Mark Welsch is no stranger to the difficulties of beekeeping. The Omaha beekeeper has been caring for hives for the last nine years, and he understands that not every colony makes it through the cold winter months.

But the winter of 2024-2025 was particularly brutal for him.

“I had 12 hives going into the winter,” Welsch said. “I lost nine of them."

He wasn’t the only one. About 1.6 million colonies died across the U.S. between June 2024 and March 2025, according to surveys from bee research nonprofit Project Apis m.

The losses hit commercial beekeepers as well as backyard honey producers, with many losing 60% to 80% of their colonies.

“Last year, there was a really swift and sudden cry for help from beekeepers,” said Danielle Downey, executive director of Project Apis m.

For decades, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center has been the one to answer such cries for help — a place where beekeepers turn when major disasters happen. Six months after the massive die-off, scientists from the USDA facility identified a likely cause: viruses spread by pesticide-resistant mites.

But now, the Trump administration plans to close the research lab, leaving beekeepers to question the future of federal research.

Keep reading more from Harvest Public Media.

The regional administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) said a new agency initiative is focused on boosting U.S. food production, particularly in the meat processing industry.

Former Republican state Sen. Brad Zaun is the SBA’s administrator for Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. He said the “Grocery Guarantee” program is meant to help more businesses thrive in the food industry through easier access to loans.

To encourage banks to approve loans to food processors and related businesses, the SBA will guarantee a larger portion of the loan if the business defaults.

“Typically, we have anywhere from a 60% to 75% guarantee,” Zaun said. “This raises it to 90% and what it does is the liability for the lenders is so much less, they’re probably more likely to loan that money out.”

Zaun has been meeting with businesses in the region to promote the new SBA loan guarantee in hopes of expanding processing capacity, particularly for smaller “mom and pop” shops.

“We don’t believe there’s enough competition in the meatpacking industry, and that includes poultry,” Zaun said. “That is one of the reasons we’ve got this special program.”

The Grocery Guarantee program is not just for food processors, but for businesses all along the food chain, from agriculture to logistics to grocery stores.

Businesses can begin applying for these loans May 1. Last year, the SBA backed loans to 85,000 U.S. businesses.

There’s an elevated risk of strong to severe thunderstorms Monday afternoon, especially across northern Iowa. National Weather Service Meteorologist Mike Fowle said the main threat is hail.

“A few of those storms could get into northern Iowa late this afternoon, but more likely this evening or into the early overnight hours,” Fowle said. “There’s not going to be a lot of storms, but any storms that develop could be severe.”

Fowle said it’s just the start of what could be a very stormy week for the state.

“We’ve got a more widespread threat on Tuesday, a very similar pattern — warm, humid,” he said. “We could see more numerous thunderstorms on Tuesday. Some of them could be severe. All hazards are in play: large hail, damaging winds and an isolated tornado.”

He said the risk of severe weather continues daily through Friday for wide sections of the state.

Madeleine Charis King

/

Iowa Public Radio

Consumers can expect to pay more at the grocery store in 2026.

The latest federal forecast shows food prices are projected to increase by 3.1% this year. That rate is higher than the same report from February — before the start of the war in Iran and the corresponding spike in fuel prices.

Andy Harig, with FMI – The Food Industry Association, said food companies are still trying to assess how higher fuel costs will affect their supply chains.

"It's going to impact prices, and it's going to be in a longer window than just, you know, the day the war ends," Harig said.

He said consumers are already paying more at the grocery store because of inflation in recent years, so processors will likely try to keep food prices stable by passing the cost up the supply chain to farmers.

Read more from Harvest Public Media.

Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) is planning to launch low-cost legal services for refugees and other immigrants. The nonprofit wants to help their clients apply for employment authorization cards or green cards and help them become U.S. citizens.

Laura Thako, assistant director of Immigrant and Refugee Community Services at LSI, said some immigrants already lost federal food assistance because of changes to eligibility tied to legal status, and Medicaid will be next. 
“There’s a need for more services,” Thako said. “We know there’s a need, and we’re trying to help as best we can.”

Thako said private legal services can be unaffordable for LSI’s clients and there aren’t enough low-cost services available.

The nonprofit is asking the public to help raise $150,000 to staff the program. They hope to start providing services around July 1.

The Natural Resource Commission gave final approval Thursday to an increase in fees for hunting and fishing licenses. License fees have not been raised since 2019. The cost of an annual fishing and hunting license will each go up $1.

Joe Larscheid, fisheries bureau chief at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), said the change is a modest increase.

“No fee has been raised more than 5%, which is a maximum allowed by law,” Larscheid said.

Larscheid said the public comment period for Iowans to weigh in on the proposed fee increase began at the beginning of March. Throughout that time, he said the department saw a lot of support for the increase.

“A public hearing was held on March 24 … No one attended the public meeting in person, but 126 comments were received by phone and email, mostly,” he said. “Seventy-one percent were supportive of the increase, and 29% were opposed.”

Hunting and fishing groups have been pushing for the change for years, as the fees go to the Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund, which is used by the Iowa DNR to fund its natural resource protection, management, research and enhancement activities.

The increased fees will take effect on June 17.

Election analysts at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report have rated the Iowa governor’s race as a “toss-up.” It was previously rated as leaning Republican.

Five Republicans are running for governor, with U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra considered most likely to become that party’s nominee.

State Auditor Rob Sand is the only Democrat in the race. His deputy campaign manager said the new classification shows the race is wide open, as Sand gains momentum with voters across the political spectrum.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who’s not running for reelection, said she doesn’t think the race is a toss-up.

