The scale of a fire at a meat processing plant in Postville is becoming clear as the northeast Iowa city looks to recover.

The fire burned for over three days at the Agri Star Meat Plant this week, with 21 fire departments responding. They poured 3.5 million gallons of water onto the blaze.

Postville Fire Chief Jeffrey Bohr said it started in the laundry room and spread quickly.

“I'm guessing a 75% loss and structural damage. That's not including the loss of products, you know, the prepackaging materials and stuff like that.”

In the city of 3,000, the plant is the largest employer in Postville, with 600 people working at the plant.

Agri Star said it’s developing a plan to restart operations and rebuild.

A Libertarian congressional candidate said he plans to appeal a judge’s decision to keep him off the ballot.

A state panel decided Marco Battaglia cannot run in Iowa’s 3rd District after finding his campaign forms did not match his real name — Mark T. Andersen. A Polk County judge upheld the panel’s ruling.

Battaglia said he goes by that name in his public life as a musician and political candidate. He said he’s not surprised by the judge’s decision.

“No, I actually sent my response before the decision came out because I know they hate me and they’re playing dirty pool,” Battaglia said.

Battaglia said he won’t drop out. The objection against him was brought by a Republican staffer and GOP strategist. Libertarians on the ballot could draw crucial votes away from other candidates in tight races.

The same judge also ruled that Libertarian Rick Stewart is allowed to stay on the ballot in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.

The completion date for the CyTown development between Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum in Ames has been delayed. Iowa State University general counsel Mike Norton gave an update to the Board of Regents.

“We had suggested that we’d be done fourth quarter ’27; it’s probably slipped into ’28 now,” Norton said. “So we’re a little bit behind where we were before.”

Norton said some of the delay has been in reworking the contract with developer Goldenrod so the university will handle the construction of the amphitheater. He said they have raised contributions of $12 million for what is expected to be an $18 million cost for the amphitheater.

An updated projection shows ISU will make $172 million of net revenue from overall operations over 30 years with a 90% occupancy rate. That is down from the $184 million initial revenue projection due to construction cost increases.

The groundbreaking for CyTown is set for Sept. 2, and Norton expects to have more concrete timelines on the project progress then.

Earlier this week the American Red Cross announced there was a national blood supply crisis, but a spokesman for the organization that supplies blood to over 175 hospitals in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Illinois said the LifeServe Blood Center hasn’t quite reached that point — yet.

“We’re looking at a one- to two-day supply on some of our most critical, high demand blood types and honestly we want to be in the four- to five-day supply area just to ensure that hospitals have all the blood they need to treat every patient, all the time,” said Tim Paluch, LifeServe’s marketing and PR director.

There’s typically a dip in the blood supply in the summer, Paluch said, because schools aren’t in session and many blood drives take place at high schools and colleges.

The main concern is a major incident could drain a hospital’s blood supply quickly.

“If you’re talking about a major car accident where multiple people are involved and you need dozens and dozens of units of blood, that’s the situation we don’t want to get in where the hospital that patient, those patients get to then has to start triaging for other procedures with other patients,” Paluch said.

Paluch is encouraging Iowans to go to LifeServe’s website and sign up to donate blood at one of a dozen LifeServe Donor Centers around the state.

The Iowa DNR is finalizing an organic waste management plan for the state.

It’s part of a years-long effort to figure out how to reduce what ends up in landfills. About 19% of the trash disposed in Iowa is either loose or packaged food waste, making it the most landfilled material in the state.

Jeff Phillips with SCS Engineers helped lead a meeting Thursday with groups involved in developing strategies.

“All this work being done in this space and here we are, we’re just pulling on one of the really big threads, but it’s only one of the threads, and it’s organics,” Phillips said.

The Iowa Organic Waste Management Plan will focus on four areas: food waste prevention and rescue, composting, anerobic digestion and agricultural practices.

Hannah Sperfslage with SCS Engineers said one of the approaches is providing grants or incentives for composting facilities.

“A lot of existing composting facilities are set up for primarily yard waste, and there might be a need to upgrade equipment or have site improvements, operational changes that would require some financial assistance or support,” Sperfslage said.

The plan is expected to be finalized in a few weeks.

A new report from the ACLU of Iowa found school resource officers, or SROs, disproportionately discipline and arrest Black students and students with disabilities.

The report looked at the most recent federal data for hundreds of Iowa school districts from the 2021 school year.

Black students were arrested at a rate nearly four times others. And students with disabilities were either referred to law enforcement or arrested at a rate more than double other students.

Jacob Sarasin, a legal fellow who worked on the report, said schools without SROs have explored other alternatives, like having security guards.

“The difference between having an armed law enforcement officer that has arrest authority and a security guard who doesn't have arrest authority is pretty significant,” Sarasin said.

The report recommended schools eliminate school resource officers or add more training for the officers.

“First, there must be stricter routine trainings required for SROs. Second, there needs to be more meaningful and easily measurable goals set out at the inception of an SRO program, and those goals need to be reviewed on an annual, year-by-year basis,” Sarasin said.

The Iowa Department of Education said nearly 40% of school districts reported having one or more school resource officers last year.

A grassroots campaign called Save Morgan Valley is trying to rally its community against a proposed natural gas power plant on the edge of Linn County.

Opponents of the project gathered at a Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids Thursday.

Some residents in nearby communities said they don’t need more power, but they suspect future data centers are the expected customer.

Jon Lee is one of the lead organizers. He lives half a mile from the proposed site.

“We are fighting this as best we can because we firmly believe this is the first domino,” Lee said.

Rita Nierling, another organizer, is concerned about possible air pollution.

