A new Iowa law signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds will prevent cities with civil service commissions from having citizen police review boards. They are a way of giving citizens some oversight of their local law enforcement, but they usually don’t have the power to discipline police officers. Now, that responsibility will belong to civil service commissions.

Some lawmakers were worried about the boards having too much control over law enforcement, although many citizen review boards do not have the power to discipline police officers.

In Dubuque, the citizen review board was created in the early nineties in partnership with the local NAACP branch.

Jeremy Jensen, the Dubuque Chief of Police, described the board's function.

“Really, what the review board did was formalize community engagement, right, the two-way street and having people represented, people that are interested, engaged in it, willing to give honest feedback. For us, it was a formal side to that.”

While the law does increase some protections for civil servants, Rep. Elinor Levin, D-Iowa City, said in floor debate last month that she couldn’t support it because it would eliminate citizen review boards.

“I can't support removing something that has taken the relationship between the police department and my neighborhood from negative to positive, that has given citizens a voice in considering how people should be treated by police.”

Cities that will be impacted include Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Ames. The law will go into effect on Aug. 16.

Republican Mike Naig will not run for governor next year. Instead, he will campaign to keep his role as the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.

Naig had reportedly considered a run for governor after Gov. Kim Reynolds announced she is not seeking reelection.

Naig said in a statement he’s made “tremendous progress” for farmers, but he’s not done yet. He wants to make sure rural Iowa thrives.

Naig was first elected to the role in 2018.

Monday night the U.S. Senate advanced the first major piece of federal legislation aimed at regulating cryptocurrency. The so-called GENIUS Act would establish a new regulatory framework for stablecoins, which are digital tokens pegged to currencies like the U.S. dollar.

Sen. Chuck Grassley says he personally wouldn’t invest in crypto at this time, but he wouldn’t prohibit other politicians from doing so. As with other investments, Grassley says members of Congress buying and selling cryptocurrency should follow the 2012 STOCK Act, which is meant to prevent insider trading.

“We have to report all of our transactions. That's no problem for me because I have my investment in mutual funds, so I don't trade, so I don't have to make these reports, but several members of Congress are quite regularly doing this, and as long as they abide by the STOCK Act, it seems to me it's legitimate.”

Republicans were joined by 16 Democratic Senators in advancing the bill. Grassley says the Senate will debate several amendments before a final vote.

Churches in Des Moines can now offer shelter for people experiencing homelessness when the weather is extremely hot or cold.

The Des Moines City Council is rezoning religious properties as part of their homelessness strategy after the state’s largest homeless shelter in downtown Des Moines said it would stop accepting people during extreme weather events. The shelter doesn’t have enough funding to house everyone.

Councilmember Josh Mandelbaum says churches can fill that gap.

“This allows a warming or cooling center role, which is a very hard thing to scale up in existing sources, and there, congregations really can be a part of the solution in a meaningful way."

Councilmember Mike Simonson says religious organizations should be able to serve the community in this way.

“I am aware of at least one church that has an immigrant family living in their building, a family whose funding was cut off and would be homeless, and we want that to be legal.”

Councilmembers stress that this is a voluntary program churches can opt into. The amended ordinance lays out some ground rules on what’s expected.

Democrat Ryan Peterman is campaigning to be Iowa’s top election official.

Peterman is a Bettendorf native and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He served 10 years as a helicopter pilot. He returned to Iowa last year to help care for his father, who is also a veteran.

Current Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, has not announced whether he intends to seek a fifth term.

Peterman, who is 34, is making his first run for public office. Peterman said his Navy experience has taught him how to lead under pressure.

“It’s taught me how to build trust and it’s taught me how to get results. I think that’s exactly what we need from our elected officials, particularly in the Secretary of State’s office.”

Peterman says he’s "troubled” by Republican efforts that have shortened Iowa’s early voting period to 20 days.

The United States Department of Agriculture crop report shows the corn planted jumped from 76% to 91% in the last week. That’s 12 days ahead of last year and four days ahead of the five-year average. The north central region leads the way in corn planting with 97% and the northwest region follows with 96%.

Soybean planting moved from 64% to 84% complete, eight days ahead of last year and six days ahead of normal.

On Monday Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed Sarah Martz, who’s been on the Iowa Utilities Commission for the past two years, to be its chair.

Reynolds said Martz, who worked for Alliant Energy for over a decade, has the background to lead the commission as it navigates increased demand for electricity.

In April of 2023, Reynolds appointed Eric Helland to lead the commission as it reviewed — and ultimately approved — a construction permit for the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline. Reynolds had nominated Helland to another term as commission chairman, but the Republican-led Iowa Senate never voted on his appointment. Helland will remain as a member of the commission. His term is scheduled to expire April 30, 2029.

The bridge over the Mississippi River between Lansing and DeSoto, WI, is again closed to traffic for at least a week.

Clayton Burke, an engineer with the Iowa Department of Transportation, says they had to close the structure on Saturday night.

“Our monitoring system was identifying that the bridge had moved beyond our safety thresholds and the engineering firm performing the monitoring was recommending that we close the bridge. Now we’re trying to figure out what happened and analyze the bridge to see if it’s still safe to reopen.”

Burke says they have not determined a reason for the apparent movement of the bridge, but they’re focusing on two possibilities.

“We did have construction work going on adjacent to the bridge on Saturday that involved driving some pipe with a vibratory hammer, which previously we had tested and found that it did not affect the bridge. We’re also looking into if there were any unpermitted or any oversized loads that were crossing the bridge.”

A new bridge is being built beside the current bridge and construction work on that new structure is also being halted.

The bridge was closed for a similar reason in February and March of 2024. The nearest bridges for vehicle traffic to cross the Mississippi River are between La Crescent, MN and Lacrosse, WI, or Marquette and Prairie du Chien, WI.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia, has formed an exploratory committee as he considers running for one of Iowa’s four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Evans is a Buena Vista University professor serving his first term in the Iowa Senate.

His decision to “assess” a run for Congress comes after Rep. Randy Feenstra, a Republican who represents Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, announced he is exploring a run for governor in 2026.

Evans said “Washington is out of touch with everyday Iowans” and he’d provide “true conservative representation” in the U.S. House.

Evans is chairman of the Iowa Senate Education Committee. He was among the 12 Republicans who forced the Iowa Senate’s GOP leaders to allow last week’s vote on a carbon pipeline bill.

Democrat Ryan Melton of Webster City has announced he will run for a third time in the 4th Congressional District.

A coalition of groups representing law enforcement and emergency management departments from around the state are urging Gov. Kim Reynolds to veto part of the recently passed state budget that deals with funding 911 service. It allows the state’s 911 program to charge local 911 boards for what it calls “reasonable costs” associated with delivering 911 call traffic.

Captain Nicholas Lennie with the Story County Sheriff’s Department is a member of the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association. He spoke Monday during a press conference at the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

“A few things we clearly disagree with is the ambiguity included in this language, the appearance of an open checkbook, the fact that it came out last minute at the last hour of the legislative session, and last but not least, that it came without any stakeholder input of all those you see standing in front of you today.”

Lennie says local boards are already operating on razor-thin margins, and any money they have on hand is for infrastructure improvements. The groups are proposing raising a 911 surcharge on mobile and landlines from a dollar a month to $1.25.

A sheriff in northeast Iowa has rejected an offer to make voluntary agreements with ICE to help enforce immigration laws.

After Dubuque County Sheriff Joe Kennedy said no to ICE, he says he heard from the National Sheriffs’ Association. The group said the Dubuque County department could land on a list of agencies accused of obstructing immigration laws.

