The state of Iowa will create a $25 million restitution fund for teens who were harmed by having accounts on Facebook or Instagram. Attorney General Brenna Bird said Monday that Iowa is the first state to announce this kind of fund using settlement money from the social media giant, Meta. 

In all, Iowa will receive $126 million in the Meta settlement. Bird estimated the restitution fund could pay around $100 to each affected person. 

“I think it's important that the money that Meta made making profits by having these types of accounts, that at least a portion of it goes back to those who were hurt by those accounts,” Bird said.

The Attorney General’s Office is hiring an administrator to work out the details for families to file claims.  

Bird also announced a $10 million fund that will be used to help prosecute online sexual exploitation and to help schools address harms related to social media. 

A former central Iowa police chief will avoid jail time after pleading guilty Monday to charges of misconduct in office.

Bill Daggett was charged in January with felonious misconduct and first-degree theft after a state audit turned up more than $51,000 in improper payroll and compensation time payments. Daggett was serving as the police chief and interim city administrator in Mitchellville when the State Auditor’s Office report was released. He resigned after he was charged.

As part of a plea deal, Daggett pleaded guilty in Jasper County court to one charge of non-felonious misconduct in office. He was ordered to pay a $430 fine. The state dismissed the theft charge. 

KCCI reported Daggett admitted to failing to report using accrued sick time from the city of Van Meter while serving in the same role in Baxter.

Iowa regulators proposed timelines Monday for gathering evidence and deciding whether to grant two pipeline permits to SCS Carbon Transport, an affiliate of Summit Carbon Solutions.  

The two proposed pipelines are each under 5 miles. If approved, they would connect POET Bioprocessing in Ida County and Valero Renewables in Floyd County to Summit's larger pipeline network, which has not been built and faces legal hurdles.  

On Monday, the Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) proposed schedules that would conclude with hearings in February and March.  

SCS Carbon Transport, the Iowa Corn Growers Association and Iowa Renewable Fuels Association asked for the hearings to be moved up to mid-December.  

“The evidence from our side of the case will be very similar, if not identical in many respects to evidence already heard once by the commission in the original docket,” said Brant Leonard, an attorney on behalf of SCS Carbon Transport. 

Grant Gerlock

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Iowa Public Radio

Landowners like Terry Beek said they feel like the process is being rushed.  

“This does not seem to accommodate the people that are going to be impacted. This schedule seems to accommodate the people that are trying to get the pipeline in,” Beek said, adding that he wasn’t notified by the commission about the scheduling meeting and found out from someone else.   

Many of the pipeline opponents also said a hearing should not be set for these new permits unless the first part of Summit’s project moves forward. 

“We have the cart before the horse, because we don’t even know the purpose of this project,” said Deborah Main. “And that’s entangled now in chaos and litigation.” 

In 2024, Iowa’s regulators granted a permit to build the first phase of the project, on the condition that Summit receive agency-level approval from North Dakota and South Dakota for pipelines and underground storage.  

After a law banning eminent domain for pipelines passed in South Dakota, Summit requested the IUC remove the state-specific condition on the construction permit in Iowa. The IUC granted that change. However, the permit approval is being challenged in Polk County District Court. 

Ann Hammond

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Courtesy of Monarch Research

Conservationists are calling a rusty patched bumblebee sighting in eastern Iowa a good sign that habitat restoration efforts are helping the federally endangered species.

Danielle Holthaus, a research station manager at Monarch Research in Linn County, said she spotted the rare bee in a cluster of flowers near their building.

“Just to see one in Marion, right outside our research station building, that's incredibly special for us because it suggests that there's some habitat characteristics around here that are attracting the species and supporting them,” Holthaus said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers many parts of eastern Iowa “high potential zones,” which are places rusty patched bumblebees are most likely to be.

Holthaus said the bees benefit from native prairies and healthy woodlands. She said the two best things someone can do to help the species is to plant some native flowers and then be on the lookout so the bees don’t go undetected.

Read more.

New federal data shows Iowa accounted for nearly 10% of the nation’s child labor violations in 2025.

Records from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division show there were 1,114 child labor violations nationwide last year, with 108 found in Iowa. 

Sean Finn, with the nonprofit Common Good Iowa, said the problem is Iowa has less restrictive labor laws than the federal government. He said that can be confusing for employers. 

“Iowa changed the law to make it less restrictive than the federal standards, even though everybody still has to follow federal law, even if the state law isn't as strict,” Finn said.

In 2023, Iowa lawmakers loosened child labor restrictions for 14- and 15-year-olds. Supporters said it would give kids more opportunities to work and help address labor shortages in the state.

Finn said many of the child labor citations are hours violations.

The nation’s top domestic security official said Iowa Republicans will be critical in this year’s midterms. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin spoke at a fundraiser for Iowa’s 1st District Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks on Saturday.

Mullin told the crowd of about 180 attendees that Democrats want to throw the country into “chaos.”

“We’re not fighting socialism right now; they’re communists,” he said. “It’s flat out, no question. The president has called it that. He knows exactly what he’s talking about too because we’re seeing it.”

Mullin replaced Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary in March. He’s the latest in a string of Trump allies to stump for Iowa candidates ahead of the midterms.

Political analysts say the races for Iowa’s 1st and 3rd House districts, as well as the U.S. Senate, are some of the country’s tightest. In the 1st District, incumbent Miller-Meeks faces Democrat Christina Bohannan and Independent Michael Bridgford.

As the country marks 25 years since 9/11, Iowa’s governor at the time said ensuring safety and stability was a top priority after the attacks. 
 
Former Gov. Tom Vilsack had served as governor of Iowa for just under three years when the country was attacked by al-Qaeda in 2001. Speaking on IPR’s River to River, Vilsack said evaluating risk was an immediate top concern, but so was showing that state leaders weren’t discouraged from carrying out their responsibilities.  
                      
“My staff wanted me to go to the command center, and I felt that it was important and necessary for people to see me out and about, so that they understood and appreciated that — notwithstanding this attack — we were going to continue to move on,” Vilsack said Friday.
 
Vilsack said the state felt the long-term impacts of that day in many ways, including in the lives of Iowans killed in Afghanistan and by becoming more insular as a whole. Remembering the sacrifices of first responders and service members, he said, is a call to rebuild a sense of community in the country.  

Water quality is often the subject of intense debate in Iowa, and the Iowa Great Lakes area will host the 2026 Iowa Water Conference next week.

Organizers said the goals include making connections, learning and seeking solutions. The conference theme this year is “Life Depends on Water. Water Depends on You.”

