Des Moines Public Schools is looking for community support for its revised reorganization plan that slashes the proposed project budget by nearly half.

The new plan was introduced July 8 and shortens the timeline from 10 years to five.

The original plan included renovations at almost all facilities, including new buildings for three elementary schools. The revised one includes building only one new arts-focused elementary school and smaller upgrades at some of the buildings.

Associate Superintendent Matt Smith says the plan prioritizes specialized schools, full day preschool access and career and technical education.

“When we looked at the various feedback that we received from the community and from our families, the most favorable aspects of the plan include Career and Technical Education and the development and standing up signature school programming, as well as preschool access.”

The proposal for the bond needs more than 7,000 signatures to eventually get on November’s ballot. If the plan is approved, the average homeowner in the area would pay about $16 extra per year in property taxes.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says she’s dropping her lawsuit against a northeast Iowa sheriff in which she accused him of violating the state’s sanctuary county law.

Bird says Winneshiek County is now in full compliance with the law that prohibits so-called sanctuary cities and counties from receiving taxpayer funds.

She sued Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx in March because he wrote in a Facebook post that he opposes detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Marx wrote that he would try to block federal requests to hold people suspected of an immigration violation longer in jail.

Bird said in a statement Friday that Marx and the county have committed to honoring ICE detainers and cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

The rise of artificial intelligence is driving demand for data centers in states like Texas, Iowa and Wisconsin, but those buildings need large amounts of power and water to operate.

In West Des Moines, Microsoft's five data center campuses used more than 68 million gallons of water last year.

Keith Schilling is the state geologist of Iowa. He says some data centers around Des Moines are tapping into deep aquifers that are thousands of years old.

“All water lost to this deep aquifer is lost forever in human terms. In other areas where we have shallow, plentiful water ... data centers are perfectly appropriate.”

He says it’s not a risk yet, but state policymakers need to strategically plan for future water usage.

Some tech companies are using refrigerants to cool their data centers that don't require any water.

Environmental groups worry electric utilities will try to meet increased demand by burning more fossil fuels. They say that'll make it harder to address climate change.

Cyclists from across the world will converge on a small Iowa city this weekend for the kickoff of The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa or RAGBRAI.

The population of Orange City is expected to more than quadruple in size as the first host city of this year’s ride.

Mike Hofman, head of the local Chamber of Commerce, says Orange City served as the starting point for the first time in 2017, and he’s ready to do it again with the help of almost 800 volunteers.

"When you bring that many people in, you know, RAGBRAI - we’re talking about in the millions of dollars over the footprint of 52 years. You know, it's kind of hard to pinpoint it exactly, but it's certainly a boost to the local economy when you have 25,000 people from all over the world coming into your community."

The northwestern Iowa town is known for its Dutch heritage and annual Tulip Festival. Hofman said RAGBRAI is a great event for the communities it goes through.

“It's fun to share Iowa and our little piece of Iowa with the rest of the world.”

After leaving Orange City on Sunday morning, the second day of RAGBRAI will feature a trek through Minnesota. Other overnight towns include Estherville, Forest City, Iowa Falls, Cedar Falls and Oelwein. After 406 miles RAGBRAI will end in Guttenberg next Saturday.

A massive ice storm hit northern Michigan in late March, knocking down limbs and trees across an estimated 3 million acres. The acres of fallen trees and brush have created concern over invasive species and the looming threat of wildfires. Months later, the timber industry and environmental officials are in a race to salvage what they can and avoid those threats.

Billy Bogner, who works for Precision Forestry, a company that’s working to help clean up after the historic ice storm, said his work days usually last 10-12 hours. Bogner indicated that the size of the job wasn’t out of the ordinary, but there was still a good amount of manpower needed.

While Gov. Gretchen Whitmer requested federal emergency relief in April, the state is still waiting.

Read more.

