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.

Read more.

A home in Marion just received a series of renovations thanks to a group of local high schoolers through The Marion Community Build Program. It gives high schoolers opportunities to enhance their trade skills while supporting the area’s low-and-moderate income housing needs.

The students’ renovations included building a two-car garage, reshingling the roof and remodeling both bathrooms. It's the third home that the Marion Economic Development Corporation has remodeled through a special program that fixes up houses in the city’s older neighborhoods.

Ryan Ellis, a senior at Marion High School, was happy to learn how to use the tools and properly measure and cut materials.

“Now graduating this year, I want to hopefully get a job that’s kind of like that, and it’ll be easier to do that now because I know half of the information.”

Mark Seckman, the president of the Marion Economic Development Corporation, says the program gives students hands-on experience.

“What this provides is that initial taste of what it’s like. Everything from rough carpentry, finished carpentry, painting, caulking, little bit of plumbing, things like that, where they can just get a taste of what it’s like and now they can see a career path.”

Seckman says the house is now on the market for families earning less than 80% of the area’s median household income. He says it’s meant to reduce barriers for young families seeking homeownership.

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.”

Read more.

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

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says about 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from an above ground tank near Dallas Center in central Iowa on Saturday.

In a release, the agency says they were notified the tank began leaking around 2:30 a.m. Saturday. The DNR says most of the diesel was initially contained on-site, in a nearby pond and the immediate area surrounding the storage tank.

Later that day, Waukee residents began reporting strong fuel odors near Little Walnut Creek, which flows into Walnut Creek in the Clive area. The DNR says absorbent booms were placed in Little Walnut Creek to limit the spread of the contamination, and as of yesterday afternoon no dead fish had been observed along the affected section.

The public is advised to stay out of the creek at this time, but the DNR maintains there is no health threat to the public. The cause of the spill remains under investigation.

An Iowan will become chief executive of the world’s 8th most valuable company.

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, who is 94 years old, made the announcement to a crowd of nearly 20,000 at the company’s 2025 shareholders meeting in Omaha this past weekend, an event that was broadcast live on CNBC.

“The time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year end,” Buffett said.

Greg Abel is a long-time executive at Des Moines-based MidAmerican Energy, which Buffett’s company acquired 25 years ago. Abel currently oversees all of Berkshire’s non-insurance companies. In 2021, Buffett announced Abel would be his successor, but Buffett announced a date for the transition Saturday. “And Greg doesn’t know anything about this until what he’s hearing right now,” Buffett said, and the crowd laughed.

Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway’s 11 member board of directors will meet in a couple of months and he predicts they will “unanimously” approve Abel’s new role as the company’s chief decision-maker.

Abel, who is 62, is expected to continue living in Des Moines. He will oversee Berkshire’s massive stock portfolio, which includes companies like BNSF Railroad, GEICO and Pilot Flying J Travel Centers. Abel won the Horatio Alger Award in 2018 and, in comments posted on the organization’s website, Abel called Buffett a mentor who has “a positive view on life and focuses on sharing and teaching.”

Starting on May 7, you will need a Real ID compliant card – or a valid passport – to travel in the U.S. by air, as well as to enter some federal buildings and facilities.

Real ID cards are federally mandated identification with tamper-proof and anti-counterfeit features. They’re issued by individual states, just like a driver’s license.

You won’t need a Real ID to drive, vote or prove your age when buying alcohol or tobacco products.

Getting a Real ID does require more documentation than a traditional driver’s license. States provide details of what you need online and in license offices.

You can still apply for a Real ID after May 7. Check your state’s website for info on the documentation you need.

An inpatient behavioral health center in Clive can now serve more clients, but there are still obstacles to accessing care for many people.

In the two years since he started there, CEO Kevin Pettit says they’ve doubled their bed capacity to 80.

But there’s still a statewide shortage of nurses and therapists, and Pettit says they’re also still dealing with a COVID hangover.

“There's just a lot more remote opportunities than there used to be, and we see that being a thing we compete against, especially for therapists, but it makes it difficult for us to hire people."

Clive Behavioral Health Hospital opened in 2021 to address a shortage of inpatient psych centers, but Pettit says access is still a problem.

“We have a lot of people that live in the rural outskirts of the state that don't have services in their community. That's a unique challenge in and of itself.”

Some clients travel for four hours to get to the center because they have no other options.

More states are eliminating sales taxes on groceries. The governor of Arkansas signed a bill this month to end the tax, joining Illinois, Oklahoma and Kansas in making the same move within the last year. Missouri is among the states currently considering measures.

Amanda Berry with the group Empower Missouri says the state’s residents spend an average of $60 per month just on taxes for groceries.

“And so $60 a month to a person who may only be making $2,000 a month, of course, is disproportionate compared to somebody who may be making seven, eight, nine, $10,000 a month.”

While the Arkansas grocery tax is the lowest in the nation—at just one eighth of one percent—Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance CEO Sylvia Blain says she’ll still be glad to see it go.

“We all understand the need for taxes and what they benefit. But I think when it comes to things that we all have to have to live, we might need to reconsider the way we tax them.”

Most food products are exempt from sales tax in Iowa.

Mississippi will reduce its highest-in-the-nation seven cent grocery tax this summer.

Sioux City is looking to reverse policies surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion in order to keep federal funding.

The city council will vote Monday afternoon on a proposal to dissolve a 12-member inclusive advisory committee formed in 2020 and to reclassify the city’s diversity and inclusion coordinator position.

Officials say the changes will maintain Sioux City’s eligibility for federal transportation funding.

The Trump administration said states and other grant recipients could lose funding if they fail to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement or maintain diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The trade war with China and the possibility of retaliatory tariffs from more countries weighs on the minds of many farmers and producers.

Chad Hart, an Iowa State University Extension economist, says agricultural export sales fluctuate, but aggregate data over the last four months shows countries are buying less U.S. pork.

“We've been seeing a fairly downward trend, and I think pork producers have been factoring that in as they are looking at how they're marketing their animals over time.”

Weekly export sales for U.S. pork recently hit a marketing year low, in part because China cancelled 12,000 metric tons.

Hart emphasizes the tariff impacts vary by industry. The time of year matters, too.

“Everybody's been watching, trying to read the tea leaves to see, you know, what impacts the tariffs are having. And I would argue it's a mixed bag right now.”

Hart says the majority of soybean export sales have already been made and delivered for the current marketing year, which ends in August. He added corn exports have been up despite the tariff chatter.

The U.S.-China trade war could have a much greater impact on the soybean industry if retaliatory tariffs are still in place this fall.

Any slowdown in Iowa’s farm economy caused by retaliatory tariffs is likely to also impact the state’s manufacturing industry.

Iowa State University economist Peter Orazem says the fortunes of companies like John Deere follow demand for new machinery based on farm income.

Orazem says farm income was expected to rebound this year after two years of decline. Speaking on IPR’s River to River, he said tariffs against major trading partners are changing those projections.

“Perhaps the federal government is going to use transfer payments to try to shore up farm incomes, but that's not necessarily for production, so I don't think that John Deere is going to have a particularly good year this year."

Orazem says slow growth was already the trend for Iowa’s economy. He says the state has recovered more slowly than most from the economic impact of the pandemic.

The Cedar Rapids Community School District says it will not be laying off teachers as part of its restructuring efforts.

In March, the school district announced it would have to lay off or find new roles for nearly 80 employees, including 60 teachers.

All of the teachers have now been reassigned to new roles that align with their certifications going into next school year. The district has taken on a zero-based budgeting approach and is planning for major restructuring in response to declining enrollment and a $12 million budget shortfall.

Isabella Luu

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Iowa Public Radio

Parents, educators, students and community members rallied Thursday night in Des Moines to show support for public schools and oppose education cuts at the federal level.

Members of the Iowa State Education Association highlighted the importance of protecting Title I funding for low-income schools and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Sarah Harmon, a reading interventionist at Des Moines Public Schools, says the impact of Title I funding extends beyond the classroom.

“Educated students are more likely to become productive citizens, improve our local economy and contribute to the state's social fabric.”

Shannon Baity, a special education teacher in the Southeast Polk school district, says federal funding provides essential support for her students.

“The potential dismantling of programs would put our most vulnerable students and all students at risk, and we must act urgently to prevent this.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds joined President Donald Trump in March while he signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. The administration said “core necessities” — like Title I and funding for students with disabilities — will still be maintained.

A Florida investor and lawyer has donated a major gift to the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program after hearing it lost federal funding.

Hugh Culverhouse Jr. donated $250,000 to the program when he read about the cuts on Bloomberg News.

The International Writing Program typically hosts 25 to 40 writers from around the world, some of whom have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes. But after the federal cuts, it would have had to slice its enrollment for its fall residency program in half.

Christopher Merrill, director of the program, says the program will now be able to support its typical enrollment.

