Central Iowa Water Works is asking residents and businesses to voluntarily reduce outdoor water use by half.

The utility, which serves around 600,000 customers in the Des Moines metro area, is issuing a Stage II water alert in response to increased demand, persistently high nitrate concentrations in source waters including the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers and what they refer to as “ongoing operational strain on the regional water treatment system.” CIWW uses an ion exchange nitrate removal system.

In June of last year, Central Iowa Water Works instituted a total watering ban that lasted nearly two months.

Iowa Democrats are telling national party leaders the state should return to the start of the presidential nominating calendar because of its history and low cost of campaigning.

State party officials were in Washington, D.C., Wednesday to make their pitch to the committee that will decide which states go first.

Iowa DNC member Scott Brennan said Democrats are competing to take back the governor’s office and U.S. House seats this fall. He said the committee should let the midterms play out before choosing the order in 2028.

“To put it simply, the path to a majority at all levels comes through Iowa,” Brennan said. “That is why this committee should also consider holding off making a decision about the calendar until after the midterms.”

Iowa’s plan would allow Democrats to choose a presidential nominee by mail or at in-person caucuses.

The committee heard pitches from 12 states including Illinois, Michigan and North Carolina.

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra said he’s confident he’ll win the Republican Party’s nomination for governor next Tuesday.

“I will win the majority and I’ve done it, all right? I’ve delivered results time and time again. I was head of sales of a large candy company and grew it. I was city administrator of our community and dramatically grew it. I was Sioux County Treasurer and lowered taxes,” Feenstra said. “I was in the state senate, chair of Ways and Means, where I wrote the largest tax reduction in Iowa history. I was in Congress working with President Trump where we wrote the largest tax cut in U.S. history … When I’m governor, I’ll get it done and I’ll take this state to new heights.”

Feenstra is 6 ft 5 in tall and has made that the catch phrase of his campaign for governor.

Feenstra is one of five Republicans running for governor. To win the primary, a candidate must win at least 35% of the vote. Feenstra has declined invitations to debate his Republican competitors.

The other GOP candidates for governor are businessman Zach Lahn, former state agency director Adam Steen, pastor Brad Sherman and state Rep. Eddie Andrews. If none of them clear the 35% needed to win the nomination outright, delegates at the Republican Party’s state convention will choose the GOP’s nominee on June 13.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

Early voting is underway in Iowa’s primary election, and the state’s top election official said Iowans can be confident their vote will be counted accurately and securely.

Secretary of State Paul Pate said his office works with local, state and federal agencies to ensure Iowa’s elections are secure. He said paper ballots and post-election audits are just part of the layered security measures used in Iowa.

Pate also said the primary election is important. Iowans who register as a Republican or Democrat can help choose who will represent their party in the fall elections for governor, U.S. Senate and more. 

“Quite often in the fall election, you’ll get people say, ‘Hey I’m not a big fan of the Republican or Democrat candidate for a certain office.’ And I got to go, ‘Well, where were you at in June?’” Pate said. “I hope Iowans will pay attention to that, make a plan and be successful in voting.”

Primary election day is June 2.

The University of Iowa will receive up to $3 million each year for pediatric cancer research, under a bill signed into law Tuesday. The law (SF 2480) draws money from a new tax on vapes and certain nicotine products, like patches or gum.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the bill at the Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City. In her speech, she thanked families of children with pediatric cancer for advocating for the money.

“By standing up for all the children of our state, you've honored your loved ones in the greatest way possible, and your advocacy is turning awareness into action as Iowa now commits $3 million each year to the cause you've so effectively championed,” Reynolds said.

Isabelle Ireland is a pediatric cancer survivor and was an advocate for the proposal. She was diagnosed with an extremely rare type of ovarian cancer when she was 16.

“I am incredibly just grateful that this hospital and the researchers here have given me my childhood back, and I want to continue doing that for other children,” Ireland said.

The law takes effect in 2027. A fiscal note on the proposal estimates the tax won’t bring in $3 million until the budget year starting in July 2030. Lawmakers also set aside $3 million in one time funds this year to cover the gap before the law takes effect.

Grant Leo Winterer

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Iowa Public Radio

Iowa Democrats are scheduled to pitch a new caucus format to national Democrats Wednesday afternoon. It’s part of their effort to get back into the early window for the party’s presidential nominating process.

Their plan would have caucusgoers write their preferred candidate on paper, instead of moving around a room and using complicated math to determine the winner, and it would allow participation by mail.

Former Iowa Democratic Party chair and state Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, said Democrats saw what can happen when Iowa isn’t an early state for their party but remains first-in-the-nation for Republicans during the 2024 presidential election.

“It can’t just be one political party effort going across,” Wilburn said. “It’s damaged the national narrative and issues that affect Americans and Iowans.”

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) rejected Iowa’s pitch to be an early state in 2024. Iowa DNC member Scott Brennan said this time, the state has several competitive races, and there are new members of the committee that decides the calendar.

“It has always been an evolving process, but it is very clear that caucuses are disfavored by the Democratic National Committee,” he said. “So, we need to make our caucus more palatable to them if we want to remain in this pre-window.”

Brennan said Democrats would hire an election administrator to handle the caucus results.

The U.S. Department of Justice has been under scrutiny for the past year, with critics claiming the department is doing President Donald Trump’s bidding by prosecuting his political enemies.

This month, the Justice Department established a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” as part of a legal settlement to drop Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

Under the current administration, the Justice Department has had problems convincing grand juries to take up some cases it presented, like the case against New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud. Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the problem is mostly confined to districts in the eastern U.S.

“It's pretty hard to get a balanced jury when in Washington, D.C., 93% of the people vote Democrat,” Grassley said while speaking to reporters Tuesday.

When asked if he’s worried that Americans are losing faith in the justice system, Grassley said it's no different now than it was under President Joe Biden.

“Generally speaking — except for polls that show less respect for the delivery of justice — I wouldn't say that the criticism that I get more under the Trump administration is any different than it was under the Biden administration,” he said.
 
Grassley said he will continue to expose what he calls the “weaponization” of the Justice Department as it pertains to the investigation of Trump under the Biden administration.

Many climatologists are predicting a particularly strong El Nino this year. The regular phenomenon happens when warm waters in the Pacific Ocean affect global circulation. El Nino periods occur every two to seven years and can lead to higher temperatures and changes to precipitation patterns. 

Madelynn Wuestenberg, a weather and climate specialist at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, advises farmers on the effects of climate patterns like El Nino.

“What I would tell them is that our growing season, as of right now, will likely not be hugely impacted by this El Nino,” she said. “Rather, we'll see more of these impacts in the Midwest during the winter.”

El Nino winters in the Midwest are usually milder and less snowy, but Wuestenberg said forecast models show El Nino weakening toward the end of the year.

Phineas Pope

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Iowa Public Radio

The oak is the state tree of Iowa and an important part of native Iowa ecosystems. But Iowa’s oak trees face a lot of threats, from drought to herbicide drift to pests and disease.

Roughly half of Iowa’s red and white oak trees have disappeared in the last 35 years, according to U.S. Forest Service data. Iowa Department of Natural Resources Forester Mark Vitosh said forest management could help reverse the declining number of oaks.

“Management and getting assistance is probably the best thing we can do,” Vitosh said on IPR’s Talk of Iowa.

Vitosh said one of the biggest challenges is that young oaks are not replacing old oaks at a sustainable pace. He said shade-tolerant trees that grow in the forest understory can outcompete oak saplings, which need more sun to grow. Historically, fires periodically cleared out the understory, giving young oaks a chance.