Congress has approved a bill that will cut more than $1 billion total in funding from public media stations across the country, including Iowa Public Radio and Iowa PBS.

The Trump administration’s rescission package cuts funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that had previously been allocated to cover the next two years.

Myrna Johnson, the executive director of Iowa Public Radio, says the cut affects about 10% of its budget. IPR is looking at how to reduce expenses in the coming year.

“We're really looking at downsizing our office and studio footprint. We're going to be delaying critical and needed maintenance on some of our infrastructure, and we're just going to squeeze every, every line item in our budget, but we're still going to have a big gap.”

Iowa PBS says the cut will affect about 18% of its budget.

Andrew Batt, the general manager of Iowa PBS, says it’s the largest cut in the organization’s 55-year history.

“We're going to have to look at cutting costs in places that minimize the impact on Iowans, and we're going to need public support now more than ever in our history.”

The bill passed largely along party lines. All of Iowa’s Congressional representatives supported the bill. It is now awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature.

Read more.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin praised Iowa’s position as first in the Republican presidential nominating process at an Iowa GOP fundraiser Thursday night. He’s a possible candidate for president in 2028, though he hasn’t said publicly if he’s running.

Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann asked Youngkin if he likes the GOP presidential nominating system that starts in Iowa. Youngkin says he likes that the Iowa caucuses are first because they start the nominating process with “incredibly informed voters.”

“It is a moment to fully understand issues, candidates and what that candidate can do. And so often, primaries are a day when someone shows up and just pulls on a lever because a friend whispered in their ear, ‘vote for them.’”

Youngkin says national Democrats abandoning Iowa as first in that party’s nominating process was a “massive mistake.”

Kaufmann says Youngkin hasn’t told him if he’s running for president in 2028, but he says Youngkin’s visit will help the rest of the country understand that the Iowa caucuses should stay first in the nation.

Kaufmann says it’s not too early to hold events in which Iowans can hear from potential presidential candidates.

“Iowa has proven again and again and again that we are the right place to start on behalf of the entire nation. So no, it is not too early."

Des Moines residents came together Thursday to protest Trump administration policies they say attack civil and human rights. These include the president’s deportation policies and cuts to programs like SNAP and Medicaid.

The protesters stood along Fleur Drive during the evening rush hour, holding signs saying things like “Medicaid cuts kill" and "defend democracy not kings.” They also chanted “dump Trump” and “tyranny has got to go” as some cars honked in support.

Joe Henry, state political director with LULAC of Iowa, says their goal was to show others in Des Moines who are frustrated by Trump’s policies that they’re not alone.

“I think people feel a little bit isolated. They're not really sure whether or not their neighbors feel the same way. So here we have quite a congregation of neighbors here in Des Moines, you know, standing proud here on the main street in Des Moines.”

Kathy Schneider, one of the demonstrators, says she doesn’t feel represented by people in office now.

“We the people, need to show the public that we care and that we're pro democracy, and we're going to vote these people out, we're going to recruit new candidates who will pursue democracy.”

The event was one of more than 1,600 such rallies planned across the country, including nearly 20 in Iowa. They marked the fifth anniversary of the death of civil rights leader and former Rep. John Lewis.

The University of Northern Iowa settled a lawsuit with an employee who sued the school for age discrimination.

Shelley O’Connell was the assistant vice president and director of UNI Student Health before her pay was cut by $50,000 in 2024 and she was given a new job title. She says she was in good standing as an employee.

But now, the university has agreed to pay O’Connell over $222,000 — including $133,000 in lost wages and non-wage payments, as well as over $89,000 in attorney’s fees. Her lawyer, Jill Zwagerman, says O’Connell believed the university did wrong her, but wants to resolve the conflict amicably.

“We’re always open to settlement, because if the parties can agree, that’s just better for both sides. If they can come up with a resolution that they get to control, as opposed to putting it in the hands of a jury, and you don’t necessarily know what’s going to happen.”