“I’m not saying … it’s not going to be hard. Nobody goes into these races thinking it’s a cake walk. I definitely don’t think that, but I definitely think that we’ll be fine,” Reynolds said Thursday.

Reynolds said Republicans have a “phenomenal record” to run on after a decade of being in full control of state government. 

Dairy producers in Iowa and across the country are facing narrower profit margins as they continue to be squeezed by a competitive global market and rising input costs. 

Fred Hall, a dairy specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, said feed costs remain relatively stable, but like other farmers, dairy producers have been hit by spiking diesel prices. Hall said there’s another major factor cutting into profits: labor.

“Labor is amazingly expensive and hard to find,” he said. “And to keep good people, you have to continue to be competitive.”

Hall said right now, global supply is outpacing demand for most dairy products, and many Iowa producers are below the break-even mark.

Smaller dairies will probably be able to weather a downturn, but he worries some operations with 500 to 600 head of cattle could be forced out of business this year. That’s because they’re not quite big enough to afford the newest technology or hire enough help.

Most dairy farmers also grow crops, and Hall said they should benefit from $12 billion in federal relief funds, and another $15 billion Congress is reportedly considering as part of a supplemental military spending request from the Trump administration.

Natalie Krebs

/

Iowa Public Radio

Democratic candidates for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat attended a forum in Des Moines Wednesday, where they each answered questions on issues like campaign finance, health care, immigration and water quality. 

State Sen. Zach Wahls and state Rep. Josh Turek each appeared onstage separately at the event hosted by End Citizens United Action Fund and Progress Iowa.  

Wahls said he’s angry because Republicans in Congress let Affordable Care Act tax credits expire. He said he would like to see a public option for health care. 

“That is why we have proposed lowering the Medicare enrollment age, so we can expand it,” Wahls said. “Making sure that we have a public option, so people can buy into Medicare, even if they haven't reached that age. And expanding Medicare coverage to include things like vision and dental and hearing.” 

Turek said he’d like to make sure there is more federal enforcement of clean water standards in Iowa and support for farmers. 

“We need far more incentives to our farmers to prevent them putting down fertilizer in the fall and in the winter,” Turek said. “We need to make sure that we have more incentives to the farmers and regulations in place for cover cropping, for land barriers, like what states like Minnesota have done.”

The Democratic primary is on June 2. 

Read more.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has filed a lawsuit against Meta and several of its subsidiaries, including Instagram and Facebook.

The lawsuit alleges Meta is breaking Iowa’s consumer protection laws, as Instagram represents itself as being safe for children and teenagers, but points to explicit content readily available on the platform. The state asserts that Meta designed Instagram to be addictive, particularly to Iowa youth, which harms children by affecting their mental health.

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office is seeking a preliminary and a permanent injunction to force Instagram to change or stop altogether its deceptive and unfair statements involving the explicit content, and its inaccurate age-ratings in the App Store and other online marketplaces.

Immigrants’ rights group Escucha Mi Voz is asking UnityPoint Health - St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids to strengthen its standards for cooperating with immigration enforcement. It comes after an unofficial document telling hospital employees how to address law enforcement requests was shared online. 

The document tells St. Luke’s employees what details they can provide to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer if they request information about a patient but don't have a court order, warrant or subpoena. If the patient is not receiving mental health or substance use disorder treatment, the document states that employees can share a patient’s name, address, date of birth and other personal details. It also notes that hospitals are no longer considered “protected areas” for immigration enforcement purposes. 

Escucha Mi Voz is calling on St. Luke’s to adopt a warrant-only standard for cooperation with immigration enforcement. 

A statement from a spokesperson at St. Luke’s said the document is not official and does not reflect St. Luke’s longstanding practice of cooperating with law enforcement in compliance with all patient privacy laws. 

Gasoline prices aren’t falling in Iowa — at least not yet. But, with a two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran reached on Tuesday, crude oil prices began to drop Tuesday morning.

Brian Ortner, with AAA Iowa, said crude oil is the largest component in how gasoline is refined.

“Seeing a drop like that, getting back below that $100 per barrel is a great sign,” Ortner said. “Hopefully, consumers will be seeing that change or that adjustment at the pumps over the coming days.”

The Strait of Hormuz is reopening, which should relieve growing international pressure on shipments of crude oil, though Ortner said there won’t be an immediate drop in prices at the pumps in Iowa.

“It’s $3.64 today across the state of Iowa, and yesterday we were at $3.48, so almost 20 cents more than we were yesterday,” he said. “From a month ago, we were at $3.15. So, we’ve seen about a 50% increase across the state in the last month.”

While Iowa’s average pump prices are high compared to recent weeks and months, they’re still a long way from breaking any records. AAA said Iowa’s highest gas average ever was $4.76, which happened in June 2022.

The U.S. Department of Labor is conducting its annual revision in labor numbers to start the new year.
Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend said that review resulted in the December unemployment number dropping 0.1%. Townsend said the drop to 3.4% matches the unemployment rate for January, meaning Iowa “held steady” into the new year.

Townsend said another good sign is that the number of people looking for work increased.

“Our labor force participation rate increased to 67.9%, which is up from 67.7% in December,” she said. “We added 6,400 jobs between December and January, and we have more Iowans in the workforce, about 17,000 more now than we did in January of 2025.”

Townsend said some areas saw good job growth in January, including about 5,000 new jobs in the private sector. She said about 1,800 jobs were added in professional and business services, and construction hiring increased by about 1,300 jobs. Manufacturing added 1,000 jobs, Townsend said, and non-durable goods, education and health services added 1,100 jobs.

