to 15% across their two buildings and 60 tents.

The law now allows Iowans to shoot off fireworks on July 3 from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. and July 4 from 9 a.m. until 11 p.m.

The Iowa Character Awards for 2025 are being announced, highlighting the people, teachers, communities and organizations that are helping to make positive changes across the state.

Amy Smit, spokesperson for the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University, says there are a dozen awards this year. The highest honor is called the Robert D. and Billie Ray Pillar of Character Award.

“We chose Mike Knapp to receive the award. Mike has provided us with some visionary leadership and helped advance our mission for many, many years, and we know that he’s really worked hard to carry on Gov. Ray and Mrs. Ray’s legacy.”

Knapp, of Des Moines, has served as the president and CEO of Iowa Realty and is chairman emeritus of HomeServices of Iowa.

Another one of this year’s key awards is going to a city in northwest Iowa as the recipient of the Community of Character Award.

“The City of Spencer is really a great example of Iowans coming together after facing tough times. In 2024, after they faced some devastating floods, they had homes that were damaged and families displaced, but in the midst of the crisis, Spencer really showed up and they showed what it means to live by the six pillars of character.”

Those pillars are: caring, citizenship, fairness, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness.

The program was founded at Drake in 2005 and has since honored more than 200 Iowans.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley says President Donald Trump is determined to bring peace between Iran and Israel. But he says Iran continued to build up its nuclear program after strikes by Israel and Trump’s call for negotiations, compelling Trump to order U.S. airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.

“We saw him take decisive action when Iran continued building up its nuclear weapons program. They didn't take advantage of 60 days that the president gave them to negotiate.”

In a call with reporters Tuesday, Grassley suggested the strikes were not on behalf of Israel.

“The president's number one responsibility under the Constitution is to protect the American people, and President Trump's actions on the weekend does that.”

Grassley calls Iran the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism. He brought up the hostage crisis in the late 1970s and the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 220 US Marines. U.S. intelligence agencies implicated Iran in that attack.

An investigation is underway after the body of a central Iowa man was found in the Missouri River near Council Bluffs Sunday night.

The Council Bluffs Police Department is asking for information about the death of 28-year-old Gony Dual Bijiek of Ankeny.

The reason he died is currently unknown. The State Medical Examiner’s Office plans to do an autopsy.

The Iowa Association of Business and Industry is challenging a new state law that is expected to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

The law requires pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to reimburse pharmacies at higher rates. It also limits PBMs from charging additional fees based on the pharmacy where a covered person picks up the medication. PBMs are companies that serve as the negotiator between drug manufacturers, pharmacies and health insurance companies for setting prescription drug costs.

Nicole Crain, president of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, says the law violates the First Amendment.

“There is a provision in this law that’s set to go into effect that is going to disrupt the prescription drug coverage that Iowans count on. It stops health plans from giving people simple, money-saving information. So, as an employer, they cannot tell their employees which pharmacy has the better deal.”

The groups that filed the federal lawsuit have asked for a temporary injunction before the law takes effect July 1. Gov. Kim Reynolds has said the law will help to prevent local pharmacies in rural areas from going out of business.

A survey conducted for the Iowa Farm Bureau finds high costs at the supermarket remain the primary concern among most Iowa consumers.

Zach Bader, the bureau’s digital marketing manager, says it’s getting more and more expensive to feed a family, as prices aren’t retreating on most key products.

“Eighty percent of people say that they’re concerned about government regulations that increase food costs … Over the years, we’ve seen that price is always the top one or two factors for people when it comes to purchasing meat, milk and eggs.”

Bader says there’s little change from last year’s report, which found a jump in grocery prices of more than 23% between 2020 and 2024.

Prices for beef are at an all-time high at the grocery store. For instance, a pound of ground beef averaged about $6 in May, according to the Consumer Price Index.

Agriculture economists say it’s a supply and demand issue. Years of drought have prevented the national herd from growing, leading to the lowest numbers seen in decades, while consumer demand remains high.

Mark Gardiner, the owner of Gardiner Angus Ranch in southwest Kansas, says ranchers used to worry whether people would eat beef.

“And so fast forward [to] today, where we're enjoying the greatest demand in beef history … beef has differentiated itself as the protein of choice, not only in the U.S., but worldwide because of the quality. And that quality change is what dramatically changed that.”

Economists say it will take some time for cattle herds to grow, meaning consumers are likely to continue to see high prices at the store.

Read more from Harvest Public Media’s Anna Pope.

A new study has found illegal tobacco sales to underage Iowans spiked in 2021.

The study looked at Food and Drug Administration Tobacco Compliance checks in Iowa from 2017 to 2023. It found that the number of inspections that resulted in violations dropped to about 3% in 2020, when many inspections were suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But violations spiked to more than 10% in 2021.

Tony Fischer, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Iowa, says this shows a need for these inspections to keep tobacco away from kids.

“This is a weak point, in terms of our ability to prevent tobacco use. If it's really accessible, then it makes it easier for people to try it. And if they try it, they might get addicted.”

The study found tobacco and vape shops, liquor stores and some gas station chains had the highest number of violations.

The pipe manufacturing company Advanced Drainage Systems is closing its recycling facility in Waterloo later this summer.

A notice, issued last week from the Iowa Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, known as Iowa WARN, states that the Ohio-based company will lay off 71 employees Aug. 17.

ADS has not issued a public statement about the layoffs, but broke ground on a $30 million recycling facility expansion in Georgia earlier this year and is suspected to be shifting its resources.

The Trump administration’s proposed budget includes eliminating funding to help people with energy costs. Advocates in western Iowa worry about the potential fallout it could have in their communities.

Jean Logan, executive director of the Community Action Agency of Siouxland, says her nonprofit only has $2,000 left this summer for a program that helps people get their utilities turned back on or receive window air conditioning units.

“I'm hoping that we'll get an amendment that will be able to help us continue to help families because that's really important when it's so hot like this.”

Logan also worries how some people will pay for heating in the winter if the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is cut.

“LIHEAP is such an important program. There will be health consequences.”

LIHEAP covered nearly $1.4 million in heating costs to about 3,000 households in Woodbury County alone. The program extends across Iowa and the country, and aims to help the elderly, disabled and families with young children.

Residential construction in the U.S. has hit a five-year low. Numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show housing starts are at the lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic put the brakes on home building.

Anne Villamil, a professor of economics at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business, says costs for building materials — including lumber — have shot up because of tariffs.

“I think many, many builders just feel like they're being squeezed, and they don't know how to price jobs because tariffs — particularly when we're talking about Canada at the rate of 25% — it really increased job costs.”