In the settlement, O’Connell also agreed to retire from her post after working at the university for over two decades.

Photo courtesy of the Blank Park Zoo

Visitors to Iowa’s largest zoo may have to be patient, but they should now be able to spot the newest resident: a tiny, grey-brown Japanese macaque.

Blank Park Zoo spokesman Alex Payne says the monkey’s name is Taro. He was born at the Des Moines facility about a month ago, but they held off making his arrival public until it was clear he’d bonded well with his mom.

“It’s actually really important for these animals to connect with their parents, so we give them a little bit of time before we do announce that … just because there is also a really high infant mortality rate for Japanese macaques.”

The name Taro is of Japanese origin and means “eldest son.” He is only a few inches tall, so visitors will need to keep a sharp eye out to see him.

“He’ll be close to his mom for the next several weeks, until he starts getting a little bit bigger and can go off and do some more of his own stuff … He’s definitely a curious little animal. You’ll see him exploring, checking out different sticks and leaves.”

Since the introduction of Japanese macaques at the zoo in 1985, 46 have been born there. That includes Taro’s mother, Anika, who was born in 2014. Taro is her first baby.

Affordable rental housing is still out of reach for Midwesterners who earn minimum wage. New research has found some renters struggle more than others.

The report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows that people in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri need to earn at least $20 an hour to afford a Fair Market Value two-bedroom rental. Minimum wage in those states varies from $7.25 to $13.75, with Iowa at the lowest end of that range.

Compared to white households, the report found that people of color are harder hit because they are more likely to rent and have lower incomes.

“There is a long, long history of housing discrimination. Either through red lining, exclusionary zoning or predatory lending,” said Dan Emmanuel, director of the federal research coalition.

Emmanuel said proposals to cut funding for federal programs will put even more low-income renters at risk of being unable to afford housing in the Midwest and nationwide. 

Read more from the Midwest Newsroom’s Jessica Meza.

The White House

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley says President Donald Trump’s signature on a bill that classifies fentanyl-related drugs as more dangerous substances “will save lives.” The new federal law will require prison sentences for people convicted of making or selling synthetic drugs that are similar to fentanyl.

Grassley, a co-sponsor of the bill, says the law will “prevent these deadly fentanyl knockoffs from making their way into Iowa communities.” Grassley attended the bill signing at the White House Wednesday, along with other Republican elected officials from Iowa.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird called it “a pivotal moment” in the fight against fentanyl. Iowa’s 1^st District Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks said the bill gives law enforcement the tools to “stop fentanyl and copy-cat drugs from claiming more lives.” Iowa’s 4^th District Rep. Randy Feenstra said too many families have lost loved ones to an overdose “and this law will strengthen efforts to keep drugs out of our communities and away from our kids.”

Fentanyl, along with other opioids and synthetic opioids, is the leading cause of overdose deaths in the U.S. The HALT Fentanyl Act passed the U.S. House and Senate with bipartisan support.

Feeding America President Linda Nageotte says the “Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law this month will cause “serious harm” to working-age Iowans.

Feeding America is a national network of 200 food banks and 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs. Speaking at the Iowa Hunger Summit in Des Moines Wednesday, Nageotte called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) more than just a benefit.

“It’s an economic stabilizer, not just for the people who receive it, but for the grocers in whose stores those dollars are spent and the communities that are supported by those grocers.”

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance by 2034.

The Iowa Hunger Coalition says the state could have to make up millions in lost federal funds if it doesn’t lower its SNAP error rate soon. The current rate is less than a percentage point above the allowed amount.

House Republicans are split over whether the Trump administration should release files related to the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has co-introduced a bill that would compel the administration to release its files on Epstein, specifically flight logs and individuals connected to Epstein’s criminal acts.

Iowa’s 2^nd District Rep. Ashley Hinson says Massie is approaching the issue the wrong way.