He encourages landowners to work with professional foresters to support the future of oak forests in Iowa. Long-term management plans often include prescribed burns and thinning.

Lucia Cheng

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Iowa Public Radio

Federal prosecutors are recommending former Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts spend three years in prison for falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen and illegally possessing firearms.

KCCI-TV reported prosecutors argued that Roberts broke federal law for more than 15 years and that a lesser sentence would fail to reflect the seriousness of the crimes. Roberts, who’s a native of Guyana, came to the U.S. on a student visa in 1999 and was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in 2024. He was arrested in September by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Roberts will be sentenced on Friday and is expected to be deported after serving his sentence.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

Many Iowans took time Monday to mark Memorial Day by honoring those who died while serving in the U.S. military. 

At Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Van Meter, Iowa Army National Guard Col. Eric Soults paid tribute to two members of the Guard who were killed in Syria in December. 

“Today, we hold in our hearts two of our own: Staff Sgt. Nate Howard and Edgar Torres-Tovar,” Soults said Monday morning. “To you, they may be names on the memorial, but to their families and fellow Guard members, they were the very best of Iowa.”

The Iowa National Guard’s state chaplain said people can honor the nation’s fallen veterans by living lives worthy of the blood that’s been shed on behalf of the nation.

An invasive worm that thrashes around and poops coffee grounds is damaging gardens and forests across the country, including in Iowa.

Brent Crain, a horticulture educator for Michigan State University extension, said jumping worms consume leaf litter quickly, which is harmful to forests and gardens.

“It destroys the habitat for lots of invertebrates, and ground nesting birds no longer have space to nest,” Crain said.

Jumping worms also leave behind waste that makes soil absorb less water. That makes it harder for seedlings to grow.

Mary Spies, a gardener from St. Louis, Missouri, said people should be cautious when trading plants.

“You have to wash the roots off and get rid of all the dirt,” Spies said. “These cocoons are smaller than a pinhead. You have no idea that there's not a cocoon in the dirt that's still collecting on these roots.”

Spies said gardeners should continue to take precautions, even if they think they’ve gotten rid of the worm. Washing gardening tools and cleaning shoe treads can also help prevent the spread.

A 2% cap on revenue growth passed by the Iowa Legislature will also apply to three property tax levies that generate funding for community colleges. That’ll be an estimated $4 million hit to community colleges in the first year, and there could also be an impact from other changes in the law.

Emily Shields, executive director of Community Colleges for Iowa, said colleges are starting to look at how to handle less revenue growth, which could affect tuition and program offerings.

“We’ll have to think about positions across the college — if people leave, do we fill those?” Shields said. “Really taking a look at everything and ensuring that it’s all necessary as we think about how to make this work.”

Shields said the 1.4% state funding increase approved by the Legislature also puts pressure on community colleges because it’s not enough to keep up with rising costs.

The 260E program allows community colleges to use bonds to partner with businesses on new workforce training programs. Lawmakers also voted to limit the bonds to seven years, instead of the current 10 years.

“That’ll be a change in terms of how attractive and good the program is for businesses, but we’re hoping to still be able to provide them a lot of support for training new employees and have it still be a critical workforce and economic development vehicle, which it has been," Shields said.

Shields said there will also be an interim study committee for legislators to find ways to improve the program.

The Polk County Health Department has launched an educational campaign to make information about water quality and health more accessible.

The Know Your Water Know Your Health campaign on the Polk County Health Department’s website gives information on current water quality issues. They can also learn how water systems are treated and how water quality affects recreation and health.

Health Department Director Juliann Van Liew said it’s in response to more questions about water quality issues, including nitrates from runoff.

“But even moving beyond that into water filtration in the home, recreation and water quality, fish, wildlife and pets — ‘Can I eat fish that I take out of local water sources?’” she said.

Van Liew said the website combines all that information into one place. People can reference it when they have a concern or want to learn more about issues currently affecting water quality.

“In this campaign we commit to really sharing what we know, sharing what the evidence base is already telling us, but also being honest about what we’re still learning based on the emerging research,” Van Liew said.

Van Liew said the department plans to update the website with new and current information.

Two new studies from Iowa State University will look at blood flow patterns into the brain during menopause. They could shed light on to why women may be more likely to develop conditions like dementia later in life.

The two studies will include a total of 370 women who are in pre, peri or early post-menopausal stages. Researchers will conduct annual assessments on the participants.

One study will focus on relatively healthy women and the other will look at women who have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, like Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

Wesley Lefferts, an assistant professor of kinesiology at ISU, said research on menopause is often overlooked because sex hormones strongly vary during perimenopause.

“Duration is variable. What hormones are changing into what degree is variable, and so for that reason it kind of creates this variability that can make it challenging to identify differences there, and so people stay away from it,” he said.

Lefferts said he plans for the study to last five years.

A western Iowa man convicted in a decades-old cold case murder has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Robert Davis, 62, of Council Bluffs was convicted of second-degree murder in the disappearance and death of his girlfriend, Barbara Lenz of Woodbine. Lenz disappeared in 1989, and her body has never been found.

Prosecutors said Davis, who was arrested last year, was an abusive boyfriend.

Lenz’s daughter was 3 at the time of her mother’s death. While making a victim impact statement, she called Davis a “sadistic pig” and said she waited 37 years for justice to finally be served.

The Iowa Senate Ethics Committee voted unanimously Friday to dismiss a complaint against state Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, unless the complainant submits more evidence within 120 days.

The complaint alleges Wahls violated Senate ethics rules by overseeing political contributions when he worked as executive director of Next 50 Network LLC. Wahls’ lawyer said it’s a politically motivated complaint filed by a supporter of his opponent in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

Republicans on the committee initially sought to refer the matter to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.

But Democrats, including Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, voted that down. She said it’s a difficult situation, but the evidence provided wasn’t enough to take further action.

“Based on the evidence before us, there is not clear and convincing evidence that Senator Wahls violated Senate ethics rules,” Winckler said. “I move to dismiss the complaint.”

Wahls thanked the committee for resolving what he calls a “baseless” complaint.

The nonprofit Environmental Working Group said testing has shown elevated nitrate levels in thousands of public water supplies around the country. That includes Des Moines and other cities in the Midwest and Great Plains.

The nonpartisan nonprofit said nearly one-fifth of Americans rely on community water supplies that showed elevated nitrate in recent years. The organization also pointed to studies that suggest that even when nitrate levels fall within the legal federal limit, the risk for colon cancer may increase.

“Here in the Midwest and the Great Plains we really have a lot of agriculture, and nitrate in drinking water really comes from fertilizer or animal manure that is applied to farm fields and then runs off those fields,” said researcher Anne Schechinger.

Nitrate can also come from wastewater facilities and septic tanks. Environmental Working Group wants the federal government to complete a review of health studies and then consider tightening the legal limit.

A new mental health facility in western Iowa aims to help address a statewide shortage of mental health services.

The 96-bed behavioral health hospital is set to open in mid-June in Council Bluffs. It’s a joint project between Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital and Acadia Healthcare. Dr. Monica Arora, chief medical officer, said the new facility will bring much-needed support to patients of all ages in western Iowa.

“We are here, and we care for individuals who need a higher level of support and patients who may be struggling with mental health conditions,” Arora said. “This is going to be a very safe, structured environment for stabilizing them and starting a path of recovery.”

Arora said Methodist Jennie Edmundson Behavioral Health will take a holistic approach to psychiatric care, with tranquil outdoor spaces and a gym.

Read more.