“I’m a retired teacher. I’ve had kids with asthma. Last year I had a student hospitalized,” Nierling said. “You guys don’t realize how it can affect kids’ learning.”

Utility giant Alliant Energy is behind the natural gas plant.

Alliant said the plant is necessary to balance renewable energy and ensure the electricity grid is reliable during high demand.

National Democrats have added Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District to a list of seats they hope to flip this fall. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee put the district in its so-called “Red to Blue” program on Tuesday.

The move gives additional resources to state Rep. Lindsay James as she faces Republican Joe Mitchell to fill an open seat representing the state’s northeast. The seat is open, with current Rep. Ashley Hinson running for Senate.

Speaking on IPR’s River to River, Megan Goldberg, professor of politics at Cornell College, said James has distinguished herself as a candidate.

“James has gone from being relatively unknown to a lot of national groups to proving herself as a high-quality candidate. And so I think that’s why folks are paying more attention,” Goldberg said. “Her fundraising has picked up, and that’s a signal to them as well.”

Democrats in Iowa’s 3rd District and 1st District are also receiving extra support as part of the “Red-to-Blue” program.

Haitians in Iowa on Temporary Protected Status have lost work authorizations, drivers licenses and legal residence as a Supreme Court order takes effect this week.

The court’s June decision allowed the Trump administration to end TPS for Haitians. It took effect Monday night, even as some legal experts dispute it.

Dozens of Haitians lost work at the Waterloo Tyson pork plant as a result. Haitians living in the Cedar Valley on TPS said they may need to self-deport or face uncertainty – and unemployment – in the United States.

But they fear Haiti remains dangerous. The State Department lists the country under a travel advisory for high crime, unrest and limited healthcare.

A new Board of Regents committee will oversee the University of Iowa’s Center for Intellectual Freedom.

The center is pausing classes until the fall of 2028, when all UI students will be required to take two of its courses to graduate.

University President Barbara Wilson told the regents Wednesday she is “delighted” the board is taking a more involved role.

“The University of Iowa is very interested in working with our students on civic education,” Wilson said. “We stand ready to help, but most importantly we want to make sure that our students don’t end up with a longer time to degree or more cost.”

Regent Christine Hensley, who is also on the center’s advisory board, will chair the new three-person committee. Regents Robert Cramer and Steve Lacy fill the other two slots.

Hensley told Wilson she’s confident the committee can ensure the newly mandated courses do not increase student time or cost.

The committee will meet at least four times a year, starting next week.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said he’s optimistic acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche will be confirmed this week, despite questions from fellow Republicans about Blanche’s actions on behalf of President Donald Trump.

Grassley will chair the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Thursday where members will vote on whether to appoint Blanche to the post as the nation’s top attorney.

“I will vote to confirm him, yes,” Grassley said. “I’m satisfied with all the testimony he’s made and I’m satisfied with the answers that he’s given us about the controversial things that other members have.”

In exchange for dropping his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, Trump announced a plan in May to create a $1.776 billion fund to compensate those he says were wrongly targeted by the Biden administration.

Blanche, who was Trump’s criminal defense attorney at the time, put an addendum on the settlement banning the government from auditing tax returns filed by Trump, his family members or their companies.

Grassley said that move has raised some concerns about Blanche from others who sit on the Judiciary Committee.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, said they want to further question Blanche about his actions before Thursday’s confirmation vote.

The League of Women Voters is among groups opposing Blanche’s nomination, saying his “record raises serious concerns regarding accountable government, protection of constitutional rights, voting rights, and the independence of the Department of Justice.”

Gavin McGough

/

Iowa Public Radio

A large fire at a meat processing plant has shaken the small northeast Iowa city of Postville.

The blaze began around 4 a.m. at the Agri Star meat plant. Agencies worked throughout the day Tuesday to put it out. The response closed city streets and residents were asked to restrict water use given the demand from firefighters.

Postville Mayor Dennis Koenig said he was shocked by the scale of the fire, but is grateful for the response from area agencies.

“Somebody told me there’s 17 fire departments in this town,” Koenig said. “Think of that, 17 that came today to help this little town out.”

No injuries or deaths have been reported. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

Natalia Mateo watched the fire alongside her mother, who works at the plant. She said Postville will feel the impact.

“It’s really devastating to see it closed down, because sometimes that’s people’s main job and it just really sad to see,” Mateo said.

The plant employs roughly 600 people, making it one of the region’s largest employers, and one of the largest kosher meat processing plants in the country.

Former Democratic President Barack Obama has endorsed Democrat Josh Turek for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat.

In a video released by Turek’s campaign, the two meet on a basketball court to play a game of HORSE, but Turek suggests they change it to a game of IOWA. After losing to Turek, a former paralympian basketball player, Obama turns to the camera.

“I’ve seen enough. Not only did I get whooped, but you got here a man of character. Somebody who knows how to win," Obama said. "Now the ball’s in your court, Iowa.”

Turek’s Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, picked up an endorsement from President Donald Trump last September.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand said he would be interested in exploring increasing the state’s tobacco tax at a roundtable event on cancer in Iowa hosted by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

Sand was asked if he would support increasing the state’s tobacco tax by $1.50 a pack as a way to try to reduce the state’s lung cancer rates. Sand said he is interested in the idea, but is unsure about what amount the tax should be.

“I want to learn more about that, and try to find a level that we can put it at that is going to help improve healthcare outcomes for Iowans, and put us in a place where we also aren't just sending everyone somewhere else to go get it instead,” Sand said.

According to the Iowa Cancer Registry, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the state.

Sand also said he would like to eliminate cost share options like copays and deductibles for more advanced cancer screenings so Iowans are not deterred from going due to cost.