“This came out of the blue and it felt as if an angel had arrived just in time to help us put together a substantial fall residency, unlike the scaled-back one that we imagined we would have to do in the wake of the loss of federal funding.”

He says Culverhouse might donate more money in the future, as an incentive for finding additional supporters.

“What he was doing was to challenge us, to first find supporters who could match his gift, and then secondly, to devise the kinds of creative programming that we would need to build a bridge into a sustainable future for the IWP.”

Rep. Zach Nunn will not run for governor to replace Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Reynolds announced last month she is not running for reelection, raising questions about which Republicans will campaign for the GOP nomination in 2026.

Nunn is serving his second term representing Iowa’s 3rd District in the U.S. House. He told WHO Radio he will stay in Washington to work on border security, energy independence and federal tax cuts.

Second District Rep. Ashley Hinson and 1st District Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks have also confirmed they are not running for governor.

Demand for backyard chickens is high this year. That’s in part because of expensive egg prices and shortages at the grocery store brought on by bird flu, which led to fewer laying hens across the country. The price for a dozen large eggs climbed to a record $6.23 in March.

Buying or renting chickens is hardly a cost-saving measure, but those in the business say people are interested in a close-to-home egg supply.

“Our renters … they don't have to worry if the store is restricting how many eggs you can buy,” said Jenn Tompkins, the co-founder of national chicken rental business Rent The Chicken. “They don't have to worry even if the store has any eggs or not, because they just walk right outside and collect their fresh eggs.”

Rent The Chicken, which opened over a decade ago and is based in Pennsylvania, partners with farmers in cities across the country to rent backyard chickens. More people are interested in renting this year, Tompkins said.

“We've been so busy, we haven't even been able to compare numbers now versus last year,” Tompkins said. “When we looked in February, we were already about 20% ahead on this year versus last year this time.”

Read more from Harvest Public Media.

Immigrants held marches across the country Thursday calling for an end to the Trump administration’s mass deportations, as part of a National Day of Action.

At Iowa City’s Aquí Estamos march, immigrant workers, some wearing construction gear, marched alongside Catholic priests and elected officials. They were calling for an end the state’s agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The task force agreement allows some specially trained state troopers to perform immigration enforcement.

Alejandra Escobar works with with Escucha Mi Voz, a nonprofit that helped organize the event.

“We’re all together. We’re united. We’re here. We’re staying. I mean, we’re building the country. We’re staying. We are a force.”

One speaker, an immigrant from Honduras, said she left her country to escape criminals. Now, she says, she is treated like one. An organizer helped translate her words from Spanish to English.

“Let us raise our voices. That we have respect, we have dignity. Because of this authoritarian administration, he is wanting to deport everyone. If he did that, this country comes to the ground. We immigrant workers have this country standing.”

The event also came after a state trooper held seven Latino construction workers for over an hour in a traffic stop outside of Dubuque, leading Escucha Mi Voz to file a civil complaint.

After years of debate, county officials have approved plans for a wind farm in the Iowa Great Lakes region.

The Dickinson County Board of Adjustment unanimously voted for the Red Rock Wind Energy Farm after hearing three days of testimony. In 2023, the board turned down permits for the project. The new proposal included fewer wind turbines — 67 instead of 79 — and new setback distances.

Aaron Janssen, who owns a wedding venue outside of Terril, opposes the plan. He says he’s disappointed the board didn’t listen to the majority of people who testified against the project.

“We just feel everyone got the shaft on this deal … You think that the corruption and that sort of stuff isn't at the county level, and it is.”

Janssen says property owners will likely file an appeal.

The lead developer with Red Rock Wind says hundreds of landowners supported the project, which will bring long-term economic opportunities to the community.

Congress is considering a work requirement for adults who received Medicaid coverage through state expansion.

In Iowa, that could result in nearly 40,000 people losing coverage, even though most of this population is working. That’s according to an analysis from the Urban Institute, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. The study estimates most coverage losses would be from bureaucratic mistakes.

Emily Ehlers, an attorney for Disability Rights Iowa, says work requirements won’t save the state much money.

“Putting work requirements in place is expensive, comes with a huge bureaucratic price tag and doesn’t have the outcomes that states want.”

Both Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Legislature are working on plans for state-based work requirements.

Read more from the Midwest Newsroom.

Iowa’s legislative session is going into overtime after it was scheduled to end Friday, with budget fights keeping the session from ending.

House Republicans have proposed spending $36 million more on state services than Senate Republicans and the governor.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has made multiple media appearances this week saying the House GOP’s budget plan isn’t fiscally responsible.

House Speaker Pat Grassley says one of the big sticking points is that the House GOP wants $14 million for a pay bump for paraeducators. The Legislature approved that amount last year, and he’s urging the Senate and governor to support it again.

“Our caucus feels extremely strong that if we’re going to provide that level of support that we did with that bill last year, that we’re not going to go back and just cut that and leave our schools in a situation to find the difference. Those are more like Gov. Culver practices that we saw, and we don’t want to see that happening on something like that.”

Former Iowa Gov. Chet Culver was a Democrat who made major state budget cuts during the Great Recession.

AmeriCorps members across the country have been let go after the Department of Government Efficiency terminated nearly $400 million in federal funding.

Across Iowa, the cuts impact 15 programs and nearly 600 AmeriCorps members, who come from around the country to provide valuable service work in the community.

Jason Taylor, executive director of Bur Oak Land Trust in Iowa City, says nine of its AmeriCorps members had their service cut short.

“Right now, you have so many young people leaving the state of Iowa to go do whatever after they graduate. With the AmeriCorps program, we’ve been bringing them into Iowa. So, unfortunately, at this point, with the reductions in AmeriCorps, we’re going to stop seeing that. So, we’re going to have fewer young people coming to the state of Iowa.”

AmeriCorps members at the Bur Oak Land Trust were eight months into an 11-month term.

Iowa’s 2^nd Congressional District Rep. Ashley Hinson says the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s administration have been a success. She also believes the economy is on the right track despite slumping numbers.

During her weekly media call Thursday, the Republican congresswoman praised the first 100 days of Trump’s second term, pointing to a more secure border, a record number of executive orders and the ongoing tariffs as accomplishments.

Despite lagging economic numbers, Hinson argued businesses in her district are still trying to recover from economic policies under President Joe Biden.

“Many of the companies in my district that have had to make difficult decisions in the early part of this year are doing so not because of President Trump’s actions, but because they were fighting to survive under bad tax policy and bad global policy.”

The United States’ gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.3% in the first three months of 2025. That’s after growing at a pace of 2.4% at the end of 2024.

Rachel Cramer

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Iowa Public Radio

A central Iowa program that helps former refugee and immigrant farmers grow and sell food in Iowa has expanded into a new space.

Global Greens, run by Lutheran Services of Iowa (LSI), is finding new ways to bring in dollars as federal funding freezes continue to affect their work. To help fill the gaps, the organization started growing and selling vegetable seedlings, herbs and potted flowers at Dogpatch Urban Gardens in Des Moines.

Zachary Couture, the land and production supervisor for Global Greens, says if the plant sales are successful, they could be part of a longer-term strategy to help Global Greens become more self-sustaining.

“Just coming out and buying a couple plants would be a really good thing that people could do to help keep this going.”

The plant sale at Dogpatch Urban Gardens is open during the first two weekends in May. The group is also selling plants at the Global Greens International Market at the Polk County Health Department the first three Saturdays of May.

Read more.

Disability advocates worry proposed cuts by the Trump administration will eliminate their organizations.  A leaked budget proposal for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows plans to no longer fund several programs that help the vulnerable.

Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council Executive Director Brooke Lovelace says if the federal funding cuts pass Congress, her organization would be forced to shut down by the end of the year.

“If our programs are eliminated, who’s going to be the voice for people with intellectual disabilities and help advocate with them alongside them, help protect their services and supports?”

The council relies on $800,000 a year to support thousands of disabled Iowans and their families. Lovelace says other programs that help the elderly and children, including Head Start, could also be impacted if information in the leaked budget proposal holds true.

The Latino Festival of Washington in eastern Iowa has been canceled amid fears that attendees could be targeted by law enforcement.

The festival typically draws a crowd of roughly 300 from in and around the community for a full day of live music, dancing, food and celebrating Latino culture. But organizers began hearing that people were scared to go to the festival, given partnerships between state law enforcement officials and U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement.

Sonia Leyva is the president of Latinos for Washington, the nonprofit that puts the event together. She says the organization canceled this year’s event to keep people safe.

“It's a beautiful, wonderful event, and it just brings our community together, and it gives us an opportunity to share our beautiful culture with our community. It’s just a bummer that we can’t do that this year. It’s quite devastating, actually.”

Leyva says the nonprofit will continue to provide its U.S. citizenship classes and high school scholarship programs. She hopes to put on the festival next year.