Natalie Krebs

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Iowa Public Radio

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited Iowa Wednesday, where he announced the release of a new surgeon general’s advisory on screen time for children.

Kennedy made the announcement at Gilbert Elementary School, located just north of Ames. He calls excessive screen time one of the most urgent public health challenges facing American children. 

“Children are spending more time on screens than sleeping, exercising, reading, interacting face to face with family and friends,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Kennedy joined Gov. Kim Reynolds at the state Capitol as she signed a wide-ranging bill that she called Iowa’s “MAHA" law, referring to the Make America Healthy Again movement, led by the secretary.

Reynolds signed a bill into a law last year that prohibits the use of cellphones in schools during instruction time, with some exceptions. The “MAHA" law also includes screen time limits for students.

Read more.

A federal appeals court ruled that a lawsuit against Black Hawk County for fees charged to jail inmates can go ahead.

The ACLU and the legal advocacy group Public Justice sued the county in 2024 on behalf of two people charged a total of more than $4,000 in jail fees. The suit claimed that the sheriff’s office made inmates sign a document before being released promising to pay the fees, amounting to $95 for each day spent in jail.

A federal judge dismissed the case in 2024, and an appeals court overturned that ruling on Wednesday.

ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen said incarcerated people often don’t know they can challenge the fees.

“People getting out of jail in these circumstances simply have no bargaining power,” she said. “They don’t have an attorney; they have zero meaningful understanding of what it is they’re doing when they’re signing away these rights and what they’re giving up.”

The Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office has said signing the document before release was optional. Iowa allows counties to charge inmates for administrative costs and room and board. 

The Iowa and Illinois transportation departments are sharing ideas for replacing the 86-year-old Centennial Bridge in the Quad Cities. The bridge spans the Mississippi River, connecting Davenport and Rock Island, Illinois.

At a public open house for the project held Wednesday, the departments said a new crossing may be built either just west of the existing bridge or about half a mile west of the current location. 

WVIK reported a preferred alternative will be announced in late summer.  Construction wouldn’t start until at least 2031, after a new I-80 bridge over the Mississippi River is completed.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for eight northern Iowa counties following several rounds of severe weather that started Friday night.

The proclamation covers Emmet, Hancock, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Pocahontas, Winnebago, Woodbury and Worth counties. It allows state resources to be used for emergency response and storm recovery efforts.

The National Weather Service reported that 23 tornadoes touched down across northern Iowa Sunday night. Nine of the tornadoes were rated EF-1, with winds reaching up to 110 mph. One tornado near Woden stayed on the ground for nearly 10 miles.

Woodbury County Emergency Management reported that 11 homes were destroyed in the county, with most of the damage centered in the town of Pierson.

Two smaller tornadoes were also confirmed in southwest Iowa over the past several days.

Lucius Pham

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Iowa Public Radio

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a wide-ranging law Wednesday that bans some food dyes from school meals and allows pharmacies to sell over-the-counter ivermectin.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Reynolds for the bill signing at the Iowa Capitol. Reynolds said Kennedy inspired the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which aligns with what she calls the Iowa “MAHA” law.

Reynolds said there’s a chronic disease epidemic in Iowa and across the country.

“Altogether, this bill advances the health and wellness for every Iowan today and for generations to come,” she said. “As governor, I couldn’t be prouder to sign it into law.”

The law also requires the state to keep applying for federal permission to ban the use of food assistance to buy some unhealthy foods. And it includes new limits on screentime in schools and increased physical activity requirements for students.

Read more.

The National Weather Service reported that 10 tornadoes touched down across northwest Iowa Sunday night.
 
A preliminary report released Wednesday by the agency’s Sioux Falls, South Dakota, office shows that a line of severe storms produced several tornadoes from the Sioux City area to the Iowa Great Lakes region.
 
One tornado east of Sioux City was rated an EF-0, with winds reaching up to 85 mph. Forecasters said some wind gusts in the broader storm system were even stronger. The strength of the other tornadoes has not yet been determined.
 
Woodbury County Emergency Management reported that 11 homes were destroyed in the county, with most of the damage occurring in the town of Pierson.

State, county and local law officers are running a special traffic enforcement effort through May 31.

Iowa State Trooper Paul Gardner said the “Click It or Ticket” program targets seatbelt use.

“We’ve seen an increase already this year in traffic fatalities. Many of those are involving those who are not restrained in a seatbelt,” he said. “So we’re going to have the heavy emphasis on making sure everyone’s buckled up this Memorial Day.”

Gardner said traffic accidents tend to increase as summer begins.

“We see an increase in reckless driving behaviors. It’s also what we call the 100 deadliest days of summer, which usually begins around Memorial Day for teenage drivers,” he said. “So we see a little less structure — school's out, people making vacation plans. We just want to make sure that people are not getting lax in their driving behaviors.”

Gardner said Iowa State Patrol wants people to enjoy the summertime responsibly. To do that, he said to avoid speeding, have a designated driver and always buckle up.

The Iowa Department of Transportation data shows there have been 101 fatal crashes on Iowa roadways since May 19, which is 18 more than last year.

Two Republicans are vying to fill the 2nd Congressional District seat left open by incumbent Rep. Ashley Hinson, who’s running for the U.S. Senate. Both candidates have experience in the Iowa Legislature.

State Sen. Charlie McClintock, of Alburnett, is an Iowa Army National Guard veteran who retired from a law enforcement career last year. 

McClintock said money should be removed from politics and a greater focus should be put on a candidate's character. If elected to Congress, he wants to focus on education, the economy and public safety.

The other candidate, former state Rep. Joe Mitchell, is a real estate developer from Clear Lake. He was elected to the Iowa House at the age of 21 and served two terms. He also worked for the Trump administration as the regional director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Mitchell said he supports term limits, fiscal responsibility and strong border security.

The winner of the Republican primary will take on one of three Democrats in the November election: state Rep. Lindsay James, retired Army nurse Kathy Dolter and Clint Twedt-Ball, a pastor from Cedar Rapids. Dave Bushaw is running as an independent.

New campaign finance reports show State Auditor Rob Sand has continued to raise far more money than all the other candidates for Iowa governor.

Sand, the only Democrat in the race, raised more than $9.6 million from Jan. 1 to May 14. About $4.5 million of that total came from his wife and in-laws. 

Five Republicans are running for their party’s nomination for governor. Businessman Zach Lahn led the GOP field in fundraising, with $980,000.

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra raised about $740,000, while Adam Steen brought it $497,000 and former state Rep. Brad Sherman raised $153,500. State Rep. Eddie Andrews raised about $15,000.

Early voting in the primary is underway, and Election Day is June 2.

Read more.

Amid the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy, immigrants in the Midwest are challenging their confinement in record numbers. But their options for release are narrowing.

As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began making sweeping arrests last year, cases of immigrants challenging their detention flooded the federal courts. More than 430 cases have been filed since January 2025 across Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

The Midwest Newsroom and The Marshall Project found most immigrants had been granted a bond hearing, if not outright release, before their immigration cases were resolved. But that was before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit sided with the Trump administration, meaning immigrants in Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska will now be held without an opportunity for bond.

The question over ICE’s mandatory detention policy is likely heading to the U.S. Supreme Court. Keep reading more from The Midwest Newsroom.

Abortion medications from Iowa providers would only be available to Iowans in person under a new law signed Tuesday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The law restricts access to abortion medication from Iowa providers via telehealth and mail, which means patients would have to pick up the medications in a healthcare setting, like a pharmacy, clinic or hospital.