“We try to focus the conference on the role that people’s lives play within the watershed, on how it impacts water quantity,” said Iowa Water Center Director Rick Cruse.

The 20th annual gathering takes place Sept. 16-17 at Arnolds Park along Lake Okoboji in northern Iowa. Cruse said there will be a wide range of water-based topics for breakout sessions and panel discussions, including how water quality relates to public health as well as flood and drought resilience.

“One is the integrated watershed and agricultural solutions,” Cruse said. “We’re working out what we can do within the watershed as a team, as a community, to make water better.”

Other workshop topics will include water recreation and tourism, as well as fisheries, wildlife and aquatic ecosystem health. Cruse said there will even be a couple of preconference tours of the Iowa Great Lakes.

“One is going to be an on-water tour,” he said. “That is actually going to be a tour in which the participant stakeholders are in canoes or in kayaks, so they’ll be paddling around the lake. The other tour is a bus tour.”

This is the first time the conference is being held in the Iowa Great Lakes, according to Cruse.

KSOU

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Sioux County Radio

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst joined Gov. Kim Reynolds in Sioux Center Thursday night at an Iowa GOP fundraiser. The event was the last in a six-stop series the party dubbed the governor’s “Legacy Tour.”

“I hope that if Iowans remember anything about me it’s that I wasn’t afraid to take on the big issues, the tough issues,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds told the crowd that when she was a kid in St. Charles, she thought she’d grow up to be a teacher.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would have the opportunity to serve Iowans in this capacity,” she said.

Reynolds, the first woman to be elected governor of Iowa, announced last spring that she would not seek reelection. Ernst, the first Iowa woman to be elected to federal office, met Reynolds when the two were county officials in southwest Iowa.

“It’s not just a friend here today, gone tomorrow, but it is truly a lifetime of friendship and admiration that I have for this incredible woman, who has made such a mark on Iowa that can never easily be erased,” Ernst said.

Republican Party of Iowa Co-Chair Linda Upmeyer, the first woman to be speaker of the Iowa House, was also at the event. Reynolds has served as governor since May 24, 2017, when then-Gov. Terry Branstad resigned to become U.S. ambassador to China.

The fundraiser Thursday night took place at the same venue Reynolds held a rally on Nov. 5, 2018 — the day before she won her first four-year term as governor.

Many firefighters from across the state gathered in Manchester Friday to attend the annual convention of the Iowa Firefighters Association.

Former Iowa Firefighters Association president and retired Osage firefighter Gene Evans said the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is on everyone’s mind.

“Whether it be by blood or the badge, we are all brothers and sisters,” Evans said. “And if you hurt one of us, you hurt all of us.”

Evans said the dark day in the nation’s history still lingers for firefighters across the country.

“Sept. 11, 2001, was a bad day for America, for the fire service; 343 of our brothers and sisters perished in the initial collapse of the towers. That memory haunts us to this very day,” he said.

The firefighters at the convention in northern Iowa paused their drills for a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. Friday, the time the first plane hit the World Trade Center.

ReLeaf Cedar Rapids has reached a milestone. Six years after Cedar Rapids lost about 70% of its trees in a derecho, the program to restore the tree canopy in the city has surpassed its half-way goal.

The group has planted more than 22,000 trees, putting the urban reforestation initiative at about 52% of its 10-year goal of 42,000 trees.

Michelle Beisker is CEO of Trees Forever, which put together the ReLeaf program in cooperation with the city of Cedar Rapids. She said part of the plan is to diversify the city’s tree canopy to make it more resilient to future disasters or invasive species.

Beisker said replanting in public spaces and private neighborhoods has benefits beyond simply curb appeal.

“We know that there is the need for shade and that trees provide improved soil quality and water quality and they're key to creating a beautiful neighborhood,” she said.

Around 670,000 trees in Cedar Rapids were lost during the 2020 derecho.

The University of Iowa Hawkeyes host the Iowa State Cyclones Saturday for this year’s CyHawk football game. But moments of the raucous rivalry will take a more somber tone in the wake of a recent tragedy.

The Hawkeye Marching Band will honor Derek Phillips, its mellophone section leader who died after collapsing in the heat during last Saturday’s game. The marching band posted on Facebook that the entire stadium will observe a moment of silence to honor Phillips before the CyHawk kickoff.

Band members will wear black ribbons and spell out Phillips’ name at end of their halftime show.

A new report from the State Auditor’s Office found the City of Hudson overpaid developers nearly $583,000 for projects partly supported by tax increment financing agreements.

Hudson officials said they’re consulting with the city’s legal counsel to see what can be done to recover the overpayments to six developers. Two of the projects were for apartment complexes, one of which was built on the border of Hudson and Cedar Falls.

The city clerk in Hudson called the State Auditor’s Office a year ago, raising concerns about the city’s finances. A reaudit report covering a two-year period found multiple city accounts had deficits.

For example, the City of Hudson issued bonds to cover a more than $700,000 deficit in its Capital Projects Fund. City officials told auditors they are looking into the reasons for the deficit balances and exploring ways to “bring the funds to a positive balance.”

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

The Iowa Environmental Council is leading a new campaign to improve water quality and reduce environmental cancer risks. The Protect Water Prevent Cancer campaign includes state-level policy recommendations, along with guidance for individuals to contact lawmakers and advocate for change in their communities.

Iowa Environmental Council Executive Director Sarah Green said the campaign follows nearly two years of listening sessions around the state, as well as a report released in March that digs into the science on four environmental risk factors driving Iowa’s high cancer rates.

“Nitrate, pesticides, PFAS and radon,” Green said. “We listened to Iowans, we followed the science and now we’re ready for action.”

Green also announced new polling results commissioned by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, in which 60% of 800 Iowa voters surveyed chose drinking water quality and the environment as one of their top five most important issues.

Read more.

Courtesy of White House Photographer Eric Draper

A former Iowan who survived the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11 said it’s time for the men accused of plotting the attacks 25 years ago to finally face trial. 

John Grote grew up in Sioux City and was working at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, when a plane was crashed into the building. He received the Soldier’s Medal for his rescue efforts and a Purple Heart for injuries he suffered that day. 

In late August, a trial date was set for 2028 for the four men who have spent years at Guantanamo Bay for their alleged roles in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 

Grote has been named as a prosecution witness and has traveled to Cuba many times for legal proceedings. 

“My heart of hearts knows that they're eventually going to get through this, sentence these guys, hopefully to death, like they're on trial for," he said. "But I look at it and say, 25 years later, really? It's just incredible to me that it's taken this long."