“We know that the earlier we treat cancers, the far less that it costs the entire healthcare system, and so costs are staying low for everyone involved,” Sand said.

Sand’s Republican opponent, Zach Lahn, is scheduled to participate in a roundtable on cancer next month.

U.S. farming organizations recently won a lawsuit restoring grants canceled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Now the agency is appealing the decision.

Iowa Valley RC&D, a nonprofit in eastern Iowa that teaches farmers how to start their own businesses, is in limbo as they wait to see how the case plays out.

One of their farmer training programs was funded by the Increasing Land, Capital and Market Access grant. The USDA terminated that grant program in March due to claims of “waste, fraud and abuse.”

A lawsuit successfully restored the grant earlier this month. But Iowa Valley Director Jason Grimm said they don’t want to act yet because the USDA is appealing the decision.

“We don’t really want to jump back into this full steam, rehiring staff, or have new program participants start, and then have the rug pulled back out on them again in a month,” Grimm said.

Grimm said they applied for reimbursements and are adjusting the program’s budget and timeline while they wait.

Johnson County is preparing for its data center moratorium to end in November, and the current board of supervisors doesn’t want successors to give in to any financial incentives a tech giant may try to trade for relaxed regulation.

“The one thing that these folks don't care about is money,” said Johnson County Supervisor Jon Green.

Johnson County is looking to write the strictest ordinance it legally can when it comes to data centers.

“Just from an incentive, human nature sort of thing, I think we're probably going to have more success if these sorts of negotiations just seek some sort of treasure as opposed to policy concessions,” Green said.

Johnson County supervisors may seek to extend the data center moratorium a few more months as they continue to research an ordinance.

A Polk County judge has ruled that a Libertarian candidate for governor and his running mate cannot be added back onto the ballot this November.

Last month, a state panel kicked Nicholas Gluba and Jules Cutler off the ballot. Gluba was running for governor, with Cutler as his lieutenant governor. The panel determined that Cutler failed to submit the needed affidavit of candidacy.

In court, Cutler claimed that she offered the document to an elections official who told her it wasn’t necessary. The official said Cutler didn’t try to offer her the document.

Democrat Rob Sand and Republican Zach Lahn are running in the governor’s race this November.

Multiple agencies are working to contain a large fire at a meat processing plant in northeast Iowa.

The blaze broke out Tuesday morning at the Agri Star meat plant in Postville and has spurred a response from fire departments and emergency managers in the region.

Residents of the area are advised to stay indoors due to thick smoke drifting from the fire.

The plant is one of the largest kosher meat processing facilities in the U.S., and one of Allamakee County’s largest employers.

Year to date, there have been 184 cases of illness from cyclospora in Iowa as of Thursday. That’s compared to 61 cases reported at the same time last year.

Addie Olson, with the Polk County Health Department, said a positive test result with no recent history of travel suggests the case is linked to the national outbreak.

Symptoms of the intestinal illness usually appear about one week after exposure and include watery diarrhea, fatigue and loss of appetite.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has identified cases that are likely part of the multi-state outbreak, but more information is needed to confirm that.

The national outbreak in nine states has been linked to contaminated iceberg lettuce from central Mexico.

Rob Sand, the Democrat running for governor, said it’s time to ban social media accounts for children under the age of 16 and to require parental consent before 16- and 17-year-olds may have their own social media account.

Sand said “study after study” has linked social media use among children to higher rates of anxiety, depression, sleep loss and other mental health challenges.

“These social media companies know that they are damaging our kids’ mental health and they don’t care,” Sand said Monday.

Sand is proposing legislation that would prohibit companies from selling the data about a minor’s online activity, data that’s often used to target minors with online advertising. He’s also calling for social media apps to have the option of turning off “infinite scroll.” That’s a common web design that keeps adding content as a user scrolls down the page.

“I’m not going to sit here and do nothing when we know they are happy to addict our kids to their product when they know it’s bad for their mental health,” Sand said.

France has just moved to ban tech companies from letting French children under the age of 15 have access to social media apps.

A group of farmers called the Lobe Rangers are frustrated that not enough farmers are adopting conservation practices laid out in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

The three founders of the Lobe Rangers farm in the Des Moines Lobe, a flat region in north-central Iowa that has some of the world’s most fertile soil.

The Lobe Rangers say they’re frustrated that more farmers are not reducing tillage, using cover crops and applying fertilizer in-season. Those are practices that can help improve soil and water quality.

“Our goal as the group is to influence people to run for the Legislature that understand this,” said Zack Smith, one of the Lobe Rangers. “We teach them what is actually happening out here, and we get folks to run for the Legislature that are going to have the cojones to stand up and vote for Legislation that actually moves us in a meaningful direction forward, rather than just taking niblets.”

Smith said that includes funding a conservation trust fund approved by voters in 2010 and creating a system of carrots and sticks to get more farmers to adopt conservation practices.

Smith and the other Lobe Rangers hosted a field day with roughly 200 people Saturday.

“Ag has a big PR nightmare coming on right now because you have people like us that have adopted this and know how to do it now, and we have people resisting it,” said Matt Bormann, another Lobe Ranger.

The group said voluntary approaches to conservation are not delivering the scale of change needed and that farmers should be leading the discussion about regulation.

Central Iowa Water Works has ended all mandatory and voluntary water use restrictions.

The regional drinking water authority said nitrate concentrations in the sources of a main treatment plant have dropped below the EPA’s limit.

Amy Kahler is the chief executive and general manager of Des Moines Water Works, which is the system’s largest contract operator. During an event Saturday, Kahler said the nitrate removal facility at its Fleur Drive plant broke a record this year.