Patients would also have to sign a form showing they were given information that’s promoted by abortion rights opponents, including information about the health risks associated with medication abortions. 

In the Statehouse, Democrats criticized the bill for making it harder for Iowans to access medical care. The law takes effect July 1.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order to keep access to abortion medication available through the mail and telehealth while a case from Louisiana moves through the lower courts.  

Photos by Lucius Pham

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Iowa Public Radio

Four of the five Republicans running for governor discussed water quality, health facility closures and immigration during a debate that aired Tuesday evening on KCCI-TV.

State Rep. Eddie Andrews, former state Rep. Brad Sherman, businessman Zach Lahn and former state agency director Adam Steen joined the debate as early voting in the primary election is underway. U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra did not participate.

The winner of the primary will face Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand in the general election this fall.

The candidates were asked if water quality practices should continue to be voluntary or if more state regulations are needed. Here’s what they said.

Sen. Chuck Grassley is optimistic the new U.S.-China trade agreements will benefit U.S. farmers. Following President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, the White House announced China will buy at least $17 billion worth of U.S. agricultural goods annually.

Commodities markets had a modest rally following the announcement, but overall reactions have been muted, partly because China has not confirmed any specifics of the agreements.

Although China did not completely fulfill obligations of a 2020 trade deal, Grassley said he has no reason to believe the latest agreements won’t pan out.

“I suppose they could back out of it,” Grassley said. “But right now, we've got to be very confident that it's a great progress made.”

The White House said China will fulfill terms of a 2025 agreement and buy 25 million tons of U.S. soybeans annually through 2028.

A bill signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds would require a minor to have a parent’s consent to be vaccinated against sexually transmitted infections (STI).

Minors in Iowa can seek care on their own to prevent or treat an STI, but the new law would require permission when it comes to vaccines for things like HPV or hepatitis B.

Under another bill signed by the governor, a medical provider can decline to provide services that violate their conscience. The law states that a doctor or hospital exercising their conscience in “good faith” cannot face civil or criminal liability.

Both laws take effect July 1. 

It’s been almost 14 years since Democrats have gone to the polls to vote in a contested primary in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. This year, there are three Democrats vying to be their party’s choice in the June primary.

The 2nd District spans 22 counties in northeast Iowa and includes the cities of Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Dubuque. The ballot includes state Rep. Lindsay James, retired Army nurse Kathy Dolter and Clint Twedt-Ball, a pastor from Cedar Rapids.

James, who is also a minister from Dubuque, said she’s spent the last eight years fighting for working families and will continue that goal in Washington if she’s elected. She said the One Big Beautiful Bill Act jeopardizes the healthcare of 27,000 individuals in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.

Dolter led the nursing department at Kirkwood Community College and reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Army. She calls Dubuque home but wants to take her experience and work ethic to Congress. She has criticized the Iran war and called for stronger support for Ukraine.

Twedt-Ball called the affordability crisis the most important issue of the campaign and said he wants to lower the costs of housing, energy and healthcare. Twedt-Ball co-founded the nonprofit Matthew 25 with his brother 20 years ago to help address housing and food insecurity.

As of March 31, James raised the most of the three candidates, with $742,337. She’s followed by Twedt-Ball, who raised $465,046 and Dolter, with $54,430.

The Democratic primary winner will face the winner of the Republican primary. Former state Rep. Joe Mitchell and Charlie McClintock are running for the GOP nomination after two-term incumbent Rep. Ashley Hinson launched a campaign for U.S. Senate.

During the height of Monday night’s storms, one county in southwest Iowa had problems with its warning sirens. Officials said the malfunction is a reminder not to rely only on outdoor sirens for severe weather alerts.

Page County Emergency Management Coordinator Jill Harvey said winds reached up to 84 mph Monday night. But when the county tried to alert residents of a tornado warning, sirens failed in Clarinda and the small town of Braddyville because of equipment failure.

Harvey said the county has been working to update and reprogram the system. They have also mobilized more weather spotters to keep an eye on the skies.

“Plus, our 911 center will be moving to our new jail, hopefully in early July, so we'll have a whole different infrastructure set up that will also hopefully help eliminate some of these issues,” Harvey said.

Harvey said sirens shouldn’t be the first line of defense during a storm since they're intended only to alert people outside to seek shelter.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s quarterly survey shows agricultural credit conditions weakened during the first quarter of 2026.

David Oppedahl, a policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said the results show more farmers seeking operating loans versus real estate loans. He said that reflects the current high cost of inputs. The index of loan renewals and extensions is also the highest since the second quarter of 2020.

“I think it tells us that the farmers are just facing more challenges in getting the financing they need to continue into the new crop year,” Oppedahl said. “So, they have to possibly keep some of the loans on the book and just extend them and come up with different ways of dealing with those rather than going to an entirely new note.”

Oppedahl said repayment rates for non-real-estate farm loans was down for the 10th consecutive quarter.  Survey respondents said they expected the volume of non-real-estate farm loans would rise in April through June 2026, relative to the same period of 2025.

Several Iowa cities are updating their rules on trails and sidewalks in response to a surge of e-bikes and electric motorcycles.

Ankeny’s updated ordinance prohibits electric motorcycles from sidewalks, bike paths and trails. Electric scooters and low-speed e-bikes are limited to 20 mph. Ankeny Police Sergeant Trevor McGraw said the concern is that higher powered vehicles are making rules more difficult to define.

“We’ve had some issues with folks not understanding that riding those on the trails, they are a motor vehicle,” McGraw said.

Violations will result in a misdemeanor, but McGraw said the department is focusing on informing the public of the changes first. Other cities, like Des Moines, are starting with a public information campaign to educate people on safe riding practices for trails and sidewalks.

Democratic candidate for governor and State Auditor Rob Sand said he would prioritize putting more restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) if elected.

PBMs are middlemen between prescription drug manufacturers, pharmacies and insurance companies. The Republican Legislature passed a law last year regulating PBMs, which is partly held up in court.

Sand said more action is needed, but he didn’t provide many details.

“If we’re going to do something that’s both going to improve the quality of care for Iowans, but also lower costs for Iowans, no matter who is selling them their prescription drugs, it’s these kind of reforms,” Sand said.

Brian Wall, the Iowa Pharmacy Association’s vice president of professional affairs, said there’s been some improvement with the PBM law that passed last year, but the state needs to do more as pharmacies are still closing because PBMs force them to operate at a loss. 

Katarina Sostaric

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Iowa Public Radio

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law Monday that she said will provide about $4 billion in property tax savings over six years.

The new law puts a 2% cap on city and county general revenue growth, with some exceptions, including new construction and levies that fund things like debt service, insurance and employee benefits. Reynolds said the changes address government spending, which she said is the root cause of property tax increases.

“By capping revenue growth at 2%, with clear guidelines and expectations, this bill brings certainty and discipline to a process that needed both,” Reynolds said.

The law also establishes a homestead exemption worth at least $5,500 — or 10% of a home’s value — up to $20,000. It also says apartment building owners will pay taxes on a higher share of their property’s value compared to single-family homes.

Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, who chairs the Senate’s tax committee, said the law provides real relief to Iowans. He said he’s proud to give families, rather than corporations, the best tax environment.

“Today, we say the family home comes first,” Dawson said. “Today, we show that the family home is the cornerstone of how we build not just a strong middle class but a strong Iowa.”

The law also lowers property taxes paid to school districts over the next three years, with the Legislature promising to pay the difference, and it creates a tax-deductible savings account program for Iowans to save money to buy a home.