There were some losses in the seasonal industries, which Townsend said is not unusual.

“Not surprising, retail and hospitality saw a decrease of 200 jobs in January. I don’t think that probably shocks anybody,” she said. “We usually see that pick up again as the weather warms up and people are more out and about. We saw some decrease in trade, transportation and utilities.”

Townsend said the revised numbers for February will be out in a couple of weeks and will give more information on how the Iowa economy is doing.

A Bolivian immigrant living in Iowa City could be deported to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The immigrants' rights group Escucha Mi Voz said Jose Yugar Cruz is now back in ICE custody after he was released from the Muscatine County jail in January. A federal judge ruled at the time his 18-month detention there was unlawful.

Yugar-Cruz appeared on IPR’s Talk of Iowa in February to share his experience in ICE detention. Getsy Hernandez with Escucha Mi Voz translated for him.

“I had no contact with my family because there was no international calls that we can make,” he said. “My mom had cancer during that time and she passed away while I was detained. So it was really painful. It was really challenging.”

Escucha Mi Voz said in a statement deporting Yugar-Cruz to the Congo would “place him at significant risk of being persecuted, tortured or killed.”

On Monday, the DRC announced what’s called a “third country” agreement that allows the U.S. to deport migrants to the Congo who aren’t Congolese nationals.

Isabella Luu

/

Iowa Public Radio

Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin asked Iowa Democrats to stay engaged and help flip seats during a recent visit to the state. The Democrat was the keynote speaker at the Polk County Democrats Spring Dinner Tuesday.
 
Addressing a crowd of hundreds, Slotkin said Democrats need to be honest about the party’s direction ahead of the midterms and the next presidential election.  She said Democrats need to “get back to basics” and focus on economic and affordability issues.  
 
“We have basically trained leaders over the last 30 years who believe in consensus and making everyone feel happy, right? And we want that. We want everyone to feel good. But we need to win in order to enact the things that we care about,” Slotkin said.
 
Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, was one of six lawmakers featured in a video in November telling members of the military and intelligence community to refuse illegal orders. President Donald Trump accused the lawmakers of what he called “seditious behavior, punishable by death.” The video also prompted an investigation by the Justice Department. 

Read more.

Katarina Sostaric

/

Iowa Public Radio

Iowa’s 4^th District U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra said private schools should accommodate all students who want to attend. The Republican candidate for governor spoke Wednesday morning at a meeting of the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale.

Education savings accounts (ESAs) provide state funding to families to help pay for private school tuition. But private schools can reject applicants and don’t have to provide services like special education.

“I am supportive of the idea of ESAs. I just will say this, that every school has to make sure they take every child, right? If we have to compete on a level playing field, the playing field has to be level all the way,” Feenstra said. “That’s so important.” 

Feenstra said parents should get to decide where their kids are educated, and that allowing public and private schools to compete against each other will help improve Iowa’s education system.

Read more.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said she can’t tell the public why the head of the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System (IPERS) and another top official were put on administrative leave.

Last week, the CEO of IPERS and its chief benefit officer were placed on leave while the state investigates allegations of misconduct.

Reynolds said all beneficiaries will continue to receive their payments.

“This is a personnel issue, so I’m not able to comment on that, as we typically can’t,” she said. “But it has absolutely no impact on IPERS solvency or the ability to allocate the payments.”

Reynolds said Iowans may learn more about the situation in the future if the state takes further action related to the IPERS officials’ employment. 

Isabella Luu

/

Iowa Public Radio

A group opposed to using eminent domain for carbon pipelines is calling on Iowa lawmakers to pass legislation that would restrict the practice. Protesters gathered outside the office of Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh Tuesday morning to voice their opposition to a proposed pipeline by Summit Carbon Solutions.

Summit put forth a plan to build a pipeline that would collect CO2 from ethanol plants, but the company recently changed its focus from sequestering the CO2 at an underground site in North Dakota to using it for enhanced oil recovery, possibly in Wyoming.

Among the protesters at the Capitol was Jess Mazour, with the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club. She said the Iowa Utilities Commission should revoke a conditional use permit it granted Summit in 2024 and make the company reapply because of the major changes it made to its pipeline plan.

“You can't be a carbon pipeline company capturing CO2 in Iowa and delivering it to North Dakota to be permanently sequestered and then expect the same approvals for a pipeline that we don't know where it's going and what it's going to be used for,” Mazour said.

The Iowa House has passed a bill that would restrict the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines, but the measure remains stalled in the Senate.

Last year, the Legislature passed a similar bill, but it was vetoed by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Local business owners and leaders in eastern Iowa said the impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on their taxes have been mostly positive. During a roundtable discussion with 1st District Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, they also said they’re looking for certainty in the future as the war with Iran causes market instability. 

Miller-Meeks said she thinks the war will be a short-term conflict and that domestic energy production is helping to keep prices down in the U.S. Regarding the economy, she said the policies in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are “pro-growth.”

“Economic growth is critically important for us to be able to take care of our most vulnerable, to be able to provide for our defense, but also to allow people to improve their lives through job mobility and increase wages, and then for us to be able to compete economically around the world,” Miller-Meeks said. 

Some of the business owners talked about the difficulty of locking in prices as input costs are changing quickly. Representatives from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce were also in attendance. The chamber has been holding similar events around the country to talk about the impacts of the law. 

James Kelley

/

Iowa Public Radio

The mayor of Palo said a recent investigation into the city’s negotiations with Google about a proposed data center includes inaccurate or incomplete information. KCRG reported that Google was privately negotiating with the city about annexing land in Linn County while the company was also negotiating with the county, citing public documents. 