“We just turned it off this past week. It had been running on those virtually, all day, excuse me, all year, about 193 days. Our prior record was 177 days in 2015," she said.

The nitrate removal facility costs up to $16,000 per day when running at full capacity.

Central Iowa Water Works is encouraging customers in the Des Moines area to conserve water year-round by not watering lawns on Monday, using efficient irrigation practices and watering only when needed.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ashley Hinson said she’d like to see more legislation regulating kids’ use of social media and AI.

The U.S. representative hosted a roundtable with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz over the weekend about keeping kids safe on the internet.

Hinson said she’d like to look into regulating chatbots that interact with children to make sure they’re not encouraging behavior like suicidal ideation or giving them incorrect medical advice.

“That's the new frontier dealing with AI and the challenge that we are frankly struggling to keep up with on the policy side because it's moved so fast and advanced so quickly,” she said. “Trying to figure out how we rein that in so that we're not limiting everything, but we make sure we protect our kids from nefarious actors or nefarious technology.”

Hinson said her job as a lawmaker is to figure out when there needs to be government intervention and what needs to be left up to parents to manage.

“Some of this comes down to just us as parents having conversations with our kids, too,” Hinson said. “And you know, I always say this: There may not be a government fix for everything, right? Some of it is on us as parents to say, ‘Hey, I'm raising a good kid who's not going to bully other kids.’”

She faces Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek in the general election on Nov. 3.

At an event celebrating the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek said he would continue the fight for disability rights if he becomes a U.S. senator.

Turek is a state representative from Council Bluffs. He has spinal bifida due to his father’s exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War and uses a wheelchair.

He said he wants to see income and asset limits eliminated from state Medicaid programs for working disabled people.

“These income and asset limits limit individuals with disabilities from owning a vehicle, from owning a home, from being full-time, gainfully employed,” Turek said. “These are the areas that we have to address if we're going to move the needle forward for individuals with disabilities.”

Also at the event, Turek said he believes Iowa should still be first in the nation for the 2028 presidential nominating schedule. The Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee selected South Carolina as the first state last week. Iowa Democrats lost their long-standing first in the nation position following technical failures during the 2020 election.

Turek said having the Iowa caucuses first in the nation has historically helped lead to the nominations of Democrats like Barack Obama.

“It's a beautiful, unique process that only we have here in Iowa, and I think Iowa have done a great job of nominating great candidates like President Obama, and so look, Iowa law is clear; we go first,” he said.

Turek faces Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson in the general election on Nov. 3.

One person has died after a plane crash in northwest Iowa.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating what caused the accident. It happened over the weekend just outside Sioux City.

Authorities in Woodbury County received a report that a small plane with a pilot on board was overdue to arrive and was believed to be in a rural area.

Family members tell KTIV Television in Sioux City the pilot was 64-year-old Dennis Elkins of Erie, Colorado. They say he was returning from an airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Some agriculture groups said a Supreme Court ruling last month that sided with Roundup manufacturer Bayer is a big loss for farmers.

The ruling overturns a Missouri court decision, where a St. Louis man won his case claiming Roundup caused his blood cancer. The court found that Bayer is not responsible for providing a cancer warning label to the popular weedkiller. That derails tens of thousands of pending lawsuits that claim Roundup caused cancer and failed to warn users.

Aaron Lehman, the president of the Iowa Farmers Union, said he remembers using Roundup to spot-treat weeds on his family's farm.

“This ruling just makes it so much harder for our farmers to use the court system to defend their health, and it creates a disincentive for the manufacturers to make safe, effective herbicides that farmers need,” Lehman said.

Attorneys said there are some paths forward for people to sue – but the cases will be harder to win. Attorney Darin Luneckas in Cedar Rapids represents people with similar claims.

“It's going to be a lot different, as far as how these are litigated now, as a result of the Supreme Court decision, because the easiest path forward, the failure to warn type of claim, is now gone,” Luneckas said.

He said lawyers will now have to change strategies, which is expensive.

Read more.

Iowa Democrats have failed to win back their first-in-the-nation status for the 2028 presidential nominating schedule. A Democratic National Committee (DNC) panel selected South Carolina to be the first state, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire. 

Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said the Iowa Democratic Party needs to go rogue and throw its own first-in-the-nation caucus.  

“Bottom line is, the DNC was absolutely razor-focused to go after Iowa,” Kaufmann said. “This isn’t just a process, an intense review. This is an intentional, focused disrespect of a state.”

Shortly after the announcement from the DNC, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said going rogue isn’t a top priority for the state party right now. 

"When we get to November, and we have some newly elected Democratic officials, they're going to have some things to say about that, along with the rest of our Democrats,” Hart said.

Iowa Republicans still hold their first-in-the-nation position for their party. Iowa Democrats lost their first-in-the-nation status following technical failures in the 2020 caucuses. 

The new calendar will have to be approved by the full DNC, which is set to meet in August. The DNC recently introduced steeper penalties for states that stray from the calendar.  

Several environmental groups are suing the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) over its permit approvals for a coal ash landfill in Ottumwa. The lawsuit claims the DNR failed to enforce federal regulations for leachate, a contaminated liquid created when rainfall percolates through a landfill or stored waste.

The Iowa Environmental Council, Environmental Law & Policy Center and the Sierra Club claim hazardous disposal practices pose a serious health risk for downstream communities, fish and wildlife. The group's lawsuit is based on federal limits adopted in 2024, which require facilities to stop discharging contaminated water from coal ash storage as soon as possible, with a deadline at the end of 2029.

The environmental groups claim the permits issued by the DNR include no timeline for complying.