Villamil says Iowa ranks in the top 10 states for housing affordability. But relatively high mortgage rates, uncertainty about tariffs and the job market will continue to weigh down residential construction.

Central Iowa Water Works (CIWW), the regional water utility for the Des Moines area, says the recent rain contributed to slightly higher nitrate levels in the Raccoon River Friday.

However, the drop in consumer demand with the lawn watering ban has helped the utility keep pace with nitrate removal.

“We are continuing to monitor the nitrate levels in the river,” said Tami Madsen, executive director of CIWW. “But for now, we just need to continue to stay vigilant with the lawn watering ban so that we can reduce the capacity to be able to continue providing water that meets all safe drinking water standards.”

If drinking water violates federal standards, Madsen says residents would hear directly from Central Iowa Water Works.

The city of Grimes is a member of Central Iowa Water Works, but since it is not yet connected to the regional system, Grimes will not be enforcing the lawn watering ban for its residents.

Some of the U.S. college campuses that hosted crop development programs to help foreign countries through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are trying to continue their work after USAID lost nearly all federal funding.

After the Trump administration pulled funding for the Innovation Labs in the Feed the Future program, the projects were expected to shut down. But the University of Illinois reopened its Soybean Innovation Lab on a reduced scale with a one-year grant from an anonymous donor.

Director Peter Goldsmith says if they get funding for next year, he’s not expecting it to come from the federal government.

“No, I don’t think federal funding will be forthcoming. And the Soybean Innovation Lab, as well as the other labs, we need to focus on finding other sources of research dollars.”

Of the 17 Innovation Labs, only one — located at Kansas State University — is still getting federal funding.

Read more.

A federal judge in Iowa has permanently ruled against an attempt to set nationwide minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes.

The Biden administration issued a rule in 2023 requiring facilities that receive funding through Medicare and Medicaid to meet certain staffing levels. Twenty states, including Iowa, sued, saying the mandate would shutter many facilities, especially homes in rural and low-income areas.

The judge says parts of the rule exceed the legal authority of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

A Texas federal judge had already blocked the rule in a separate lawsuit.

Peggy Whitson

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Axiom

The countdown clock is again ticking toward a weekend launch for Iowa native and astronaut Peggy Whitson and her record-setting fifth space mission.

The mission was first set for liftoff June 8, but bad weather at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and mechanical issues on both the Falcon 9 rocket and the docking area on the International Space Station (ISS) caused multiple delays.

The launch of Ax-4 is now scheduled for early Sunday morning at 2:42 a.m. CDT.

Whitson is commander of the Axiom Space mission, along with three crewmates from India, Hungary and Poland. The crew is scheduled to spend two weeks at the ISS conducting a series of roughly 60 experiments in biology, material and physical sciences, and technology.

Whitson, who grew up on a farm near Beaconsfield, has spent 675 days in orbit. She also holds the record for the longest cumulative time in space by an American astronaut.

Linn County Public Health

A new report shows Linn County has higher cancer rates than both the state and national averages. While it impacts the entire county, certain populations have higher rates of incidence than others.

Linn County Public Health Director Pramod Dwivedi says Black men are twice as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer as white men. But Dwivedi says a variety of factors, including geography, access to health care and air quality may be causing the race and sex disparities.

“As a governmental public health agency, we can do certain things with regard to following rules and regulations, but preventing any chronic disease, including cancer, is the function of a partnership.”

Dwivedi says much of it is about educating residents on the known causes of cancer — mainly smoking and drinking. But he can’t be 100% certain which factors are the main culprits of higher cancer rates in Linn County, specifically.

Read more.

Two Iowans are among the nearly 200 elected leaders from across the nation attending the 93^rd annual United States Conference of Mayors in Tampa, Florida.

Dubuque Mayor Brad Cavanagh and Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart are participating in the conference, which opened Thursday and runs through Sunday.

Hart says he and his counterparts are discussing solutions to a wide range of issues facing cities large and small.

“Whenever I come here, this is one of the greatest places to be able to exchange ideas — or steal ideas — from other communities and bring them to yours ... I’m taking notes for all of these different sessions to see what I can bring back and what actually fits for our community.”

Workshops for the mayors cover a variety of topics, including housing, public safety, tariffs, climate protection, the economy and infrastructure. With more than 85% of Americans living in U.S. metropolitan areas, Hart says mayors are on the front lines of today’s challenges.

“Another area is just overall safety and how elected officials are somewhat living in a time where it’s challenging and there are safety issues for us and our personal families.”

Hart says the shootings last weekend of two Minnesota legislators and their spouses — which left two of them dead — are weighing on many people’s minds.

Sheila Brummer

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Iowa Public Radio

One year ago, more than a dozen Iowa counties ended up under a Presidential Disaster Declaration after heavy rains pushed raging rivers out of their banks.

So far, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has paid out $100 million in public and individual assistance. The public money helps repair or replace infrastructure, like government facilities, vehicles, roads, bridges and utilities.

In Rock Valley, the hardest hit town, recovery efforts will result in nearly 200 new houses and apartments for residents.

Rock Valley City Manager Tom Van Maanen says a total of 500 homes were damaged in the flood. The town requested federal buyouts for 150 of them, which was more than initially expected. Van Maanen says he’s optimistic there will be an update soon.

"There are people at different stages of recovery. We have people who have been able to find their new home. Unfortunately, a lot of them are waiting for the buyout programs before they'll be able to make that step in their life.”

During a recent visit to Rock Valley, Gov. Kim Reynolds said the state provided the community with nearly $7 million for housing.

Read the full story about recovery efforts in northwest Iowa.

Central Iowa Water Works (CIWW) says nitrate levels in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers are still above federal standards for safe drinking water.

Removing the nitrates slows down the process for treating water, which is why the lawn watering ban is still in effect in the Des Moines area.

“I get a lot of questions, ‘How come we just don’t go drill shallow wells because they don’t have as much nitrates,’ said Christina Murphy, general manager of West Des Moines Water Works. “The amount of shallow wells that we would have to drill for the amount of production capacity here in the metro, it’s just not feasible.”

But Murphy says CIWW has multiple projects underway to increase capacity in the long run. This includes adding and expanding some treatment facilities, along with adding more aquifer storage and recovery wells. The wells are used to store treated water as a back-up when there’s peak demand or to blend with water that has high nitrate levels.

People were evacuated from the site of the National Speech and Debate Tournament in downtown Des Moines Thursday.

Des Moines police say a man entered the stage area at the EMC Expo Center and his behavior caused safety concerns. He was taken into custody.

Police say no weapons were seen or found, and no one was hurt. But access to the building was restricted as a precaution.