Palo Mayor Bryan Busch said the city never had private conversations with Google about annexing land before the county was aware of the plan. 

“Sometimes, unfortunately, things get said or reported publicly that might not be entirely accurate or not reflect the whole story,” Busch said. “And I – we – will continue to make every effort to be as open and transparent as possible.” 

The KCRG report states that Palo approved an agreement with Google in December related to something called “Project Meridian.” Busch said the city was partially involved in the county’s discussions related to municipal water and sewer services, but that Google approached city officials about the annexation plan in late January.

“There was no conversation whatsoever about Palo trying to go out and secretly annex this property, or go behind Linn County’s back, or anything like that,” Busch said. “But when they came to us and gave us that opportunity, it makes sense to listen.” 

Busch reiterated that the city will make every effort to be as open and transparent as possible as it drafts an ordinance regulating data center development.

A federal appeals court has lifted the injunction against a state law that bans books with sexual content from school libraries. The law, which was passed in 2023, has faced setbacks, with federal rulings blocking enforcement of many of its provisions.

Book publishers and authors have argued that the law violates the First Amendment. But the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that libraries should be considered school curriculum, making it reasonable to restrict access to graphic content. 

A decision in a separate lawsuit overturns an injunction against two other parts of the law. That includes a ban on K-6 instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and a requirement to tell parents when a student asks for accommodations to affirm their gender identity. 

The lawsuits are headed back to a lower court for next steps.  

Nicole Baxter

/

Iowa Public Radio

The Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau said law enforcement officers will be out looking for drivers violating Iowa’s hands-free cellphone law this week as part of Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

The goal of the week-long initiative is to educate drivers about Iowa’s new cellphone law, which prohibits people from holding their phone in any way while driving. Ankeny police officer Tony Higgins said officers also want to educate drivers about the importance of distraction-free driving.

“It’s a group effort in order for all law enforcement to kind of curb the behavior for hands-free and distracted driving,” he said. “Each individual agency has been doing their own enforcement throughout their cities and towns and counties. This is the first time that we have a statewide initiative on this particular matter.”

Officers gave out warning tickets when the law went into effect in July 2025 and began issuing regular tickets in January. Higgins said he has noticed that drivers are paying more attention to the road since officers started writing tickets with a fine up to $170 for violators.

The special hands-free enforcement will run through Friday.

A U.S. Department of Energy expert said engineering estimates indicate that building a first-of-its-kind small modular nuclear reactor would likely cost around $4 billion and take up to five years to build.

Michelle Zietlow-Miller, former director of maintenance at the Quad Cities Generating Station, briefed Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Nuclear Energy Task Force Monday morning.

“So, how do we move forward with such high costs, but really good value for the communities once they’re built?” Zietlow Miller asked.

Zietlow-Miller said federal tax credits can significantly reduce the cost once the plant is operating, but state investment tax credits claimed while the reactor is being built can make such projects possible.

“It’s also a leverage point for states to work together, right? So, if you want to work with your neighboring states and think about a technology that make sense for you, you can build an order book based on that,” Zietlow-Miller said. “I haven’t seen states do that, but I’d like to.”

Her presentation indicated it’s likely that a developer will line up financing and build one of the small-scale nuclear reactors, and a utility will take ownership once the plant is ready to operate. Zietlow-Miller said available data indicates that around 1,600 full-time employees would be required to operate a small modular nuclear reactor facility.

Only two small modular nuclear reactors are currently operating today. Russia has been operating one since 2020, and China’s went into production in 2023. Small modular nuclear reactors are scheduled to be built in Texas and Wyoming within the next decade, with dozens of other projects around the world in the planning phase.

American prairies are a threatened ecosystem, but people and organizations across the country are actively working to preserve and restore them.

Courtney Masterson is an ecologist and the executive director of Native Lands Restoration Collaborative in northeast Kansas. She said there isn’t much state-level support for conservation, but organizations like hers make it possible for anyone to contribute to the work.
“Prairie is our historic landscape, and it's something that you don't have to be an expert to do,” Masterson said. “Whatever community you live in, there's an organization trying hard to restore what they can.”

Conservation efforts range from restoring small patches of land to major regional projects. For example, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service aims to restore and enhance at least 15,000 acres of prairie in states across the northern Great Plains, including Iowa.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and a nonprofit that prevents and responds to child abuse in Iowa says the state has a long way to go.

Child abuse reports have been declining since 2022. But Danica Haas, who leads the Iowa Chapter of Children’s Advocacy Centers, said the decline is likely a reflection of underreporting — not less child abuse.

“We oftentimes will have some communities that will say, ‘Oh, I know that child abuse isn't happening here, so we don't need to worry about it,’ Hass said. “I can tell you that child abuse is happening in all 99 counties in Iowa.”

Iowa lawmakers proposed a bill that would have required sexual abuse awareness education for K-6 graders, but it failed to advance this legislative session.

Haas said Iowa should require preventative education that teaches children how to identify safety concerns, like physical abuse, neglect or bullying. State data shows neglect and presence of illegal drugs made up over half of founded instances of child abuse in 2025.

Courtesy of Jeannie Schrader

A local publisher will take over several rural newspapers that were in danger of shutting down this week.

Mid-America Publishing in Hampton said financial and economic pressures led to the decision to shut down several of its publications. Stateline Publications in Armstrong has agreed to buy six of the publications, including the Wright County Monitor and the Ida County Courier.

Stateline Publications Owner Kristin Grabinoski said a local newspaper helps keep its community connected, especially when it comes to important information, like public notices.

“I’m aware of the news desert this would create by the closing of the newspapers,” she said.
 