Grote retired from the military in 2015 and now lives in Wyoming. He plans to attend a ceremony at the Pentagon Friday, marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. 

Read more.

The total enrollment at Iowa’s public universities has leveled off after a period of post-pandemic growth, according to student data released Thursday.

The total student population fell 0.49% from last year, but not all three Regent campuses lost students. While the University of Iowa and Iowa State University saw slight declines, enrollment at the University of Northern Iowa actually increased by 162 students year over year — reaching its highest numbers since 2020.

Total enrollment at the three Regents schools reached a peak in 2016, with over 80,000 students. After falling to a low in 2022, the colleges have climbed back to 71,520 this fall.

Organizers of a rally planned in northwest Iowa this weekend are calling on Iowans to support immigrants and refugees. The Rally for Human Dignity is scheduled for Saturday morning at Central Park in Sioux Center.

The event was organized by Maria Magdalena Reformed Church, where Jason Lief is co-pastor. He said immigrants in the community are still worried about being deported.

“They're going now after people who don't have criminal records,” Lief said. “Nobody wants criminals living in their neighborhood, but when they start going after the people who have lived here for a longer period of time, have businesses, families and are just good members of our community, that's when we decided, ‘OK, we need to speak out.’”

Lief is urging 4th District Rep. Randy Feenstra, who represents the region, to support the Dignity Act, which allows limited legal status for some immigrants. Lief said the bill isn’t perfect but would be a start toward broader reform.

Ankeny is moving forward with a 1% local option sales tax. During Tuesday’s special election, 64% of voters approved the tax, according to the Polk County Election Office.

Ankeny was one of five cities in Iowa without a local option sales tax.

City officials said Ankeny needed more sources of revenue, especially after new property tax legislation was passed this year that caps some revenue growth.

The new sales tax is expected to generate $12 million annually. The revenue will be split between property tax relief, street improvements and public infrastructure, according to city officials.

Ankeny residents will pay the 1% tax on top of the 6% sales tax that goes toward the state and school district starting Jan. 1, 2027.

Waterloo could soon have its first-ever city manager. It is one of Iowa’s largest cities without the position.

At a council meeting this week, Mayor Dave Boesen said the position would provide continuity as city politics shift.

“Waterloo already has talented and capable department heads. What's missing is leadership that does not change every election cycle,” Boesen said. “The success of this city should not be based on the next election cycle.”

The city council could create the position as soon as this month. Boesen said he would then seek to reduce the mayor’s pay to help fund it.

Of Iowa’s 10 largest cities, only Waterloo and Council Bluffs lack a top administrator.

The position would serve at the will of the council.

This November, Iowans will vote on a constitutional change on their ballot. The change would make it harder for state lawmakers to raise the personal income or corporate tax rate.

Any increase would need support from two-thirds of lawmakers in both the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate. Currently, only a simple majority is required.

A coalition led by the progressive group Common Good Iowa claims the change would give lawmakers fewer tools to fill budget deficits and lead to possible cuts to Medicaid or SNAP.

Kylie Spies, senior policy advocate with Common Good Iowa, said making it harder to raise the income tax will drive lawmakers to raise other taxes that overly burden lower-income Iowans.

“It can be used to offset other taxes like sales and property tax that hit low and middle income people hardest. If it's too hard to raise the income tax, lawmakers will look to all of the other taxes not subject to supermajority," Spies said.

Iowans for Tax Relief has launched a campaign to approve the amendment, saying it would protect taxpayers. As of 2025, 16 states require supermajorities to increase or impose new taxes, including California, Arizona and Colorado.

The general election is Nov. 3.

American farmers will likely feel the squeeze of higher tariffs exchanged with Canada on both their supply costs and sales.

President Donald Trump's administration recently put in place 50% tariffs on Canadian goods after trade talks between the two countries fell apart.

Canada came back with their own import taxes, which will affect everything from dairy products to ag equipment, effective this week.

Jayash Paudel, an associate professor of economics at the University of Oklahoma, said machines like tractors and combines are often built by moving materials back and forth over the border.

"A tariff can hit the same component more than once, and what that really does is it ends up raising the machinery cost for American farmers, even though the tariff is Canadian,” Paudel said.

Powdered milk and whey are among the American dairy products facing added tariffs from Canada.

U.S. dairy leaders say lost sales could lead to an oversupply of milk and lower prices.

Read more.

Torrential rains caused flash flooding overnight in the Des Moines area.

Thunderstorms dropped 5-7 inches of rain over much of the metro.

Classes were cancelled at North High School in Des Moines because of a power outage related to the storms.

According to Polk County Emergency Management, as many as 17,000 people initially lost power.

The agency says the Raccoon River near downtown is expected to crest this evening below moderate flood stage.

Waterloo passed a temporary ban on new data centers at its council meeting Tuesday night. It joins a growing list of Iowa communities with a moratorium in place.

Residents have asked for a moratorium since learning a data center developer was eyeing a 12 acre industrial site in Waterloo this summer.

The council approved an initial agreement with the company last December. It included tax breaks and a $1 land transfer.

Council member Steve Schmitt said the 3-month moratorium will allow the city to pause before any next steps.

“It would just be great if we could get everybody somewhat on the same page, or all kind of operating from the same set of information,” Schmitt said. “I think that would be very beneficial to everybody.”

Dubuque’s city council is also moving toward adopting a moratorium. The northeast Iowa communities join dozens across the state working to regulate the projects.

At a Labor Day rally in the Quad Cities, Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker expressed his support for Democrat Rob Sand in the Iowa governor’s race.

Sand is running against Republican Zach Lahn in the November election.

Pritzker spoke at a picnic for party leaders and union members in East Moline on Labor Day. He said it would benefit the Quad Cities region to have Democratic governors on both sides of the state border.

“We share a common belief that we need to lift up working families; that we’ve got to make sure we’re putting more money in people’s pockets; we’ve got better education for people by investing in it,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker is currently seeking a third term in office. Iowa last elected a Democratic governor in 2006.

The Duane Arnold nuclear plant officially has enough money to restart the energy center.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly visited rural Linn County to announce a loan of up to $1.9 billion from the Department of Energy.

When the energy center lost its contract with Alliant Energy and suffered damage from the derecho, it closed in 2020. Danly said recommissioning Duane Arnold is part of the Trump administration’s plan for an “American nuclear renaissance.”