A review of Iowa’s creative sector shows that more than 42,000 Iowans work in arts and culture across more than 5,800 arts and creative businesses.

The findings are part of the Iowa Cultural Coalition's first Create in Iowa report. The report also shows that arts and culture work generates nearly $5 billion in annual economic impact.

Iowa Cultural Coalition President Lindsay Bauer says she hopes the report can show how investment in creativity can support growing Iowa’s population.

“We just identified this need of needing to communicate how impactful the arts are in Iowa, as the Iowa Legislature and Iowa business leaders around the state were beginning to plan their next steps for the growth of Iowa. Population growth, workforce growth, economic growth, all those things.”

The report recommends better aligning the creative sector with strategies led by foundations, chambers, cities and tourism organizations to drive rural, community and economic development efforts.

Bauer made her comments on IPR’s Talk of Iowa.

Lucia Cheng

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Iowa Public Radio

Fifty years ago, the Vietnam War ended and nearly 7,000 people were evacuated from the South Vietnam capital, Saigon, as North Vietnamese troops stormed in. John Morgan was a 26-year-old Iowan flying people out of Vietnam by helicopter that day.

Morgan says if he hadn’t helped evacuate Vietnamese and Cambodian allies, they could have been tortured and executed.

“Now I feel proud that I served my country in the way that I did, that my missions, my actual combat missions, had to do with saving people and not hurting anyone.”

Morgan says he’s grateful to be alive. In 2020, he wrote a memoir about his experiences, titled Fly the Friendly Skies of Cambodia and Vietnam.

Read more about Morgan’s experience that day 50 years ago.

The University of Iowa Faculty Senate is joining a “shared values” statement with other Big Ten schools, affirming the need to protect academic freedom.

The “shared values" statement was drafted by faculty leaders in the Big Ten Academic Alliance. It’s one way that several of the nation’s largest research institutions are holding the line against the Trump administration’s continued attacks on higher education.

The statement includes a numbered list of commitments, including support for academic freedom, free speech and the right to peaceably assemble without retaliation. It says American research institutions have helped establish the country’s global leadership position, as they bring in students from around the world.

The University of Iowa joins Ohio State University, the University of Nebraska, the University of Oregon, Northwestern University, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Purdue University as co-signatories.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is trying to prepare northeast Iowa residents for black bear sightings in the area.

DNR biologist Vince Evelsizer says there have already been a few early sightings of bears who stayed in Iowa this winter. He says that most bear activity happens during breeding season in late May through June.

Evelsizer wants anyone who spots a bear to call the DNR so they can keep track of the animals.

He says Iowans can help keep bears away by getting rid of pet food, bird food, human food or garbage outside that attracts them.

Evelsizer says it's exciting for anyone to see a bear wandering around, and it's okay to watch or get a picture, but he says to stay at least 100 yards away.

Democrat Angel Ramirez defeated Republican Bernie Hayes in a landslide victory, earning roughly 80% of the vote. Ramirez will represent House District 78, which includes part of Cedar Rapids.

Ramirez works as a peace facilitator with Kids First Law Center and cofounded a fellowship nonprofit in the area. She says seeing her blowout victory was an amazing moment for her.

“We always try to move cautiously and be cautiously optimistic. But it’s a great number because we see it as support for a progressive movement, support for a progressive candidate, candidates of color, candidates who represent marginalized communities.”

Ramirez will fill the seat vacated by Democrat Sami Scheetz, who resigned from the House to take a new role as Linn County supervisor.

Grant Winterer

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Iowa Public Radio

Iowa 2^nd Congressional District Rep. Ashley Hinson says she is not running for governor in 2026.

There has been speculation about which Republicans will be in the running for the GOP

primary ever since Gov. Kim Reynolds announced she is not seeking reelection.

In a statement, Hinson said she will stay in Washington, D.C., where she says Republicans have a once-in-a-generation chance to make lasting change with President Donald Trump.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks from Iowa’s 1st District has also ruled out a run for governor. Former state Rep. Brad Sherman is the only Republican who has announced a campaign so far.

The home appliances manufacturer Whirlpool is delaying the layoffs of more than a third of its employees at its Amana plant.

The 650 layoffs were supposed to go into effect June 1, but Whirlpool says they will now happen later in the year. The corporation did not give a specific date or a reason for the delay, but says it is committed to keeping its employees updated on developments.

When Whirlpool first announced the layoffs April 1, it said they were a necessary response to meet a drop in demand for refrigeration appliances.

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to issue a waiver allowing E15 to be sold through the summer months. E15, also called Unleaded 88, is a blend of gasoline and 15% ethanol, which is typically made from corn.

This is the fourth year in a row that the EPA has issued an emergency waiver bypassing regulation against the product being sold in the summer months. Iowa Corn Growers Association President Stu Swanson says the waiver is good in the short-term for Iowa corn farmers who are facing high costs due to tariffs.

“We’ve seen a lot of volatility, based on news. We’ve seen it both positive and negative. We’re hoping that going forward, trade negotiations open new markets and secure the existing ones. Certainly, we want to maintain our relationships with Canada and Mexico.”

Swanson says while the likely increase in domestic corn use is a positive, recent tariffs may allow foreign producers of corn and soybeans to capture those markets in the absence of American producers.

The EPA waiver will go into effect May 1 and last through May 20. It’s expected to be renewed throughout the summer.

Parents in a northeast Iowa school district are calling for stronger school policies after a group of students allegedly circulated AI-generated nude photos of their classmates.

The faces of 42 students were attached to images of nude bodies using AI. The deepfake images were then circulated throughout Cascade High School in the Western Dubuque Community School District.

At a special meeting Monday night, parents and officials discussed proposals to revise school policies. Superintendent Dan Butler says he’s working on prevention policies.

“It’s a challenging situation for us as school officials, it’s a challenging situation for our students — the victims — and it’s a challenging situation for our families.”

School officials discovered the photos at the end of March. The school is cooperating with law enforcement as they conduct an investigation.

This post was updated at 2:10 p.m. on April 30, 2025. A previous version misstated the number of students impacted. The correct number is 42, not 40.

Natalie Krebs

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Iowa Public Radio

Planned Parenthood is expanding services in its Des Moines clinic, but it will not offer abortion care.

Planned Parenthood North Central States says the Susan Knapp Health Center in Des Moines’ Drake neighborhood has expanded the number of exam rooms from four to nine. It will also be open for extended hours and offer additional services, such as fertility care. But this will not include abortion care.

Planned Parenthood North Central States COO Sheilahn Davis-Wyatt says Iowa’s law that went into effect last year banning abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy has really limited the number of procedures they can perform.

“Most women don't even know that they're pregnant, and so having it consolidated at one site, really has been able to handle the volume.”

The only Planned Parenthood clinic in Iowa that performs abortions is in Ames. The only other abortion clinic in Iowa is the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City.

Sheila Brummer

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Iowa Public Radio

Workers' memorial events took place across Iowa Monday to remember Iowans who died on the job last year. The day marks the anniversary that the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) went into effect. It’s recognized as Workers’ Memorial Day.

At a ceremony in Sioux City, a bell rang for each of the 45 Iowans who died of medical issues or workplace accidents in 2024. Jennifer Pellant, president of the Western Iowa Labor Federation, took part in the event. Her union oversees 37 counties that include Sioux City, Fort Dodge and Council Bluffs.

“We need to make them as safe as we possibly can. We need to make sure those workplaces are being inspected and make sure people working [in] those environments are old enough and experienced and trained enough.”

Pellant worries the Department of Government Efficiency is making drastic and dangerous cuts to OSHA.

Michael Leland

Colorful tulips are already starting to bloom in Pella, where thousands of visitors are expected for this week’s annual Tulip Time Festival.

This marks the 90^th year for the celebration of all things Dutch in the south-central Iowa town. It’s also the 40^th anniversary of the Thistles Flower Market on Pella’s town square. The store is owned by Alie Muller-Heit, who’s been fascinated by tulips and this festival since she was a girl.

“It’s huge. I mean, just last week, my grandpa pulled out the original Tulip Time brochure from 90 years ago. My family has been heavily involved in Pella Tulip Time. Growing up, doing things with my grandparents and my parents in the community for Tulip Time, and to host tours.”

The flower market is offering something unusual to festival visitors this year: a blooming tulip and bulb in a clear plastic gift bag. Muller-Heit worked with Nunnikhoven Farm to grow 5,500 tulips. This way, visitors can take a tulip home with them to plant in the fall.

Photo courtesy of Thistles Flower Market

The store also launched a website where people can purchase 70 different varieties of tulip bulbs sourced from the Netherlands, including two rare varieties in very limited quantities: the Giant Orange Sunrise and the Nightmare tulip.