Grabinoski said community support will be crucial, and the biggest challenge will be making sure the advertising is there to support the papers.

Mid-America Publishing said the sale is expected to close next week.

From the farm to the processing plant, people working in animal agriculture try to keep stress down for cattle, pigs and other livestock.

But it requires an understanding of how these animals see the world, according to Ashlynn Kirk, the program manager at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls' Humane Handling Institute.

"When you are designing facilities for animals, you're trying to imagine how they would experience it," Kirk said. "But you don't know unless you see it like they would."

That is why the institute is using augmented reality to let farmers and staff from meat processing plants see their facilities through a cow's eyes.

Read more from Harvest Public Media’s Hope Kirwan.

Clark Kauffman

/

Iowa Capital Dispatch

Two more immigrant truck drivers picked up by the Iowa State Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers along Interstate 80 are suing the federal government.

Court records indicate the Iowa State Patrol and ICE are participating in a national immigration enforcement effort called “Operation ICE Wall,” in part by stopping commercial truck drivers at interstate weigh stations.

Typically, the state troopers will pull over the drivers who bypass the weigh station, issue a citation and then direct the drivers back to the weigh station, where ICE officers will arrest and detain them. Some of those arrests have led to federal lawsuits alleging the due process rights of the detainees are being violated.

Two of the most recent cases involve drivers from India and Pakistan, both of whom were picked up and jailed in Iowa despite having authorization to work in the U.S. and having pending applications for asylum.

Keep reading.

Two top administrators with Iowa’s largest public retirement system are being investigated for alleged misconduct and have been placed on administrative leave.

The Des Moines Register reported that Greg Samorajski, CEO of the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS), was placed on leave Wednesday. Now, the chief benefits officer at IPERS, Steven Herbert, has also been placed on leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.

A spokesman for the governor said the situation does not impact IPERS benefits for the more than 424,000 current and retired government employees who are part of the system.

A former IPERS risk investment officer is suing the state, claiming he’s a whistleblower who was fired after alleging that some expenses were being concealed and that IPERS reports were overstating the performance of investments and downplaying investment risks.

A University of Iowa professor and his wife are suing the Trump administration, claiming their naturalization ceremony was illegally canceled one month before it was supposed to take place.

Sunday Goshit, an adjunct assistant professor of International Studies, came to the U.S. from Nigeria 25 years ago to study at the university. He and his wife applied for citizenship last year and were supposed to take their naturalization oaths in January, but they allege it was canceled after the Trump administration restricted Nigerian nationals from entering the country. 

“The impact of this delay is not merely administrative; it is deeply personal. And professionally, it is stifling,” he said. “To pass the test of citizenship, only to have the final gates locked without legal justification, is a secondary exile.”

The Goshit’s lawsuit states the federal government told them it was canceling their ceremony due to “unforeseen circumstances.” Their lawyers said the federal government has two months to respond to the complaint. 

A group of students at the University of Iowa have started a petition to push the university to take down its Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR). The controversial law enforcement tool picks up data on passing vehicles, which can then be shared with other law enforcement agencies. 

Sophomore Sam Golden started the petition with his club, the local chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America. Golden said he wanted to start the petition after seeing coverage online about ALPR being used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to track down immigrants.  

Golden said the Iowa City community would be safer if the university were to take down its cameras, which are owned by Flock Safety. 

“By advocating for getting Flock off of campus, we can protect our immigrant community and just the general public from mass surveillance,” he said.

Both Coralville and Iowa City have taken down their city-owned ALPR after privacy concerns were raised by the public. 

The student petition currently has over 130 signatures. Golden said that he and other organizers are aiming to get 600 signatures before the end of the semester.

Katarina Sostaric

/

Iowa Public Radio

Democratic candidate for governor Rob Sand is calling for changes to Iowa’s election system and for stock trading restrictions on state officials. He’s also proposing term and age limits, as well as cognitive tests, for elected officials.

Sand said these policies would help Iowans hold politicians accountable for solving problems.

“It’s time that we implement them so that people who are in public office actually have to resolve the issues that face Iowans in order to get reelected, they actually have to face competition and that they aren’t spending their time enriching themselves,” he said.

His election proposal would also include an open primary so that Iowans wouldn’t have to register as a Democrat or Republican to cast a vote. Sand said general elections should be changed to let Iowans vote for as many candidates as they support.

“What I have proposed would give independent voters an equal voice,” he said. “Anybody who says anything other than that are the people who are clinging to power in this state because they’re desperate to keep it.”

A Republican Party of Iowa spokesperson said this would put Iowa’s elections at risk with a confusing, untested system. If elected, Sand would have to convince the Republican-majority Legislature to advance these policies.

Read more.

Greg Curtzwiler

/

Iowa State University

Iowa State University researchers have found that a method of washing No. 5 plastic for recycling can leave harmful chemicals behind in the wash water.

Researchers identified two types of phthalates that the CDC says may increase cancer risks and affect child development. They found that industrial soap transferred the chemicals from the plastic into the water, and the chemical levels in the water increased over several wash cycles.

Greg Curtzwiler, who studies food science and human nutrition at ISU, led the study. He said the findings could be good news for repurposed plastic.
 “Is it good that we’re removing some of these chemicals into the water? From the plastics perspective, yes,” Curtzwiler said.

The challenge, he said, is removing the chemicals from the water. Curtzwiler said some facilities are already using new technology to treat the water and remove the chemicals from the entire process.

Read more.

The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the firing of a Dubuque teacher at Hempstead High School who used a racial slur when talking to a student.