The National Speech and Debate Association says it plans to resume the tournament later Thursday.

Cedar Crossing Casino and Entertainment Center

A lawsuit seeking to block developers from building a new casino in Cedar Rapids was struck down by a district court judge Thursday.

Developers have been moving forward with the $275 million casino since the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission ruled to grant Linn County a gaming license in February. But competitors made a last-ditch effort to halt its development, saying the language on a 2021 referendum that voters approved was inadequate.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell says the ruling affirmed that Linn County voters knew exactly what they were voting for.

“These voters approved this back in ‘21 and have been dodging bullets and fists ever since. And so, to get to this ruling today really validates the will of the people here, and also validates the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, frankly.”

Market studies have estimated the new casino would help increase Iowa’s gambling revenue by over $60 million, while drawing roughly $68 million from its competitors. It’s expected to be finished by the end of 2026.

State health officials say they have confirmed three additional cases of measles in eastern Iowa. The new cases bring Iowa’s total count to six so far this year.

The cases were confirmed in a woman between the ages of 18 and 40 and two children under the age of 18. All three people were unvaccinated, and the cases were locally acquired through household contact.

The state’s previous three confirmed cases were all determined to be travel-associated. Two of those cases were in unvaccinated individuals.

The nation is in the middle of an outbreak of the highly contagious virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed nearly 1,200 cases nationwide.

Health officials are encouraging people to make sure they are up-to-date on their MMR vaccination, which is 97% effective against measles.

Iowans might need to rethink their weekend outdoor plans, as forecasters say the entire state will be under an extreme heat watch from Saturday afternoon through Sunday night.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff says Saturday will be the first full day of summer — and the hot and muggy weather will arrive right on time.

“We’re looking at excessive heat … Really the main time frame for the hottest conditions Saturday and Sunday, with the heat index maybe surpassing 105 degrees in many cases.”

Even after the sun goes down Saturday night, Hagenhoff predicts there will be little relief from the steamy conditions.

“We’re looking at overnight low temperatures that could be record warm. We’re looking at low temperatures in the upper 70s, and with that humidity still around overnight, it may still feel like the mid-to-upper 80s.”

A storm front might arrive Monday, which she says could knock down the heat.

As for the weekend ahead, she suggests drinking plenty of fluids, staying in an air-conditioned room and out of the sun, and checking up on relatives and neighbors.

Nearly 4,000 Iowa Army National Guard soldiers are in the midst of three weeks of rigorous summer training at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, Louisiana.

Col. Tony Smithart is the 734^th Regional Support Group commander. He says troops from the 2^nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34^th Infantry Division are there, along with nearly 1,800 soldiers from across the state, who will soon be going overseas.

“The key mission for the 734^th Regional Support Group is to build combat power for forces to flow into an assigned mission. We’ve received about 6,000 soldiers for the exercise, 2,000 pieces of equipment that the 734^th RSG has received and moved into staging yards for the forces that are deploying to the exercise to be ready to do their mission.”

This is the final training step for the soldiers who will be deployed overseas as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.

Despite pushback from some agriculture leaders, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will raid farms, ranches and dairies in an effort to ramp up arrests and deportations. This is a reversal of a brief pause following recent ICE raids at farms and meat-processing facilities.

Some immigration experts say this policy could hurt an industry that heavily depends on immigrants. According to Sonia Parras, an immigration attorney in Des Moines, rural communities and immigrant workers are concerned about raids.

Parras previously worked on cases in 2008 when ICE raided a meat-processing plant and arrested nearly 400 people in the city of Postville.

“When the administration, to me, prioritizes punitive enforcement that targets these workers, it creates a bit of a paradox, where the very workforce that the farmers relied upon is being driven into the shadows.”

More than 40% of U.S. farm workers are in the U.S. without legal status or are not legally authorized to work, according to a 2022 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Iowa’s share of a legal settlement with the maker of the opioid drug OxyContin is nearly $38 million.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, along with 54 attorneys general from states and U.S. territories, signed onto the settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers, the family that owns the company.

Half of Iowa’s $37.8 million share of the settlement will go to local governments in Iowa. The other half will go into a state fund set up to distribute money from settlements with companies that made, marketed and sold opioids.

Bird said the settlement is “bittersweet” because “OxyContin is an extremely harmful and addictive drug.” State records indicate 238 Iowans died of an opioid overdose in 2023, although the names of the opioid taken are not listed.

Ten other companies that made or sold opioids have already agreed to settlements and have paid the state of Iowa over $56 million. After three years of negotiations, the Legislature agreed this spring on a plan to distribute the money from the state’s Opioid Settlement Fund.

This latest settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family must be approved by a court before the money reaches Iowa and other states. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a settlement offer last year that was nearly $3 billion less and would have shielded the Sackler family from civil lawsuits related to OxyContin’s use.

James Kelley

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Iowa Public Radio

Mobile home owners in Johnson County are voicing their frustration over property rent increases and worsening living conditions after their lots were purchased by an out-of-state investor.

A group of residents from three mobile home parks in Johnson County say they have noticed steep increases in their lot rent, dirty drinking water and unsafe infrastructure. They say it’s after their lots were purchased by a Utah-based investor called Havenpark Communities.

Jessica Andino is the executive director of the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition.

“They own their home as much as any other individual in the county. They just don’t own that land underneath them, they rent it. That means they are uniquely vulnerable to predatory practices of these out-of-state agencies if the landowner decides to raise the rent too high or refuses to make repairs.”

Residents say their complaints about unsafe living conditions have been largely ignored. They are asking for a two-year moratorium on rent increases at lots with improved living standards.

A spokesperson from Havenpark Communities says the company has invested more than $2 million in upgrades at the three locations and is committed to keeping residents safe.

Splash pads in the Des Moines metro area can reopen Thursday, even as a lawn watering ban continues.

Central Iowa Water Works banned watering lawns to keep dangerous nitrate in drinking water below the federal standard. Levels in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers are still well above the Environmental Protection Agency limit.

Cities in the metro also closed public splash pads to save water. Now, with hot weather on the way, they can reopen. But some may have limited hours.

Central Iowa Water Works says splash pads use about 1 million gallons of water per day, while lawn watering uses around 40 million gallons per day.

A federal judge extended an order that temporarily blocks the U.S. Department of Labor from shutting down Job Corps training program for low-income young adults. The extension goes through June 25 to give the judge more time to review the case.

Ryan Dunker is a Job Corps participant. He lives on campus in Denison, one of two residential programs in Iowa. The other is in Ottumwa.

“I know for me, this place was perfect. It definitely gave me a lot of hope for my future, at least.”