“The Giant Orange Sunrise is exactly what it sounds like. It is a huge bulb and bloom, maybe larger than the size of even my fist. The Nightmare starts as a deep purple and it actually turns into a pigmentation that is black. So it is the only black tulip. We’re selling both of those by the bulb, whereas everything else is sold in quantities of 50.”

Thistles Flower Market is also offering free classes in tulip care. Muller-Heit says there’s a lot of finesse involved in successfully growing tulips from bulbs, year after year.

Pella’s Tulip Time Festival runs May 1-3.

Rachel Cramer

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Iowa Public Radio

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is awarding nearly $2.7 million in matching grants to 14 urban water quality projects across the state. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig made the announcement Monday in West Des Moines at Legacy Woods Nature Sanctuary, one of the project sites.

Naig says state grant dollars will support water quality features, like native plantings, bioretention cells and a stormwater wetland. The water at Legacy Woods drains into Jordan Creek and then into the Raccoon River.

“I hope it will inspire folks who spend time here to consider what they might do on their own property. But also, other cities can come and see how this can be incorporated into the landscape.”

Over the last decade, cost-share grants through the state’s water quality initiative have supported 140 projects. Naig says the grants play a role in Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy goals.

Cami Koons

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Iowa Capital Dispatch

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted an emergency waiver permitting the nationwide sale of a fuel blend with higher amounts of ethanol through the summer months. Iowa fuel and farm leaders say it will help farmers and fuel producers, and will save Iowans money at the pumps.

Midwestern states, including Iowa, already had waivers in place to allow for summer sales of fuel blended with 15% ethanol, also known as E15. The EPA’s decision Monday waives the agency’s summer restrictions on the fuel for the rest of the country and follows guidance from the president’s executive order from January, declaring a national energy emergency.

The waiver is in place from May 1 through May 20, as the Clean Air Act only allows a 20-day waiver. But considering trends from the past several summers, industry leaders expect the waiver will be extended through the other summer months.

Read more.

Hy-Vee is closing food production facilities in Chariton and Ankeny in late June. The closures affect over 450 employees.

Hy-Vee’s Fresh Commissary in Ankeny employs 332 people and has produced take-and-bake pizzas, sandwiches, salads and bakery items. Hy-Vee’s Short Cuts operation in Chariton employs 129 people who cut and package fresh fruits and vegetables. Both facilities opened in 2018.

A Hy-Vee spokesperson says the employees will be offered jobs at Hy-Vee stores as the company shifts back to making take-out food in stores. The company says the move will improve customer service, as well as the quality and freshness of its sandwiches and other items that have been produced at the Ankeny and Chariton locations.

The facilities are set to close June 24.

The Cedar Rapids Community School District has decided not to build a new middle school after community members said borrowing for it would raise taxes by too much.

The school district’s revised bond proposal — without the construction of a new middle school — cuts costs nearly in half, to $117 million. One reason families said they didn’t want to pay for the initial proposal was economic uncertainty.

Chad Schumacher, director of operations for the district, says the school district is focused on improving the facilities that already exist, rather than building new ones. But Schumacher says new construction may happen down the road.

“That’s our long-term goal, is to make sure that we present a plan that we can afford now. But also [to] look down the road for the future and make sure we’re building a long-term facilities plan that can address all of our needs by the time this is all over.”

The school district’s board will vote on May 12 whether to put the bond on the ballot in November.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

Iowa Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer has filed paperwork to launch a campaign for state auditor in 2026.

The filing was first reported by the Des Moines Register. Cournoyer was a Republican state senator until Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed her to be lieutenant governor in December.

Reynolds has since announced she won’t run for reelection in 2026.

Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand is expected to run for governor, which would leave an open position for Cournoyer to pursue.

The Polk County Health Department has set up a free vending machine aimed at getting harm reduction resources to the community. The vending machine, located outside of the health department in Des Moines, will provide supplies like the opioid-reversal drug naloxone, emergency contraception, condoms and gun locks — all free of charge.

Polk County Health Department Director Juliann Van Liew says there’s a QR code on the machine so people have directions for how to use everything in it.

“The goal here is to remove barriers. So people can approach it anytime, 24 hours. They can take what they need and they can be on their way.”

Van Liew says the vending machine is another tool to address Polk County’s rates of substance use and firearm-related deaths, which are higher than the state average.

Farmers are planning to grow fewer acres of soybeans this year, in what's become a national shift away from the export-driven crop. Federal data shows producers intend to plant about 4% fewer acres across the U.S. than in 2024.

Bernt Nelson, an economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, says the soybean market has been hurt by escalating tariffs between the U.S. and China.

"We cannot talk about soybeans without thinking about China, and that's because they are such a massive buyer of U.S. soybeans."

Nelson says many farmers are planning to shift acres to corn since corn prices have been improving in recent months.

The American Soybean Association released a statement earlier in April saying escalating tariffs are not only a threat to this year's growing season, but to the industry long term.

Read more from Harvest Public Media’s Hope Kirwan.

Some food organizations are adjusting their funding models after the federal government ended a grant program for stocking food pantries with locally produced goods.

Hilary Burbank is the grant manager for the Iowa Food Cooperative in Des Moines, a former recipient of the U.S. Department of Agriculture grant. She says the program was one of the main sources of income for the group.

It used the funds to purchase food from local farmers to stock food pantries and community fridges, as well as to help cover operational costs. Now, Burbank says the co-op will have to lean more on their subscription-based program to help cover costs.

“We're just really trying to push more people to learn about the co-op and the importance of supporting local at so many different levels.”

She says the group will continue stocking community programs, but at a much smaller scale. Since the funding was cut in March, the cooperative has also seen an increase in sales.

A new report has found just 38% of rural Iowa hospitals now deliver babies. The report by the nonprofit Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform found three units have closed in the state since 2020, and another two are at risk of closing.

It also found that Iowans who have to go to an alternative hospital to give birth have a median travel time of 32 minutes.

Harold Miller, president and CEO of the nonprofit, says a major driving factor is commercial insurance reimbursement rates.

“Private commercial insurance plans are not paying enough for labor and delivery services in rural hospitals. And they're not paying enough for other kinds of services in the hospitals, which is what's causing the hospitals to have overall losses.”

Many rural hospitals lose money on labor and delivery units because they’re expensive and handle few births.

Iowa's 2025 legislative session is likely to extend past its scheduled last day, which is this Friday.

Lawmakers must finalize the state budget before they can end the session. It's unclear how long that process will take, as most of the bills that need to be passed as a part of that process have not yet been introduced.

Aside from budget conversations, there are some policy proposals that lawmakers hope to finalize before the session ends.

🎧 Listen as IPR Morning Edition host Meghan McKinney and State Government Reporter Katarina Sostaric discuss the latest from the Iowa Legislature.

Attorneys for the federal government say they will restore the legal statuses of more than a thousand international students across the country.

Lawyers in Washington and California made statements that the Department of Homeland Security is developing a new policy for terminating student visas from the SEVIS database, the department’s information sharing system. Until the new system is in place, DHS won’t terminate student records and those who did have theirs terminated will see their statuses restored.

Immigration Customs and Enforcement had been removing student’s statuses from the database, in many cases without notifying them or their universities. But judges across the country have been ruling in favor of those students who are asking for their statuses to be restored.

At the University of Iowa, four international students were recently granted a temporary restraining order against DHS, preventing them from being deported and allowing their statuses to be restored.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is suing the Des Moines Register to stop it from seeking certain emails from her staff under the state’s open records law.

According to the complaint, a Register reporter requested emails between six employees of the governor’s office that include the terms “Lutheran” and “money laundering” among others.

The governor’s office produced more than 800 pages of documents but withheld four emails citing “executive privilege.” An attorney responded on behalf of the Register saying that’s not an exemption under the public records law, and it wouldn’t even apply because the governor wasn’t copied on the emails.

Reynolds is now asking a court to block the Register from demanding those emails. The lawsuit says her office would be “threatened with substantial and irreparable injury” if they’re disclosed. Reynolds’ spokesperson says it’s an effort to protect the governor’s right to receive confidential communications from her closest advisers.

Gannett, the Register’s parent company, says it doesn’t comment on pending lawsuits.

An Iowa City nonprofit is saying a state trooper held seven Latino construction workers for over an hour in a traffic stop near Dubuque last Friday, violating their civil rights.

Under a task force agreement with Immigration Customs and Enforcement, state troopers may perform federal immigration enforcement duties with specific training. But the nonprofit Escucha Mi Voz says it is unclear whether the state trooper had the authority to do so.

Escucha Mi Voz held a press conference to issue a formal complaint.

Alejandra Escobar with Escucha Mi Voz translates for Ninoska Campos, one of the construction workers. She says the state trooper trailed them for several miles before he pulled them over, confiscated their IDs and called another officer for backup.

“We just wanted to go home. We were tired from work. We’re labor workers. We work in construction. Our days are long. We just want to go back home to be with our kids. We’re not criminals.”