The incident occurred in 2023 when Robert Poling was heard using the racial slur in front of a Black student in the aftermath of a “loud disturbance” involving a group of students in a school hallway.

In 2024, the district court ruled there was insufficient evidence of just cause to fire Poling and said that a video clip posted on social media affected the reaction to the incident. The Dubuque Community School District appealed the district court's decision

The appeals court ruling issued April 1 states there is plenty of evidence that Poling made an inappropriate statement to a student and “the swirl of social media” was not the reason behind the superintendent’s recommendation to fire him.

The chief justice said Poling’s conduct “impaired his ability to serve as a role model and to maintain effective interactions with students and his colleagues.” The ruling states that the school district’s decision to fire Poling was justified.

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has concluded the fatal police shooting of a mental health center patient in Des Moines was legally justified.

In February, Des Moines police were sent to Broadlawns’ Crisis Observation Center after receiving reports that a patient stabbed a security guard. Officers Christian Escobar and James Gano attempted to detain the patient, Hunter Thomas Munoz, but he resisted.

Officers said Munoz stated that they would “have to shoot him.” A third officer deployed his taser before Munoz drew a knife and ran at Escobar. Both Escobar and Gano fired at Munoz.

The Attorney General’s Office stated that officers went into a “known violent situation” and attempted several methods of de-escalation before Munoz ran at them with a knife. 

It’s not clear yet how the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling challenging Colorado’s statewide ban on conversion therapy could impact similar local bans in Iowa. The ruling sends the case back to the lower courts.

Conversion therapy bans bar mental health providers from using practices that attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The practice has been used to try to “cure” gender dysphoria and to stop a person’s attraction to individuals of the same sex. Psychological research has shown conversion therapy to be ineffective and harmful.

The Davenport City Council passed an ordinance banning the practice in 2020. Sam Huff, with Davenport’s legal counsel, said the city will “closely monitor” the lower court’s adjustments to the Supreme Court decision to see how it affects Davenport’s ban.

Linn County is the only other jurisdiction in Iowa with a ban on conversion therapy. That ban applies to unincorporated parts of the county.

Waterloo previously had a similar ban but overturned it in 2023. 

John Mersits

/

AP

Iowa State basketball star Audi Crooks announced Thursday that she’s entering the transfer portal for her last year of collegiate eligibility. Crooks is currently a junior at Iowa State University, where she plays center and has become one of the leading scorers in the country.  

Crooks is known for her dominant presence near the basket and her efficient scoring. She averaged nearly 23 points per game and made more than 60% of shots from the floor during her ISU career.  

In a statement announcing her decision to leave Iowa State, she thanked her coaches, teammates and the fans.

"Thank you all for embracing me and showing up to Hilton every single game day,” Crooks said in a statement. “I've met so many of you out in the community, and I will cherish all of the genuine connections that I've built during my time at Iowa State. Words cannot fully express how grateful I feel to have called this place home.”

Crooks is originally from Algona and graduated from Bishop Garrigan Catholic Schools in 2023.  
 
Nine other Iowa State women’s basketball players are also entering the transfer portal.  

Iowa farmers are entering the planting season facing high input costs and uncertainty about the price their crops will bring.

Mark Mueller, a fourth-generation farmer and president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, attended last week’s rally at the White House celebrating Agriculture Week.

President Donald Trump had promoted the event by promising “great news” for farmers. But Mueller said the initiatives Trump announced, including a new Small Business Administration loan program and relaxed regulations for diesel emissions, don’t address the larger problems facing farmers.

“Great news would have been year-round E-15 legislation that was signed by President Trump, or great news would have been a trade deal with details to it, with India or some other major trading partner,” Mueller said.

In addition to new trade deals, Mueller said the government should address consolidation and lack of competition in the fertilizer industry.

Mueller said farmers had to decide earlier this year whether to take out production and equipment loans, while ag lending standards used by banks are tightening.

“My banker has given me the OK for another year," he said. "But at the same time, I have gotten a couple phone calls from farmers I know that have said, ‘Hey, my banker shut me off, who do you use?’”

Though we’re not seeing conditions like those during the farm crisis of the '80s, Mueller thinks Iowa will see more medium-sized farms selling out to larger operations this year.

The number of empty office spaces in the I-380 corridor between Cedar Falls and Iowa City has nearly doubled since before the pandemic. Martin Lavelle, a principal economist at the Federal Reserve in Chicago, said the increase follows national trends, though both national and local vacancy rates are beginning to plateau.

Lavelle said as more people return to work, some office features are more attractive than others.

“It seems that free parking and more recent construction have the largest impact on vacancy rates,” Lavelle said. “New original construction seems to impact vacancy more than renovations of existing space. On the flip side, onsite bus stops, fitness or day care centers aren’t game changers when it comes to filling office space.”

Lavelle said it will require considerable effort from developers, landlords and tenants to bring office vacancy rates back to their pre-pandemic levels. He shared his research at the Corridor Business Journal’s Commercial Real Estate Symposium in Cedar Rapids.

A jury in Pottawattamie County has convicted a man of murdering his former girlfriend in 1989.

Barbara Lenz disappeared from her home in Woodbine when she was 25. Her body has never been found.

Robert Davis of Council Bluffs, 62, was arrested a year ago and Tuesday was found guilty of second-degree murder.

This is the first arrest and conviction for Iowa’s Cold Case Unit, which was formed in 2024.

Investigators said Davis hurt Lenz several times during their two-year relationship. She told other people she feared Davis would kill her if she left.

Iowa’s education savings program has surpassed $7 billion in assets, an increase of about a billion dollars in one year.