The lawsuit also alleges Interstate Power and Light Company, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy and the owner of the coal-burning power plant and landfill, ignored feasible treatment options and did not justify water quality degradation.

For the past four years, Denisse Prater has been transporting dogs from overcrowded shelters around Texas to their new homes across the country. Her business, K9 Delivery, uses a special box truck modified for doggy comfort to drive from coast to coast and throughout the Midwest.

She said they typically drive 30 to 40 dogs out of state every weekend. But last month, her usual number of transports was quickly cut in half as states put in place new restrictions on moving animals from Texas in response to a flesh-eating fly called the New World screwworm.

The livestock parasite was detected in the U.S. in June for the first time in decades. U.S. agriculture officials have confirmed just over 40 cases in Texas and New Mexico in cattle, sheep, goats and three dogs, as of July 22.

No cases have been reported in Iowa, but the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is monitoring the situation and issued guidance for bringing animals into the state.

Nearly every other state in the U.S. has also put in place added requirements for animals traveling from Texas and other areas with confirmed cases. Those new rules make sense, but they have complicated the work of animal rescue organizations that rely on transporting dogs and cats to places where they are more likely to be adopted.

Keep reading more from Harvest Public Media.

Republicans have nominated a member of the Hudson City Council to run in the Iowa House district currently represented by Derek Wulf, the GOP’s candidate for lieutenant governor.

Under Iowa law, a candidate cannot run for two offices at the same time, which means Wulf cannot seek reelection to the Iowa House while he’s on the gubernatorial ticket.

Republicans in House District 76, which includes Traer, La Porte City and portions of Cedar Falls and Waterloo, have nominated Matt Reisetter to run for the seat. Reisetter is head coach for the girls’ basketball team at Waterloo Christian School, director of the Cedar Falls Bible Conference and co-owner of Crossroads Fireworks in Waterloo.

Reisetter previously ran for a seat in the Iowa Senate in 2012 and has been a member of the Hudson City Council since 2016.

Calvin Horn, a retired realtor and rental property manager from Waterloo, is the Democrat running for the same Iowa House seat.

Iowa’s nitrate problem is getting attention from NASA.

NASA satellites capture images of precipitation and land use on Earth’s surface. Now, the space agency is funding an initiative with the University of Iowa to combine that data with water quality measurements from monitors across the state.

Associate Engineering Professor Jesus Gomez-Velez said his team will use artificial intelligence to create a nitrate forecasting tool, then give that tool to local water treatment facilities.

“This is not just an academic exercise,” Gomez-Velez said. “In reality, what we are doing here is working together with the public water supply systems to see how those predictions can be used to make better decisions.”

Gomez-Velez said accurate forecasts could help water treatment plants decide where to draw water from or how to treat it. NASA and the university are partnering with Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, as well as Des Moines Water Works. 

The tool will need at least two years of testing before it’s publicly released.

Waterloo will spend roughly $2 million to remove asbestos from an old industrial building near its downtown. The city purchased the building for about $3 million to help redevelop the area.

The city is preparing to demolish the building, which is a remnant of the former Rath Packing Company plant. At its height, Rath was the largest meatpacking plant in the country.

Today, much of the area has been redeveloped by Crystal Cold, a food warehousing company. Waterloo Community Planning and Development Director Noel Anderson said the city hopes to sell the empty lot.

“Crystal is very interested in the location,” Anderson said. “There’s no commitment from them to expand with the building not being torn down yet.”

The work to remove the hazardous asbestos will be funded by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant and tax collections from redevelopment in the area.

Haitian immigrants who have resettled in Iowa on Temporary Protected Status (TPS) face uncertainty as those protections are set to expire Monday.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration could lawfully end the protections. But a series of lower court orders have extended them multiple times. Now, dozens of Haitian immigrants with TPS in Waterloo could lose work if the protections expire.

The Cedar Valley has become home to a growing Haitian community in recent years. Karen Everling, who leads a resettlement organization in Waterloo, said many of those migrants came to the area to work for Tyson Foods.

“Right now, I believe they're the largest population at the plant. So obviously, employers don't want to lose these populations. They don't want their employees to have to go through this,” Everling said. “I think it's hard for everyone.”

If the change takes effect, dozens of Haitians employed by Tyson would lose their legal status, as well as their work permits and driver’s licenses.

Several organizations are collaborating to help farmers increase the resiliency of their operations while enhancing the health of their land. Farmers from 30 states, including Iowa, are eligible for the Expanding Agroforestry Project, which offers farmers grants up to $450,000 to plant more trees and shrubs on their land.

Graham Savio, agroforestry manager for The Nature Conservancy’s North America Agriculture Program, said the funding can help pay for startup costs for seedlings, mulch and more.

“We’re really excited to be able to provide really significant incentive funding to producers to adopt and implement agroforestry production systems,” he said.

Savio said trees and shrubs can help clean water, hold soil, support biodiversity and wildlife habitat, and provide shade for livestock. He also pointed out that nut and fruit trees can provide an additional revenue stream for farmers.

Farmers can apply at The Nature Conservancy’s website through Aug. 11.

Read more from Tri States Public Radio.

Sheila Brumer

/

Iowa Public Radio

Former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said connecting with voters across Iowa is critical for Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn. Branstad, who endorsed Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra in the primary, said he now fully supports Lahn for governor.

The former Republican governor and U.S. ambassador to China said he’s met Lahn a couple of times and encouraged him to get out and meet Iowans. He also said Lahn needs to let people know that he grew up in Belle Plaine near Sioux City.

“I'm trying to advise him and encourage him to go everywhere around Iowa, go to all the celebrations and county fairs that he can,” Branstad said. “It's a big state, 99 counties. But I think he needs to go to every county, and he needs to really tell his story.”