Dunker recently completed a pharmacy tech program and says he does have some job leads. However, he worries about others who would have nowhere to go if the campus closes.

Supporters of Job Corps are optimistic the judge will decide to extend the order further, which would allow Job Corps to continue operations as the legal process continues. Plaintiffs in the case say only Congress can cut money for the program.

A Juneteenth celebration is planned for Thursday in Sioux City after five years without one.

The NAACP says this year it felt more support to put on the event, which will feature live music, art and soul food. Organizers want people to understand the true meaning of Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S.

Across the country, some Juneteenth celebrations have been scaled back due to a lack of funding as companies and cities have changed their support for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Sioux City’s event takes place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Sioux City Public Museum.

Photo courtesy of Blank Park Zoo

Iowa’s largest zoo is adding sharks to its Big Reef Aquarium for the first time. Two bamboo sharks, Snoopy and Pluto, were introduced this week at Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines.

Blank Park Zoo spokesman Alex Payne says the light brown, spotted sharks are slender and about 2 feet long, but they might eventually grow up to 4 feet.

“They’re cute little sharks, but they do like to hide. So you’ll find them around the bottom of the aquarium most of the time.”

Payne says Blank Park Zoo is excited for visitors to connect with this new species and appreciate the rich diversity that makes the planet’s oceans so extraordinary.

“This is the first time that we have had sharks at the zoo. We were looking for some new species to introduce into our aquarium, and they were a perfect match. We have the size of aquarium that we could fit them in, and it adds something a little additional to the aquarium for guests to be able to interact and engage with.”

Sharks have a reputation for being predatory, but Payne doesn’t expect any trouble with the other fish in the 15,000-gallon aquarium.

“We make sure that, when we do put animals together, that they will interact with each other in a positive way. Our keepers make sure that they work with the sharks and they’ll make sure that they’re well fed and have the enrichment items that they need to make sure that there won’t be any sort of conflict with the other animals.”

June 20 marks the 50th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s classic shark horror film Jaws, and some Iowa theaters are holding special screenings over the weekend, though Payne insists it’s just a happy coincidence.

Health care and food supply leaders in Linn County have concerns about how Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients in the area could be affected by President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The bill is estimated to cut nearly $300 billion in SNAP funding and nearly $800 billion from Medicaid over 10 years.

Theresa Graham-Mineart, director of outpatient services at UnityPoint Health’s Abbe Center for Community Mental Health, discussed the bill at an event Tuesday with local service providers.

She says over 50% of the clinic’s patients are on Medicaid, and with the proposed changes to work requirements outlined in the bill, those patients could lose their coverage.

“If a person cannot get in for care within those time frames, they will just skip it. And skipping it means a lot of different things. For behavioral health, skipping it can mean, ‘I’m just going to dig my heels in and try to get through.' Skipping, it can also mean suicide and overdoses.”

The bill has been approved by the U.S. House and is currently working its way through the U.S. Senate. It will then be sent back to the House for review before being sent to Trump’s desk. Republican leaders say they want to get the bill to the president by July 4.

A new report ranks Iowa’s health system 18^th in the nation.

The report by the nonpartisan organization Commonwealth Fund found Iowa has low rates of drug overdose deaths and adults who go without care because of the cost. However, Iowa also has some of the nation’s highest obesity rates.

It also found Iowa’s uninsured rate dropped from more than 12% in 2013 to about 7% in 2023.

Sara Collins, with the Commonwealth Fund, says current proposals at the federal level to add work requirements to Medicaid could cause Iowa’s uninsured rate to go back up. Most people on Medicaid already work.

“The reporting requirements will be the thing that really does lead to people disenrolling and becoming uninsured. People really have no other options.”

Iowa lawmakers also passed Medicaid work requirements at the state level during the 2025 legislative session and are waiting on federal approval to implement them.

Read more.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

The Hinterland Music Festival introduced a new policy this year that addresses its most pervasive problem: Iowa heat. It’s called the 90-Degree Guarantee, and through it, ticket-holders can request a refund if temperatures are predicted to reach or exceed 90 degrees. The policy also references the growing impact of climate change.

Read more about what it could mean for the future of outdoor festivals as they navigate the impacts of a changing climate.

Law officers across Iowa are taking part in a nationwide effort this week to promote the “Move Over, It’s the Law” program.

Trooper Paul Gardner of the Iowa State Patrol says it’s been the law in Iowa for more than 20 years, but it’s only recently been passed in all 50 states.

“We want to remind motorists who happen to approach a stopped emergency vehicle, a maintenance vehicle, tow truck or any vehicle displaying flashing lights that’s parked on the side of the road, to move over into the other lane. Or, if the lane change is not possible, to slow down to a reasonable speed below the posted speed limit.”

Law enforcement will be focusing on making sure motorists move over during a special operation that’s running through Thursday.

“This law protects first responders, road workers, maintenance crews, tow truck operators, and it’s been on the books in Iowa since 2002. It’s designed to protect those whose majority of the work is on the roadways.”

Ignoring the law could bring about a $200 fine and a suspended driver’s license for up to a year.

Nicole Baxter

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Iowa Public Radio

Nitrate levels are still high in the central Iowa waterways that supply the Des Moines area with drinking water.

It’s been five days since Central Iowa Water Works banned customers from watering their lawns to keep drinking water from violating the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard for nitrates. Since then, the community has decreased its demand for water by about 30%.

Des Moines Water Works CEO Ted Corrigan says that’s a positive response, but the ban remains in effect.

“We're going to need your continued support. This … is likely going to be measured in weeks, not days.”

Nitrate levels in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers are at their highest since 2013. Corrigan says the main source of the high nitrate levels is fertilizer from crop fields.

Read more.

The Iowa House has gathered signatures supporting a special session to override Gov. Kim Reynolds’ veto of a bill that would put new regulations on carbon capture pipelines.

In all, 70 Republicans and Democrats signed the petition. But that only meets part of the requirement in the Iowa Constitution. Two-thirds of the Iowa Senate must also sign a petition to convene a special session.

In a statement, House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, called on the Senate to secure the signatures needed to reconvene the Legislature and provide protections for landowners.

Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, has previously said he does not think a majority of his members would support overriding the governor’s veto.

—

This post was updated June 19, 2025 at 9:34 p.m.

Grant Gerlock

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Iowa Public Radio

Ryan Melton, the Democratic candidate in Iowa’s 4^th Congressional District in the past two elections, has suspended his 2026 campaign.