“I do trust the president here and Pam Bondi to do the right thing, and Kash Patel to do the right thing at the FBI. And I can tell you this, I know that a lot of people love to use issues as political wedges. I think we’re seeing that a little bit out of Tom Massie and what’s happening here.”

The president has recently urged his supporters to move on, after Attorney General Pam Bondi backtracked and said the government did not have a list of Epstein’s clients, and that he committed suicide while in prison. The pivot away from calls to reveal the Epstein files is in contrast to what many Trump supporters say is a deep state coverup.

Lucius Pham

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Iowa Public Radio

Iowa’s 2nd District Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson is defending President Donald Trump’s tariffs after inflation climbed 2.7% from a year ago.

Hinson says Iowa corn and soybean farmers are pleased with the foreign market access that was secured as part of the president’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and are optimistic about trade deals. Trump has notified several countries of additional tariffs that would go into effect Aug. 1 if they don’t make a deal with the U.S.

“President Trump needs to be trusted here. He will not abandon Iowa farmers and our producers and our people, because he understands this is about getting the best deal possible for them long term, and that’s what we’ve seen.”

So far, the U.S. has made limited trade agreements with Indonesia, the U.K. and Vietnam. Trump announced especially steep tariffs on the European Union, Mexico and Canada — three of the U.S.’ biggest trading partners — and additional tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Nick Loomis

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The Midwest Newsroom

Since President Donald Trump began his second term, talks of overhauling the U.S. Postal Service have picked up. And this week, a new postmaster general with ties to FedEx stepped in to lead the department that's been running in the red. With service cutbacks already underway and privatization on the table, people in rural areas are bracing for more disruptions.

As a government agency providing a public service, USPS is not required to make a profit. But it is not supposed to lose money, either, which it has done every year since 2007, according to its annual reports.

The inefficiencies inherent to rural delivery are blamed for much of the lost revenue over the past two decades, which totals more than $100 billion, according to annual reports by the Postal Service. The same reports say mail volume has also nearly halved in that time.

Cutting services to rural communities as a means of pulling the Postal Service out of the red has already started. The issue of privatization has also been resurrected by the current administration and regarded by business interests who see converting all or parts of the agency to a for-profit model as an investment opportunity — but not without pushback from postal workers and unions concerned with further service cuts and layoffs.

Read the full story from the Midwest Newsroom’s Nick Loomis.

Photo courtesy of KIIC Radio

Officials have confirmed human remains were found Tuesday morning in what’s left of a historic building on Albia’s town square that caught fire Monday.

Albia Fire Chief John Freshwater says the remains were found in the apartment where investigators believe the fire started. The body has been taken to the State Medical Examiner for identification.

Firefighters were at the site overnight, monitoring the smoldering structure, which had three businesses at street level and apartments on the second floor. People who live and work in buildings around the courthouse square have been allowed back in to assess water and smoke damage and make clean-up plans.

Photo courtesy of Des Moines Police Department

Police in central Iowa say a suspect is in custody after trying to run down pedestrians with his car Wednesday morning.

Des Moines police started getting 911 calls around 6:30 a.m. about a person chasing pedestrians on foot on Robert D. Ray Drive downtown. But then more callers said the person got in a car and was trying to run down people on the sidewalk.

The first officer who responded tried to pull the car over, but police say the driver intentionally rammed the squad car and sped off. The driver then ran red lights, blazed past city hall and crashed into a wall of the Embassy Suites hotel.

Officers boxed the car in, and the unidentified suspect was arrested and taken to the hospital for a leg injury. No one else was hurt.

James Kelley

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Iowa Public Radio

A regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) met with local officials Tuesday in Cedar Rapids to discuss the city’s recovery efforts from recent natural disasters.

HUD Regional Administrator Joe Mitchell was appointed two months ago to oversee much of the Midwest and act as a liaison between the Trump administration and local governments. His visit to Cedar Rapids was largely focused on the city’s recovery efforts from the 2020 derecho and 2008 flood.