“But most importantly, the value of Duane Arnold is for Iowa and the people of Linn County. We're going to see an economic benefit of about $9 billion,” Danly said. “That's $40 million to local schools, $70 [million] plus to taxes, 450 permanent jobs here.”

Most of the power produced by Duane Arnold will be bought by Google Energy. Google is eyeing nearby land for a data center.

But about 50 megawatts annually will serve roughly 300,000 nearby homes.

The plant is scheduled to come online by 2029, pending regulatory approval.

Lincoln Savings Bank is merging with Equity Bank in a $128 million stock and cash deal.

The deal was announced last week. Lincoln, which is headquartered in Reinbeck, operates 16 branches in central and northeast Iowa. Equity has 85 branches across the Midwest and South. The two companies combined would control around $9.2 billion in assets.

Brad Elliot is chairman and CEO of Equity Bancshares, a holding company of Equity Bank. He said one reason they looked to expand further into Iowa is the strong agricultural sector.

“We currently have about 12% of our portfolio in ag loans. That makes up about $700 million,” Elliot said. “We'll add a couple $100 million with this merger to that ag portfolio so we're probably one of the largest ag lending banks in the region.”

Elliott said Lincoln’s retail customers will not see any major changes, as the two companies share the same online banking platform.

If approved by regulators, it would be the second bank merger in Iowa this year.

In June, Illinois-based First Mid Bancshares announced an agreement to acquire Burlington-based Two Rivers Financial Group.

Iowa has the most community banks per capita in the U.S.

Iowa's economic development office is betting on advanced manufacturing and aerospace to drive the state's economy. It has announced $4 million in grants for three projects focused on those industries.

The University of Northern Iowa recently received almost a million dollars from the state’s economic development office to buy an automated furnace and a massive 3D printer for the UNI Metal Casting Center & Foundry 4.0 Center.

Nathaniel Bryant, associate director of the center and one of the country’s leading researchers on the industrial applications of sand, said the investment will keep his lab at the cutting edge.

“The state has always been very generous in helping us because they know the value we provide to — not just John Deere — but all of the foundries in Iowa, and frankly in the nation,” he said.

Bryant said that value comes in the form of workers and research findings.

Other grants will support aerospace innovation and medical technology at the University of Iowa.

A member of the University of Iowa marching band has died after collapsing from the heat in Iowa City on Saturday.

The heat index surpassed 100 degrees at the football game against Northern Illinois, causing the band’s halftime performance to be canceled.

The family of Derek Phillips said he suffered cardiac arrest and was admitted to intensive care. They were told the damage to Phillips' brain was too severe for him to survive.

In a statement, the University of Iowa said it is “heartbreaking.” The university is providing counselors for fellow students in the marching band and school of music.

Phillips played horn in the marching band. He was studying business analytics and planned to graduate in 2028.

The candidates running to be Iowa’s next governor use words like “creepy” and “invasive” to describe the tens of thousands of Flock cameras that are capturing and storing license plate images, and both would support state regulations for automated license plate readers.

Republican candidate Zach Lahn uses the word “suspicious” to describe the dramatic growth of Flock’s national network of cameras.

“This is a private company that is owning your data of where you drive anywhere, anytime you’re in Des Moines or some of these other cities. They’re popping up everywhere,” Lahn said. “This is what a surveillance state starts out as.”

Rob Sand, the Democrat running for governor, said companies with better data protection measures are now competing with Flock.

“I think that people who have privacy concerns [about Flock] are being reasonable,” Sand said. “I think what we’ve seen is a company that built this stuff out and did not put checks and balances into place to make sure that what they were doing wasn’t going to get abused … That doesn’t mean that we need drastic, immediate action. We are seeing the market work right now. They’re losing contracts.”

Sand said if concerns remain down the road, he’d be “happy to sign” a law that establishes some safeguards for the collection, storage and sharing of data from cameras that read license plates.

Iowa cities like Oelwein, Coralville and Indianola have ended agreements with Flock over privacy concerns. Critics said Flock’s data can be used to track the movements of millions of Americans, without a warrant. A Kentucky policeman, for example, has been charged for using 2,000 Flock searches to track his ex-girlfriend.

Respiratory virus season typically begins around the holidays when temperatures drop and people start spending more time indoors, where germs spread more easily.

Jon Crosbie, a family physician at the Des Moines University Clinic, said Iowans don't have to wait until the weather gets cold to get the shot. He said everyone who is eligible should consider getting it.

“Even if you're in a low-risk category, the flu can still put you in the hospital,” Crosbie said. “People always seem to think that the flu is just a really bad cold, and when you get the flu, you know all about it. It's a tough, tough illness.”

Additionally, Crosbie said when low-risk people get the shot, they are helping to protect those who may be more vulnerable to getting seriously ill.

According to state data, 63% of Iowans got a flu shot last season.

Johnson County employees may soon have to report if and how they use artificial intelligence.

It’s the latest county in Iowa drafting an AI policy for staff.

IT Director Bill Horning said these types of policies are important for protecting sensitive information.

“AI tools are a great assistance in doing things. But we can't just put data out there … AI learns from being fed information,” Horning said. “So you put county data in there, it has that county data going forward. You can't just say, ‘Oh, erase everything I told you.’ It doesn't work that way. Once it's there, it's there.”

He said staff need to protect residents’ identifying information and health data.

Iowa state employees also have to follow an AI policy.

Sioux, Pottawattamie, Black Hawk and Woodbury are some other counties that have created their own local guidelines.

A new mentoring program wants to help medical professionals make connections across Iowa’s healthcare industry.

The Iowa White Coat Network is meant to strengthen the state’s workforce and encourage physicians to stay in Iowa. The Iowa Medical Society launched the platform last month.

Past president Brian Privett said making stronger connections across career stages can help support the entire medical workforce, which he said is key to addressing the state’s shortage.

“We really want to take a long-term approach and think about this as a pipeline for the future — to really make those connections early on so that down the road we can really make an impact on the physician shortage,” Privett said.

He said statewide connections will be especially important in rural Iowa, where a physician may be the only one practicing in the area.

The system uses information like specialty, interests and location to match mentors and mentees.

Iowa State University is developing a demonstration site for showcasing conservation measures designed to reduce nutrients in agricultural runoff.

The Watershed Innovation Farm will include wetlands, grassed waterways and edge-of-field infrastructure designed to intercept and filter field tile drainage before it enters a creek.

Another area will educate visitors about some common issues in Iowa’s wooded areas and methods for removing invasive species that crowd out native trees, like oak and walnut.