The City of Des Moines could face a $12 million budget shortfall under the state’s new property tax changes. That’s based on early estimates for the budget starting in a little over a year from now. 

City employees pointed to a hard cap in the law that limits city revenue growth to 2%, with some exceptions. They said the city budget was already facing challenges before the Legislature passed these changes. 

Des Moines Mayor Connie Boesen said the new property tax law hurts city services. 

“We’re rebuilding, unlike the newer suburban communities,” Boesen said. “We have every bridge we rebuild; all the levees we redo; all the roads that we need to do. So, I don't call this a property tax reduction bill, I call it a service cut bill.”

The revenue limits take effect July 1, 2027, but the city could make cuts this upcoming fiscal year to lessen the impact, such as by leaving vacant positions unfilled.

Courtesy of John Holmes

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Woodbury County Emergency Management

It’s been a busy few days of severe weather in Iowa, with more storms expected to move through the state Monday afternoon.

The National Weather Service sent crews out Monday to assess damage across northern Iowa following Sunday night’s storm. High winds and a suspected tornado downed trees and power lines from east of Sioux City to Emmet County and Mason City.

Andrew Ansorge, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines, said his office issued a dozen tornado warnings Sunday night, with reports of up to 10 twisters.

Some of the towns seeing heavier storm damage include Pierson, Kingsley, Ventura, Lake Mills and Joice. Significant damage was also reported in the following counties: Woodbury, Plymouth, Emmett, Palo Alto, Cerro Gordo, Worth and Winnebago.

MidAmerican Energy reported that more than 18,000 customers were impacted by storms in those areas since Friday. As of 1 p.m. Monday, more than 1,300 customers were still without service, mainly in the Sioux City area.

Ansorge said another storm system will move through the state late Monday afternoon, bringing with it damaging winds, heavy rain, hail and potential tornadoes.

“It’s been an active period of weather here and across Iowa, and so we're looking at one final round of storms,” he said. “It looks like the trends right now are kind of pushing it more into southern Iowa, but most of the state is under some level of risk of severe weather today.”

Ansorge said some spots in southwest Iowa have already received up to 5 inches of rain, so there’s a threat of flooding. Ansorge said Iowans will get some relief from severe weather soon, with cooler, calmer conditions forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Photos by Lucius Pham / Graphic by Nicole Baxter

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Iowa Public Radio

Five Republicans are running to be their party’s nominee for governor: U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, Zach Lahn, Adam Steen, state Rep. Eddie Andrews and former state Rep. Brad Sherman.

The winner of the June primary will face Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand in what’s expected to be a very competitive election in the fall. Nonpartisan election analysts at The Cook Political Report have labeled the race as a “toss up” — the most competitive category.

One of the five Republicans must get at least 35% of the vote on June 2 to win the primary. If they fall short, delegates to the Republican state convention on June 13 will choose the party’s nominee to appear on the ballot in November.

While Feenstra is considered the frontrunner in the primary, the other candidates — and voters — don’t all see it as a done deal.

Read more about each candidate and the race ahead.

A new program in Polk County is preparing adults for a trade apprenticeship while preserving low-income housing in the area.

The Work that Impacts Housing Program is a four-month, pre-apprenticeship for adults interested in trades like carpentry or electric. Participants will become “apprenticeship ready” by helping to repair lower-income homes in select Des Moines neighborhoods.

Julian Neely, director of advancement and community investment with the Polk County Housing Trust Fund, said he intentionally chose each neighborhood when creating the program.

“We are driving resources to underserved neighborhoods or neighborhoods that might just need a little bit more investment,” Neely said.

He said he wanted to find a way to remove barriers for workforce development and improve lower-income housing in the metro.

So far, 26 people have applied for the program. Applications close on May 19.

Some experts are sounding the alarm about a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposal to move the country’s most important seedbanks out of Illinois.

The USDA is proposing moving the country’s only public soybean seedbank and a collection of corn stocks representing genetic mutants that are currently housed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The proposal would move the soybean seedbank to Columbia, Missouri, and the maize collection to Ames.

The maize collection includes irreplaceable corn stocks and has been housed on the University of Illinois campus for more than 70 years. Steve Harris, professor of plant pathology at Iowa State University, where the maize collection might end up, is torn on the idea.

“Just speaking generally, as a biologist or a geneticist, you really, really try to minimize the amount of times you have to move these types of precious stocks, because every time you move them there is a risk that you’re going to compromise their integrity,” Harris said.

On the other hand, he said the resource would be great to have on ISU’s campus and that the area does have the expertise to care for the collection — something other experts have questioned.

In a statement, a USDA spokesperson said the goal is to move the collections closer to the farmers and ranchers they serve.

Read more from Harvest Public Media.

A few thousand athletes from across the state will gather in Ames this week for the Special Olympics Iowa Summer Games. The event takes place Thursday through Saturday at Iowa State University and is the largest event of the year for the Special Olympics Iowa chapter.

“We have competitions year-round, but our Summer Games is our biggest one,” said Megan Filipi, director of marketing and communications. “We have about 2,500 athletes and unified partners that compete … and then another 2,000 volunteers and 1,500 or so spectators and coaches and chaperones.”

Filipi said the athletes will take part in a range of different sports over the three days.

“We have tennis, bocce, cycling, track and field, developmental events,” she said. “Most of the competitions run from about 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and then about 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday morning.”

The opening ceremony on Thursday night will include a parade of athletes, awards and recognition, and a torch-lighting of the cauldron.

Severe weather hit parts of Iowa Sunday night, with tornado warnings popping up in the northwest part of the state around 7:30 p.m. Two hours later, 14 counties in north-central Iowa and two counties in southwestern Iowa were part of widespread tornado warnings. Radar indicated rotation within a strong band of thunderstorms.

Woodbury County Emergency Management in Sioux City said a suspected tornado struck the nearby communities of Salix and Pierson. No traffic was allowed in or out of Pierson Sunday night to keep the public safe from downed trees and power lines. So far, no injuries have been reported in Woodbury County.

A couple of hours after the storms blew through, MidAmerican Energy reported about 10,000 people in Sioux City were without power, 1,000 in Council Bluffs, 1,100 in Storm Lake and 3,800 in Fort Dodge. Power has largely been restored to affected areas, though hundreds still remain in the dark.

Last year the EPA removed portions of Iowa’s rivers from a list that identifies waterways that don’t meet water quality standards.

Months earlier the Biden administration EPA determined the rivers’ nitrate levels exceeded federal safety standards, including primary sources of drinking water like the Des Moines, Iowa and Raccoon rivers.

Now, organizations like the Iowa Environmental Council are suing the federal agency. IEC General Counsel Michael Schmidt said the EPA told them they were reevaluating the waterways, but didn’t say why.

“This is a list that has to be submitted on a regular basis, and EPA has to take action on that, not just sit on it and pretend that the problem doesn’t exist,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said they’re asking for the rivers to be added back to the list, or an explanation for why they were removed.

Most of Iowa is in for unsettled weather this weekend. National Weather Service meteorologist Dylan Dodson said storms should start developing Friday evening over eastern Nebraska into western Iowa.

“Then it's going to be tracking eastward roughly across most of the state, you know, there may be some areas in northern, northwestern Iowa that missed some of the storms,” Dodson said. “But generally going to be tracking right across Iowa and through central and eastern Iowa.”

Dodson said wind gusts topping 70 miles per hour are possible Friday, with numerous thunderstorms likely in central Iowa through the evening into early Saturday morning. These storms also bring the possibility of large hail and tornadoes.