Mitchell says Cedar Rapids has set an example for other cities to follow.

“I know the president and Secretary [Scott] Turner, their number one goal is they want to make things more efficient and streamlined. And that’s what they’re working on in D.C. right now. And they’re taking the feedback from the field and these regions to help fix what we think is a broken system.”

Mitchell says one of the most important things he can do is to make sure local governments are able to make their own decisions when it comes to disaster response.

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Dolter

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ImpactPhotoCR

Former dean of nursing at Kirkwood Community College Kathryn Dolter is running as a Democrat in Iowa’s 2^nd Congressional District. Her career includes two decades in the U.S. Army and work as a staff nurse and educator.

She says she decided to run for Congress to make health care more accessible. Dolter says the “Bill Beautiful Bill” signed by President Trump this month will do the opposite through cuts to Medicaid and its impact on rural hospitals.

“All Iowans are going to be hurt by cuts to health care, by the cuts to education and the increased cost of living that the current policies that are going to create problems in those areas.”

The seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is up for reelection in 2026. Hinson has not announced a campaign, but ruled out running for governor.

No other Democrats are in the running after Cedar Rapids lawyer, Kevin Techau, announced he was suspending his campaign in June. State Rep. Lindsey James from Dubuque says she’s considering a run.

Des Moines City Council approved the first of three readings for increased tax on utility bills to help fund public transportation.

Des Moines is expected to increase its contributions towards the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART). But the city is also facing a $17 million shortfall.

The state Legislature passed a bill that allows only the city of Des Moines to use a franchise fee to fund transportation. Council Member Josh Mandelbaum says Des Moines must increase the franchise fee to let suburbs know the city is committed to a partnership to make DART work.

“One of the communities that is paying less is paying 100% less because they're leaving. And part of what we're doing is we're filling the gap that is left by communities leaving.”

The franchise fee on utility bills will go from 5% to 7.5%.

Des Moines council members referred their housing strategy to the city manager for next steps Monday night.

The strategy calls for larger budgets for programs helping residents rehabilitate their houses. Planners will target neighborhoods to redevelop block by block.

Councilmember Chris Coleman says the strategy is an alarm and the city needs property values to go up to be able to afford services.

“Your eyes are bigger than your stomach in Des Moines. You can’t afford the services you want to provide your people if our housing stays on the same track it’s been on.”

The council amended the strategy to continue the use of a tax credit to build affordable housing.

Mayor Connie Boesen says the plan will keep homes affordable because the city will subsidize some of the cost.

“That's just the reality of the business that we're in, but I want to make sure that whatever we do, it isn't affordable because it's substandard.”

Other council members have raised concerns about how housing efforts will be funded. Developers are also worried that the strategy could displace low-income families.

Around 2,200 drivers cross the Black Hawk Bridge from Lansing in northeast Iowa to Crawford County Wisconsin each day. They’re facing nearly two years with no bridge after the Iowa and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation determined the existing bridge will close earlier than expected.

The Black Hawk Bridge opened in 1931. A new bridge is being built just upstream, and construction has caused the existing bridge to move slightly on three separate occasions, most recently when workers were placing temporary towers to support the truss for the new bridge.

Clayton Burke, project manager for the Iowa Department of Transportation, says engineers determined it wouldn’t be safe to continue construction with the existing bridge open, so they’ll close it this fall. Construction on the new bridge began in 2023, and won’t be completed until 2027. Burke says sourcing materials takes time.

“The steel for the truss needs to be fabricated, and they are actively working on that in Gary, Indiana. They have as much of their facility as possible dedicated to making the steel for this bridge, but you can only make a quality product so fast.”

With the bridge closed, drivers coming from Iowa will either have to detour north to La Crescent, Minn. or south to Marquette. Burke says they’re looking into reestablishing water taxi service, or possibly a car ferry between Lansing and Crawford County.