The exhibits will be accessible by trails and feature educational signs designed by Iowa Learning Farms.

Project leaders are also planning to showcase nearby cover crops and possibly prairie strips in fields.

Faculty and students are involved in research and developing programming at the Watershed Innovation Farm, which will open next year south of Ames.

Writer Ruth Suckow filled her short story collection Iowa Interiors with episodes of small-town life while living as a beekeeper in Earlville. The book came out in 1926. At the time, Suckow was a nationally recognized writer. This week, a small press in Cedar Falls is releasing a centennial edition of the collection.

Julie Husband co-edited the new edition. She said the stories recapture an Iowa of long ago.

“It's just not the same. You know, there's no ‘Big Ag’ in Ruth Suckow, and there are a lot of very small farmers, a lot of itinerant ministers. There are a lot of people who are living hand to mouth. I suppose that's similar to today … that part.”

Jim O’Loughlin, a professor of English at the University of Northern Iowa who co-edited the new edition, said Suckow’s books are hard to find.

“Her work has been out of print, and a lot of those publishers are not around anymore. I mean, some of her work has been reissued through the years. There was a wave of publications in the 1970s, but that's still 50 years ago,” he said. “So I think there's a reason why a kind of reissue makes it possible for her work to be more widely available.”

Editors of the new edition said the work still has literary merit and they hope the new edition revives her legacy.

Opposition to data centers stems from many concerns. People worry the centers will deplete local water supplies because they require hundreds of thousands of gallons each day to stay cool. They worry about data centers pushing up the cost of electricity and straining electrical grids. Others fear the impact of large-scale construction projects on their property values and worry about the noise. Emerging research indicates that data centers often land in communities already burdened by air and water pollution.

Jacob Montgomery, a political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said that general unease about artificial intelligence, which relies on data centers, is also part of the pushback.

“There's a broader hesitancy about AI itself,” he said. “I think the sentiment out there is, ‘Why are we allowing these facilities to be built in our neighborhoods to benefit billionaires out in Silicon Valley?’”

Polling shows opposition to data centers is increasingly bipartisan. In March, Gallup conducted a survey that found seven in 10 Americans oppose building data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area. While Democrats are more likely to oppose data centers, a Politico survey showed more Republicans changing their positions between January and July.

“On the left, there's concerns about the environment, water, energy, climate,” Montgomery said. “On the right, it's about property rights and local control and utility bills.”

Caught between the people who elected them and big tech, local officials have found themselves in the crosshairs of powerful competing interests. And because states have been slow to implement regulations, municipal and county leaders have been left to play catch-up.

Read more.

The price for diesel fuel hit a record high today, with a nationwide average of $5.85 a gallon, according to AAA. Over the last two weeks, the price of regular unleaded gasoline has fallen, while diesel prices continued to rise.

Rania Lachab, an assistant professor of Economics and Energy at Iowa State University, said diesel is more connected to the global market than gasoline, which is produced domestically. Lachab said disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz due to the U.S. war with Iran have affected supply, as have Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries.

“Russia supplied 10% of the world diesel before disruptions, but now there's a ban on exports in Russia that's been renewed through Sept. 30, and so this means that effectively 10% of the world's supply in diesel has been taken off the market,” Lachab said.

Diesel is currently averaging around $5.66 in Iowa. Lachab said there is some good news for drivers and farmers heading into the harvest season, because diesel inventories in the cornbelt are higher than those on either coast.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and the four Iowans who serve in the U.S. House are among 53 Republicans in Congress who’ve signed on to a letter to President Donald Trump, warning that American farmers and ranchers face “significant headwinds.”

The letter says intervention in the cattle market “threatens to pick winners and losers” and undermines “the long-term viability of family-owned cattle operations.” It does not directly mention Trump’s decision to waive additional tariffs on 660 million pounds of beef imports over the next 90 days, in order to lower ground beef prices for consumers.

Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, who’s seeking reelection in Iowa’s 3rd District, said in a post on social media that the group “shares the goal of bringing down prices for American families,” but Nunn said “flooding the market with foreign beef is the wrong answer at the wrong time.”

Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for the U.S. Senate, briefly mentioned the letter during her weekly conference call with Iowa reporters.

“I think our producers raise the highest quality beef in the world, and I talked to many of them when I was at the state fair. They have faced those tough market conditions, as we know,” Hinson said.

During a stop at the fair just hours after Trump announced his beef import plan, Hinson called it “a bad idea.” The letter she’s signed on to says “long term certainty” for the cattle industry can be delivered “by fostering existing domestic demand and continuing efforts to expand overseas markets for American beef products.”

A special investigation conducted by the State Auditor’s Office has identified questionable transactions totaling $122,000 at a chamber of commerce in northeast Iowa.

The investigation reviewed finances while Brandie Tomkins was director of the Guttenberg Chamber of Commerce. She was first hired in October of 2020 and two years later the chamber entered into an agreement that made Tomkins an employee of the chamber and the City of Guttenberg.

During a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, State Auditor Rob Sand said officials from the chamber of commerce and the City of Guttenberg asked for the review after Tomkins resigned from the job in 2024.

“Chamber officials began reviewing financial records and discovered what they called ‘a mess,'” Sand said. “Many disbursements issued to her without documentation, missing time sheets for her, missing receipts for items that she had purchased and no evidence that cash collected at chamber events had actually ever been deposited.”

Auditors identified about $30,000 in cash withdrawals and about $51,000 in pay to Tomkins that wasn’t properly documented.

“There’s also $10,000 in unsupported payments to chamber vendors and 32 reimbursement checks to herself totaling over $9,000 that we could not support through receipts or other documentation,” Sand said.

Auditors found a $50 DraftKings purchase on the chamber’s debit card. According to the report from the State Auditor’s Office, Tomkins told auditors she doesn’t have a DraftKings account “and wouldn’t know how to use it.”

Tomkins said she left all documentation for the chamber’s finances in the chamber office when she resigned. A chamber board member and their spouse told auditors “some records” were left behind, but they can’t be sure what was for the chamber and what was personal.

A charter school opening this year in northeast Iowa is only the second of its kind in the state.

The Future Frontiers Charter School is housed in the Sumner-Fredericksburg School District. Unlike most Iowa charters, it’s governed by the same elected school board. It’s an effort to recapture students who left the public school system.

Enrolled high schoolers split time between traditional, online and community college classes and work-based learning.

Superintendent Ryan Cunningham said it could be a model for public schools as students seek other options.