Kennedy told the county board of supervisors some participation with ICE is required, but the department cannot spare the staff or jail space to do more.

“We are a partner to their agency. Having that been said, we do not want to get into a binding agreement where they have the ability to control our employees, and we just think that that's what's in the best interest for our county residents.”

Ninoska Campos told the Dubuque County supervisors at their meeting Monday she supports that decision. Campos is part of a civil rights complaint filed against the Iowa State Patrol after a traffic stop where she and other Latino workers were questioned about their immigration status. That was after the state agreed to form an immigration task force with ICE. Campos spoke through a translator.

“We urge the board of supervisors to join the sheriff in saying no to racial profiling and no to local cooperation with ICE.”

Others told the county board the sheriff’s office should do anything it can to support the Trump administration’s deportation goals.

Kennedy says he will work with the agency when required by law.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety signed an agreement with ICE last month creating a task force of officers who would be deputized to carry out immigration enforcement.

Bills to overhaul Iowa’s property tax system were developed, but not adopted during the now-concluded 2025 Iowa legislative session. House Speaker Pat Grassley says the goal now is to act in 2026.

“The frustrations I’m hearing, hopefully those are being expressed at the local level. This is – a lot of it – is about local taxation, local spending. That being said, I think it has risen to the level where the Legislature cannot just sit here and not do something to try and make the system better.”

Speaking during an appearance on Iowa Press over the weekend, Grassley said lawmakers in the past have put “minor Band-Aids” on the property tax system, so he and others working on a “comprehensive approach” want to ensure an adjustment in one area doesn’t create problems in other areas.

According to Grassley, lawmakers have two choices to make when it comes to property tax reform.

“You’re going to have to pick a team here. Is it purely on Team Taxpayer or is it on Team Local Government? … I happen to land on the position that we have to be on the side of the taxpayer.”

House Democrats have proposed a $1,000 property tax rebate for all Iowa homeowners and $500 rebates for renters over the next few years to give lawmakers time to develop “a true overhaul” of the system. Senate Democrats say they’re concerned schools will be shortchanged in the future since the plan calls for the state to provide $400 million more each year to Iowa’s public school districts.

The Figge Art Museum in Davenport has unveiled the largest public art installation in Iowa.

The light sculpture, titled Evanescent Field, now lights up the outside of the museum each night at sunset with constantly changing patterns.

Created by world-famous artist Leo Villareal, the sculpture is made up of more than 1,000 LED lights controlled by custom software. Villareal said it creates patterns that never repeat.

“You'll never see the exact same progression twice, and it will maintain a sense of mystery. So I think people can see something new in it all the time. And this truly is a gift to the community that anyone can look at and see something new and special.”

The project was revealed at an event on Saturday celebrating the museum’s centennial.

Figge Executive Director Melissa Moore says it was important to use the museum’s 100th anniversary as an opportunity to give back to the community.

“You don't have to be in a large metropolitan area to experience world-class art. So it's in that spirit that we're really celebrating Evanescent Field as a gift for the next 100 years and beyond.”

The $4 million project was funded by a mix of public and private support, including a state grant from Iowa’s Destination Iowa Creative Placemaking Fund.

Photo courtesy of the Department of Education

There will be a new specialty license plate for education designed by a student available this summer.

The Iowa Department of Education announced Monday that a design by 16-year-old sophomore Erin Cho of Ames High School was chosen in the contest to pick the new education plate design. Cho’s design features the state bird, the American goldfinch, shown as a teacher and students perched on school books.

The first ever contest saw art teachers submit more than 100 license plate designs from students that were then narrowed down to 16 semifinalists. The new plate will be available through the DOT this summer.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has ordered deep cuts to AmeriCorps – a federal workforce development and service agency. Those reductions are affecting environment and conservation programs in the Midwest.

At Indian Creek Nature Preserve in Cedar Rapids, Executive Director John Myers says AmeriCorps members were invaluable.

A short-term, annual program had them doing difficult ecosystem restoration jobs like managing prescribed burns in prairies, but DOGE canceled the program nationwide.

Myers says now they will have to rely on staff and volunteers to try to complete the work.

“But nothing can compare to 10 full-time team members on the ground doing the work on a daily basis.”

Rachel Bruns, chief engagement officer with America’s Service Commission, says the cuts have disproportionately impacted rural communities.

“Oftentimes federal resources can be challenging for rural communities to access, yet AmeriCorps is one of those rare federal programs that has the ability to access rural communities.”

Across the nation, similar natural spaces and outdoor education programs also rely on AmeriCorps members. Many of those positions are now empty.

Read more.

An Iowa community health nonprofit has laid off 13 translators because of rising costs and funding cuts.

EveryStep provides services like hospice, home care and nursing. But now, having an in-person translator for non-English speaking clients is not one of them.

The nonprofit will switch to translation phone lines, but will lose the cultural competency their staff provided.

EveryStep CEO Tray Wade says reimbursement rates are changing. Federal grant money is being cut on top of that.

He says the translators provided essential guidance on culturally competent care because they were members of the communities they served.

“That's probably the biggest change, is that person being in the home with that case manager, serving not only as a conduit with the language, but a conduit that shows that the person, you know, can trust us.”

Wade says the translators went above and beyond to help their clients understand an unfamiliar health care system.

The torch will be lit to open the annual Special Olympics Iowa Summer Games this week in Ames.

It’s a chance for Iowans of all ages with intellectual disabilities to participate in an athletic competition.

Megan Filipi, spokesperson for Special Olympics Iowa, says the athletes will participate in a wide range of activities Thursday through Saturday.

“Athletes compete in bocci, cycling, soccer, tennis and track and field and usually they do swimming as well, but the pool at Iowa State is under construction, so we held a one-off state swim meet instead.”

Filipi says the event’s kickoff is always a spectacle.

“Thursday night, we have our opening ceremonies at Hilton Coliseum. There’s a parade of athletes where all the athletes parade into Hilton by the 11 areas in the state and with their delegation. And then we give out some awards like athlete of the year, volunteer of the year. We have some special guest speakers and then there’s a big confetti cannon and then we light the cauldron and we kick off the games.”

More volunteers are needed to help out with the games. Learn more at www.soiowa.org.

Photo courtesy of Reiman Gardens

Roughly 5,000 visitors from across the Midwest shattered records at Reiman Gardens in Ames Sunday. They came to see – and smell – a blooming corpse flower.

The endangered, tropical plant blooms once every 7-10 years, on average. And the performance is short-lived, lasting one to two days.

A Reiman Gardens spokesperson said the corpse flower started to bloom Saturday night. By the next morning, a couple hundred people had already lined up to see it.

Staff and visitors described the stench as sour milk, dead fish and a middle school bathroom.

The odor can be detected up to one-tenth of a mile away when raised outdoors.

The endangered plant originates from the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Researchers estimate fewer than 200 plants remain in the wild.

The corpse flower at Reiman Gardens is on loan from Iowa State University's Bessey Greenhouse.

A federal court has issued more guidance on LGBTQ instructional bans in Iowa schools. Part of the ruling addressed what’s known as “forced outings.”

U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher ruled Thursday that educators are allowed to make neutral references to gender identity and sexual orientation. But, LGBTQ topics can’t be the primary point of a lesson.

ACLU Attorney Thomas Story says the judge is drawing lines between mandatory instruction and extracurriculars, but it’s subject to change.

“What the court is noting is that kids are going to ask questions, and teachers have to be allowed to answer them, whether they're in class or not.”

There are still questions for teachers on what the line is between answering a question and providing instruction. These conflicts will continue to be debated in court.