Branstad called the Republican nominee for governor personable, honest and committed to Iowa.

Branstad feels that Lahn’s Democratic challenger, State Auditor Rob Sand, is trying to fool people into thinking he’s a moderate. Sand is currently making his second tour of all 99 counties for this election cycle.

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced a plan Wednesday to preserve Social Security survivor benefits for foster children with deceased guardians. The governor made the announcement at Foster SQUAD in Ankeny with Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official Larry Johnson.

Reynolds said Iowa will change how it handles benefits given to foster children. Previously, when a child lost their parents, the state used their federal benefits to offset the cost of foster care. Under the new practice, a child’s benefits will be set aside in an account they can access when they leave the foster care system.

Reynolds said the move will set foster children up for success when they age out of the system.
“He or she may use the money in the future to support their life’s goals, whether that means pursuing an education, purchasing a home or achieving financial stability,” she said.

The decision comes after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services called on states to stop using survivor benefits for foster care costs last year.

Johnson said Iowa HHS is also looking into connecting survivor benefits with another kind of account promoted by the Trump administration, called Fostering the Future.

Residents who evacuated buildings in downtown Muscatine weeks ago will need to stay out of their homes and businesses for at least six more months. The city council finalized its decision Tuesday night that nine buildings are currently uninhabitable.

Structural engineers said the buildings on East Second Street share retaining walls. Council member Jeff Osborne said that means they’re leaning against each other “like a stack of dominoes.”

The city said the foundations of some of the buildings are crumbling or buckling, which puts the whole block at risk. Mayor Brad Bark said the goal is to stabilize as many of them as possible.

“The plan currently includes temporary shoring of 201 E. Second St., followed by continued demolition of 201 and likely several other buildings on the block and the design and installation of permanent bracing to stabilize the rest of the block,” Bark said.

Since the initial evacuation order in June, all residents and businesses have found other temporary or permanent homes.

Two Libertarian candidates aiming to run on the same ticket for governor and lieutenant governor are asking a judge to get them back on the Nov. 3 ballot after they were kicked off in June.

The State Objection Panel took Nicholas Gluba and running mate Jules Cutler off the ballot in June due to missing a piece of paperwork. The panel said Cutler was missing an affidavit of candidacy for lieutenant governor. 

Dani Phillips, a state elections employee, claimed in a hearing Tuesday that Cutler didn’t offer to turn in the paperwork to her when the campaign’s forms were filed. But Cutler claims she offered the document to the state official and was told she didn’t need it. 

“I handed her my affidavit and I said, ‘I'm a lieutenant governor candidate. Here's my affidavit.'" Cutler said. "And she looked at me really odd, with like, 'That's not needed.'"

Cutler and Gluba also argued that Secretary of State Paul Pate should have recused himself from the objection panel when deciding to remove them from the ballot since the challenge involved an employee in his office.

The judge will issue a decision at a later date.

New figures show the number of Iowans who accessed abortion care through out-of-state healthcare providers increased in 2025.

Last year was the first full year the Iowa law banning abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions, was in effect. 

The Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, found the number of Iowans who traveled out-of-state for care has increased sharply since the law went into effect in mid-2024. 

“In 2023, the year before the ban went into effect, around 1,100 Iowans traveled out of state for care. In 2025, that number more than doubled to around 2,400,” said Isaac Maddow-Zimet, a data scientist with the Guttmacher Institute.  

Data also shows that about two-thirds of Iowans who had abortions in the state last year got pills from telehealth appointments with out-of-state providers.

The owner of a livestock waste site located in the Loess Hills of western Iowa said the company is pulling the plug on the project. People who live near Castana in Monona County expressed concerns about potential odors and environmental impacts of the site.

A representative from Hawthorn Land Holdings said the group made a mistake by failing to notify nearby landowners about its plans for the storage area. Hawthorn had planned to use the hog manure byproduct as fertilizer on its own fields.

Hawthorn also claims it hired engineers and consulted agronomists to ensure the project met or even exceeded environmental standards.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said the project did not require a permit in its early stages, and that the manure originated from Seaboard Triumph Foods, a pork plant in Sioux City.

Madeleine King

/

Iowa Public Radio

The Linn County Board of Supervisors is considering allowing a data center to be developed despite its newly passed 18-month moratorium.

The moratorium is for data centers in an EU-3 zone, which effectively bans all centers since that’s the only zone the facilities are otherwise allowed in. But the county is considering allowing data centers in an EU-2 zone if they’re attached to a nuclear power plant.

Linn County Planning & Development Director Charlie Nichols introduced the idea to the Planning and Zoning Commission Monday night.

“There is a moratorium on data centers right now, but the board wanted to ask the question: Do data centers that are supporting nuclear deserve extra consideration, or is it important enough to bring those forward before the moratorium ends?” Nichols said.

The decommissioned Duane Arnold Energy Center is the only nuclear power plant in Iowa. Google is eyeing adjacent land for a new data center and investing in recommissioning the plant.

A rezoning decision by the county will likely take months.

Read more.

Sen. Chuck Grassley told reporters Tuesday that he hasn’t talked to Sen. Mitch McConnell since the Kentucky senator was hospitalized in June. McConnell’s office has provided little information since the 84-year-old was taken to the hospital on June 14, after he fell and reportedly lost consciousness.

Grassley said he has been hospitalized three times over the last five years, though not for more than a few days, and his staff kept the public informed of his condition. When asked whether McConnell’s constituents deserve more tangible evidence that he’s alive and well, the 92-year-old Grassley pointed to a recent announcement from McConnell.