More storms are in the forecast Saturday afternoon and again Sunday afternoon.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ashley Hinson made a campaign stop in Ankeny Friday with U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

Hinson is currently the representative for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.

She hosted a roundtable to discuss the way recent tax cuts and policies under the Trump administration are affecting Iowans.

Hinson said she would support legislation that would allow people to have health savings accounts separate from their health insurance plans.

“The other benefit to an HSA long term is that’s still your money ... like in my case I had it for the sole purpose of paying for labor and deliveries. So I could use it, in essence, roll it over and save for retirement that way," Hinson said.

Hinson also said she'd like to create more tax incentives for first time homebuyers.

Hinson faces former state Sen. Jim Carlin in the Republican primary on June 2.

House Speaker Pat Grassley said it’s hard to gauge exactly when homeowners will start to see the impact of the property tax relief bill passed by the Legislature.

He said the 2% cap on city and county revenue growth is the hallmark of the bill. Grassley said the final deal has more exceptions to the growth cap in response to local governments’ concerns about rising costs.

“We felt that we heard about insurance, pensions – so those are two of the things that are exempted for the local governments,” Grassley said. “Now in the future if we ever have to come in and look at that because the system’s not working, that’s a possibility. But I think where we ended was actually a good place.”

He said shifting some school funding to the state to lower property taxes and a new homestead exemption will have a more immediate effect.

The Senate didn’t pass the House-backed bill to ban the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Grassley said he knows Iowans are frustrated, and he wishes lawmakers could’ve done more. But he said aside from eminent domain, landowners have been concerned about surveyors and others accessing their land. And Grassley says those concerns are reflected in the hydrogen bill that passed the Legislature.

Grassley made his comments Friday during a taping of Iowa Press on Iowa PBS.

Polk County Conservation has created a nonprofit to support their future operations. The Conservation Foundation of Polk County will help raise money to expand the department’s projects in central Iowa.

Polk County Conservation maintains parks, wildlife areas and recreational trails.

Development manager Addison McKown said they want their work to reach more people.

“Not just the conservation-in-action, but how we’re engaging with different communities of different backgrounds, different socioeconomic statuses,” McKown said.

McKown said the nonprofit will allow them to build more partnerships that help support these projects.

Community Outreach supervisor Jessica Lown said this work has extended beyond Polk County for the last few years.

“Trails don’t stop at a county border, parks don’t even stop at a county border, and so we collaborate often with our partners all around us to expand these resources,” Lown said.

Lown said they want to continue building public and private partnerships to fund their growth. She said support from these connections will help keep public land and recreation accessible for Polk and surrounding counties.

Rep. Ashley Hinson said she believes the Senate may accept a proposal that would override a California law that does not allow pork sold in California to come from hogs raised in tight spaces.

In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law, which basically requires eggs, veal and pork to come from animals that have enough space to turn around in a pen. A bid to nullify California’s law was included in the Farm Bill that passed the House last week.

“It clearly passed out of the House in a bipartisan fashion,” Hinson said. "So that, to me, signals that there is bipartisan support for the Farm Bill with this provision in it.”

Hinson said her “Save Our Bacon Act” that was inserted in the Farm Bill ensures pork producers are not subject to out-of-state mandates.

“I think it really threads the needle on protecting states’ rights while still making sure we’re reaffirming livestock producers’ rights to sell their products across state lines,” Hinson said.

U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairman John Boozman supports Hinson’s proposal, but he said there’s not a single Democrat in the Senate who would vote for it, so he’s trying to develop an alternative that could win Senate approval.

Former Sen. Tom Harkin has endorsed state Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, in his race to become the Iowa Democratic Party’s nominee for the U.S. Senate.

Harkin, a Democrat who won five statewide elections, said Turek has “a pretty good idea of what it takes to win and then represent all Iowans, not just those who voted for you.” He cites Turek’s six-vote win for a seat in the Iowa House and Turek’s reelection by six points in 2024 “in a very challenging area for Democrats.”

Turek, who was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, has called Harkin his “political hero” for his work in passing the Americans with Disabilities Act. Turek is also a former paralympian who played wheelchair basketball for Team USA and won two gold medals.

Harkin, who won 94 of Iowa’s 99 counties in 2008, did not seek reelection in 2014, and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst won the seat. She is not seeking reelection.

Turek faces state Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, in the June 2 primary. Wahls endorsed Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2019 when she was running for president and Warren will be in central Iowa on Sunday campaigning for Wahls.

A $319 million funding package for water quality includes more money for monitoring, but also shifts funds from other initiatives.

Gov. Kim Reynolds first announced the package, dubbed “Farm to Faucet” one week ago. It’s included in the agriculture and natural resources appropriation budget.

Kerri Johannsen, senior director of policy and programs at the Iowa Environmental Council, said the package contains around $18 million in new funding. Much of the rest will be moved from statewide water quality efforts to concentrate mainly on central Iowa and the Des Moines metro area.

“Of course, there are problems in central Iowa, and you know, people deserve to have clean water in Des Moines, but these are problems that are happening all over our state and so it really does not address the issue for people in rural Iowa at all,” Johannsen said.

Reynolds announced Central Iowa Water Works will receive $25 million to double its nitrate removal capacity in three years. Farm to Faucet increases annual funding for a grant program intended to help small and mid-size communities upgrade water treatment systems.

The version of the budget passed by the Iowa House included $300,000 for the Iowa Water Quality Information System (IWQIS), a network of sensors maintained by the University of Iowa. But Johannsen said the Senate amended the budget late Saturday night, moving that money from IWQIS and shifting it to the Department of Natural Resources.

“The monitoring that the DNR does is largely monthly samples that are pulled from waterways, where the real-time monitoring network is like the 911 system for water quality in the state,” Johannsen said.

Larry Weber, director of the UI’s monitoring program, said they could apply for the money through a grant request, but it would need approval from three different agencies. He says the program is funded through June of 2027, thanks to money from three counties, the City of Decorah and the nonprofit Isaac Walton League.

Pottawattamie County officials are setting guardrails around how county employees should utilize artificial intelligence, particularly when handling sensitive information.

All county employees will have to complete in-person and online training on how to comply with the new policy.

David Bayer, the county’s chief information officer, said the discussions about a county policy on AI use by employees started last year.

“Not just the training on the policy, but also training on how to use AI, what to look for, how do I report or document that I’m using it. All those things will be part of that training,” Bayer said.

The Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors approved the AI policy this week.

Bayer said employees should generally avoid putting sensitive data, like criminal justice information, Social Security numbers, names, addresses and phone numbers, into programs such as ChatGPT. Bayer said they’re creating a system so county employees may notify his department if they believe AI is being misused within county offices.

The county’s AI committee is also starting to identify ways AI could be used to make county operations more efficient.

Sheila Brummer

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Iowa Public Radio

A Sioux City man who gained national attention for painting flowers on manhole covers has been found not guilty of charges related to his art.

Police arrested 47-year-old Brandon Bradshaw in November for criminal mischief and consumption of alcohol in a public place.

Bradshaw said the verdict handed down by the jury in Woodbury County District Court on Thursday will help more people to get behind his artwork and the message behind it.

“The mental health issues in our community and every community is a huge deal, and when people see these flowers, it does something to them,” Bradshaw said. “It sparks something, and so it most definitely has to continue.”

Bradshaw said he plans to work with the City of Sioux City to have his artwork sprout around the whole community.

Scientists at Kansas State University said early data suggest they may have a way to protect cattle, pigs and poultry from bird flu.