“The local high schools and the face-to-face interaction for our students is so vital and important, and keeps them connected,” Cunningham said on IPR’s Talk of Iowa. “They've chosen to leave for a reason, and if we can bring them back in some ways, we think that that's really a healthy thing for those kids.”

Enrollment in the district has fallen roughly 25% since 2000. But New Frontiers met its first-year goal of nearly 30 full or partially enrolled students. It hopes to enroll 75 next year.

State officials are unable to spend billions of federal dollars earmarked for rural broadband projects until the Trump administration issues guidance.

The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program is meant to help connect remote areas to high-speed internet.

States had to rework projects last year to lower the cost of the program under new rules. That left $21 billion that needed instructions, including about $233 million in Iowa.

Drew Garner, with the Benton Institute of Broadband and Society, said states have the funding to build the broadband infrastructure. But the federal government has not told states how they can spend more than $20 billion for non-infrastructure needs, like digital skills training.

“To date, they've missed a number of deadlines that they had previously given themselves to release that guidance,” Garner said.

He said there isn’t a clear idea of when or how the instructions will be released.

A task force on nuclear energy in Iowa said state lawmakers should consider incentives to promote development of new nuclear power sources.

The Trump administration has set a goal to add 300 gigawatts of nuclear energy nationwide by 2050.

In its report, the Iowa Nuclear Energy Task Force said lawmakers should incentivize Iowa manufacturers to supply the industry and utilities to invest in new reactors.

They said the state should also study which areas have the best potential to locate nuclear power.

Iowa is already part of the pivot toward nuclear. NextEra Energy is in the process of recommissioning the Duane Arnold nuclear plant near Cedar Rapids.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a statement that nuclear energy is an important opportunity for the state and the recommendations provide a roadmap to make Iowa a leader in the industry.

An early childhood program for kids in poverty could see hundreds of regulations removed under a proposal from the Trump administration. This includes loosening medical screening requirements and removing federal caps on class sizes.

Families also would no longer be able to self-declare they’re experiencing homelessness, and would have to provide external documents.

Chris Juett is executive director of the Iowa Head Start Association. Speaking on IPR’s Talk of Iowa, she said this is challenging for families with informal living arrangements.

“They're not staying somewhere that could provide that documentation, especially here in Iowa, because we have a lot of rural communities that don't have any kind of homeless shelter,” Juett said. “They are actually doubling up with family members or friends, and lots of times they will be moving from home to home, and so those children have a lot of other things going on.”

Last year, Iowa had more than 6,500 kids in Head Start.

The Trump administration said removing the regulations will give states more control and open more slots for kids.

The proposal is currently in a 60 day comment period.

Zach Lahn, the Republican candidate for governor, said he isn’t calling for a ban on certain farm chemicals, but he says the EPA is not telling the truth about the safety of some products and that there should be independent research on the state level.

“Just to make sure we have proper science so farmers and consumers — by the way, it’s not just farmers, it’s consumers — can know the real side effects from using something,” Lahn said.

Lahn has opposed efforts to provide legal immunity to Bayer, which markets glyphosate under the brand name Round Up, if the company’s labels about proper usage follow EPA guidelines.

“When you look at something like Paraquat [and] you get it on your skin, it’s actually a health risk immediately,” Lahn said. “Glyphosate is very different than that, but are there residual effects from how much we’re using? There probably are and I just think we need to make sure we’re taking the proper course of action to investigate that and research that so we can give farmers and consumers real science to base their decisions off.”

In February, President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring glyphosate as a critical part of the food supply, a move that could provide a legal defense to Round Up’s manufacturer as it faces hundreds of lawsuits.

Public school districts in Iowa are facing budget challenges from rising costs and lower enrollment numbers.

The Des Moines Independent Community School District, Iowa's largest district, said it’s losing nearly 600 students a year.

Speaking on IPR’s Talk of Iowa, Interim Superintendent Matt Smith said enrollment is the primary source of revenue for public school districts.

“We’re talking about literally millions and millions of dollars in revenue that we no longer have to provide programming resources for students and families,” Smith said.

He said last year the district hired less staff and closed two buildings to make $17 million in budget cuts. This year, he says they’ll look at similar ways to save money and preserve programs.

Creston Community Schools in rural southwest Iowa serves 1,300 students. Superintendent Deron Stender said the district has been losing 50 to 60 students a year for almost a decade.

Stender said on Talk of Iowa that the state supplemental aid that funds their programs hasn’t kept pace with inflation for years.

“We haven’t been meeting the needs of the district’s finances or public school finances for at least the last 10 years, and then we see the pie get another slice in it for private schools,” Stender said.

Stender said education savings accounts are also allowing more students to enroll in private schools.

He said the challenges put pressure on the district to maintain quality education, and it’s looking at how to keep providing the same opportunities for students.

A new report from the Iowa Environmental Council shows an uptick in the use of fossil fuels for electric generation in the state.

Wind still produces most of the energy generated in Iowa, but the amount of power coming from coal increased about 50% from 2024 to 2025.

Steve Guyer, an energy sector expert with the IEC, presented the findings Wednesday.

“It would appear that 2026 is headed down that same path of greater utilization of the coal units,” Guyer said.

Burning coal releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which traps heat. Research has also linked air pollution from coal-fired power plants to asthma, cancer, heart and lung disease and other health impacts.

Guyer said reducing emissions by fully transitioning to wind and solar energy in Iowa would provide a “substantial public health benefit,” while helping reduce the impacts of climate change.

Downtown Iowa City has not seen a rise in violent crime, but Iowa City and University of Iowa police have been patrolling downtown every night since a shooting in April injured five people.

Police chief Dustin Liston has requested three new positions dedicated to downtown at night to make that team permanent. He said it would cost about $370,000 a year, but save nearly $100,000 in overtime.

City councilors including Laura Bergus wonder if more police officers are the most effective way to deter violent crime as the city stares down a tightening budget.

“There are best practices that are really based on a broader definition of safety, the culture that we're trying to cultivate in our community,” Bergus said. “And I just think that this decision would be very short-sighted and expensive, if we're trying to actually address violence in the downtown area.”

The city council delayed their decision until they can have a more comprehensive budget conversation this fall.

The amount of farmland enrolled in a state-based cover crop program has surpassed 1 million acres across Iowa for the first time.

The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship offers farmers funding to offset the cost of planting cover crops to reduce erosion and fertilizer runoff.

A 22-county area upstream from the Des Moines metro helped grow cover crop enrollment. The area was targeted this year to help improve water quality in central Iowa.