State Treasurer Roby Smith said the ISave 529 plan continues to grow as more families set aside money for future education costs.

The accounts allow savings to grow tax-free when used for qualified expenses like tuition, books or housing, including private elementary and high schools.

Smith made the announcement during a visit to Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City Tuesday.

Iowa taxpayers who contribute can also claim a state tax deduction of up to $5,800 per account on their 2025 taxes. That number rises to $6,100 this year.

The Iowa Senate Ethics Committee won’t act on a complaint against Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf. The committee voted 3 to 3 on separate motions to dismiss the complaint and to reprimand Webster.

Jennifer Olsen sent Webster, her state senator, an email calling Republican officials fascists and white supremacists. Webster posted the email on his Facebook page, including contact information for Olsen’s law office. Olsen filed a complaint stating Webster’s post harmed her business and led to someone calling her office to threaten her.

Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, said many inappropriate things are said to public officials.

“But to share confidential communication with personal information included in a public Facebook post is targeting and intimidation,” Winckler said.

Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia, said Olsen’s work contact information is publicly available, and Webster deleted the post when comments got out of hand. He said Webster’s conduct didn’t violate the ethics code.

The state Environmental Protection Commission recently approved more funding for the Yellow River Headwaters Water Quality Project in northeast Iowa.

Miranda Haes with the DNR is the coordinator of the project that covers the Yellow River and its north fork. She said Yellow River is an important river trail and fishery resource in the region. It’s also a tributary for the Upper Mississippi River.

Haes said the entire Yellow River is impaired with E-coli bacteria, and the project focuses on things that can improve the quality of water flowing into the river, such as cover crops, grass waterways, streambank stabilization and waste storage facilities.

“Since the project’s implementation, monitoring has shown declines in bacterial loading and specific segments and tributaries, coinciding with the nutrient and sediment reductions,” Haes said. “In addition, water quality improvements on specific segments of the Yellow River and its tributaries has led DNR fisheries staff to reintroduce native brook trout to the Yellow River headwater system, highlighting the water quality improvement.”

The project started around 2015 and Haes said they have held numerous workshops with those along the watershed to help them improve the runoff.

Sen. Chuck Grassley said he wants to ensure no discrimination was involved in the USDA’s decision to cut funding for a program for underserved farmers.

The Increasing Land, Capital and Market Access Program supported 50 grant projects across the country, including two in Iowa. According to a USDA summary, most of the projects supported Black, Latino, Native and immigrant farmers.

Grassley said he has a history of supporting Black farmers. He introduced a provision of the 2008 Farm Bill that supported farmers who made claims of discrimination against the USDA.

“I’m going to make sure that the USDA doesn’t discriminate in any way,” Grassley said.

According to the National Young Farmers Coalition, the termination letters from the USDA claim the grants did little to improve land access and overspent on outreach and technical assistance.

The National Weather Service is offering four more storm spotter training sessions in Iowa this spring in hopes of recruiting more helpers to keep an eye on the sky.

Travis Sheridan, Emmet County’s emergency management director, said they’re offering a course on Tuesday, April 7 at Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville.

“This is offered to first responders and it’s offered to the general public,” Sheridan said. “So they can become aware on what storms look like in our area and how they develop and how to recognize potential threats, especially if you’re going to be a storm spotter.”

Sheridan said severe weather spotters are vital links in helping keep many thousands of people safe.

“We need those storm spotters in our area because the National Weather Service does not see our atmosphere based off of radar,” Sheridan says. “And because our population in northwest Iowa is not high, they’re not going to put a multi-million-dollar radar to fill that gap.”

Iowa has already had multiple bouts with severe weather this year, and Sheridan says residents need to stay vigilant when the possibility of severe weather is in the forecast.

A storm spotter training session is also planned for this Thursday in Exira, while two virtual sessions will be held on April 14.

Gas prices are averaging above $4 a gallon nationwide as of Tuesday and the effects are expected to ripple into food, fertilizer and transportation costs.

Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson said continuing to offer E-15, a blend of ethanol and gasoline, would provide immediate relief to consumers. The war in Iran has sent the price of oil soaring, which is having impacts across many different sectors.

The representative from Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District said she supports an all-of-the-above energy strategy to offset the high costs of oil.

“I’m happy the president is trying to use all options available to lower costs for working families during Operation Epic Fury, and he’s made some changes to the Buy America requirements to lower costs, and I think it’s temporarily helpful, given the situation. But the cost of living is way too high,” Hinson said.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said last week the agency will have emergency waivers for E-15 during the summer months. The announcement came earlier than usual with the war in Iran.

Hinson also said she’s frustrated by inaction in Congress over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. She said Democrats are trying to weaken and undermine federal law enforcement efforts.

“How can they explain those kinds of games to our Coast Guard families? This stunt is having real life consequences, and we need a bipartisan solution as soon as possible,” she said. “So, I’m hopeful we’re back in DC voting as soon as possible, and I remain on standby to get on a plane to head back to vote.”

Last week, the Senate passed a bipartisan spending bill to fund most of DHS, except for immigration enforcement. House Republican leadership rejected the bill and did not bring it to a floor vote.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is planning a water treatment for Silver Lake in Delaware County in eastern Iowa. They want to try to improve water quality for lake ecosystems and recreation.

The treatment will use a nontoxic substance called alum to control high phosphorus levels. Phosphorus is buried in sediment but can cycle back into the water under certain conditions.

Michelle Balmer, with the DNR, said high phosphorus levels cause harmful algae blooms, but alum can bind to the nutrient to inactivate it.