If their approach succeeds, chicks could get vaccinated before hatching. Or, the vaccine could go into water given to already-hatched birds.

Bird flu has killed or forced farmers to cull about 200 million domestic birds in the U.S. since 2022. In 2024, the virus jumped to cattle, infecting more than 1,000 dairy cows.

“So you can see the economic impact,” said Waithaka Mwangi, a Kansas State professor. “And of course that has implications downstream in terms of jobs, in terms of food security.”

Vaccinating livestock could also protect workers, he said. Since 2024, bird flu has infected about 70 people in the U.S. who interacted closely with infected animals. Two people died.

The head of Iowa’s public employee pension system, known as IPERS, has resigned and another top official was fired.

Former IPERS CEO Greg Samorajski was placed on administrative leave on March 31 while state officials investigated allegations of misconduct. Gov. Kim Reynolds said she accepted his resignation last week.

An IPERS spokesperson said Chief Benefit Officer Steven Herbert was fired Thursday after also being on leave because of misconduct allegations.

Reynolds’ office and IPERS officials didn’t provide details about why the two officials were being investigated. But they say this doesn’t pose a risk to the IPERS Trust Fund or benefit payments to members.

Another former IPERS employee is suing the state for wrongful termination, claiming he was fired for pushing back against questionable investment strategies and policies.

Elizabeth Hennessey, IPERS general counsel, is serving as the acting CEO while the state launches a national search for a new pension leader.

Iowa’s unemployment and labor force participation rates both were down 0.1% in March.

Iowa Workforce Development Executive Director Beth Townsend said things have pretty much been steady so far this year.

“There just hasn’t been enough fluctuation or trend information in the first three months to really be able to make any predictions about what we’ll see in the second quarter,” Townsend said. “And that’s probably not a bad thing because you don’t like volatility in your workforce data.”

While there’s not been volatility in the labor market, there’s also not been any big positive moves forward.

Unemployment dropped to 3.3% in March, and Townsend said there are still 54,000 jobs available on the IWD’s job site.

“What employers are looking for are skilled workers. And so we obviously always need to continue to develop our skilled talent pipeline, and that’s especially true in healthcare,” she said.

Townsend said nursing in particular is an area of need, with most job openings being healthcare related.

Registered nurses are in exceptionally high demand in Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa’s new nursing programs will soon fill some of the need.

Nancy Kertz, UNI’s chief academic nursing administrator, said the first graduates from the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program will graduate in the spring of 2027, with about 140 students now in the program. That number is projected to rise to about 200 by this fall.

“There are about 1,200 openings for registered nurses in Iowa at any one time,” Kertz said. “These are positions that are searchable online, so it probably doesn’t really tell the full story of the nurse shortage here in Iowa.”

She said those who complete the program and become nationally licensed will “certainly” be able to find a position in Iowa. In a few months, UNI is launching what it’s calling an accelerated BSN program.

“It’s an aggressive 12 month program, August to August, and it kicks off this fall,” Kertz said. “We’re currently accepting applications for our inaugural cohort.”

Kertz is confident the accelerated BSN program will attract a certain caliber of students who are very motivated.

“The program’s also designed for people who already have a bachelor’s degree or at least 70 or more credits,” Kertz said “That makes it a great fit for transfer students, career changers and anyone looking for a fresh start into a meaningful, trusted position that’s in high demand.”

Iowa farmers are using this week's nicer weather to make up for a month's worth of delays due to heavy rain, scattered snow and widely varied temperatures.

Angie Rieck Hinz, a field agronomist with the Iowa State University Extension in north-central Iowa, said many producers in her region have struggled with weather conditions that were far from ideal.

“A lot of people really just got started about last Friday or so, just because it had been so wet,” Rieck Hinz says. “Mostly north of Highway 3, there’s probably a good percentage of stuff planted. You come a little further south, it’s a little bit less.”

The USDA crop report that came out earlier this week showed soybean planting was at 27%, compared to 11% the week before, while corn plantings had bounded from 22% to 42%.

Rieck Hinz is expecting more excellent numbers in the remainder of this week, as long as the weather holds.

“If we have a really good day in the state of Iowa, we can plant about 950,000 acres a day, so that’s pretty substantial,” she said.

Temperatures have been particularly uncooperative for planting, with 80 degrees one day and temps dropping below freezing the next day. Rieck Hinz is hoping things have stabilized for the time being.

The first homes of an affordable housing program are on the market in Des Moines.

The three newly built homes are part of an effort by the Central Iowa Community Land Trust to expand permanent affordable housing. The program allows a buyer to spend 30% or less of their annual gross pay. They would agree to later sell the home to another income-eligible homebuyer.

Program manager Jaqueline Chico said the program prepares the buyer for ownership before and after they purchase the home.

“It’s really that partnership in one, being prepared, and two, finding the resources if you need additional assistance,” Chico said.

When someone sells the home, the Land Trust model makes sure it stays affordable for the next buyers.

“They agree to sell it to another income-eligible homebuyer, and the Central Iowa Community Land Trust would then take care of the sale,” Chico said.

A buyer has been identified for one of the homes, and applications are open for the other two. Chico said they hope to expand across Iowa and reach 100 homes in the next three years.

At least 90 schools across Iowa are taking part in Walk, Bike, and Roll to School Day on Wednesday.

Matt Burkey, director of Iowa Safe Routes to School for the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, said that’s a record number of Iowa schools as the program builds momentum every year.

Many Iowa schools planned a variety of activities, from organized walking groups and “bike buses” to remote drop-off locations where families can park and walk the rest of the way together. Some schools had volunteers greeting students as they arrive, creating a fun and welcoming atmosphere that celebrates participation and builds school spirit.

Burkey said people often overthink exercise, and walking or biking is an easy way to add movement to the day.

“If we can get Iowans and their families to go for a 10- to 20-minute walk in the morning, that’s just a huge health win, and getting kids that 60 minutes of exercise they need every day,” Burkey said. “I mean, they only get recess for like 30 to 40 minutes. If you throw a 20-minute walk on top in the morning, everyone’s leading healthier lives.”

The program has multiple goals, including building more connected school communities, and even reducing traffic congestion.

Oakridge Neighborhood is moving forward with Cynergy, a $15 million project that will provide 33 new apartments. The building will include affordable family units with three and four bedrooms.

Oakridge President Deidre DeJear said she consistently sees families seeking comfortable and affordable housing in the area.

“Our three and four bedrooms on any given day are going to have more than 100 folks on the waiting lists," she said.

DeJear said one- and two-bedroom units in the building will be reserved for people earning less than 60% of the area median income. Wellness services will be available on the first floor.

“We’re able to share what those opportunities are, and we’re able to prep people for those opportunities so they can go in with their best foot forward,” DeJear said.

DeJear said services such as financial wellness, dentistry and cosmetology will be available. Tenants can use these services or use them as a workforce training opportunity.

The project has received around $425,000 in funding from the City of Des Moines, Greater Des Moines Community Foundation and Polk County to secure the site.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Josh Turek and Zach Wahls faced off in their first debate on Iowa PBS Tuesday night ahead of the primary.

Wahls and Turek spent an hour debating issues like campaign finance reform, social security, immigration, agriculture and healthcare.

Wahls, a state senator from Coralville, said he believes there should be a public option for healthcare in the country to lower costs.

“We released a comprehensive plan that would lower the Medicare enrollment age, allow any American or employer to buy into Medicare, and to answer the question, you're going to have a combination of increased people buying into Medicare, and that was going to pay for a lot of the increased costs,” Wahls said.