More than 300,000 acres in that watershed were enrolled in the cost share program in 2026. That’s about three times as many acres as last year.

Sioux City has a new online tool for reporting homeless encampments as the city works to address and remove them, but some advocates worry it could go too far.

Monique Scarlett is founder and president of Unity in the Community, which works to build trust between local residents and law enforcement. She said there’s a growing homeless population in Sioux City.

“Our country's economic situation is not getting any better. More people are losing their jobs. There's more mental health issues than ever before,” Scarlett said. “Our youth homeless population has increased, so it's not going away.”

Scarlett believes the reporting tool’s intentions are good, but worries about misuse and unnecessary confrontations.

“We can't bully it out. We have to learn how to help and assist and build community instead of breaking the community,” she said. “That's how I feel about it.”

The head of Sioux City’s Warming Shelter said having a direct way to report concerns allows service providers to help the homeless population without tying up emergency services that are already stretched thin.

City officials say as they remove encampments, a Homeless Assistance Response Team will try to connect people with resources they need.

State Climatologist Justin Glisan said the heat dome that settled over Iowa in August had an impact on both temperatures and the amount of rainfall.

“The average temperature preliminarily is about 1.2 degrees above the 30 year climatology. So warmer than average overall, but not exceedingly warm,” he said.

Glisan said last month will end up out of the top 25 in the record book for warmest August. August also averaged 5.25 inches of rainfall — about 1.2 inches above normal.

Glisan said the heat dome determined where that precipitation fell, with the driest areas missing out again. The rain fell in a swath from western to eastern Iowa that bent to the south.

“Particularly from around Council Bluffs over to Des Moines, surplus rainfall totals anywhere from four to six inches above normal. And in the southeast corner as well, we’re seeing precipitation surpluses in the four to eight inch range. Also wetter conditions for much of eastern Iowa,” Glisan said.

The heat dome has returned at the start of September, and Glisan said the good news is the dome has shifted further north. Glisan said that could help out the drier areas of the state recover some of their moisture deficit.

Beef prices are at record highs, with ground beef passing $7 a pound on a nonseasonally adjusted basis, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. cattle herd is the smallest it’s been in 75 years, at a time when there is also strong demand for beef and ongoing concentration in the packing industry. Historic drought in the western U.S. has dried up grazing lands, forcing producers to liquidate their herds.

Pat Wall, a Beef Field Specialist at Iowa State University Extension, said a lot of beef producers are in their 60s and 70s, and may not see the point in taking on the work of growing their herds.

“The incentive for them to basically do more labor isn't really there,” Wall said. “They're gonna capitalize on the feeder calf prices the way they are, and they're gonna need some other intrinsic factor to get them to keep more heifers than they can.”

Wall said one obstacle to opening up more grazing land is that fencing in many areas is extremely old and needs replacing, which is very expensive.

He said the COVID pandemic saw demand for beef surge, driving up prices. Wall said after lockdowns ended, market forces kept prices artificially low.

“I heard this from a very prominent person in the beef industry. Maybe beef isn't too expensive,” Wall said. “Maybe beef finally caught up to where it should have been all along.”

The U.S. has begun accepting cattle from Mexico for the first time since 2024.

Mexican cattle imports had mostly been on hold due to the presence of New World Screwworm, a parasite that can be deadly for livestock.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will gradually reopen ports of entry for livestock along the border with Mexico, starting in Arizona.

It’s a relief for American businesses that buy cattle, like feedlots and meatpackers.

David Anderson, agricultural economist at Texas A&M University, said the move could also help costs at the grocery store, eventually.

“I think it’s certainly there, the potential to reduce beef prices to consumers,” Anderson said. “But you know, it takes a while to get those animals fed to their full-grown weight.”

Bill Bullard, CEO of the cattle and sheep producer group R-CALF, said the imports risk spreading screwworm.

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing to prematurely relax our important mitigation measures against the pest by phasing in border openings,” Bullard said. “We believe this is a mistake, we believe this is dangerous. “

USDA officials said they will send extra inspectors to the border so that each animal can be individually screened for screwworm.

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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins visited the Farm Progress Show near Boone on Tuesday, where she highlighted the Trump administration’s commitment to biofuels.

The administration this year ordered a record amount of renewable fuel to be blended into the nation’s fuel supply. But the Trump EPA also granted exemptions for small refineries, totaling nearly 1.8 billion gallons.

Rollins said that amount will still be accounted for.

“Yesterday that commitment was reaffirmed with 100% reallocation in all excess RINs by 2027,” she said. “So basically immediately.”

RINs are Renewable Identification Numbers, which are credits used to track compliance with blending requirements. Reallocation means a larger refinery will blend those excess gallons into the fuel supply at a later date.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said a new initiative will help grow the number of cattle in the U.S.

The national herd size has fallen seven consecutive years, and hit a 75-year low earlier this year, partly due to drought that affected grazing lands in the West.

The Ranchers First Initiative includes a new federal insurance option for producers who retain their cows to grow their herd. It also creates more flexibility to use grasslands in the USDA conservation reserve program and supports regional processing through loans.

At the Farm Progress Show in Boone Tuesday, Rollins said the initiative builds on other efforts in the administration.

“We are putting protein, we’re putting beef right back at the center of policy making in Washington, D.C.,” Rollins said.

Groups like the Iowa Food System Coalition and Iowa Farmers Union said they appreciate pieces of the Ranchers First Initiative, but that the administration has sent mixed signals to producers, creating instability and chaos.

President Donald Trump recently said the U.S. will import 300,000 metric tons of ground beef, 25% below the market price, to reduce prices for consumers.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced in Iowa on Tuesday a plan to streamline how the USDA collects and uses farm data.

The USDA Data Modernization Plan includes improving mobile access to farmer surveys and expanding secure data sharing across the agency.

Rollins said another goal is increasing transparency by explaining why information is requested and how it is used.

“Everything for me changed when I began to talk to farmers directly, who had just been asked to fill out the survey for the fifth time, who had been told or not told why they were asking for that survey, who had had trouble getting responses from the local offices,” she said.

Speaking at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Rollins said the data modernization plan reduces the administrative burdens on farmers and ranchers.

Ankeny residents will vote on adopting a 1% local option sales tax next week.

Ankeny is the only city in Polk County that hasn’t adopted a local option sales tax. The city has been relying on property taxes to fund most services and infrastructure. And Ankeny has the lowest city property tax rate in the metro.

City Manager Mike Schrock said they need more sources of revenue, especially now that Iowa passed new property tax legislation.