Ted Corrigan, the CEO and general manager of Des Moines Water Works, is retiring this week.

His 35-year tenure included the record-setting flood of 1993, the COVID-19 pandemic and the creation of Central Iowa Water Works, the Des Moines area’s regional drinking water utility.

This summer the Des Moines area was put under a lawn watering ban to conserve water as nitrate levels were high.

Corrigan says the utility may spend close to $2 million this year on nitrate removal. He says there are solutions to reducing nitrates in Iowa’s rivers, and more farms are adding practices and infrastructure that can make a difference.

“I have never met a producer or a farmer who says, ‘You know, hey, I don’t care about water quality.’”

But Corrigan says he has met many farmers who don’t know what to do or feel like their margins are too thin to make changes.

“The state of Iowa is probably the only entity that can make a dent in this problem, and asking individual landowners or farmers to do it on their own, voluntarily, isn’t going to get that kind of change that we need to see.”

Along with nitrates and other contaminants, he says more frequent natural disasters are a top risk factor for the water supplier.

“Weather events are getting more extreme – and both floods and droughts. And so, those extreme weather events, whether you call it climate change or call it what you want, are things that we need to be prepared for.”

Corrigan spoke about his experience on IPR’s River to River.

State health officials have confirmed the seventh case of measles in Iowa.

The individual is a vaccinated adult in eastern Iowa who had no known link to measles cases and had not traveled recently.

This newest case in Iowa comes as the country is experiencing an outbreak of the highly contagious virus. Nearly 1,300 cases have been confirmed nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The vast majority were unvaccinated individuals.

Health officials are encouraging Iowans to make sure they are up to date on all doses of the MMR vaccination, which is 97% effective against the virus.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying Iowa native astronaut Peggy Whitson and her three crewmates on Axiom-4 splashed down about 4:30 a.m. central time in the Pacific Ocean just off the coast of San Diego.

Whitson is America’s most experienced astronaut, now with nearly 700 days in space over five missions.

“Thanks for the great ride and the safe trip. We’re just happy to be back.”

It completes an 18-day research mission aboard the International Space Station.

Photo courtesy of Bur Oak Land Trust

Over 1,400 AmeriCorps members serve across Iowa’s 99 counties each year. That’s according to the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service. Monica Chavez, chair of the state agency, said members contribute more than 500,000 hours of community service on a yearly basis.

“Throughout my service on the commission, I’ve never failed to be humbled by the commitment, professionalism and dedication to service by all involved,” she said.

But in late April, Iowa’s AmeriCorps grant recipients received word that the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency was considering cuts to the national service agency.

The cuts eventually hit many of Iowa’s programs. In total, over $4.5 million was cut, resulting in a loss of more than half of the state’s AmeriCorps members — 568 people.

Read more.

Officials in Woodbury County have outlined millions of dollars of potential legal damages surrounding the new Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center.

The facility opened last year and has faced major delays and design flaws.

Woodbury County and the authority that oversees the construction project sent a demand letter earlier this month to the companies that helped build the facility. It claims the companies cost the project an extra $7 million.

The county released the letter after the Sioux City Journal filed a Freedom of Information Act request. Officials say they still hope to resolve the issue through mediation, rather than filing a lawsuit.

A farmer and land appraiser from north central Iowa is the latest candidate to announce he is running in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, which covers western and northwestern Iowa.

In a campaign video on his website, Kyle Larsen of Humboldt says he’s driven by three things.

“My platform is simple: it’s faith, family, farm.”

Larsen plans to center his campaign around lowering costs, protecting seniors and making sure farmers are heard in Washington.

“It's why I'm running for Congress, to be a farmer in Washington who does what's best for the next generation, not the next election. So I hope you will vote for me and join our team today.”

There are now three Republicans in the race for what appears to be an open seat since incumbent Randy Feenstra is exploring a run for governor in 2026.