Alejandra Escobar with Escucha Mi Voz shared his concerns at the press conference.

“What happened on April 18 isn’t just troubling. It’s a warning sign. A routine traffic stop turned into an immigration dragnet. That’s what this agreement makes possible.”

A spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Public Safety says the case is still pending and the department is committed to assisting with federal investigations.

Glenn Brunkow, who grows corn and soybeans near Westmorland, Kan., says farmers were already stressed and trade war threats aren’t helping.

“This is about as grim of a time as I've seen for crop production. Nothing looks like it's going to make money right now.”

That’s mainly because the prices for farm necessities have risen much faster than the price of the soybeans and corn that Brunkow grows. The cost of big tractors is up close to 300% over 30 years, according to Farm Credit Services of America, far outstripping inflation. Supply chain issues have also pushed prices up for other farm inputs like fertilizer and diesel fuel. In recent years, dry conditions have cut production in parts of the Great Plains and Midwest.

Until recently, China was buying about a quarter of the U.S. soybean crop. But, when Trump slapped a 145% tax on Chinese imports, China struck back with a 135% tariff on U.S. soybeans, all but closing off Brunkow’s biggest export market.

Meantime, Trump’s import taxes are starting to exacerbate inflation on farm equipment.

“It means we hold on to stuff. We fix things instead of trading them off and just make do with what we have,” said Brunkow.

A federal district court judge has granted a temporary restraining order to four international students at the University of Iowa whose statuses were revoked by the Department of Homeland Security. The order calls for DHS to restore their status information and prevents DHS from arresting or deporting the students.

Court documents filed by their lawyers say the students experienced irreparable stress and educational disruption after their statuses and visas were terminated without any explanation. A preliminary injunction hearing was also set for May 5.

Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of a deadly and destructive tornado that struck the town of Minden in Pottawattamie County. The EF-3 tornado destroyed at least 50 homes and a majority of businesses.

Kevin Zimmerman, mayor of Minden, says the community is determined to move forward, but admits the process will take some time.

“We're rebuilding, we're coming back just as strong as we ever did because there's a lot of houses getting redone. There's gonna be people moving back in here mid-summer.”

Zimmerman estimates about 100 of the town’s 600 residents were originally forced to leave because there was nowhere to live.

He says finding the money to rebuild has been tough since many were underinsured, including himself.

There’s still plenty of work to do, including paying for and replacing the wastewater treatment plant, community center, parks and ball diamonds.

As measles spreads across the U.S., a partnership in Iowa is beginning a vaccination awareness campaign to connect refugee and immigrant communities with their doctors.

Refugee and Immigrant Voices in Action, or RIVA, is partnering with groups including small businesses and local health providers to prevent misinformation about measles.

The campaign’s spokesperson, Christina Fernandez-Morrow, says health providers are relearning how to spot symptoms. She says it’s important to tell people what to look out for to counter medical bias.

“What do measles look like, especially on different types of skin? So if you know, if you've got darker skin, if you've been out in the sun, working in a field, or if you have been, you know, inside all winter, it might look a little different on you.”

Fernandez-Morrow says RIVA learned how to navigate public health communications from their experiences with COVID.

“Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that our communities have a trusted relationship with healthcare providers.”

RIVA is also coordinating with translators who will reach out to communities where English is not the dominant language in a broader push to create healthy habits.

Natalie Krebs

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Iowa Public Radio

The Trump administration is making major cuts to federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of a broad government restructuring aimed at saving taxpayer dollars. But some worry these cuts could have drastic effects on the research and outreach programs aimed at lowering Iowa’s high cancer rates.

Iowa has one of the highest cancer rates in the country. While rates are falling overall in the U.S., Iowa is one of just a few states where the disease is on the rise. Experts don't know exactly why.

Oncologists like George Weiner at the University of Iowa are trying to help. Weiner has spent his decades-long career researching cancer and running trials. After 23 years, he stepped down as director of UI’s Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2023 to go back to research full time. He said it’s a really exciting time in the field.

“We now are able to do amazing things with cancer immunotherapy that we couldn't have imagined when I started my career.”

But he’s worried because the federal government is trying to cut funding to the NIH and has laid off thousands of federal health and human services employees. He said this is already disrupting the research pipeline, creating chaos and causing irreversible damage by delaying research and trials.

Read more about how cuts and layoffs may impact cancer research in Iowa.

The American Lung Association’s annual State of the Air Report found air pollution worsened in general across the Midwest, including in Iowa. Des Moines no longer ranks as one of the cleanest cities in the country.

The report looks at ozone and particle pollution.

Kristina Hamilton, who works for the American Lung Association, says it’s partly due to wildfires and the effects of global warming. But she says Iowa still uses coal in certain parts of the state.

“Even though Iowa is a leader in some ways — in clean energy — we're still seeing the harmful effects of coal, contributing to the air pollution problem.”

Hamilton says she encourages Iowa leaders to find more ways to transition away from the use of coal to improve air quality.

She also encourages people to do things at an individual level like walking or biking instead of driving.

The Iowa Board of Regents approved a new civic engagement center at Iowa State University. It expands on an existing free speech initiative on campus.

The proposal for the new Cyclone Civics Center says it will promote free speech and civic engagement. It says that knowledge of core American principles and civil liberties is lacking and that it may work with similar civics programs across the state.

The new center is intended to help create a “civic disposition,” or attitudes and beliefs that support American democracy.

The University of Iowa could also see what Republican lawmakers are calling a new “school for intellectual freedom” if approved by the governor. They say it will encourage more varied perspectives on campus, where they believe conservative views are discouraged.

Both centers were introduced after the regents made changes to their policies on diversity, equity and inclusion, asking the universities to restructure or eliminate DEI offices and positions.

The civics program is expected to cost almost $2 million over the next five years.

Grant Winterer

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Iowa Public Radio

Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson held a town hall in Mason City Thursday, where she faced pushback from constituents on her support of DOGE, tariffs and the lack of a new Farm Bill.

The congresswoman, who represents Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, reiterated her defense of DOGE, saying that she believes those tax dollars can be meaningfully rerouted toward economic expansion.

“I would much rather see that go to places that are going to incentivize that trade access and market development, which are going to make us more competitive. I think the point of DOGE is to make sure those services are available to Americans long term, and we can strengthen those programs.”

Some voters were also critical of her support for recent deportations.

Hinson replied that she’d been supportive of several measures regarding guest worker permits and skilled labor visas but said the asylum-seeking process has been exploited by some entering the country.

“I’m willing to work on immigration-related issues, but first and foremost we must focus on deporting the people who should not be here. We’ve got millions upon millions of illegal immigrants in this country who abuse the asylum process.”

Hinson added she wasn’t sure if there would be adequate money to pay for the pending deportation hearings.

Seven former nurses are suing the state after six years of reported assaults at a state-run mental health hospital in northeast Iowa.

Independence Mental Health Institute is one of the state’s two inpatient hospitals. While working there, the nurses allege they were assaulted and seriously injured by patients multiple times.

One nurse claims that she had a miscarriage as a result of a patient assaulting her. The nurses say their injuries were preventable, but management did not respond to their concerns.

An inspector fined the institute more than $70,000 for multiple safety violations in 2019.

The nurses say they want the state to admit to wrongdoing and mismanagement.

Public university students spoke out at a meeting of the Iowa Board of Regents to share their frustration over the board’s stance on diversity, equity and inclusion.

During the public comment section of the meeting, students stood up against the Board of Regents’ policy changes relating to DEI — in particular, the dismantling of DEI websites and the elimination of DEI offices and positions at the universities.

The Trump administration is demanding that universities eliminate DEI programs. But students want the regents to take a stand against the administration. Darrell Washington, a student at the University of Iowa, spoke at the meeting.

“It is an erasure. It is a choice to scrub our histories, our identities, our truths out of the curriculum — out of existence. It’s a choice to ignore us, to pretend we were never here. But we are here. We are not a footnote. We are the story.”

Other students said the Board of Regents is the only thing between unchecked federal regulation and their universities.

A research site in Boone is using solar power, air and water to make farm fertilizer. The group behind the project calls it “green ammonia” because it does not rely on fossil fuels, like most synthetic fertilizers do.

Landus Cooperative partnered with the company Talusag to produce the fertilizer. The site in Boone is North America’s first commercial-scale “green ammonia” field trial. Hiro Iwanaga, co-founder and CEO of TalusAg, explains why producing the product in Iowa is a gamechanger.

“Traditional ammonia depends on a global supply chain. That's costly, that's unreliable, that's carbon intensive. We manufacture closer to where the product is used, we cut down risk while giving farmers a stable, more predictable source of one of the most critical inputs.”

Earlier this month, Landus applied green ammonia to corn field trial plots on-site and will compare results with control strips throughout the growing season.

The system in Boone began production in February. The partners are building a larger system in Eagle Grove and hope to have green ammonia commercially available next year.