Melton, who lives in Webster City, announced the decision on social media. He said it was a tough choice to exit the race, but he was notified that he’s losing his full-time job in the private sector and needs to focus on finding a new job to support his family. Melton also said he’s dealing with a health concern he needs to prioritize, and his campaign schedule had been hard on his 6-year-old son.

Melton finished his 2024 race against Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra with nearly 33% of the vote — about 2.3 points better than his finish against Feenstra in 2022.

Melton said he doesn’t regret “a single minute” of his campaigning over the past several years and “it was an honor” to build up the Democratic Party in an area of the state that has been dominated by the GOP.

Feenstra, who was reelected in 2024 to a third term in the U.S. House, has set up a committee to explore a run for governor in 2026. Republican state Sen. Lynn Evans announced in May that he’s exploring a campaign in Iowa’s 4^th District.

Lucius Pham

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Iowa Public Radio

Democrat Christina Bohannan announced another bid for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District in 2026. This is the third time she has tried for the seat.

Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor, came up just 800 votes short of unseating Republican incumbent Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks last November. Bohannan says she’s picking up right where she left off — trying to win what is expected to be one of the country’s closest contests in 2026.

But this time, Bohannan is angling against President Donald Trump's tariffs and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, both of which Miller-Meeks supported.

“People wanted her to do one thing, and that was to bring down costs. And instead, she has done exactly the opposite. She has voted to increase costs on everything from electricity to mortgages to groceries in this district.”

Bohannan says she would vote to repeal Trump’s tariffs on foreign countries and to reverse the proposed Medicaid cuts if she is elected.

Read more.

Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley says the deep cuts to Medicaid proposed in the federal reconciliation bill won’t affect those who need the program.

Republicans have been targeting the health coverage program for low-income and disabled Americans as a way to offset the loss of revenue due to the proposed tax cuts in the bill.

Grassley says the bill proposes adding things like work requirements to make sure able-bodied people are working to get coverage.

“The needy who rely on Medicaid — grandma and nursing homes, people with disabilities, kids and more — I want to make clear, will not lose any coverage.”

Democrats and opponents of the bill say it will cause millions of eligible Americans to lose health coverage by creating confusing bureaucratic red tape to keep their benefits, which will strain the whole health care system.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley doesn’t think the conflict between Israel and Iran will expand to directly involve U.S. forces.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Grassley said President Donald Trump does not want the U.S. to get involved in another war and is pursuing a diplomatic solution to the escalating attacks between the two countries.

“Also, from the standpoint of the success of the Israelis on destroying so much of the military capability of Iranians, I don't think it can spread.”

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Trump is considering sending U.S. planes to refuel Israeli combat jets. Around 1,800 Iowa National Guard troops recently deployed to parts of the Middle East — including Kuwait, Iraq and Syria — in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.

Local and state law enforcement officials took protective custody of 88 children from a church camp in southeastern Iowa after reports of alleged child abuse.

Officials say they rescued 88 children who were attending the Shekinah Glory Camp run by the Kingdom Ministry of Rehab and Recreation in Columbus Junction. The organization’s website says it was founded in 2018 and practices evangelical Christianity.

The Louisa County Sheriff’s Office says it partnered with other state and local law enforcement agencies after receiving complaints of child abuse and endangerment.

Officials say the children were taken into protective custody and transported to a nearby church, where they met with child protection workers. A spokesperson from the Iowa Department of Public Safety was unable to comment because the investigation is ongoing.

A rural water association in western Iowa has placed its highest restrictions on water usage, citing ongoing drought and high demand.

Among other things, Regional Water’s “Level RED” advisory prohibits watering of lawns and gardens, car washing and filling pools.

Tom Kallman, general manager of the nonprofit utility, says their problems started in 2019. Since then, yearly rainfall has been well below average in the region. Kallman says they’ve been looking for new water sources for some time.

“Since 2016, regional water has dug almost 100 holes across three different counties looking for water, both at the shallow level and at the mid-level, so that's between 200 and 500 feet.”

Kallman says they also looked into tapping the Jordan Aquifer, between 2,000 and 3,000 feet down.

“At least in this part of the state, they're saying you've got about a 40% chance of hitting it at a cost of about a million bucks. And for a nonprofit utility, that's just not a good risk of our customers' dollars.”

A pipeline that connects the Regional Water plant in Avoca to the Council Bluffs water system was supposed to be operational by now, but Kallman says it developed a leak when pressurized. He says repairs will be completed soon.

Livestock health officials have confirmed Asian longhorned ticks and a parasite they carry in Iowa for the first time.

They were detected in a cattle herd in Van Buren County, in southeast Iowa, according to the state veterinarian. While the tick and parasite are not considered risks to humans, they can be fatal to cattle. Around 20 cattle have died in the 100-head herd.

Grant Dewell, an Iowa State University Extension veterinarian, says cattle producers should keep a close eye on tick infestations this summer.

“We don't normally see 1,000 ticks on an animal, except for this Asian longhorned tick, where we can get just a massive amount of a bloom of these ticks.”

Dewell says infected cattle can quickly become anemic – both from the ticks and the parasite, which attacks the red and white blood cells. In severe cases, cattle can die.

“We haven’t had this parasite in Iowa before that we know of, and we haven't had the tick before, and so we've got some pretty susceptible cattle right now.”

Dewell says the best way to protect livestock is through tick control methods since there’s no approved treatment for the parasite in the U.S.

Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig and former Ag Secretary Patty Judge opened a time capsule last week that was put inside the base of a replica steel plow in 2000.

The plow display was inside the Wallace Building and the capsule was supposed to be opened in 25 years. It was during a goodbye event for the Wallace Building. Current and former staff members from the Ag Department and DNR who worked in the building for many years were on hand watching as Judge and Naig showed off the contents.

There were many pamphlets and newspapers from 25 years ago in the capsule. There were some photos and Naig pulled out small tubes containing samples of corn, soybeans and oats.

“No, the mice did not make it into the [capsule] that was well sealed, I guess.”

Judge said she hadn’t remembered all the things that were put in the capsule 25 years ago. She says she does remember that one of the items inside was a half pack of cigarettes. Naig said the Ag Department will come up with some things to put into the capsule to seal it for another 25 years.

Shelley O’Connell filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the University of Northern Iowa in Polk County District Court. She says her demotion from her role as assistant vice president last year when she was in her late 50s was an act of age discrimination. She alleges her supervisor asked her if she had any plans to retire, and O’Connell said she did not.

Court documents say she then received a $50,000 salary cut, and that her younger successor received a raise of roughly the same amount.

O’Connell says she had received positive evaluations from the university and was not interested in stepping down.

She is now asking for a trial with a jury and compensation for her lost wages and emotional distress. A UNI spokesperson said the university does not comment on pending legal matters.