The judge also ruled teachers cannot notify parents when a student requests accommodations for their gender identity – unless the request is specifically about pronoun changes.

The judge ruled that extending the parental notification clause to include “all reasonable accommodations” is too vague.

The rulings are in response to a challenge to a 2023 law restricting instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in schools up through sixth grade.

Parts of five counties in southwest Iowa are under a Level Red water alert – the strictest level for water restrictions.

The Avoca Treatment Plant System has been struggling with drought conditions since 2019. Now, the demand for water is outpacing their capacity. Water drained from the towers so quickly that they lost pressure. Bacteria can enter the water system because of this, which led to a boil advisory.

General manager Tom Kallman says users that go over their water limits will be fined and could have their service shut off.

“When you're sticking more straws into the same glass of water, you're not getting any more water in total. You're just dividing it up more and more.”

Kallman says he saw the largest crowd at their board meeting on Thursday. City officials came to advocate for their constituents.

“Two of them expressed that they were getting complaints from businesses within their cities who said that the lack of water is adversely impacting their business.”

The Regional Water Rural Water Association will combine its services with systems in Council Bluffs this fall, which has underused its water.

Kallman says customers just need to make it through the summer.

Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen has announced plans to retire in January.

She’s the first woman and second ISU alumnus to serve in the position. Wintersteen has been at the school for 46 years, starting out as an extension field specialist. She was dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for 11 years before she was named president in 2017.

According to a news release from the school, ISU’s first-year student retention rate has climbed to over 87% under Wintersteen’s tenure, higher than the national average for four-year public institutions. The Iowa State University Foundation raised record amounts in the last few years, including over $1.5 billion for the Forever True, For Iowa State campaign. Wintersteen is ISU’s 16th president.

The head of an organization that represents Iowa’s local 911 providers is asking Gov. Kim Reynolds to veto a provision in the budget bill that allows the state Department of Homeland Security to seek reimbursement from local providers.

Chris Jasper, president of the National Emergency Number Association’s Iowa chapter, says the provision giving the Iowa 911 Program authority to charge local 911 service boards for “reasonable costs” is too vague.

“There's no amounts, there's no definition of what a reasonable cost is. There's no definition of how the billing's gonna work or anything, just that they're gonna send bills and we're expected to pay them within 30 days.”

Leaders of the Iowa 911 Program have said they’re running out of money. 911 service is funded with a $1 surcharge on landlines and wireless lines, which is divided between the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and local 911 service boards.

Jasper says that surcharge hasn’t changed since 2013, and his organization has proposed raising it.

“We proposed that it be raised to $1.10 dollars, $1.25 to help offset some of that cost with the state and it sounds like the legislators weren't willing to do that, so this was their answer.”

The state unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a percent to 3.5% in April. Iowa Workforce Development director Beth Townsend says that’s partly because more people are looking for work.

“We had 5,000 Iowans come back into the workforce, that’s a really good sign. Yeah, the unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a point, but I would take that every day if I could get 5,000 more people coming into the workforce each month.”

Townsend says manufacturing continues to be a down area.

“We’ve lost 7,400 jobs over the last 12 months. So, all of 2024, we continue to see a decline in manufacturing jobs in Iowa as a result of the bad shape the economy was in 2024, so it’s going to take some time to recover from that. ”

Townsend says there’s no clear evidence yet on the impact of tariffs on the job market.

The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 4.2% in April.

More babies are being admitted to neonatal intensive care units, or NICUs, across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which analyzed NICU admissions between 2016 and 2023.

The report found that about one in 10 infants nationwide were admitted to a neonatal ICU in 2023 – a 13% increase since 2016. That increase held across all racial groups.

Iowa saw a 24% increase in that period.

Laura Haneline, the Division Chief of Neonatology at the Indiana University School of Medicine, says things like diabetes, the mother’s weight and her access to healthy food can put infants at risk.

“All of those things contribute to a woman's health, it affects the growth and development of a baby or a fetus, and that can affect how healthy they are at the time of delivery.”

Socio-economic status and limited access to obstetric care can also contribute to poorer outcomes.

Read more.

The first Afrikaner refugees from South Africa arrived in Iowa this week. President Donald Trump has claimed without evidence they faced “genocide” in South Africa. Many are white descendants of Dutch colonizers.

Renee Hardman, the president and CEO of Lutheran Services in Iowa, says the organization helped one of two families who now call Iowa home.

“While there is, you know, lots of dismay about who's coming over, why they're coming over, how they came over, we get that. But the nonprofits that are resettlement agencies don't get to pick and choose refugee status. That is a decision that's made at the federal level.”

Hardman says the Afrikaners will require minimal assistance since they will live with other relatives already in Iowa. Her focus is on helping other refugees already here with housing, jobs and English-language skills.

Officials with LSI also say they are concerned about the refugees from other countries, such as Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, who had been screened and vetted but had travel plans canceled when Trump took office.

A bale stack yard fire has been burning since Monday night at the POET Bioprocessing plant in northwest Iowa, roughly a mile from the town of Emmetsburg.

City and POET officials say the situation is under control and unburned bales are being moved to reduce the amount of fuel.

A statement from POET was shared on Facebook last night.

“It was determined that the safest and most effective way to manage the fire is to allow it to smolder out under careful supervision. We appreciate the public’s patience, and we anticipate the effects will decrease over the next several days.”

Emmetsburg Mayor Patrick Degen said he appreciated the diligence of local volunteer firefighters who responded to the scene and said he recognizes the disruption that the smoke has had on residents.

“I just want people to know that we’re going to work with POET to make sure that does not happen again.

Another bale fire broke out at the plant in February.

The Food Bank of Iowa says the annual Feeding America survey isn’t very positive for the state. There are people in all 99 counties who don’t have enough food to meet their needs, according to Annette Hacker, vice president of strategy and communications at the food bank.

“[The survey] shows that food insecurity only continues to grow across our state: 385,000 Iowans face food insecurity and 120,000 or more are children.”

Hacker says there are a variety of reasons the problem isn’t getting better.

“A reduction in poverty relief programs, a reduction in SNAP benefits, is one reason. Rising prices, wages that haven’t kept up … Any number of things can affect a person’s ability to be able to keep food on the table.”

She says it’s a misconception that food insecurity only impacts urban areas. In fact, the 10 counties with the highest percentages of residents who don’t get enough to eat are mostly rural, according to Hacker.

She says the increase in demand puts more pressure on food banks to try and fill the gap. And at a time when government funding is getting cut, the Food Bank of Iowa is relying more on community support.

“You know, we can’t continue doing more with less. Our communities need help. And the only way, when there’s the federal cuts that we’ve seen lately to the USDA, the only way to make up that shortfall is to buy more food. And the only way we can buy more food is through the help of generous donors.”

The Feeding America study is based on 2023 data.

About 200 hourly employees at the Winnebago Industries manufacturing facility in Forest City will be laid off next month.

Company employees were told Wednesday that after a thorough business analysis, the company made the difficult decision to reduce the workforce and pause their Class A motorhome production line. Winnebago says the decision was made due to current inventory levels, challenging market conditions and lower consumer demand.

The last day of work for impacted employees will be June 13.

Company officials have not responded to requests for further comment about the layoffs.

Education advocates say proposed federal funding cuts would eliminate programs that help college students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Since the 1960s, TRIO programs have served first-generation and low-income students, as well as students with disabilities. The programs are found at colleges across the country, including in Iowa.

Morgan Bear, a member of the Meskwaki Nation, says TRIO helped her become the first in her family to graduate from college. She says without the program, she wouldn’t be pursuing a doctorate in education at the University of Iowa.