“I just think transparency is the best thing,” Grassley said. “You want to remember though, he just released a photo of his being in the hospital and what happened. I guess he fell, and then while he was in the hospital, he got pneumonia, and he gave out a lengthy statement explaining it.”

McConnell’s office issued that statement shortly after the sudden death of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham on July 11. Grassley said his only criticism would be that McConnell’s staff may have waited too long to release information on his condition.

Residents in western Iowa say they're upset about an industrial livestock waste site built on rural farmland in Monona County.

County officials say they weren't notified about the project, which includes a 6-acre storage area for a byproduct of hog manure.

“Somebody who doesn't live there and owns the land, why do they get to turn this into an industrial dump and profit from it?” said Scott Koepsell, who lives next door to the site. “Whereas the people living there end up smelling it and having to deal with worrying about their groundwater and what else comes along with this without any notification?”

The Monona County Board of Supervisors was scheduled to discuss the project Tuesday morning in Onawa, where supervisors were expected to read a letter from the company managing the site and review an Iowa Department of Natural Resources report outlining complaints about the project.

It appears a 137-year-old building on Albia’s town square may be saved after the east wall of the building partially collapsed on Sunday.

Albia Fire Chief John Freshwater said contractors have been inside, inspecting the structure.

“The rest of the building looks to be OK, so they think they can just prop everything up there and just basically build a new wall on that side,” Freshwater said.

The space recently housed a microbrewery but was vacant for about a year prior. The building is known as the Skean Block Building and was built in 1889. In 1996, it was restored to its original condition.

In mid-July of last year, a fire destroyed another historic building on Albia’s town square. The entire square is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Campaign finance reports show Democrat Rob Sand with a sizable fundraising advantage in Iowa's race for governor.

New filings covering May 27-July 14 show Sand brought in nearly $9.4 million. Republican Zach Lahn reported about $6.4 million, with a majority coming from the Republican Governors Association PAC.

Drake University Professor Emeritus Dennis Goldford said there’s still time before November for Lahn to close the financial gap.

"If I were running for governor, I would sure rather financially be Rob Sand at this point than Zach Lahn,” Goldford said. “But I think Lahn has contribution sources — starting with the Republican Governors Association and other PACs — that will enable him certainly to, if not even the playing field, certainly make it a lot less steep than it is at the moment."

Sand also reported nearly $18 million cash on hand, compared to about $1 million for Lahn. Lahn's campaign also carries a $2.5 million outstanding loan.

The city of Palo passed a contested data center ordinance Monday night.

Google has been in talks with both Palo and Linn County about developing a data center on land near the Duane Arnold Energy Center, which is coming back online in 2029.

Some Palo residents, like Shelley Jacobus, don’t think the new rules regulating data center development are strong enough.

“We have one shot at this and one ordinance, and it needs to be solid,” Jacobus said. “There’s not an urgency. Google’s not going anywhere. They’ve invested too much money to bringing the Duane Arnold energy plant back online.”

The land Google is interested in is currently in unincorporated Linn County but could be annexed into Palo city limits. However, Palo Mayor Bryan Busch told IPR News the city won’t initiate annexation.

Linn County currently has an 18-month data center moratorium but is considering an exception for data centers that are accessories to nuclear plants.

Gavin McGough

/

Iowa Public Radio

For the second time in less than a year, the Decorah City Council has voted down legislation that would have made it a sanctuary city. The council unanimously defeated the proposal, known as a separation ordinance, at its meeting Monday night. 

A group of local citizens has continuously pressed the northeast Iowa city to end cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, but such a move is illegal under Iowa law and could result in Decorah losing its state funding.

Decorah resident Joshua Ratel-Khan said the group understands the ordinance could lead to a court battle.

“We are asking you to pass it anyway because we believe that law is unjust, and we believe this community has a responsibility to say so loud and clear,” Ratel-Khan said.

Council members said they agree with the group’s politics but are not willing to risk legal consequences or the loss of state funds.

Read more.

More funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is coming to two northwest Iowa communities devastated by flooding two summers ago.

Rock Valley will receive another $3 million for the removal of homes. FEMA announced earlier this month that the city will receive $22 million to buy out 104 homes.

Meanwhile, Spencer will get about $3.5 million to purchase 26 homes as part of FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Program. The program allows cities to acquire homes and businesses in areas that are at risk of future flooding.

The Iowa Department of Transportation was also awarded $1.7 million for debris removal related to the historic flooding.

Funding will also go to cities like Kellogg and Davenport for storm-damaged public structures and to the State of Iowa for management costs resulting from severe storms and tornadoes in April 2024.

Rachel Cramer

/

Iowa Public Radio

A joint study released by the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Iowa State University and the Iowa Bankers Association shows that Iowa’s agricultural economy is several years into a downturn.

During the Iowa Farm Bureau’s Economic Summit on Friday, researchers shared that net farm income fell over 50% between 2022 and 2024, which is the latest available data. The researchers also said the share of financially vulnerable farms in Iowa has grown to nearly 20%.

“When agriculture sneezes, the Iowa economy catches a cold, and during this current downturn, there have been ripple effects,” said Christopher Pudenz, an economist with the Iowa Farm Bureau.

Pudenz pointed to manufacturing layoffs as an example.

Researchers said the downturn mirrors what happened a decade ago but said conditions are not as bad as the 1980s farm crisis when land values bottomed out. They said that costs are exceeding prices for crop farmers for the third year in a row, but livestock returns are high and farmers are still asset-rich with long-term land values.

Read more.