The other candidates are Chris McGowan of Sioux City and Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley.

So far, one Democrat has announced her candidacy, and that’s Ashley WolfTornabane, a stay-at-home mom from Storm Lake.

Read more.

Recovery efforts in eastern Iowa continue after heavy rain and high winds consumed the region late last week. The extent of the damage is still unclear, but no deaths have been reported.

Scott County Emergency Management asked residents to shelter in their homes during extreme weather Thursday and Friday, which led to flash flooding and a tornado reaching 111 miles per hour. Deputy director Jodi Freet says the agency is continuing to assess the damage as it works with the Red Cross and Salvation Army to make sure residents have shelter and flood cleanup kits.

“We did have a lot of tree damage, home damage, of course, with the flooding. You know, individuals were driving through some of those flood waters, so there were some first responders that needed to go help.”

Dubuque County emergency management coordinator Tom Berger says the windstorm hit several farms, damaging buildings and electrical lines.

Berger says the Bee Branch Greenway, a park that serves as flood mitigation infrastructure for the city, did its job.

“20 years ago that would have filled a lot of basements in the downtown, North End area where, you know, it keeps it into the mitigation projects that the city of Dubuque did, and then they built a bunch of detention basins, you know, to kind of slow the rate of that water going downhill.”

Berger says several buildings were damaged because of the Dubuque County tornado, which had 95 mile per hour winds.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

Gender identity is no longer part of the Iowa Civil Rights Act. The change is part of a sweeping law that also defines a person’s sex by what was assigned at birth.

As transgender and nonbinary Iowans navigate the uncertainties, hope is still found in community.

Beverly Smith is a transgender woman who has lived in Iowa her whole life. She said the new law means she can face legal discrimination at restaurants and in the workplace.

Smith said she has previously felt discriminated against at work for using the women’s restroom, facing comments like, “So, you're using this restroom now?”

Because of the change to the law that removes discrimination protections in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and credit practices, Smith and other transgender Iowans are left to deal with gender discrimination. But Smith said she won’t let that change how she lives her life.

"Iowa is not as hateful as this legislation suggests us to be. People are people everywhere. We all love our kids. We all love our dogs. People aren’t that different.”

She said that is what gives her hope.

Read more.

State officials say they plan to end a program for Iowans who have severe mental illness in January of next year.

The Integrated Health Home program, or IHH, is a Medicaid-covered network of professionals who coordinate care for Iowans with severe mental illnesses. Iowa Department of Health and Human Services officials said in a statement that it has been discussing the future of the program for more than a year with providers and members.

But Billie Butler, CEO of Zion Integrated Behavioral Health Services in southwestern Iowa, says the announcement comes as a shock. She’s concerned about transferring the agency’s members to the state’s new services.

“There's a very short amount of time to make sure that people are able to meet a new person and make sure that the services continue. These are vital services for some of the most vulnerable people.”

Anne Starr, CEO of Orchard Place, one of the agencies that runs IHH, says the sudden announcement means it’s unclear how the organization will transition 350 children in its program to the state’s new Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics.

“We don't know what that looks like. We don't know what to tell families about that, you know. And then there's the staff impact, of staff worrying about if they're going to have a job.”

Iowa HHS officials say they’re planning the transition in phases and will begin working with providers this month on the process.

Four international students at the University of Iowa are asking the Department of Homeland Security to try harder to prove it can fix what they say is a visible gap in their status records that could impact future employment or visa applications.

In April, the four students sued DHS after it terminated their status records from its database. A federal judge ruled in the students’ favor, saying they could not be arrested or deported by DHS without notice. She also said DHS would have to restore the students’ records back to the date they were first terminated.

The government says it has restored their records, but the database doesn't allow schools or other government agencies to see if they were restored retroactively.

A federal judge has not yet decided whether DHS will need to take further action.