“TRIO is not just charity; it's an investment in talent in our country that we can't afford to waste … It really gives students a reason to feel that they belong at the college that they're attending and that they can really see through that degree.”

The Trump administration's preliminary budget proposal would cut TRIO from the U.S. Department of Education. The White House claims access to college is not as much of an obstacle as it once was.

Bear has advocated for TRIO programs in Washington, D.C., and hopes Congress decides to continue providing financial support. Last fiscal year, TRIO programs received nearly $1.2 billion in funding and served over 880,000 students.

Iowa’s largest nonprofit animal shelter is seeing an upturn in cases of canine parvovirus, a highly contagious infection that can be fatal to dogs.

Dr. Millie Cates, director of veterinary medical services at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, says the fast-spreading disease can quickly become deadly, even with treatment. That’s why she says immediate veterinary care is critical when dogs or puppies show any symptoms.

“This vomiting is very persistent. We’re talking about multiple times a day, and it’s usually coupled with something else. So, we’re also seeing very persistent diarrhea, behavior changes such as weakness, depression, lethargy, loss of appetite.”

The Des Moines-based shelter is urging dog and puppy owners to make sure their pets are up to date on vaccinations and to take other precautions to keep their dogs safe.

“Not going to public areas shared by dogs. We’re talking about dog parks, boarding facilities, dog-friendly patios, those types of things.”

The virus spreads through contact with infected dogs or through contaminated surfaces, like food and water bowls, shoes, clothing and even the ground. Cates says the parvovirus is extremely resilient and surfaces could remain contaminated for months.

Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the disease, Cates says. The parvovirus vaccine is included in a combination vaccine recommended for all dogs. Cates says the ARL offers low-cost community wellness clinics to help make preventative care more accessible.

Iowa Department of Transportation

The latest report from the Iowa Department of Transportation doesn’t show any slowdowns in rail shipments due to tariffs on foreign goods.

Stuart Anderson with the Iowa DOT gave an update to the Transportation Commission Tuesday.

“You’ve probably seen some headlines about volume coming into some of the west ports is starting to decline. That is not apparent, at least through March. We do have some April data, as well, that shows the intermodal traffic is still high on the rail system.”

Anderson says the shipment of one of Iowa’s key exports also doesn’t appear to be impacted.

“April 2025 grain shipments were the best month of grain shipments in April since 2021 … So some strong export shipments at least happening right now.”

Anderson says air travel in Iowa continues to be strong, while travel on Iowa’s roadways is down slightly this year. He says the decrease may be due to winter weather in February and expects numbers to come back up with the summer travel season.

A state lawmaker says Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation remotely searched people’s phones at the state Capitol for illegal sports betting without probable cause.

Rep. Megan Jones, R-Sioux Rapids, says the DCI was allegedly testing the software at the Statehouse before investigating college dorms. Athletes have sued the state for alleged warrantless searches that resulted in charges of illegal sports betting, and Jones says that lawsuit is how lawmakers found out about the Capitol search.

Jones says while the software allegedly tested at the Capitol just looks at gambling, it raises questions about what else state law enforcement may be doing without a warrant.

“People should be free to walk in the doors of this building and be free to speak their minds to their legislators and their government. And no one should feel that they are being spied on by their government in those conversations.”

Jones says she’s outraged, and this could open the state up to a class-action lawsuit. The Iowa Department of Public Safety didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Even though U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra hasn’t officially announced a run for governor, a campaign advertisement released Wednesday appears to show he’s in the race.

Feenstra announced this week that he formed an exploratory committee. Wednesday his campaign sent out a news release saying they plan to spend $400,000 on ads that will run statewide.

One of the ads calls Feenstra a “proven conservative” who can take the state to new “heights.” Feenstra is 6 feet 5 inches.

State Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, has also formed an exploratory committee. The only Republican to officially announce a run in the Republican primary for governor in 2026 is former state representative and pastor Brad Sherman of Williamsburg.

Earlier this week, State Auditor Rob Sand launched his campaign for the Democratic primary. A Democrat hasn’t won the governor’s office since 2006.

Republican lawmakers from Iowa helped cancel about $96 million they earmarked for community projects when they voted alongside other congressional Republicans for a budget to keep the government open in March.

Past earmarks have funded infrastructure, clean water and homelessness prevention programs in the state.

The city of Burlington has resubmitted a request for funds to reopen the Cascade Bridge, which has been closed for over 16 years. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks secured $6 million for the project last year, which was canceled by the stopgap budget measure she voted for in March.

Burlington’s deputy city manager, Nick MacGregor, says the defunct bridge is more than a practical problem.

“It’s a visual image of the inability to replace infrastructure. So it’s definitely an important piece to get back as a functioning piece of infrastructure.”

Miller-Meeks' office did not say if the Cascade Bridge will be on her list of Community Project Funding requests for next year.

Donna Hoffman, a political science professor at the University of Northern Iowa, says that President Donald Trump’s proposed budget is casting more doubt on that funding.

“In a time of unified government with a second Trump administration, where the Trump administration is steamrolling Congress in many respects, I think that it's probably a good bet that Congress will once again be putting those earmarks on hiatus.”

All of Iowa’s Congressional delegation except Rep. Randy Feenstra are in the process of submitting new requests for 2026 Community Project Funding.

Read more.

Mariangella Hungria is being recognized for her pioneering research in biological nitrogen fixation and her role in transforming Brazil’s soybean industry.

The World Food Prize announced Hungria as the 2025 World Food Prize laureate at the foundation’s headquarters in Des Moines on Tuesday.

Mashal Husain, the World Food Prize Foundation’s president, said Hungria’s work has reduced farmers’ input costs, mitigated greenhouse gas emissions and improved soil health.

“Her legacy reaches from the fields of Brazil to farms around the world, proving that the smallest organisms can create the most profound transformations.”

Hungria has developed dozens of biological seed and soil treatments to help crops pull in nutrients through soil bacteria.

“She understood that the answers weren't just in the lab or in the factory. They were beneath our feet, in the soil.”

The award is often referred to as the Nobel of agriculture, and it honors individuals who have improved the quality, quantity or availability of food worldwide. It was founded by Norman Borlaug, an Iowan who received the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize.

Hungria will receive the award in October in Des Moines.

Read more.

Samantha McIntosh

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IPR News

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited Cedar Rapids Tuesday for a town hall hosted by the VoteVets Action Fund.

Iowans filled the Veterans Memorial Building, where the former naval officer and 2020 presidential candidate took questions regarding actions made by the Trump administration and recent claims that the White House is looking at suspending the right to habeas corpus. Buttigieg called it a threat to preventing wrongful imprisonment and deportation and said the issue is not a normal Democrat-Republican fight.

“I am convinced that members of Congress and the president's party know that this is wrong. They also know where their bread is buttered. They live in an environment where they have more to fear from the President of the United States than the people of the United States.”

He also spoke about how Democrats and Iowans should be responding to federal actions, including the Trump administration’s goal to cut the Veterans Affairs workforce by 15%, and cuts to science research, for which Iowa’s public universities receive millions of dollars.

While Buttigieg said during the town hall that he is “not running for anything,” his visit marks the third Iowa appearance from a high-profile Democrat since the start of the Trump administration. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, was in Iowa City and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz stopped in Des Moines earlier this year.

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra says he has officially launched a gubernatorial exploratory committee

The three-term Republican representative for the 4th Congressional District says Iowans across the state have asked him to run for governor.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds last month said she doesn’t plan to run for re-election in 2026.

Feenstra says he is a supporter of President Donald Trump’s agenda, is against China buying farmland and wants a more secure southern border.

State Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, also launched a formal exploratory committee.

On Monday State Auditor Rob Sand announced he plans to seek the Democratic nomination for governor.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has requested a waiver from the USDA that would make some foods ineligible for Iowans enrolled in SNAP – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

If the waiver is approved, SNAP participants in Iowa would not be able to buy food products subject to sales tax. This includes certain types of sweetened beverages, candy, breath mints and plants and seeds that can produce food.

In documents obtained by IPR through a records request, Iowa officials said one of the goals is to encourage healthy choices.

Luke Elzinga, board chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition, says low-income Iowans should be trusted to make the best food choices for their families.

“If the idea is that we want folks to be eating more healthy food and moving towards self-sufficiency, we should absolutely not be banning seeds and plants from SNAP because that seems like the best way to get people to grow their own nutritious food.”

If approved, the modifications are expected to go into effect Jan. 1.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins sent a letter to governors earlier this year, asking them to send in waiver requests for SNAP.

Governors from Arkansas, Indiana and Nebraska have publicly announced their own requests for SNAP waivers.

Read more.

Rep. Angel Ramirez, D-Cedar Rapids, is now the first Latina to serve in the Iowa Legislature.

The 25-year-old from Cedar Rapids was elected last month to fill the seat left behind by former Rep. Sami Scheetz. Ramirez is now the representative for House District 78, which covers southeast Cedar Rapids.

Ramirez was sworn in wearing a blazer reading “Tu lucha es mi lucha,” which means “your fight is my fight.”

The Cedar Rapids Community School District has approved a $117 million bond referendum.

Monday night’s board vote was unanimous, but before the measure appears on the November ballot, the district needs to gather signatures from at least 25% of voters registered in the last election.

The bond referendum is a scaled down version of a measure voters rejected in 2023. District representatives say the streamlined, safety-focused plan would cost the average Cedar Rapids homeowner just under $7.50 a month.

If approved by voters, the bond would fund renovation of McKinley Middle School. Wilson Middle School would be converted into an elementary school for Cedar River Academy and Grant Elementary students. Roosevelt Middle School would be renovated to house Wilson’s current middle school students. Kennedy High School would be upgraded to include a 9th grade wing.

Some of the white South Africans granted refugee status by the Trump administration are resettling in Iowa.

President Donald Trump claims members of the ethnic minority, called Afrikaners, face racial discrimination. He granted them refugee status and expedited processing earlier this year.

Afrikaners make up 7% of South Africa’s population, but own about half the country’s farmland.

The Trump administration previously pulled funding for all refugee resettlement agencies in January. Multiple groups across Iowa have had to lay off staff members. Refugees affected include Afghan military allies and families waiting to reunify.

Courtesy of: Kevin Negaard

A deadly bus crash in Tanzania, Africa, made international headlines eight years ago. Today, the only three survivors — known as the “Miracle Kids” — live and study in Iowa and are preparing to graduate from community college in Sioux City.

The three natives of Tanzania – Sadhia Abdallah, Doreen Mshana and Wilson Tarimo – suffered broken bones and other injuries.

The impact paralyzed Mshana and ripped her jaw apart. Today, only a small scar remains.

“It was like life and death moments, you know,” Mshana said. "Sometimes I just like to look back to remind myself how far I've been."

Mercy Hospital in Sioux City offered free care, and after some diplomatic maneuvers, the children flew to Sioux City several days later for treatment. There, they endured several surgeries.

Western Iowa Tech Community College offered them free tuition. Starting in the fall of 2022, Mshana studied video production, Abdallah picked accounting and Tarimo chose business.

“Sometimes I feel like I kind of don't deserve it, how people are treating us so well here,” Wilson said.

Read more.

Dry weather gave farmers almost one full week to pull their planters through the fields, and they got a lot of seed into the ground.

The USDA report says corn planting moved from 49 to 76% complete by the end of last week. That percentage pushed the planting from two days behind last year to eight days ahead.

Soybean planting has moved from 38 to 64% now completed. Corn planting is three days ahead of the five year average, and soybean planting is five days ahead of average.

The USDA report says 30% of the corn has emerged and 16% of the beans are popping out of the ground.

A recent executive order will mandate all commercial truck drivers to be proficient in English.

President Donald Trump’s directive comes as the number of truck drivers born outside the country has grown to more than 700,000 over the last 20 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There’s already a federal rule that requires truck drivers to be proficient in English, but Trump has called the new executive order a “non-negotiable safety requirement.”

That includes speaking and reading well enough to understand road signs and to communicate with officials at agriculture checkpoints, weight limit stations and border patrol.

Raman Dhillon, CEO of the North American Punjabi Trucking Association, says there is a fear that the directive could target some drivers.

“All these rules and regulations are vital to the trucking industry … But are these measures gonna be used against the people of color to retaliate or to discriminate?”

Michael Belzer, a professor of economics at Wayne State University in Michigan, says this new directive is likely to impact some immigrant drivers.

“I don't know what the standards are gonna be, but I assume that besides the headline value, that the purpose was to make it harder for them to get in, or to do the work.”

In the U.S., trucks transport the majority of agricultural products, like grains and livestock, according to a 2020 report from the Department of Agriculture.

The Department of Transportation will soon issue new guidance on English proficiency testing and enforcement.

State Auditor Rob Sand, who launched his campaign for the 2026 governor's race, says if he’s elected, one of his top priorities will be getting the state budget back on track.

“Folks like to talk about having a record surplus. We're also looking at a record deficit this year, and we are going to have budget deficits every single year now for probably at least the next five years, unless something major changes. But that's not healthy.”

Sand says another top priority would be making sure there’s more accountability for how tax dollars are spent, such as with the state’s voucher-style education savings accounts for students in private schools. He also says he wants to make the government more efficient to lower costs for Iowans.

Sand says, as a Democrat, he’s interested in gaining support from people of all political backgrounds, regardless of party.

"I don't want to write off anybody. I think people are complex. There's a ton of people out there who vote for both parties, and I don't think that we should be judging people based on who they vote for."

In April, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced she is not running for reelection in 2026. This will be the state’s first governor’s race without an incumbent candidate since 2006.

Paperwork filed with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board Monday indicates that U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra could decide to run for governor.

The Republican from Hull represents Iowa’s 4th Congressional District. Feenstra also served several years in the Iowa Legislature.

Last month, Gov. Kim Reynolds said she wasn’t going to seek re-election, setting up a potential competition for the Republican nomination.

Other potential GOP candidates include state Attorney General Brenna Bird, state Sen. Mike Bousselot, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, and Speaker of the Iowa House Pat Grassley. Former state Rep. Brad Sherman is already running.

State Auditor Rob Sand entered the race Monday morning. Sand is the first major Democrat to announce his candidacy for governor.

Representatives for Feenstra haven’t returned IPR’s request for comment.

The Trump administration has paused a program that aims to grow high-yield corn and sorghum with dramatically less fertilizer.

The $38 million Department of Energy investment funds research taking place in several Midwest and Great Plains states.

The energy department previously said cutting fertilizer could save farmers $6 billion and cut down on the release of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide.

Maggie Wagner is an expert in plant genetics at the University of Kansas and one of the scientists who would conduct the research.

“ Who can argue with something that would save farmers billions of dollars? And yet here we are, with no movement at all.”

Fertilizer pollution enters drinking water, and it’s a key reason there’s now a massive zone in the Gulf of Mexico almost entirely devoid of life. Wagner said the research would have significant environmental value.

“ The reduction in groundwater pollution that would result from this would be such a big deal for people – especially people living in agricultural communities, but also way downstream in the Gulf.”