The National Speech and Debate Association turns 100 this year.

The association was formed in 1925 as the National Forensic League and held its first national championship in 1931. The organization is headquartered in Des Moines.

Over 7,000 middle and high school students are competing in the national tournament this week. Preliminary rounds are currently taking place in high school classrooms across the Des Moines metro. Championship rounds will take place at the Iowa Events Center on Friday.

Executive Director Scott Wunn says about 25 Iowa schools are participating in the national tournament this year, along with 45 states and eight international countries.

“These students are not only learning how to hone their critical-thinking skills and how to listen to one another and how to have empathy for one another, but also utilizing those things to become incredible servant leaders in our society.”

To celebrate the centennial, the association has announced a new goal to double participation in speech and debate activities by 2030 and reach a total of 8,000 schools nationwide.

A 30-year effort to reduce farmer injuries and deaths will lose funding this fall due to federal layoffs under the Trump administration.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health funds farm research and outreach programs at a dozen centers across the U.S., including in Iowa, but that support will abruptly end this fall after the agency was effectively dissolved this spring.

Jeff Bender, head of the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center at the University of Minnesota, says small and mid-size family farms will feel the loss of these programs the most.

“Their margins are small. And you know, they can only spend so much money on personnel, and they don't often think about health and safety."

Bender hopes partnering with farmer groups and state health officials could keep some of the center's outreach programs going. But he says several on-farm studies will likely go unfinished because of the funding loss.

Center director Risto Rautiainen says it will cost farmers in the long run.

"It's sort of like if you don't talk about it, people think it doesn't exist. But then it will affect you in increased injuries and ag-related illnesses."

He hopes Congress will bring back farm research funding in the next budget. But he's also informally telling his staff to start looking for new jobs.

The final tenants of the iconic Wallace Building across from the State Capitol are in the process of moving out, and the building will eventually be demolished.

Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig held a “goodbye party” for current and former employees last week.

Naig says the Wallace Building has had a lot of internal issues with its structure and operating systems, but it is one of the most photographed buildings in the state because of the reflection of the State Capitol on the mirrored windows that span the south side.

The Ag Department will be out of the building by the end of the month.

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ spokesperson, Mason Mauro, in a statement says “the Iowa Department of Administrative Services has initiated the process to demolish the Wallace Building without selling or otherwise disposing of the underlying land which requires the approval of the legislature.”

The Wallace Building was named for Henry A. Wallace, the founder of Pioneer Hi-Bred and President Franklin Roosevelt’s first secretary of agriculture. He served one term as Roosevelt’s vice president.

The Minnesota state senator and his wife who were shot and survived early Saturday morning in their home have connections to Iowa.

Sen. John Hoffman worked for Polk County and the state of Iowa from 1991 to 2001, according to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.

Kate Garner was an intern at a Des Moines radio station where Hoffman’s wife, Yvette, was co-hosting a morning show in the 1990s.

“They actually met at a political fundraiser with shared friends and they hit it off immediately.”

Garner describes Yvette as her first mentor when she started out in radio and they became lifelong friends.

“She is the ultimate political wife, but in the good, really supportive, bake-cupcakes-make-signs, whatever kind of way. And he is the just serious but fun, dedicated guy and they made this amazing marriage with this amazing daughter Hope, who has spina bifida and they took that and helped her become an activist and they’re this little powerhouse family.”

Garner said it’s hard to wrap her head around what happened.

“The fact that someone would put together a list of people to hurt because overwhelmingly they care about other people — as an Iowan and an American, it’s hard for me to fathom.”

Over the last 15 years, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has spent $10 million to purchase parts of their original reservation — including 130 acres near Shabbona Lake State Park in what is now DeKalb County, Illinois.

Since the U.S. government illegally sold the tribe’s land to white settlers in 1849, much of it has been developed into residential properties, a golf course, or is maintained by state and county governments as park land. The tribal nation, meanwhile, is now headquartered in the Kansas town of Mayetta.

Despite this, Raphael Wahwassuck, a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi’s tribal council, said the Prairie Band has remained connected to their ancestral home to this day.

In 2024, the U.S. Department of the Interior placed the tribe’s Illinois land into trust — making the Prairie Band the first federally recognized tribal nation in the state. In March, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law that transferred ownership of the chief’s namesake park to the tribe.

For Wahwassuck, this return is a step towards “correcting some of the historical injustices” his tribe has experienced.

“There’s a lot of emotion behind that. To see that happen in my lifetime is something that I thought I would never experience.”

Read more.

People were packed onto the steps in front of the Iowa State Capitol on Saturday. They held up protest signs and yelled chants despite the hot, humid day.

These protestors showed up to be a part of the rallies that happened across the country. Organizers planned the day of action called “No Kings” to protest against President Donald Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C.

Julie Russell-Steuart, former Iowa Democratic disability caucus chair, says federal budget cuts are taking away the essential resources that families need.

“It is clear from this week's events at ICE protests that our humanity doesn't matter to the Trump administration. It never matters to an authoritarian.”

Russell-Steuart says she showed up to send a message to the federal government. She says people are taking action to stop the madness.

Sue Dinsdale, director of Iowa Citizen Community Action Network, said Trump’s budget cuts will cause chaos.

“It's a dangerous signal of what this second trip looks like — an authoritarian spectacle for the rich and what, in reality, will be deadly cuts for everyone else.”

More than 30 protests happened across Iowa, including Iowa City, Waterloo and Fort Dodge. Around 2,000 protests happened across the country.

Read more.

A small group in West Branch called Humans for Racial Justice is organizing the eastern Iowa city’s first Juneteenth celebration. The date commemorates the emancipation of slaves in Galveston, Texas, in 1865. In 2021, it became a federal holiday.

The events include historic displays, film showings, a concert and a tour of historical sites from the Underground Railroad. West Branch was home to Traveler’s Rest, a safe house where the abolitionist John Brown stayed for two winters before conducting a raid on Harper’s Ferry.

Gwen Senio, one of the organizers, says the group wanted to put together the celebration to recognize the area’s history.

“You know, much of the history of the Underground Railroad had to be secret. So, not a lot of documentation out there. And so, it seemed important to keep that story alive.”

The group formed after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Senio says although the group has organized Martin Luther King Jr. Day events in the past, this is the first time they are celebrating Juneteenth in the community.

“As we've been working on it and putting it together, I think there is just a lot of emotion in the importance of not erasing history but embracing it and learning from it and making amends.”

The celebrations, which started over the weekend, will run through Juneteenth on Thursday.