“I think it amplifies the need to diversify revenue even more, because there will be limitations and caps placed on the city’s revenue opportunities,” he said.

Schrock said all the revenue from the city’s existing 6% sales tax goes toward the school district and the state.

Schrock said the new sales tax will increase revenue from visitors shopping in Ankeny.

It would generate around $12 million for the city each year, which Schrock said would fund transportation, roadwork and police and fire equipment.

A south-central Iowa man was arrested Friday on a felony charge for allegedly threatening a Fremont-Mills school board member before its Aug. 19 board meeting.

Deputies were able to determine that the threatening call came from Eric Ballanger, 52, of Russell. Authorities said they examined Ballanger’s phone and found he had made a second call to another board member that went unanswered and that he had viewed a social media post concerning an upcoming vote.

Ballanger was charged with threat of terrorism and was released from the Fremont County Jail on $5,000 bond. The school board vote scheduled for Aug. 19 concerned approving the contract of Ace Rios as the district’s band instructor. The board voted 2-2, with one member abstaining, meaning the motion was defeated.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

State officials are warning Iowans to stay away from synthetic kratom products as the number of overdose deaths from the drug are up this year.

Kratom originates from a plant in southeast Asia and can produce opioid-like effects. But officials reported Tuesday that Iowa has seen an increase in unregulated, highly potent lab-created versions of kratom. The products are often sold in convenience stores and marketed as herbal supplements. 

Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens said these products can be very potent, leading to accidental overdoses. 

“There is no way of knowing what these products actually contain,” Bayens said. “They are often misbranded, and if you choose to use them, you could be playing a dangerous game of Russian roulette.”

State Medical Director Robert Kruse said lab testing shows some of these products may be 13 times more potent than morphine. 

“Some people may start using these products because they're trying to manage pain or because they're trying to manage withdrawal from another substance,” Kruse said. “But these products themselves can lead to dependence and withdrawal.”

Federal officials recently issued an emergency classification of several types of synthetic kratom as Schedule I drugs. State officials said this move allows Iowa to do the same. 

A whistleblower report released Monday alleges the U.S. Postal Service is moving forward with plans to restrict mail-in voting, in defiance of a court order.

Last week, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said he didn’t think any changes to voting by mail would take place before the midterm elections.

During a call with reporters Tuesday, Grassley was asked about the whistleblower’s report and whether he thought changes to mail-in voting were being rushed. Grassley said he still isn’t sure there’s time to clear the changes before the November election.

“I'm going to applaud the president in anything that's within his constitutional power or within power given to him by statute, that there's nothing wrong with trying to get fraud out of elections and to make sure that only citizens can vote,” he said.

The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office reported that they received over 675,000 absentee ballots in the 2024 general election. The record was set in 2020, when over 1.6 million absentee ballots were received.

A new data analysis suggests the number of heat-related deaths may be significantly undercounted in Iowa. 

NPR partnered with Boston University to create a model that looked at the number of heat-related deaths from 2018 to 2025. It excluded 2020 because the COVID-19 pandemic skewed mortality data. 

The analysis estimated that Iowa had about 93 heat-related deaths on average per year. That's much higher than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s official count of about nine deaths per year. 

Clint Hawthorne, an emergency room doctor with UnityPoint in Des Moines, said the very old and very young, as well as people with underlying issues like heart conditions, can be vulnerable to heat-related illness and death. 

“You can imagine, as you increase the blood flow to the skin surface, you have to pump harder. You have to pump more blood, and so if your heart's just not as fit, then that's more challenging,” Hawthorne said.

The report comes as the southeast part of the state is under a heat advisory through Wednesday afternoon.

As Iowa cancer rates continue to climb, the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network is asking eastern Iowa candidates for Congress what they plan to do about it.

At a roundtable event Monday with advocates and survivors, Iowa’s 1st District incumbent Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks said the causes of cancer are complex. But when it comes to water quality, she said ground water filtration is an issue in both urban and rural areas — and she has an idea about how to address it. 

“I have a bill for a biochar research institute,” Miller-Meeks said, referring to an organic material that filters water. “It purifies water as it filters through the ground — better water quality, better water purification. I'm trying to get this biochar research institute at Iowa State University.” 

At her own roundtable with the Cancer Action Network on Aug. 14, Democrat Christina Bohannan talked about supporting local public health departments to increase radon testing.  

Bohannan also supports increased research funding to better understand cancer causes and cures. 

A heat advisory is in effect through Wednesday evening for 31 counties in south central and southeast Iowa. The steamy and muggy weather returns as meteorological summer comes to an end on Monday in the Northern Hemisphere.

“We’ve got hot temperatures coming in these next couple of weeks, with heat indices reaching into the 100s this week,” said meteorologist Abby Wyss, with the National Weather Service in Johnston.

Many Iowa communities are reopening their cooling centers as daytime highs are predicted to reach into the 90s. Wyss said there may be some showers in the forecast later this week.

“There’s a slight chance most of the days,” she said. “It looks like Thursday morning in the north might be the best chance, but we’re keeping an eye on it.”

Phineas Pope

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Iowa Public Radio

Iowans may notice some black walnut trees turning yellow and dropping their leaves earlier than usual this year. A fungus called anthracnose could be the cause, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

DNR District Forester Mark Vitosh said the disease is affecting walnut trees at an unusually high rate this year. Speaking on IPR’s Talk of Iowa, he said the fungus is unlikely to impact a tree’s health long term.

“Having some defoliation a little earlier than normal generally isn't going to kill that tree,” Vitosh said. “It may set it back a little bit, but since things are starting to shut down a little bit, they'll be all right. They'll come out next year and they'll look pretty good.”

Walnut caterpillars are also affecting walnut trees in some parts of the state. Vitosh said the insects are also unlikely to cause long-term damage during this time of the year.  

Nicole Baxter

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Iowa Public Radio

An independent study of five northeastern Iowa cities found that nitrate levels in tap water can vary between neighborhoods. The results indicate that some communities could face more health risks than others.

The study was conducted over five months this year. Environmental scientist Kamya Enshayan sent samples from home taps to the University of Iowa to be tested. The data revealed that in cities like Cedar Falls and Waterloo — which don't have centralized waterworks — nitrate levels vary across neighborhoods.

No taps exceeded the federal limit of 10 parts per million. But many exceeded 5 ppm, which some studies have tied to elevated cancer risk.

Utilities recognize that some wells have higher nitrates than others, but say all the water is safe to drink.

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