The energy department also previously said its goal is to keep farmers cost-competitive – and to cut U.S. reliance on imported fertilizer.

Currently it’s unclear if the research will proceed.

The city of Ames has purchased property for a new animal shelter that will at least double the number of animals that can be taken in.

Ron Edwards, the shelter director, says the plans are in response to a growing need for shelter space locally. He hopes it will also help ease the burden on other partners in the region.

“We’ve heard a lot of no-kill shelters that have had to make some very difficult euthanasia decisions that they haven’t had to do in a very long time. So shelters are struggling right now. We’re in a really good spot. We’ve had so many amazing adoptions. But we can do a lot better in our new facility and we’re going to make sure we do that.”

Edwards says the current shelter in Ames takes in around 900 cats, dogs and exotic pets every year, along with roughly 100 wild animals.

He says the animal impound numbers have grown alongside the population growth of Ames, but a lack of spaying and neutering has also increased the number of puppies and kittens.

“We are continuing to see those numbers increase. So that was really part of the focus of making sure that we had a facility that was sized right.”

Public funds and private donations have contributed $6 million to the project. The city has launched a fundraising campaign for the last $1.5 million needed to pay for the $7.5 million project.

Edwards expects they’ll be able to move into the new animal shelter within two years.

Lucius Pham

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Iowa Public Radio

State Auditor Rob Sand, the only Democrat in statewide elected office, is running for governor of Iowa in 2026.

Sand, an attorney and former prosecutor in the Iowa attorney general’s office, has been state auditor since 2019. During an interview with Radio Iowa, Sand said it’s time for new leadership in the governor’s office.

“Refocusing on public service, not just politics; all of state government focused on serving all Iowans, not just a select few … This state really needs a new direction. I think most Iowans agree with that.”

Sand called the state budget Republicans have developed “a ticking fiscal time bomb” because it relies on withdrawals from the state’s reserves. He also said the state’s current flat income tax is “of tremendous benefit” to the wealthiest people in Iowa.

He said Iowa is losing millions of dollars of potential revenue from marijuana sales, which he said should be taxed at the same rate alcohol is taxed.

Sand, 42, grew up in Decorah and earned a degree in political science from Brown University. He got his law degree from the University of Iowa.

Read more.

The number of acres used to grow crops in the U.S. has been declining for years, but fell more quickly from 2014 to 2022. Iowa experienced one of the largest drops.

University of Illinois Ag economist Scott Irwin compiled the numbers in a new report. He expected most of the decline to be in Great Plains states, where acres planted in wheat and hay have been falling for several years, but the overall numbers painted a different picture.

“California is down a million acres. Iowa's down half a million acres or so, but Illinois, hardly down at all. Well, what's the difference between Illinois and Iowa? We don't think of those states as being really very different when it comes to crop agriculture.”

Irwin says the projected total U.S. crop acreage this year is 3 million less than the total for 2024 and tied with 2022 for the lowest total crop acreage over the last 27 years.

At the same time he found less land enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program, which pays landowners to take farmland out of production.

“Where did those 10 million acres go? That's a lot of acres, even in some place that's as big as the United States, and they're not showing up in principal crop acres because that's going down at the same time.”

Irwin says these numbers can’t all be explained by urban sprawl. He points out in his report that data is collected by several different agencies, using different methods and he plans to analyze county-level numbers to get a more accurate picture.

The Iowa Supreme Court has overturned a Polk County ruling that would have allowed voting materials to be provided in languages other than English.

The civil rights group League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa, or LULAC, sued the Iowa Secretary of State four years ago to allow translations of voting materials to citizens.

A Polk County judge agreed with LULAC, but the Supreme Court says the organization can’t sue because it was not directly harmed.

LULAC President Joe Henry says the ruling is an injustice.

“This is a slippery slope of saying that if you don’t speak English, then not only do you not have the right to have material translated, but you may not be eligible to have other things.”

Henry says LULAC plans to challenge the ruling. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says the decision provides clarity to election officials.

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ summer food aid program for kids will serve a fraction of those who would be reached by the Summer EBT program she rejected, according to details provided Friday by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.

Reynolds announced this week that the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved her plan to provide healthy foods to low-income families with kids instead of sending them money for food.

Iowa HHS spokesperson Alex Murphy says it’s a pilot program that’ll serve up to 65,000 kids this summer, and the USDA is providing just over $9 million to fully fund it.

Summer EBT would’ve reached an estimated 240,000 Iowa kids who would qualify for nearly $30 million in food assistance. Murphy says Summer EBT would require the state to pay half of the administrative costs.

He says each county will have at least one food pickup site, and the full list will be on the Iowa HHS website by June 1.

Democrat Ryan Melton says he’s running once again for a chance to represent Iowa’s 4th Congressional District.

The insurance manager from Webster City ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra in 2022 and 2024. Feenstra won the last election in November by more than 34%.

Melton says he’s built a “grassroots movement that’s growing in strength.” He accused Feenstra of taking tens of thousands of dollars from supporters of a carbon capture pipeline. The issue of eminent domain has been a heated issue across the state.

The 4th Congressional District is considered the most conservative in Iowa. It covers 36 counties on the western border and the northwest quadrant of the state.

Feenstra hasn’t announced if he’s seeking reelection for a fourth term in office.

Rep. Ashley Hinson says upcoming discussions between China and the U.S. could bring positive outcomes for Iowa’s farmers.

The two countries are set to meet this weekend to discuss a trade deal after President Donald Trump put 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, which have hurt many of Iowa’s farmers.

Hinson, a Republican representing Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, said she supports the forward-moving discussions and hopes a deal will relieve some of the pressure on farmers.

“Secretary Rollins was in our ag hearing this week, testifying exactly to that as well, that we understand that this is not a long-term situation that our producers can stomach. So they need access to these markets, and they need a trade deal.”

On her weekly press call, Hinson says she trusts the president to advocate effectively on behalf of American farmers and producers.

“Obviously, for us, we need to have access to the Chinese market. China needs access to the American market. So, it is in the best interest of both countries to move talks forward.”

China is the third-largest importer of American corn and the biggest foreign market for American soybeans.

Iowa Regent David Barker has been nominated to be the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Post Secondary Education. Barker is just two months into his second term on the Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s public universities. He will undergo a vetting process in the U.S. Senate. With the Board of Regents, Barker has been outspoken on tightening budgets and eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the state’s public universities.

Gov. Kim Reynolds congratulated Barker on his nomination, saying his service on the board will allow him to hit the ground running.

A jury convicted a former meatpacking worker in northern Iowa of pandemic benefits fraud and money laundering in a federal court in Sioux City.

Yovany Ciero worked at a meatpacking plant in Algona when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Together with five other “bundlers,” Ciero recruited individuals into a Paycheck Protection Program loan scheme. It resulted in the federal government losing over $2.4 million.

Ciero and over 100 other people obtained loans by falsely claiming they were self-employed businesspeople.

Ciero also collected fees from individuals that received the PPP loans.

He faces a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and over $10 million in fines.

Iowa Public Radio

A leader of the Catholic Church in Des Moines hopes the new pope will capture the attention of those who want the church to unify, not divide, people.

William Joensen, bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines, says Pope Leo grew up in Chicago, but he is a citizen of the world.

“I think the comfort of the cardinals with him is that he has very much a global view, and is not just kind of exporting a kind of nationalism of any provenance.”

Joensen says there’s an exuberance within the church community when the conclave releases the white smoke announcing the new pope.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is purchasing nearly 1,800 acres in the globally unique Loess Hills of western Iowa.