Turek, a state representative from Council Bluffs, said he also supports a public option to provide a baseline level of coverage for every Iowan. He also said he would not vote for the war in Iran, which he feels is too expensive.

“We're spending a billion dollars a day in this conflict with Iran,” Turek said. “Meanwhile, we've got closing schools and hospitals and roads here in Iowa, a real America first approach, a real Iowa first approach is, let's take care of our citizens here.”

Wahls said he would also not support what he calls an endless war in the Middle East.

Turek and Wahls will attend a second debate on KCCI next week. The Democratic primary is on June 2.

Vice President JD Vance made a stop in Iowa Tuesday to drum up support for Republican Rep. Zach Nunn ahead of the midterms. Vance told attendees that Republicans are the party fighting for them, not against them. ⁠

Speaking to a crowd of hundreds at a manufacturing plant, Vance repeated the Trump administration’s claims of widespread fraud in the SNAP food assistance program and accused Democrats of enabling fraud. ⁠

The vice president painted Republicans as the party that would fight for working families and criticized Democrats for not focusing on pocketbook issues.

“It's heartbreaking for a kid who came from a union, Democrat family to realize that Democrats these days, they seem to care more about gender transition than they do about you keeping more of your hard-earned money,” Vance said.⁠
⁠
Nunn is running against Democratic state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. The race is one of 16 U.S. House races in the country listed as a “toss up” by Cook Political Report.

Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra, who is running for governor, and Gov. Kim Reynolds attended the campaign rally, along with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.⁠

The state of Iowa has shared its voter registration list with the U.S. Department of Justice. That includes driver’s license and partial Social Security numbers of Iowa voters.

The DOJ under the Trump administration has demanded that states turn over their full voter data, raising data privacy concerns.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said he’s legally obligated to comply. He said he’s expecting the DOJ to uphold its promise to protect Iowans’ sensitive personal information.

Pate said he hasn’t agreed to cancel the registration of Iowa voters deemed ineligible by the DOJ. He said Iowa has already strengthened its voter eligibility checks, and any issues flagged by the DOJ will be addressed by his office under state and federal voting laws.

At least 13 other states have agreed to send their full voter data to the federal government. The DOJ has sued 30 states that refused to comply.

Vice President JD Vance campaigned for Iowa 3rd District Rep. Zach Nunn Tuesday.

Vance has been campaigning for other Republican incumbents in tight races and Nunn often describes his race for a third term in the U.S. House as among the most competitive in the country. Republicans hold just a five seat majority in the U.S. House heading into the midterm elections. Nunn will face Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott, a Lutheran minister who’s a state senator, in the general election.

Several giant, wooden troll sculptures can now be spotted in locations across Iowa.

They’re the creations of Danish artist Thomas Dambo, who has built his trolls from reclaimed materials in hidden locations all over the world.

“That's my mission. It is to show that there is endless, endless trash,” Dambo said. “So that basically means that we're throwing out unlimited wealth, and that wealth can be translated into great artistic experiences.”

Each troll is unique and has its own story to tell. In Elk Horn, a 25-foot troll appears to row across the prairie in a wooden boat, inviting visitors into its tale of the Danish immigrant journey. In Clinton, four trolls tell the story of the town’s history as a global lumber capital.

“I think that's why it's become such a phenomenon, and it's attracted so many people, because people like that positive story, and they like to be a part of something that gives hope," Dambo said.

The Iowa trolls are part Dambo’s broader project to place at least one troll in every U.S. state.

Read more.

Three Democrats vying to be Iowa’s 4th Congressional District representative made their case to voters in Sioux City Monday night. The candidates largely agreed on key issues, including healthcare, the environment and improving affordability for all.

Dave Dawson is a Woodbury County prosecutor from Lawton. He served two terms in the Iowa House from 2013 to 2017.

“I’m the only one who’s previously run and won an elected race in western Iowa,” Dawson said. “I’ve delivered on my promises, including helping pass Medicaid expansion in 2013, expanding health care to 150,000 Iowans. I am not a career politician.”

Ashley WolfTornabane of Storm Lake is a stay-at-home mom and former education assistant.

“We just have to decide where our priorities are,” WolfTornabane said. “For me, the priorities are the health and happiness of every day Iowans, as opposed to waging unnecessary wars.”

Stephanie Steiner is a retired women’s health nurse and mother of seven from Sutherland.

“We need every day people in Washington, people with real lived experience, not more career politicians who promise something and don’t deliver,” Steiner said.

The primary is June 2. The winner will face Republican Chris McGowan, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump and leads the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce. The 4th District includes 36 counties in western Iowa and stretches all the way to Marshalltown.

The last time there was a Democratic primary in the 4th Congressional District was 2018, when J.D. Scholten went on to narrowly lose to incumbent, former Rep. Steve King. Current Rep. Randy Feenstra is running for governor.

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Central Iowa Water Works leaders are calling on central Iowans to voluntarily limit their water usage as summer approaches.

The leaders of Central Iowa Water Works said current elevated levels of nitrate in the water as the weather gets warmer means Iowans need to watch their water usage.

Tami Madsen, the executive director of the drinking water utility, said data indicates another lawn watering ban is likely this summer unless Iowans better conserve water now.

“I want to be clear, we are not yet implementing the water use plan, though those steps will be likely if current conditions persist,” Madsen said. “We are here today to ask the public to use water wisely.”

Leaders said it’s been an unusual year as nitrate levels have been elevated since January. Typically they’re highest in late April through late July.

“We have been fighting high nitrates all winter,” said Amy Kahler, the CEO of Des Moines Water Works.

Leaders of the drinking water utility said they’re starting the summer in a more difficult position than last summer, as they’ve already been running their nitrate removal system most of the year. They also have lower amounts of water available in emergency supplies, like the Maffitt Reservoir near Des Moines.

As part of this National Small Business Week, the number two administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration visited Iowa on Monday to meet with a host of small business owners to hear about their successes and concerns.

Bill Briggs, the SBA’s deputy administrator, said entrepreneurship is a big part of what keeps the country running.

“Small businesses create two out of three new jobs. They represent over 99% of private sector firms and 98% of manufacturers,” Briggs said. “I’m meeting with an Iowa-based manufacturer today to talk about how the president’s economic agenda is helping Iowans.”

Briggs will visit Percival Scientific in Perry, a company that designs and manufactures custom research environmental growth chambers for colleges and universities, government institutions and businesses worldwide. After touring Percival, Briggs will meet with other Iowa small business owners, lenders and stakeholders. He said the top challenge he continues hearing about is the lack of skilled workers.

The leaders of Percival Scientific in Perry were named the 2025 Iowa Small Business Persons of the Year.

Iowans looking to start their gardens may want to hold off a bit before planting more sensitive plants like summer annuals, basil and tomatoes.

Madelynn Wuestenberg, an agricultural climatologist for Iowa State University Extension, said the signal for at least the next week is for cool weather, with overnight lows in the 40s. The rule of thumb for tomatoes is when overnight lows stay above 50 degrees.

Wuestenberg said at this time of year, even planting at the top of a hill versus the bottom should be taken into account.

“At the bottom of the hill, you're probably going to get a little bit cooler,” Wustenberg said. “If there's not wind and cold air, you're not going to get any mixing, so that cool air will sink to the bottom of the hill and kind of stay stagnant in that area. So that would, potentially, put those warmer vegetable crops or fruit crops at risk.”

Wuestenberg said planting conditions for crop farmers look pretty good right now, as long as it stays dry enough to get equipment into fields.

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

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

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

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