Iowa has had 112 confirmed cases of an intestinal illness caused by the parasite cyclospora as of July 17, with 110 reported since May 1. That’s compared to 57 cases that were recorded at this point last year. So far this year, two people have been hospitalized.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked outbreaks in five states to iceberg lettuce at Taco Bell. Iowa is not included in that list of states.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services said none of the confirmed cases in Iowa have been linked to the national outbreak so far.

The disease isn't contagious and typically comes from consuming contaminated food or water. Symptoms of cyclosporiasis are similar to a food-borne illness, like diarrhea, nausea and abdominal pain.

Mexico has rolled back restrictions on certain U.S. pork products months after a pseudorabies outbreak in Iowa and Texas. The disease is highly contagious and often fatal for pigs, the primary host.

In April, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed five boars shipped from Texas to a farm in central Iowa had the virus, marking the first case of pseudorabies in the U.S. since 2004. Several countries then restricted exports of certain uncooked pork products.

Erin Borror, an economist with the U.S. Meat Export Federation, spoke at the Iowa Farm Bureau’s economic summit on Friday, where she explained the trade restrictions.

“We went through a series of six weeks of no trade with Mexico in offal, jowls, skins, fat, snouts, stomachs, a whole list of products, and then it moved to a state-level restriction for Iowa and Texas, and then just this week, we had the full lifting of those restrictions,” Borror said.

She said China — the largest buyer of variety meats — is still testing pork offal for the virus. Borror said the clearance process can take up to five weeks.

Photo Courtesy of the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory

A major expansion is underway to add more research and classroom space to Iowa Lakeside Laboratory in the Iowa Great Lakes region. The research and education center, located on the shores of West Okoboji Lake, offers hands-on learning for people of all ages.

Executive Director Mary Skopec said the new Innovation and Discovery Lab will add classroom space and expand facilities for research and water quality testing.

"We want people to come out and enjoy nature, but we really need that space to allow those researchers who really come from around the country to have a high-quality research lab for them to work in," Skopec said.

Lakeside Lab helps track and improve water quality in the areas lakes. Volunteers take samples twice a month and will use the new center for testing.

“That research is very important,” Skopec said. “It helps us understand that the investment that we're making locally is paying off.”

The 8,000-square-foot facility will cost $6.4 million in state and private donations and is slated to open in September. Future plans also include adding housing and another lab closer to the lake.

Read more.

A group of Iowans created a free educational tool that makes cancer screening more accessible. Cancer Screen Iowa is an app and website that recommends screenings for users based on their health information. It tells them what to know before they are tested and sends them annual reminders of which screenings they need. 

Joe Garcia, one of the platform's creators, lost his wife to pancreatic cancer. He said early detection is lifesaving, and Iowa ranks barely average in screening rates.

“Average just isn’t good enough when we rank second in per capita incidents rates of cancer," Garcia said. "And we’re only one of three states growing."

He said even though there isn’t a cure for cancer, prevention and early detection are part of the solution.

Cofounder Mike Schreurs was moved to help create the platform after his wife died from pancreatic cancer. He said the goal is to bring more awareness to the importance of cancer screenings.

“What we can do is equip them with enough answers that they can take that first step forward, and the first step forward is calling a local clinic,” Schreurs said.

He said that cost and access to healthcare are also barriers for Iowans. Cancer Screen Iowa's long-term goal is to build local partnerships to support community outreach and screening programs for the uninsured. 

Lucius Pham

/

Iowa Public Radio

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and 2nd District Rep. Ashley Hinson warned Republican voters about the “dangers” of democratic socialism at the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines on Friday. The conference, hosted by the conservative Christian organization The FAMiLY Leader, brought together Republican leaders, including Gov. Kim Reynolds and gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn.

Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, called the November election a “spiritual battle.” He said Republicans are in the “battles of their lives” to preserve the foundations of the country, calling this election a midterm year unlike any other. 

Johnson used his speech to attack socialism and democratic socialists, portraying them as against Christianity. He referenced New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and called democratic socialism “dangerous stuff.”

“I started saying weeks ago that I was starting to see many Mamdanis pop up around the country, and people were like, 'Oh, that's a New York thing,' I said, no, no, I'm telling you, it's anywhere. And now you see it happening,” Johnson said.

Hinson, who's running for the U.S. Senate, said the November election is “too consequential” to sit out. During her address, she highlighted her Christian faith and criticized the growing influence of democratic socialists in the Democratic Party.

“Democratic voters are celebrating these candidates who not only are openly embracing socialism, they are calling, dramatically, for an expansion of the size and scope of government,” Hinson said. "They are promoting progressive wealth redistribution.”

There are no democratic socialists running in Iowa’s congressional or statewide races.

Hinson faces state Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, in the midterm. Recent polls by Fox News and The New York Times show Turek with a narrow lead over Hinson.

Gavin McGough

/

Iowa Public Radio

Three acclaimed Black authors read from their work during the 1619 Freedom School Read-In in Waterloo on Saturday. The annual event is a protest to book banning in schools.

The 1619 Freedom School, which opened in 2021, runs children’s literacy programs in Waterloo. School cofounder and journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones said its mission promotes diverse storytelling.

“It's such a harmful message that we send to our Black children and our queer children when we tell them that just because a book talks about their experiences, it's too dangerous for the classroom. I don't think we think enough about how that makes those children feel, about the damage to their esteem,” Hannah-Jones said. “And also, how that makes children who are not Black, who are not queer, think about their classmates who are.”

Organizers estimate nearly 1,000 people attended the event at Waterloo West High School. Nearly 5,000 books were given to attendees as part of the program.

Hundreds of books were pulled from public school shelves in Iowa following a 2023 law, many by Black authors. Despite legal challenges, the law remains in effect.

Read more.