All of Iowa’s public school districts and charter schools have signed a letter stating that they are complying with federal policies on diversity, equity and inclusion. The letter is part of a nationwide push by the Trump administration to remove what it calls “illegal DEI practices.”

If a state doesn’t agree, school districts could lose their federal funding. For Des Moines Public Schools, $70 million would be at stake.

The school board held a special meeting this week to strike out references to Black and Latinx students in the board’s goals for student performance. DMPS Board Member Kimberly Martorano says even though the language is gone, she is still committed to the original values.

“We must hold ourselves accountable for ensuring that these changes do not disproportionately harm any group of our students.”

A dozen other states are challenging the DEI letter in federal court.

Iowans expressed concerns about the state’s plan to add work requirements to Medicaid during a public comment meeting Wednesday in Urbandale.

The meeting was the first of two required public comment hearings following Gov. Kim Reynolds’ announcement that she plans to seek federal approval to add work requirements to Medicaid.

The proposal would require those ages 19 to 64 who are on the state’s Medicaid expansion plan to work at least 100 hours or earn the equivalent of 100 hours’ worth of pay equal to the state minimum wage each month. It allows some exceptions such as for caregivers of children under 6.

Heather Sanders of Ankeny says she has struggled to find a job while taking care of her 92-year-old mother.

“Nobody will hire me at the age of 54. I have tried everything, and I've even tried to pay somebody to babysit her while I go out somewhere. Nobody will hire me like that.”

The state will have a second public comment meeting in Marshalltown April 29, which is also available to attend online.

A Johnson County Democrat announced that he’s running for Iowa’s 1^st Congressional District.

Travis Terrell is a patient access specialist with University of Iowa Health Care in Johnson County. He’s running to unseat Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in 2026, who he says has abandoned the district by refusing to talk to her constituents.

Terrell says health care and immigration are areas he wants to see reformed.

“When I'm in Washington and you're wondering who I’m working for, you’ll never have to guess. Because my family is still going to be here, and I’m going to be doing everything I can to protect them and every family like mine that got left behind.”

Terrell also says he wants to reform campaign finance. He says he would not take a single corporate donation, no matter how big.

“I honestly feel like no politician should be taking corporate money, and that is something that I would get behind. I would join the congress people that want to get corporate money out of politics because it’s destroyed our country.”

So far, Terrell is the only Democrat who has announced a run for the seat.

Four graduate students at the University of Iowa are now asking for a temporary restraining order against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. If approved, it would prevent their arrest or deportation based on the termination of their F-1 statuses.

Court documents filed by their attorneys say the international students from China and India have suffered irreparable harm after having their visas revoked and legal statuses terminated without notice.

The students are also suing the Trump administration for its actions and asking for their statuses to be restored.

Photo courtesy of the Rock Valley Community School District

A northwest Iowa school district is making significant progress after historic flooding last summer.

Rock Valley Community School District's high school principal, Nicole Roder, says last month, the final group of students were able to return to classes in a renovated school building.

“We're pretty resilient and, you know, we're happy that we had so many people there for us in our time of need. And they're still there. They haven't left us.”

The flood caused an estimated $35 million in damage to the school district.

Roder says after payments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and insurance, the district will still need to cover $10 million in expenses. Work still needs to be done on landscaping and the football field.

A group of high schoolers in the Quad Cities built a two-seater airplane that’s soon to be flight-tested.

The PNB Aviation Club is made up of students in the Pleasant Valley, Bettendorf and North Scott school districts. They are mentored by members of the local Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 75.

Over the past four years, they’ve been building a Van’s RV-12iS airplane, meeting three times a week for a grand total of roughly 4,000 hours.

Tom Shelton, a mentor and member of EAA Chapter 75, says the chapter has been discussing the project for nearly 10 years. He says part of their mission is to promote aviation knowledge with students.

“It is not about building the airplane. It is about educating students and developing a sense of responsibility, accountability and bringing science and math to a practical application, a hands-on application.”

The plane just received its airworthiness certificate and will be test flown in the coming months.

Iowa’s first homeless court launches in Sioux City

A new program to help people who are homeless with legal issues will soon be launched in Sioux City.

The city received a $25,000 grant from the Iowa Finance Authority to launch the state’s first homeless court. People who go through it could potentially have their misdemeanor cases and fines dismissed.

Neighborhood Services Manager Jill Wanderscheid says the program is modeled after others across the country.

“Sometimes that is a barrier to not only securing housing, but employment — all sorts of other things. And so, we really feel like it could have an impact on those that are unhoused in our community.”

Wanderscheid says there are about 300 people waiting for housing in Sioux City. If the program is successful, she says there’s a good chance it will expand to other parts of the state.

South Dakota regulators say Summit Carbon Solutions will need to reapply for a permit application to build a carbon dioxide pipeline in the state.

The Iowa-based company filed an application in November, but requested an indefinite extension after South Dakota passed a law banning eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. The Public Utilities Commission voted 2-1 Tuesday in denying Summit’s request.

Commissioner Kristie Fiegen says Summit’s current application under the new law is incomplete.

“At this point, we really don’t know the route. We don’t know the timeframes. We don’t know their plan. We don’t know their construction timeframes or even cost. The application is not ready to go forward.”

Summit said the decision is disappointing, but the company is committed to South Dakota and will refile the application. Without its pipeline, Summit says “the ethanol industry, farmers and land values in the state will all suffer.”

Pipeline construction in Iowa cannot begin until South Dakota grants a permit.

Read more.

Drake University is the target of a civil rights complaint that claims a scholarship program is discriminatory because it is offered to students of color but not white students.

The university offers a renewable $500 grant to students of color who participate in the Crew Scholars Program. But the Equal Protection Project says it’s unfair.

William Jacobson, the project’s president, says by preferring someone of a certain race, a school excludes someone else from a spot. He says there are other ways to diversify student populations that don’t rely on race.

“This is a systemic discrimination that affects all students who do not qualify based on race.”

The complaint goes to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. The Equal Protection Project has filed dozens of similar complaints against colleges across the country, including at the University of Northern Iowa.

A nonprofit that supports 100 soil and water conservation districts in Iowa says most of its federal funding has been restored, which means it can rehire staff that were laid off in February.

Dien Judge is executive director of Conservation Districts of Iowa.

“What it means for landowners and farmers is that, if you’ve got projects you want to get done, there’s staff that can work on that.”

CDI works with locally elected commissioners and state and federal agencies to help protect natural resources on working lands. Judge says the Inflation Reduction Act funds are still frozen, but non-IRA grant money is coming through and invoices are being paid.

He says CDI has offered jobs back to 38 of the 39 staff that were laid off. Some have found positions elsewhere, he says, but most are returning.

Four international students at the University of Iowa are suing the U.S. government for terminating their student visa statuses.

The graduate students say the federal government unlawfully terminated their F-1 statuses without any explanation and are challenging the actions under the Fifth Amendment.

Court documents say the students have not committed any criminal offenses and remained in good academic standing.

Three of the students are studying chemical engineering and one is an epidemiologist for the state. Two of the students are from China and the other two are from India. The students are asking for their statuses to be restored.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s crop report shows farmers have started planting, but wet weather and storms slowed some of their progress.

The report shows 18% of the projected corn crop was planted by April 20 — three days ahead of last year and five days ahead of the five-year average. The report also shows 11% of the expected soybean crop is in the ground. That’s three days ahead of last year and one week ahead of the five-year average.

Some areas of the state had rain and hail, but it’s not yet known how that will impact crops that have already been planted. The forecast shows more rain is expected this week, which could also keep farmers out of the fields.

Amy Gieseke, the Iowa Department of Education's community college bureau chief, says there were 119,310 students enrolled in the state’s 15 community colleges in 2024. That’s up 1.8% over the previous year, bucking the trend where credit enrollment has declined an average of 1.6% over the past five years.

Gieseke says prior to the pandemic, in 2019, community colleges were enrolling more than 128,000 students. At the peak of COVID, that number dropped as low as 116,000, and then slowly started to recover.

She says the number of credit hours has increased, and the makeup of the student body is 56.5% female and 43.5% male, which she says has been very consistent over the past 20 years.

University of Iowa Health Care is asking the Iowa Board of Regents to approve a new facility at their next meeting. It would operate as a new family medicine clinic in Tiffin, which UI Health Care says will bring prenatal and primary care services to one of the fastest growing communities in Iowa.

This comes after it unveiled a new orthopedics hospital in North Liberty earlier this month.

UI Health Care is also proposing new leases for the Center for Disabilities and Development in Iowa City and Mission Cancer + Blood in Des Moines.

The Catholic Church will soon prepare to select a new leader after the death of Pope Francis Monday. In the wake of the pope’s death, Rev. Trevor Chicoine reflects on the teachings Francis left behind.