The DNR says the land acquisition will protect one of the largest contiguous regions of forest in western Iowa and result in over 100 miles of connected public hiking trails.

At the heart of the former Little Sioux Scout Ranch is a 20-acre lake.

Travis Baker, the DNR's Land and Waters Bureau Chief, spoke ahead of the Thursday vote of the state Natural Resource Commission.

“Lots of people in the room and on the phone have been a part of a really unique opportunity here, and probably most important, a real win for natural resources for conservation, for public access.”

The DNR is purchasing the property from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation for $5.1 million, 3 million less than the appraised value. Over $4.6 million is covered by a USDA Forest Legacy Grant. REAP Open Spaces funding covers the other $500,000.

Baker says the DNR will close on the property this summer, and it will be open to the public this fall.

“This is a really unique opportunity, a really unique land purchase, really outside the scope of what we normally get a chance to work on.”

The DNR will maintain a memorial to four boys who died in a 2008 tornado on the property.

Isabella Luu

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Iowa Public Radio

Iowa House Democrats have elected Rep. Brian Meyer of Des Moines to be the new House minority leader after Rep. Jennifer Konfrst announced she’s leaving her leadership role to run for Congress.

Meyer will take over from Konfrst after the legislative session ends. He’s an attorney who was first elected to the House in 2013.

Meyer says his pitch to his fellow Democrats was that they need to go to voters and talk about economic issues rather than social issues.

“People are living paycheck to paycheck. There’s no relief in sight, and we need to address these things moving forward as to how, as a caucus, we are going to say to Iowans, we are the better option when you go to vote in November of '26.”

Meyer says he plans to have a “decentralized” leadership style, and he wants to tap into the strengths of the other House Democrats. He says he’s going to start traveling the state this weekend to recruit Democrats to run for Iowa House seats in the next election.

Read more.

Homeless youth advocates are worried that President Donald Trump’s federal budget proposal will cut an important school assistance program.

The Education for Homeless Children and Youths program provides transportation, food and other help to students without stable shelter.

The proposed budget consolidates federal education programs into a block grant, leaving it unclear how much funding each could receive.

Barbara Duffield leads the advocacy group SchoolHouse Connection and says most lawmakers don’t know about the program.

“They have no idea what this law is, how the funding is being used and how many students benefit from it, and it’s much easier to cut or harm programs that are unknown or perceived as irrelevant.”

Last fiscal year Iowa received over $750,000 for the program, and there were more than 7,300 identified homeless students the year before.

A report from SchoolHouse Connection and Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan estimates about 2,500 children under the age of 3 experienced homelessness in Iowa in the 2022-23 school year.

The report defines homeless as living without stable shelter, which includes doubling up in households or living in a car. To calculate the estimate, researchers relied on school records of first-graders experiencing homelessness and applied that same rate to the population of children under age 3.

Erin Patterson, who led the report, says it’s a challenge for schools to get an accurate count.

“If you identify a first-grader who has a 1-year-old sibling, then you mark down that 1-year-old sibling as well. And that doesn't seem to be happening in some states.”

Patterson says it’s important to identify homelessness in this age group because federally subsidized preschool and child care programs have to prioritize homeless children in enrollment.

Emma Pischel, the recruitment and retention coordinator at Four Oaks Foster and Adoptive Family Connections, says Iowa has seen the number of foster homes slowly fall over the past several years.

“Across Iowa, we have way more kiddos in care than we have families, so we really just need more families that can provide a temporary home.”

Pischel says there were nearly 2,400 children referred to a foster home in Iowa last year, compared to only about 1,700 licensed foster families.

“We’ve been experiencing a shortage of foster families probably since COVID, just with how the landscape changes, but we’re really working hard across the state to try and bring awareness of this need, as well as just to reach families that would be interested in providing that temporary care.”

To become licensed in Iowa as a foster parent, you need to pass a background check, get training for CPR and first aid, pass an 11-week course on how to parent and work with a child’s birth family.

Residents of Kimballton in western Iowa are under a bottled water advisory after the water tower ran dry.

Kimballton Public Works says the system’s wells failed to come online. Because of the pressure loss, the water tower emptied.

The city also issued a public notice last month, warning residents of manganese above the health advisory level.

The tap water cannot be used for drinking. It can’t be boiled, either – the manganese can become more concentrated with excessive boiling.

The advisory will remain in effect until lab samples come back negative for bacteria.

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst is planning to run in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, which covers central and southern parts of the state, including Des Moines. The seat is currently held by Republican Zach Nunn.

Konfrst was first elected to the Iowa House in 2018 and has served as House Minority Leader since 2021.

She says she’s focused on pocketbook issues – including things like Social Security, public education and health care.

“At the end of the day, Iowans don't want to have to think about Washington. They don't want to have to think about Des Moines. They want to be able to think about whether or not they'll be able to pay their bills, whether or not they'll be able to send their kids to college, their Social Security check is coming, and they can afford, you know, if they get sick, they can afford to get better.”

Konfrst says she’ll step down as House minority leader at the end of this year’s legislative session to run her campaign.

The National Republican Congressional Committee responded to Konfrst joining the race with a statement calling her an ineffective leader.

Earlier this week, Democratic state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott also launched her campaign for the 3rd District seat. Nunn has not announced a campaign to run for a third term but is expected to run again.

Read more.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved Gov. Kim Reynolds’ plan to provide monthly boxes of food for low-income Iowa kids over the summer instead of sending their families money for food.

Reynolds’ proposed alternative to the federal Summer EBT program was initially rejected by former President Joe Biden’s administration. But now it’s been approved by President Donald Trump’s USDA.

Iowa was one of 13 states to reject Summer EBT last year, which would have provided assistance to an estimated 240,000 Iowa kids. Now, instead of giving $40 per month to kids for food over the summer, qualifying families will be able to select $40 worth of certain foods from local pantries.

Reynolds says the program will involve regional food banks, but she didn’t say how many summer food pickup sites will be available across the state or how much the program will cost.

She says her plan will ensure Iowa kids have access to nutritious food and will promote healthy eating habits.

President Donald Trump has nominated Iowa’s chief deputy attorney general to be the U.S. attorney for northern Iowa.

Leif Olson spent 15 years in private practice before serving in the Texas attorney general’s office. He joined Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office two years ago.

While in Texas, Olson oversaw numerous lawsuits against the Biden administration. Some lawsuits included objections to immigration policies and vaccine mandates.

Olson’s nomination is endorsed by both Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst.

The Northern District of Iowa covers 53 counties and includes Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Sioux City.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said she’s open to federal action in response to state laws that would restrict the way farmers in Iowa raise pigs. Iowa 2^nd District Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson asked about the issue during a House budget hearing.

The California law, called Proposition 12, requires certain cuts of pork sold in the state to come from breeding pigs with at least 24 square feet of space. Supporters say it improves animal welfare. Hinson and many in the pork industry say it imposes a financial burden on producers.

“We want California to be able to regulate its own producers, but we don’t want them to tell Iowa farmers how to raise our animals and do our jobs,” Hinson said.

Rollins said state laws that have a significant impact outside their borders are not sustainable.

“Having a federal approach to that, ensuring that we’re protecting our pork producers, especially, [and] some of our other livestock producers underneath the regime of Prop 12 is important. So, we’ll keep working on that and I look forward to it,” Rollins said.

Hinson has introduced legislation in the past to prevent states from enacting stricter regulations on animal agriculture than federal law requires.

The Dubuque City Council passed an ordinance against feeding or harassing bears. During a discussion of the ordinance, Ross Ellingson with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said the idea is to take away the things that lure bears into the town.

“Every time that there is somebody putting food out or intentionally feeding the bear, it’s hard. The bear gets used to the food source, and it’s harder and harder to make the bear leave the city,” Ellingson said.

Ellingson said bears are becoming more prevalent in Iowa due to the large populations of black bears in neighboring states. Dubuque County Conservation Executive Director Brian Preston said there are at least four bears in the county and one that now lives year-round near Dubuque.

“Early on, when this bear started coming to town, we had some residents that were intentionally feeding the bear — putting out food, peanut butter, lots of birdseed, corn, things that bears like to eat,” Preston said. “They’re like me, they’re very food motivated, so they remember those locations where they got a good meal and they’re likely to come back to them.”

Preston said they are trying to emphasize that feeding the bears is not a good thing.

“It’s been about 150 years since we’ve had black bears in Iowa. So, it’s very exciting. But at the same time, we need to keep wildlife wild,” he said.

Under the ordinance, people who feed bears could face a fine of up to $750. The ordinance could also require a resident to take down a bird feeder to deter bears. Residents are advised to stay away from bears and not follow them to try and get a picture or video. Harassing bears to get them to go away is not allowed under the ordinance, as experts said that could lead to more unwanted interaction with the bears.

A state board has agreed to pay a $4.2 million settlement to the brother of a 16-year-old girl who died of starvation in their adoptive parents’ home in Perry.

Investigators say Sabrina Ray was abused and starved to death by her adoptive mother, who’s serving a life prison sentence, and her adoptive father, sentenced to serve 80 years in prison.

Sabrina, who died in 2017, and three of her siblings had been in the foster care system.

In 2023, two of the siblings were each paid $5 million to settle their lawsuits against the state. This latest settlement is with a third sibling, who allegedly witnessed and suffered abuse in the same home. The lawsuits claimed state officials failed to properly investigate reports that the children were being abused and neglected.

An eastern Iowa attorney who served two terms in the Iowa House is running for attorney general in 2026.

Nate Willems, a Democrat from Mount Vernon, said his top priorities would be assisting county attorneys in gaining convictions for violent felonies and protecting Iowans from corporate crimes.

“I’m running because I want the attorney general’s office to be focused on protecting regular Iowans and not getting involved in Washington politics or political lawsuits.”

Current Attorney General Brenna Bird, a Republican, said she is considering whether to run for governor in 2026 rather than seek reelection as attorney general.

Willems, who is 45, grew up in Anamosa. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and earned his law degree from the University of Iowa. He served four years in the Iowa House, then lost a 2012 race for a seat in the Iowa Senate by a 1.8% margin. Willems is a practicing attorney at a Cedar Rapids law firm.

Jewish students, staff and alumni at Iowa colleges say federal officials are using antisemitism as a cover for dismantling free speech.

The Trump administration has threatened funding for universities, such as Harvard and Princeton, claiming Jewish students fear for their safety on those campuses. University of Iowa Professor Lisa Heineman says even though the administration is targeting Ivy League colleges first, the consequences could reverberate at Iowa institutions.

In response, she drafted a statement denouncing those actions, saying that the administration is spreading misconceptions about higher education. Heineman says Jews are being used to justify attacks on Palestinian protestors.

“We cannot suddenly say that protest is an attack on Jewish students. It's not. It's a protest about a very important political issue right now.”

The statement, which has been signed by 90 people so far, says higher education should be a place that allows respectful debate.

FilmScene

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David Greedy Photography

The Trump administration revoked hundreds of grants previously awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Arts organizations across the country were notified by email Friday that their grants were terminated. The emails came just hours after President Donald Trump unveiled a federal budget plan proposal that would eliminate the NEA entirely.

FilmScene, a nonprofit movie theater in Iowa City, was among several Iowa arts groups whose grants were suddenly canceled. FilmScene Executive Director Andrew Sherburne says while there won’t be changes to the cinema’s upcoming programming, he worries about what will happen if the NEA disappears.

“I think that is what we're ultimately the most worried about is the future — next year, the year after that — and how we as a nation are investing in our cultural heritage and our cultural well-being.”

Arts organizations have three more days to appeal the grant termination.

Read more.

Officials in Sioux City voted Monday night to roll back policies surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion to keep federal funding.

The city council reclassified the city’s diversity and inclusion coordinator position, dissolved an inclusivity committee and removed inclusive language in city communications.

Ike Rayford with the NAACP worked with city leaders to put the committee together in 2020.

“We cannot — and we must not — be bullied into abandoning our moral obligation to serve all citizens equitably. This moment is not just about dollars; it's really about dignity. DEI is not a political agenda.”

Council members said they didn’t want to make the decision, but a majority feared losing federal money that helps pay for transportation and housing in the area.

The Trump administration said states and other federal grant recipients could lose funding if they maintain DEI programs or fail to cooperate with U.S. immigration enforcement.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

Republican Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer announced that she’s running to be Iowa’s next state auditor in 2026.

Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed Cournoyer as lieutenant governor in December after former Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg resigned. In April, Reynolds announced she won’t run for reelection. Reynolds says she’s proud to endorse Cournoyer to be the next state auditor.

Cournoyer was previously a state senator for about six years. She also ran an independent web development business, served on her local school board and taught robotics and coding.

The current state auditor, Rob Sand, is the only Democrat elected to a statewide office in Iowa. He’s expected to run for governor in 2026, which would leave an open position for Cournoyer to pursue.

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Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley says he supports adding work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, as Congress continues to debate the federal budget.

Grassley says the requirements wouldn’t affect people with disabilities or pregnant mothers.

“We oughta have incentives to work. In other words, the government shouldn’t have any disincentives not to work if you have the capability of working. Now that’s one thing that’s been talked about here a lot in Washington, D.C., and that’s not cutting benefits for anybody."

Lawmakers are trying to agree on spending cuts to offset President Donald Trump’s plans to extend tax cuts and increase defense spending.

He also says funding for public media could be caught up in wider efforts to cut the federal budget. The Trump administration has proposed asking Congress to rescind about $9 billion in previously-approved funding to public media, the U.S. Agency for International Development and state department programs.

Grassley says he isn’t looking to cut any specific programs, but he wouldn’t vote against a resolution that does include those cuts.

Also last week, Trump issued an executive order barring the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from funding NPR and PBS. Those organizations are the largest providers of programming for public media stations.

IPR gets about 10% of its funding from CPB.

Grassley spoke on River to River Monday.

Democratic state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott says she’s running for Congress next year. Trone Garriott plans to run in the state’s 3rd Congressional District, which is currently held by Republican Rep. Zach Nunn.

Trone Garriott was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2020, flipping a Republican-held district. Two years later, after redistricting, she unseated then-Senate President Jake Chapman in Iowa’s 14th District.

She says after winning her third race in 2024, she felt she could offer more.

“I started having conversations with folks, and realized that running for Congress would make the biggest difference for the most people. It really is a seat that would impact the entire country, because if we flip this seat, we flip control of Congress.

Trone Garriott says she’s confident her past success defeating Republican opponents makes her a strong candidate for the Congressional seat.

“I'm a parent. I'm a pastor. I'm a public servant. And I see work that needs to be done. That's how I'm different than Zach Nunn. And so for me, it's about making sure that we're doing good for as many people as possible.”

The Cook Political Report has designated the 3rd District race as “lean Republican.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee has issued a statement calling Trone Garriott “another activist attempting to radicalize Iowa.” It says she is pushing a “dangerous, extreme agenda that would raise costs, allow men in girls’ sports and weaken public safety.”

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This post was updated at 3:10 p.m. on May 6, 2025. A previous version misspelled Sarah Trone Garriott's last name.