The head of Central Iowa Water Works says the utility has seen a change in demand since telling customers to stop watering lawns, but they’re not out of the woods yet. The utility instituted the watering ban Thursday when nitrate levels in the rivers that supply the system reached the highest levels seen since 2013.

Neil Hamilton, founding director of the Agricultural Law Center at Drake University, says coverage of the watering ban diverts attention from the real problem.

“In some ways it kind of insulates the sources of the pollution from much public attention because all of the obligation kind of falls on the water works.”

In 2015, the Des Moines Water Works filed a federal lawsuit claiming drainage districts in Sac, Buena Vista and Calhoun counties were funneling high levels of nitrates into the Raccoon River. A federal judge later dismissed the suit, saying Iowa's water quality problems are an issue for the Iowa Legislature to resolve. Hamilton says conditions since then haven’t gotten better and may be worse. He says the high nitrate levels show the state’s nutrient management plan is not working.

The Environmental Protection Agency released production targets for biodiesel and ethanol that are higher than the industry expected. Soybean prices surged after what’s known as the “Renewable Volume Obligation” was released Friday.

Chad Hart, an agriculture economist at Iowa State University, says the proposed RVO numbers are better than most people expected, and should make farmers and biodiesel producers happy.

“This was good news for them. This is what the industry had hoped for, that they did see a fairly significant boost.”

Brent Swart, president of the Iowa Soybean Association and farmer from Spencer, calls the EPA proposal “a significant step toward putting the market back on track."

Some Iowa biodiesel plants suspended production this spring due to uncertainty in the market.

In a statement, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says the RVO proposal is “yet another example of the administration keeping its promise to our farmers and biofuels producers.”

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly abruptly dismissed all 17 sitting members of the Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices this week. He said the move was needed to “reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.”

Stanley Perlman is a microbiologist and immunologist at the University of Iowa. He was not on the panel, but advised the panel. He says it’s the first time he’s seen the federal government dismiss an entire vetted scientific panel, signaling less of an interest in science and vaccines.

“This will play out in the future, because vaccine-preventable diseases were a major burden on human health before we invented vaccines.”

Perlman says the entire board’s dismissal was shocking because all experts had been highly vetted.

“We have to do months of documentation showing what our conflicts of interest might be, and if there are any, how they're dealt with.”

Kennedy has unveiled eight new people. Perlman says there’s been little information about how the new panel was chosen and vetted.

Perlman made his comments on IPR’s River to River.

The African American Museum of Iowa is hosting its annual Juneteenth Festival in Cedar Rapids Saturday. Jacqueline Hunter, the museum’s executive director, says it’s an event designed around remembrance and celebration.

“It’s a chance for us to recognize the importance of the holiday, but what does that look like for our community and our state moving forward. It’s a deeply personal and powerful reminder of this unfinished struggle for freedom.”

Juneteenth is an annual, nationwide celebration of the freeing of the last slaves in the United States on June 19, 1865, when news of the Emancipation Proclamation at last reached Confederate Galveston, Texas. While that’s part of history, Hunter says current events keep related issues in the forefront.

The festival will include live music and performances, food and merchandise vendors, a talent show, lawn games and a homemade sweet potato pie contest.

The museum’s Juneteenth Festival is Saturday at Cedar Rapids’ NewBo City Market from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The facility will also host a screening of the documentary Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom next Thursday, June 19.

The Board of Regents approved a tuition increase Thursday of 3% for the University of Iowa and Iowa State University and 2.7% for the University of Northern Iowa.

Board of Regents representative Brad Berg says a plan to charge in-state tuition at UNI for students from states surrounding Iowa will be delayed.

The board also approved an increase in mandatory fees by 3% at the UI, 2.7% at UNI and 1.7% at ISU.

The Board then voted to give the leaders of the three universities and executive director of the board raises.

UI President Barbara Wilson is getting a $65,000 salary increase, setting her base salary at $825,000. ISU President Wendy Wintersteen is getting a $25,000 raise, bringing her salary to $735,000 and UNI President Mark Nook is getting a nearly $13,000 salary increase, bringing his salary to $410,000

The regents approved the salary increases with no discussion. A spokesman for the board did not answer when asked why the board voted to increase the salary of ISU President Wendy Wintersteen even though she is retiring in January.

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ summer food program for children that is meant to replace Summer EBT got off to a rocky start this month, according to food bank and pantry officials tasked with distributing food for Healthy Kids Iowa.

Officials described delays and logistical challenges with obtaining and storing food, at least partly due to the short timeline for getting the program up and running after the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved it in early May. They are hopeful the program will improve through the summer as food banks and pantries work through various issues.

Andrea Cook, executive director of Johnston Partnership, which runs a food pantry, says there are difficulties across the state.

“I think that it didn’t matter whether you were running a very small pantry in rural Iowa or a large pantry here in the [Des Moines] metro area. We’re all struggling with figuring out how to make this work and make sense.”

Reynolds proposed Healthy Kids Iowa as an alternative to Summer EBT, which provides low-income families with $40 per child each month in the summer on a prepaid debit card. She has said giving out money for food does nothing to ensure that kids are getting healthy meals, so instead proposed distributing $40 worth of “healthy” foods per child each month.

Read more.

Hundreds of alumni attended a recent farewell celebration in Orient, a small town about 60 miles southwest of Des Moines, to mark the closure of the Orient-Macksburg school district and reflect on how their lives have been shaped and intertwined with the school. In May, the school marked the final day students would attend classes in the district.

It's the first Iowa school district to dissolve since Corwith-Wesley did so in 2015. Orient-Macksburg, as a consolidated school district, existed for nearly 65 years.

Having attended Orient-Macksburg since first grade, Christa Cass, a 2023 graduate, could attest to the town's constant support of the school and its students.

“The school meant a lot to the community because there's always people from graduating classes at every single volleyball, basketball and softball games. I know, like small crowds, it seems like, ‘Hey, there's not a lot of people.’ But it's people who always show up time and time again. So that's what matters.”

Read more.

State attempts to regulate intoxicating hemp products are at an all-time high. At least 32 states, including Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota, have already passed regulations — and federal lawmakers are also looking at changes.

When federal lawmakers legalized hemp farming in the 2018 Farm Bill, they didn’t anticipate creating a massive marketplace for intoxicating hemp products. Now, as more states move to limit or ban the products, some advocates worry about the hemp industry’s future.

Jonathan Miller, an attorney for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, says the patchwork of state regulations leaves the industry on shaky ground.

“There are a lot of companies that want to sell in all 50 states, and when you’ve got different rules in each state, it becomes more difficult.”

A bill from the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture also proposes closing the so-called “loophole” that legalized the products at the federal level. The proposal worries hemp experts, but they’re hopeful that Congress will not destroy the multibillion-dollar industry.

Read the full story from Harvest Public Media’s Molly Ashford.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

Opponents of Summit Carbon Solutions’ CO2 pipeline are angry with Gov. Kim Reynolds for vetoing a bill that would have put limits on carbon capture pipelines.

Reynolds says the proposal would have undermined many different kinds of pipeline projects. She says it would also jeopardize the production of low-carbon ethanol in Iowa.

The governor says she shares the goal to protect landowners affected by pipeline projects, but Peg Rasmussen says Reynolds hasn’t shown it through her actions. Rasmussen is a Summit pipeline opponent from Montgomery County in southwest Iowa.

“A true leader steps in when a problem arises, and you, Gov. Reynolds, did nothing. The legacy you leave behind is one of bowing down to big business at the expense of Iowans.”

Rasmussen says she and other pipeline opponents will keep pressuring lawmakers to restrict the use of eminent domain in the next legislative session.

Central Iowa Water Works is telling customers to stop watering their lawns so that the level of nitrate in people’s tap water stays below the legal limit. The regional utility serves the vast majority of the Des Moines metro area.

Businesses and residents are now banned from watering their lawns so there is enough water available for drinking and bathing. Central Iowa Water Works Executive Director Tami Madsen says the problem is that nitrate levels in the rivers that supply the system are the highest they’ve been since 2013.

“We have ample source water, but the source water is so high in nitrate that it’s difficult for the plant to treat it at the same rate that customers are demanding it on the other side.”

Water leaving the treatment plant is currently around 9 parts per million. If it rises above the safety standard of 10 parts per million, pregnant women and children will not be able to drink it.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This entry has been corrected to more accurately state the level of nitrates in water leaving the treatment plant and the safety standard level.

The southwest Iowa town of Clarinda hosts its 50th Glenn Miller Music Festival this week, with jazz and big band concerts, dance contests and more to celebrate the legendary band leader.

Shari Greenwood, executive director of the Glenn Miller Museum and a board member of the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society, says events kicked off Thursday afternoon with a picnic and concerts on the town square. Friday’s schedule includes ragtime artist Adam Swanson, a Shenandoah native.

Some performers are coming to Clarinda from as far away as Japan. Other concerts on Friday include Bill Baker’s Big Band, Steve Shininger and the ShinSings, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. One of Saturday’s highlights is Gooch and the Guys Big Band, led by Michael “Gooch” Gurciullo.

“He’s done everything from work with the Glenn Miller Orchestra to having his own band. He comes back this way every year to put on jazz camps. He’s a lot of fun with the Gooch and the Guys Big Band. They do things like Frank Sinatra and Glenn Miller — folks love him.”

Saturday’s performers include the Northwest Missouri State Jazz Group, Bill Baker’s Big Band and more performances by the Glenn Miller Orchestra — along with a swing dance competition.

The Glenn Miller Birthplace Society Museum and Birthplace Home will be open daily during the festival.

Opponents of wind turbines in the Iowa Great Lakes area are suing to overturn a permit that allows the construction of a wind farm in Dickinson County.

The lawsuit filed by Dickinson County Concerned Citizens (DC3) states that a move by the county Board of Adjustment to approve the project in April was illegal. The group says the wind farm would negatively impact property values and the beauty of the area.

DC3 wants the court to rescind the board’s action that paved the way for the Red Rock Wind Energy project. The board previously voted against wind turbines in 2023. The new plan the board approved included fewer wind turbines — 67 instead of 79 — and new setback distances.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoed a bill that would’ve made it harder for companies to use eminent domain to build carbon capture pipelines and other energy infrastructure.

Landowners facing the use of eminent domain for the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline have pushed for years to get a bill passed that would prevent the company from taking part of their land.

In her veto message, Reynolds says the bill that passed last month goes too far, and even threatens pipelines that are built with voluntary agreement with landowners. She says the bill would’ve applied to other types of pipelines as well and would put Iowa at a disadvantage compared to other states.

Reynolds says she wants to work with the Legislature to strengthen landowner protections, modernize permitting and respect private property. In the meantime, she says she’s asking Iowa Utilities Commission members to be present for live testimony and informational meetings, which would have been required by the bill she vetoed.

House Speaker Pat Grassley says it’s a major setback for Iowa and he wants to hold a special session to override the governor’s veto. It’s not likely that the Senate will have enough votes in support of the bill to override the veto.

Read the full story.

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This post was updated at 5:15 p.m. to include Grassley's statement.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

The number of people experiencing homelessness in Polk County has hit a new record.

The most recent count also found the share of homeless seniors is growing. Seniors, age 65 and up, made up around 3% of the homeless population in 2024. Now, that number is around 6%.

Angie Arthur, the CEO of Homeward, Polk County’s lead homelessness planning organization, says a lot of seniors rely on Medicare and disability benefits. She says they’re also facing increased costs for rent, food and other necessities, along with everyone else.

“But when you don't have a way to offset that, because you have a fixed income, that's becoming really challenging.”

Arthur says Polk County isn’t the only one seeing more homeless seniors — it’s a national problem, too.

Read more.

President Donald Trump’s domestic policy agenda — a reconciliation bill called the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act — narrowly passed the U.S. House last month. It’s now in the Senate. The bill has major spending and tax cuts that could significantly reduce the number of Iowans on Medicaid.

According to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, about 700,000 Iowans are on Medicaid — or about one in five people. This includes people on Medicaid expansion and Hawki, the Medicaid program for children.

KFF estimates found Medicaid enrollment in Iowa could drop by about 90,000 by 2034 if the changes in the House’s version of the bill pass.

Iowa’s four U.S. representatives each voted for it on May 22, and Iowa’s Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley have indicated they will support the bill when it comes up for a vote in the Senate.

Here's a breakdown of what's happening with the bill and what it means for Iowans.

Cece Mitchell

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Iowa Public Radio

Story County filed a citation for landowners who did not have a special event permit for a pop-up concert that drew in thousands of people last month.

The All-American Rejects announced the show location on social media just hours before it started May 17. The barn performance was part of a series of pop-ups across the U.S. to promote the band’s new album. Iowa State University’s student-run radio station, 88.5 KURE, helped organize the show.

Cece Mitchell

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Iowa Public Radio

Story County requires a special event permit for something that lasts longer than four hours and involves more than 250 people. The county requested that landowners pay a permit fee of $100 and a civil penalty of $200, along with court costs and fees.

The Story County Sheriff told IPR that deputies responded to reports of an unconscious woman who was transported to a hospital during the concert.