As the leader of four parishes, Chicoine says he doesn’t want the church to be seen as divided when attention turns to who is named the next pope. Instead, he wants people to remember Francis as someone who showed the world that the church cares for them.

Chicoine says his congregation tries to avoid political polarization. For him, the pope’s job is to pass on the faith.

“I think that's pretty rare these days, that you see somebody who's so across the board, stands up for everybody's dignity.”

Chicoine hopes the next pope will carry forward the care Francis had for all people.

The Diocese of Des Moines is holding a memorial mass for Francis Saturday morning at the Basilica of St. John.

Four out of the six Regional Climate Centers across the U.S. have shut down after funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ran out. That includes the center in the Midwest that collected data for nine states, including Iowa.

The centers gather climate information for drought monitoring and share online weather tracking tools that many in the agriculture and construction industries depend on.

Matthew Sittel, assistant state climatologist at Kansas State University, says he depends on both the Midwestern and Southern regional climate centers. He’s worried they won’t return.

“It's tough … Do we lose these products for a week? For a month? For a year? Forever? Nobody knows.”

One regional climate center director says the funds were held up due to additional contract reviews. The Trump administration previously proposed a 25% budget cut to NOAA for next fiscal year.

Read more from Harvest Public Media.

Nearly all the staff members at a division that studies blood disorders at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention have been put on leave, according to experts familiar with the division’s operations.

The programs within the division include the Sickle Cell Disease Data Collection program, which gathers information on how patients access care.

Sickle cell disease is a genetic blood illness that mostly impacts Black and Hispanic people in the U.S. Dr. Emily Meier, who cares for people with blood disorders and cancers, says the cuts threaten the project’s future.

“I just think it's such a travesty that all of these years of work and expertise are just kind of thrown out the window. But it’s really depressing.”

Meier says sickle cell patients face a shortage of specialists, which pushes them to seek care at emergency rooms, where providers often do not know how to properly treat them.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced in a press release that staffing changes across the agency are necessary to streamline its processes and save nearly $1.8 billion in taxpayer money.

Read more from Side Effects Public Media.

One of the largest diabetes studies is under threat from the research funding cuts made by the Trump administration. The Diabetes Prevention Program has sites in Midwest states, including Indiana and Illinois. The research aims to study Alzheimer’s in patients with a family history of diabetes.

More than $80 million in federal funds flow through Columbia University. But the Trump administration recently canceled grants to the university.

Dr. David Nathan, a board chair for the project, says the study has surveyed more than 1,000 patients for decades. He says researchers can’t recreate this study without millions of dollars.

Read more about how funding cuts may impact the study.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

Iowa Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, announced Monday that he’s exploring a run for governor.

He’s the first to announce a potential campaign since Gov. Kim Reynolds said she won’t run for reelection in 2026. Former state Rep. Brad Sherman had previously announced he’s seeking the GOP nomination.

Bousselot has represented Ankeny in the Iowa Senate since 2023, and he served in the Iowa House for two years before that. He owns and operates real estate development and land investment businesses.

Bousselot worked as state budget director under Reynolds and as chief of staff to former Gov. Terry Branstad. Several other Republican elected officials are considering running for governor.

Red Sky Nation

A jury in Woodbury County recently delivered a conviction in the first-degree murder of a Native American man. Activists say the case is an example of how Indigenous people are at higher risk for gun violence and death.

Marlon Whiteeyes of Sioux City was shot and killed in 2023 by Yasin Abdi, who was convicted last week of first-degree murder. Whiteeyes died after Abdi shot him four times. Investigators say the shooting happened when Whiteeyes ran away after trying to break up a fight on a street in Sioux City.

Josh Taylor is with the advocacy group Red Sky Nation. His group says the firearm homicide rate is four times higher for Native Americans.

“We have too many cases here, just locally, of this — the missing and murdered indigenous relatives — and Marlon's case fell right into that.”

Red Sky Nation works on community awareness, including an annual powwow and keeping cold cases involving Native Americans alive.

The Iowa Supreme Court removed a magistrate judge in Fayette County after determining he showed racial bias and a lack of impartiality.

The Supreme Court says the removal of Magistrate David Hanson comes after he issued a denial of an arrest warrant that included his own disparaging views about young male victims of sexual assault. He also made statements in open court in another case using a derogatory racial slur about a criminal defendant.

The Supreme Court says Hanson was not self-aware and defended his inappropriate actions throughout the Iowa Commission on Judicial Qualifications’ investigation. The ruling says after careful consideration, the justices conclude that Hanson is unsuited to be a judge, and no attempts at behavior modification are going to change that significantly.

Members of the neo-Nazi group the Aryan Freedom Network held a demonstration in Marion, a suburb of Cedar Rapids. The group promotes hardline, white supremacist views and carried a flagpole with a swastika Saturday.

The city of Marion said in a news release that while the group does not reflect the values of the community, the demonstrators were protected by the First Amendment. City Councilmember Gage Miskimen said Nazis do not belong in Marion or anywhere else.

Catholic leaders in Iowa are mourning the death of Pope Francis with messages celebrating his leadership and compassion.

Des Moines Bishop William Joensen said in a statement that Francis was a bridge builder who called on the church to foster unity.

Bishop Dennis Walsh of Davenport called Francis “a great champion for the rights of migrants and refugees.”

Archbishop of Dubuque Thomas Zinkula said in a statement that Francis was humble and compassionate, and was especially committed to helping people on the margins of society. He said Francis will be remembered for his unwavering call to serve the poor and care for creation.

Francis died Monday morning at the age of 88. He was the first non-European to lead the Roman Catholic Church. He served as pope for 12 years.

Lawmakers kept busy last week, sending several bills to Gov. Kim Reynolds' desk for her signature, including a disaster relief bill, a bill to change Iowa’s election recount process and a bill to ban citizen police review boards.

And while the Legislature has yet to finalize a Medicaid work requirement bill, Reynolds announced she’s separately seeking federal approval for her plan that would require certain people receiving Medicaid to prove they’re working at least 100 hours per month.

The Legislature has also been exploring changes to the state's open records laws, but changes made in the Senate version are drawing some pushback.

🎧 Listen as IPR reporters Katarina Sostaric and Meghan McKinney review the latest in Iowa politics.

It’s still unclear how federal funds will be released from a federal program that helps struggling customers pay utility bills after the Trump administration fired the staff this month.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, disperses billions of dollars each year to U.S. states, territories and tribes.

Karen Lusson, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, says without federal staff to coordinate, it could be a while before states see those funds.

“That's a significant amount of money … the health and the safety of all of these vulnerable populations are in jeopardy.”

In Iowa, more than 90,000 households received financial assistance to pay for heating and cooling in fiscal year 2024.

Lusson says without access to the funding more people could be at risk of heat stroke this summer, especially children and the elderly.

Mark Wolfe of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association says he worries the remaining funds won't be dispersed, which could put many in the Midwest and Great Plains at risk.

“Low-income families will have more problems paying their energy bills without federal assistance. We've done surveys. We know what happens. People go without. They don't buy medicine. They cut back on food. They cut back on clothing and other essentials in order to pay that bill.”

A Senate committee called on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to testify this week about the layoffs at LIHEAP and elsewhere. The hearing has been delayed.

The U.S. has about 70 new citizens today after a naturalization ceremony at the University of Northern Iowa. The process was a relief to many who feared possible deportation.

The new Americans came from 26 countries, with ages ranging from 20s to 70s.

Ya Hya was one of them. He was born in Sudan and has been in the U.S. for about 6 years.

He said through an interpreter that gaining citizenship means a passport for travel and puts to rest fears of deportation.

“If you have a US passport, you can travel, you can stay here. You don’t have to worry about deportation.”

Chuyu Lee emigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan on a student visa, and said he’d like to see the government clarify what is permitted for international students who rely on those visas.

“It would be great if the government could give a clear indication of what people can or can’t do under which visa. That would be helpful, and would clarify some confusion in the future.”

The ceremony was the first to be held on UNI’s campus since the Covid pandemic.

Some members of the federal service agency AmeriCorps have been sent home as part of the DOGE team’s efforts to reduce government spending. In eastern Iowa, members at the Vinton office were suddenly laid off just two months into their ten-month program.

AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps members partner with local organizations to provide volunteer work across the country. Members stationed at the Vinton office were eight weeks into serving at the Indian Creek Nature Center. Some of the work they were doing included woodland cleanup and prescribed burns.

John Myers, the executive director of the center, says the AmeriCorps office in Washington, D.C., called to notify him about the layoffs, but did not say why they were happening.

“AmeriCorps was very effective at their work. They were hard workers, they were in 40 hours a week and really made a huge difference all the way around, and that’s something that’s hard to backfill with volunteers.”

The Iowa Department of Education is one step closer to approving new K-12 science standards, after amending some controversial wording changes.