“Which is a great thing when you think about water clarity, or improved habitat and quality of life for both people recreating and for the aquatic life and fish that live in the lake,” Balmer said.

The DNR is holding a meeting about the project Monday evening at Maquoketa Valley High School.

A series of treatments are planned for October, as well as next spring.

A shutdown plan for several small-town newspapers may not be the end of the story, as some could get a second chance with new owners.

Mid-America Publishing in Hampton plans to stop publishing more than 20 newspapers on Wednesday, April 1.

Matt Grohe of Mid-America Publishing said rising costs and lower circulation are forcing the company to give up the newspaper business and focus on commercial printing instead. He said the company is looking to sell the publications.

“Kind of a fluid situation. We're in talks with a number of people; they've been given reports about the newspapers and information, and they're doing due diligence, and they're thinking about it,” Grohe said.

Becky Vonnahme with the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation said the nonprofit is working to keep some of the newspapers from folding.

“We know it's a difficult situation right now with these closures and the impact that it will have on the communities, and we know that once local news disappears, it is incredibly hard to rebuild that,” Vonnahme said.

Over the past five years, the foundation has provided more than $1 million in assistance to 11 newsrooms.

A weather system moving into Iowa Monday evening could trigger severe weather Monday night and Tuesday.

Kristi Carter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines, said storms should develop in central Iowa and move to the east and north through the night.

“Some of those storms could certainly be severe. We're looking at large hail as kind of our primary threat,” Carter said. “Damaging winds are also a concern.”

Carter said there’s a chance of severe weather Tuesday afternoon, mainly in eastern Iowa. After record warmth Monday, conditions will change drastically.

“We're gonna have those winds start to increase and then we're also gonna have temperatures that are gonna be dropping through the day,” Carter said. “So by the time we get to kind of Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, we're looking at temperatures that'll be in the 30s for Wednesday morning.”

There are chances for precipitation every day for the rest of the week, and Carter said she can’t rule out the possibility of freezing rain and snow, particularly in northern Iowa.

Changes to federal food aid mean thousands of immigrants are no longer receiving assistance payments for groceries. That includes refugees, asylum seekers and human trafficking survivors.

The Trump administration said the restrictions reduce fraud and waste in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, but immigrants without legal status have never been eligible for the benefit.

Joseph Llobrera, a food research expert at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said there’s already a heavy vetting process.

“So this is only hurting people who are highly documented. If you think about it, they've gone through that process of demonstrating that they are here for humanitarian protections,” Llobrera said.

Luke Elzinga, with the Des Moines Area Religious Council’s Food Pantry Network, said in Iowa, SNAP enrollment has fallen about 6% since last summer.

“We don't have the numbers of, like, here's why we're seeing less numbers,” Elzinga said. “But obviously, the refugee and the immigration piece is a part of that, that is leading to declining enrollment.”

In some states, lawmakers have introduced bills that would increase reporting for immigrants who apply for food assistance.

Read more from Harvest Public Media.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume requirements for 2026 and 2027. In Friday’s announcement, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said these are the highest levels of blended fuel in the program’s history.

The rule maintains 15 billion gallons of conventional biofuels, including corn ethanol, for both 2026 and 2027.

To meet the new targets, officials said renewable diesel production is expected to increase by more than 60% compared to last year’s levels.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association said many biodiesel plants in the state remained idled as of January because of uncertainty in the market.

Bettendorf officials are moving ahead with plans to recreate a sculpture that was stolen in 2025.

The sculpture was of a boy skipping a rock on the Mississippi River. It was dismantled last January and discovered later in a scrapyard, with only fragments recovered. A suspect was arrested and pleaded guilty.

Parks Director John Byrnes said the community rallied for the sculpture’s return.

“I think that because it was such a cool, relatable sculpture on the river, it was so noticeable when it was gone,” Byrnes said. “This isn't like stealing a light post over in the area, this was stealing — or vandalizing — art. And I think that had a little more of an impact.”

City leaders have chosen to closely replicate the original design with help from the original artist’s family and an Omaha-based artist.

The project is set to be completed over the next six months.

Thousands of Iowans joined “No Kings” protests across the state over the weekend.

More than 300 people showed up on the front lawn of Sioux City’s public museum on Saturday, including Mary Lou Olson, who describes herself as an independent voter.

“My belief is Trump has to go. He’s a horrible disgrace for our country. He’s a felon. He’s disrespectful,” Olson said. “I don’t want my grandkids to look up to somebody like that.”

Olivia Jochims of Marcus attended the protest on her 18th birthday and urged others her age to get politically active.

“I just don't think a lot of people my age know about everything, and so they just don't concern themselves, and I think this is concerning and that we need to use our voices to make it known what we feel,” she said.

The largest rally in Iowa was at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. Protesters said they’re concerned about a range of issues, including immigration enforcement, the war in Iran and LGBTQ rights.

Sioux City has a sizable immigrant population, with about 12% of residents born outside the country.

Organizers said the rallies are a response to their belief that President Donald Trump is acting like a monarch rather than a democratically elected leader.

Read more.

Due to warm, dry conditions, there’s an elevated risk of fire across the state of Iowa Monday.

On Saturday, more than 50 fire departments responded to a large grass fire in rural Woodbury County east of Sioux City. The flames were fueled by high winds and extremely low humidity and spread quickly throughout the area.

Emergency management says the fire burned 3,500 acres in an area seven miles long and one mile wide.

The state fire marshal’s office found the fire was caused by accidental ignition from a previously burned tree pile. No criminal charges are being pursued at this time.

Officials said several farm buildings, a wooden county bridge, and two farmhouses were destroyed. One person was minorly injured.