Congress just passed a sweeping bill that includes changes to Medicaid expected to cut millions of people with low incomes and disabilities from the program. President Donald Trump's administration is also pursuing deep cuts to public health funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These cuts would impact programs that support HIV testing and access to medications.

Some of that money also flows to local nonprofits that provide services to people living with HIV.

Alan Witchy leads the Damien Center, Indiana’s largest HIV/AIDs service organization. He says that creates a perfect storm for patients.

“We've been working very hard to get the epidemic under control. A lot of that will fall away and will be reversed with some of the cuts that we're expecting.”

It’s estimated that roughly 40% of people living with HIV in the U.S. are covered by Medicaid.

Read more.

The Des Moines City Council could approve a new housing strategy at their meeting Monday night.

If the plan is approved, Des Moines will expand its budget for programs that help residents rehabilitate their homes. But critics of the plan say it doesn’t include enough to make housing more affordable.

Iowa State professor of Planning and Urban Development Jane Rongerude says the proposed strategy does not protect low-income residents from being priced out of their homes. She says a better plan would include pathways to help people increase their salaries.

“But instead, they made a housing plan that has indicators of success that include fewer low-income people living in the city.”

Mayor Connie Boesen says programs like Invest DSM are working. That’s why they’ll get an additional boost in funding if the plan is approved.

“What we're trying to do is say that every area, we will have affordability in every area. And to say that one area has to have all affordability, another area doesn't, I think, is not what this is about.”

Housing consultants estimate Des Moines has a $3 billion affordability gap. That’s the difference between what residents earn compared to what is needed to afford their own homes.

States will soon have to fund more of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program after President Donald Trump signed his massive spending bill into law.

The measure will raise the state’s share of administrative costs next year and will add additional costs if their program’s error rate reaches 6%. Error rates are over or under payments to recipients, not fraud.

Luke Elzinga, with the Des Moines Area Religious Council’s Food Pantry Network, says states will have to do more with less resources.

“I think that's a real concern of what are the unintended consequences of states putting so much focus on this payment error rate, you know? Because they could be on the hook for tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Some lawmakers say the measure cuts waste and fraud, but food advocates say the changes will harm those who rely on SNAP benefits.

According to Feeding America, the changes to SNAP could eliminate as many 6 to 9 billion meals annually. Stacy Dykstra, the head of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, says Feeding America Food Banks in Oklahoma saw record demand last year and are preparing for more.

“There's no way we can make up the loss that's being suggested by these decisions.”

Read more.

Katarina Sostaric

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Iowa Public Radio

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds touted her anti-abortion policies and laws reducing legal protections for transgender Iowans Friday at the Family Leadership Summit.

She signed a bill into law two years ago banning abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy at the conservative evangelical group’s annual event. Reynolds says abortions in Iowa are down more than 60% since Roe v. Wade was overturned.

“It truly means that hundreds of hearts may be beating that otherwise would have been silenced. It means that four of our state’s six Planned Parenthood centers are closing – and if the courts allow President Trump’s One Big Beautiful bill to pull the remaining centers’ taxpayer funding – more may be on the way.”

Reynolds says she was equally proud to remove gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights code and sign other restrictions on transgender Iowans into law. She got emotional and had tears in her eyes as she thanked the Family Leader for their support and help passing these laws during her time as governor.

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

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

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

The sentence is mandatory under Iowa law.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo courtesy of Bur Oak Land Trust

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Menninga said helping people makes him feel happy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo courtesy of Naomi WolfTornabane

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more.

James Kelley

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Iowa Public Radio

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

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

Alejandra Escobar is with the nonprofit Escucha Mi Voz.

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

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

Clay Masters

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Iowa Public Radio

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

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

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

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

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

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

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

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

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

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

Read more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

KMCH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more from Harvest Public Media’s Alexandria Ladiski.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more.

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

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

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

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

The paintings date from 1537 to 1700.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matt McCoy is the Polk County Board of Supervisors chair.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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