Earlier this year, members of the public accused the department of watering down language around evolution and around climate change and human impacts and activities. The Department of Ed said a public survey garnered over 5,300 responses. The current version restores some, but not all, of the phrasing in question.

It also adds Iowa connections to the material and incorporates what the department calls career connections to show relevant science career paths students can pursue.

The standards were last updated in 2015. An executive order by Gov. Terry Branstad in 2013 required the state to regularly review education standards and incorporate opportunities for public feedback.

The Board of Education could adopt the new standards at its next meeting in May.

A handful of Iowa City’s largest buildings downtown are facing foreclosure after a ruling by a district judge. They’re properties owned by local developer Marc Moen and his associates. One of the properties is the landmark Chauncey Hotel.

Court documents say Moen and others owed roughly $28 million in unpaid loans. The lawsuit, filed by Green State Credit Union, says they owed the highest amount of debt on the Chauncey – almost $20 million. The properties will be auctioned off at a special sheriff’s sale.

The Family Planning Council of Iowa said it’s concerned that its services could be affected after unexpectedly receiving significantly less federal funding this year.

The nonprofit is one of two organizations in Iowa that receive federal funding through Title X, a 55-year-old federal program that supports reproductive heath care and family planning services at nearly 4,000 clinics nationwide for low-income people. The other is the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.

Allison Smith, the executive director of the Family Planning Council of Iowa, said it had been expecting to receive $2.2 million this month as part of its allocated funding for the fourth year of a five-year project period. Instead, she said it has received just over $1 million with no explanation from federal officials.

The Family Planning Council of Iowa assists with contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing and treatment, pregnancy support and cancer screenings. It's been a Title X grant recipient for more than 40 years.

Smith said she's concerned if the organization doesn't get the rest of the funding, it could mean reducing services or even closing clinics.

"This funding supports about 30,000 Iowans. And so, when we're looking at halving that amount of care, that's a pretty significant cut," she said. "Oftentimes, it's the only way for people to see a doctor. It's their main source of care."

Read more from Natalie Krebs.

Photo courtesy of Storm Lake Police Department

Storm Lake in northwest Iowa is without power after high winds blew through the community early Friday morning.

The police department says the city is facing “significant challenges.”

There is widespread damage, including downed power lines and trees. Some roads are blocked.

The Buena Vista County Emergency Coordinator tells the Sioux City Journal that power could be out until tonight.

The National Weather Service tells the Des Moines Register that a tornado was reported in Fremont and Page counties in southwest Iowa last night. Video from storm chasers showed it on the ground for several miles in rural areas. No small towns in the region appear to be directly impacted.

Many places saw large hail. Photos show that baseball-sized hail fell in Pottawattamie County near Underwood. Two-inch hail fell in Waverly, according to the National Weather Service in Des Moines.

James Kelley

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Iowa Public Radio

The Trump administration has been cutting federal funding for colleges and universities across the country, and its effects at the University of Iowa are upsetting some students and faculty.

In the middle of campus Thursday, students and professors gathered to share testimonials about how the White House’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion and higher education have been impacting them.

Christopher Merrill, the director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, said the cuts to his program impact writers from around the world. Three alumni have gone on to win Nobel Prizes in literature.

“We ended up getting about $1 million taken away from us, when all of our grants were terminated. Ninety percent of that million dollars would have been spent in the United States — at the Graduate Hotel, at all of our wonderful eateries and cafés and bars around town.”

Additionally, five international students have had their visas revoked by the Trump administration, which has created a culture of fear at the university, according to a graduate student.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety signed an agreement with federal immigration officials to establish an immigration enforcement task force.

The Des Moines Register reports the group will be made up of three officers from Iowa who will be trained to identify and detain people in the U.S. without legal status.

Iowa DPS says the agreement formalizes a relationship that already exists between the state and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The ACLU of Iowa criticized the agreement, telling the Register it undermines trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement.

The Linn County jail has started housing a small number of people for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of a new contract signed in January.

The Linn County Sheriff’s Office renegotiated a longstanding agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service, which included housing some federal inmates. Recently, it began taking in a small number of ICE detainees.

Sheriff Brian Gardner says ICE had been reaching out to his office, asking the jail to house detainees, leading up to the renegotiations.

“With the agreement with the Marshals Service, we provided them up to 70 beds. Last, when I checked, they were at the 50-ish range, so that left about 20 additional spaces that they could have filled and haven’t. And so, we told ICE that they were able to make up that difference if necessary.”

Gardner says Linn County is currently holding one or two people for ICE.

The Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa is facing new funding cuts due to the federal government pulling funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The center, which is partly funded through NOAA, expected to get around $5-6 million through the federal agency. But now, it will get less than $700,000.

Director Larry Weber says the center’s work saves lives with better flood forecasts.

“The program provided roughly $40 million over the last four years to the state of Iowa for these small communities. And in many of those communities, that's the difference between a project being built and simply not being built.”

He says without the flood center’s sensors, there won’t be accurate monitoring.

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

This story was updated to reflect the correct amount of funding NOAA will receive. It is less than $700,000, not $7,000.

Democrat Kevin Techau announced his intent to run against Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa’s 2^nd Congressional District.

Techau is a sixth generation Iowan. He served in the U.S. Air Force and was Iowa Department of Public Safety commissioner under former Gov. Tom Vilsack. Techau says he’s running for Hinson’s seat in part because he believes the congresswoman has been a divisive presence in the district.

“There’s just no reason we can’t work together for the benefit of Iowa. And right now, that’s not happening with Ashley Hinson. I’m dedicated to making Iowa safer and bringing economic opportunities back to Iowa.”

Techau says he believes Hinson isn’t living up to her campaign promises.

“Washington is full of broken promises, and Ashley Hinson is right at the front of that line. She ran the most recent campaign on economic issues, bringing prices down, fighting inflation — and she’s done nothing of the sort.”

Hinson was reelected last year with nearly 60% of the vote.

The Iowa Department of Transportation saw a record number of visits to its offices last week from people applying for Real ID cards. After May 7, travelers 18 years and older will need a Real ID or a valid passport to board domestic flights and enter some federal facilities.

As of this week, about 76% of Iowans with driver’s licenses or state IDs have transitioned to the new cards, which are designed to be counterfeit-proof.

The Department of Homeland Security said, as of April, about 60% of the country’s driver’s license and state ID card holders had Real IDs.

The Real IDs won’t be required for driving, voting or showing proof of age to buy alcohol.

Read more from the Midwest Newsroom’s Holley Edgell.

Des Moines Performing Arts

A southeast Iowa native who’s been dancing almost as long as he’s been able to walk is performing in central Iowa Thursday night as a veteran member of the Chicago Tap Theatre.

Isaac Stauffer, who grew up in Wayland, is performing at the Civic Center in Des Moines with the Chicago Tap Theatre. Now in his seventh year with the Chicago-based troupe, Stauffer’s performance in Des Moines will be his professional debut in his home state. He says he’s thrilled.

“Ever since moving to Chicago and joining Chicago Tap Theatre, I’ve been wanting to get the company to perform in Iowa. But you know, there’s contracts and a lot of things that have to align for that to happen. So, I’ve been all around the country — I’ve toured internationally — but this one, back in Iowa, will really be something special.”

The University of Iowa graduate says this company fuses storytelling with a high-energy celebration of tap dance, with each show blending rhythm, creativity and emotion. He says one of the reasons he joined the company was because of their unique style of performing exclusively to live music.

“It’s something that was always really important to the artistic director and founder, and it’s been true since the company’s inception.”

Stauffer’s dancing career began when he first appeared on an Iowa State Fair stage at age 6. He eventually won the Sprout division of the Bill Riley Talent Show, and then moved up to the 13 and older bracket. He says working his way up to winning “the whole thing” at age 21 — the cut off age for performers — was fate.

Dancing can be exceptionally hard on professional dancers, as they have to keep their bodies in peak shape. But at age 35, Stauffer says he still has a long, promising career ahead.

“People perform professionally as tap dancers into their 50s and 60s sometimes, so there’s no end in sight for me currently.”

The Iowa Environmental Council and the Harkin Institute at Drake University are launching an initiative to examine cancer in Iowa. The two groups want to better understand how Iowa’s agricultural industry and other unique environmental factors could be contributing to the state’s high cancer rate.

Iowa Environmental Council Executive Director Sarah Green says there are a lot of environmental factors that stand out in the state.

“Iowa has the most factory farm waste of any other state in the country. Iowa has more concentrated animal feeding operations than any other state in the country.”

Green says the initiative will include a literature review, a listening tour, the creation of an expert coalition and a public outreach campaign.

“It's critical that our findings and communications campaign reach every single county. When people are informed, they become part of the solution, when they make different choices and advocate for positive change.”

Iowa has the second highest rate of new cancer diagnoses in the country and is one of just two states with increasing cancer rates, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry.