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.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a bill into law that requires public buildings to lower their flags when ordered by the governor.

Last year, the chair of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors defied Reynolds’ order to lower flags in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Reynolds then proposed, and lawmakers passed, a bill requiring compliance with such orders. It allows the attorney general to take legal action to enforce orders to fly flags at half-staff. 

In a statement, Reynolds said lowering flags allows communities to come together to mourn and honor those who have made a big impact. She said the bill will ensure flags across the state fly at half-staff when ordered.

The law will take effect July 1.

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) will soon be required to check the federal SAVE system to verify the immigration status of people who apply for a driver’s license under a bill signed into law Friday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The DOT will have to check the SAVE system for Iowans applying for or renewing a driver’s license or state ID, unless they provide proof that they’re a U.S. citizen.

The DOT has nearly a year to start complying with the new requirement.

The Sioux City Community School District is doing away with magnet schools due to a lack of funding and support. The five schools focus on specialties like the sciences, the arts and International Baccalaureate, which is a program that prepares students for college.

The schools affected are:

• Hunt Elementary – Arts A+ program
• Loess Hills Elementary – Computer programming
• Morningside Elementary - STEM
• Perry Creek Elementary - International Baccalaureate program
• Spalding Park Elementary - Environmental sciences

The district started the schools to attract students. However, during the past three years, very few students transferred into them. A staff survey also showed a majority wanted the programs to end.

The school district allocated more than $220,000 for the specialty schools. But to fully fund them, an additional $501,000 was needed.

Nodland and Sunnyside Elementary will continue its International Baccalaureate specialty with a new program proposal, and a dual-language program will stay in place at another elementary school.

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.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said a Polk County judge’s ruling earlier this week clears the way for Iowa's consumer fraud lawsuit against the online game provider Roblox Corporation.

Bird said the court denied Roblox’s attempt to dismiss the core of Iowa's lawsuit and determined the suit may move forward with its deception claims and certain unfair practice claims. The claims maintain that Roblox purposefully misled parents by misrepresenting both the quantity and the quality of its safety tools.

Bird’s lawsuit contends Roblox intentionally misrepresented the amount of violent and sexual content on its platform to secure lower age ratings on various app stores. 

Roblox tried to have the case thrown out by arguing that its platform is not "merchandise" because it's free to play. The case will now proceed in Polk County.

Springtime means ornate box turtles are active. People may spot them in the countryside, on the edge of town or crossing the road.

The turtles are threatened in Iowa, and studies suggest this species may be struggling in other parts of the Midwest as well. Their grassy habitats are turning into suburbs and crops, they’re getting hit by cars and people sometimes grab them to keep as pets.

Benjamin Reed, associate professor of biology at Washburn University in Kansas, suggests adopting a rehabilitated turtle instead of taking them from the wild.
“Turtles that are hit by cars will end up with fractured shells or broken or missing legs, and I know a lot of box turtle rehabilitators and they're always saying, 'Boy, I wish we had people that would take our rehabilitated turtles instead of a wild turtle,” Reed said.

He said the animals are also poached and smuggled illegally to countries where they are collected or used in food and medicine.

To help the species survive, Reed recommends several easy changes, including raising the deck height on lawn mowers. Read more about the complex and surprising lives of box turtles from Harvest Public Media.

Iowa Public Radio

Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Josh Turek and Zach Wahls appeared in their second debate Thursday evening ahead of the June 2 primary.

The two state lawmakers are seeking the Democratic nomination for Joni Ernst’s open U.S. Senate seat. 

Turek and Wahls answered questions on issues related to affordability, Social Security and healthcare during the debate, which aired on KCCI.

The two lawmakers found common ground on many issues, like creating a wealth tax for billionaires and rolling back spending cuts to Medicaid under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but sparred over reproductive rights.

Keep reading.

A northwest Iowa ethanol plant is facing more legal issues after a bank said it defaulted on its loans.

Quad County Corn Processors in Galva was shuttered in late 2024 after an equipment failure. At the time, the company said it was a temporary closure while a new owner was found.

Lincoln Savings Bank filed a lawsuit against the company this week in Cherokee County. The bank wants the court to start foreclosure proceedings. Another lawsuit was filed in Ida County in February.

Court documents show the bank loaned Quad County Corn Processors $26 million over three loans, with a large portion guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.

The CEO of the ethanol plant said he won’t comment on the situation at this time.

A few years ago, the plant faced fines totaling nearly $28 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for Clean Air Act violations. Settlements for much less were reached.

Michael Leland

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Iowa Pubic Radio

Ethanol advocates are hailing the U.S. House passing a bill that codifies year-round sales of E15 nationwide. The vote Wednesday night was 218-203, with all members of the Iowa delegation voting in favor of the bill. It now goes to the U.S. Senate, where passage is uncertain.

Opponents of the measure say it’s a costly federal mandate on oil refiners that will lead to higher gas prices.

Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, said the bill simply removes an unintended regulatory restriction on E15.

“There is nothing that requires a single retailer to offer E15. There is nothing that requires a single motorist to choose E15, if a retailer chose to offer it to them,” Shaw said. “So, anyone who tries to say that is, they're either lying, or I question their ability to read.”

Under the Clean Air Act, sales of E15 are restricted during summer months due to concerns about its volatility and increased smog emissions. Over the last five years, the federal government has issued emergency waivers allowing E15 sales from June to September.

Many farmers are facing a challenging economy. That’s forcing some to make tough choices about how much to invest in this season’s crops.

The cost of key inputs like diesel fuel have risen sharply in recent months. At the same time, most crop prices are low, limiting a farmer’s potential return. That means some producers will skimp on costly resources, like pesticides and fertilizer.

Dede Jones, a risk management specialist for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, recently spoke to a local farm co-op manager about fertilizer demand.

“He said that producers have been pretty reluctant to buy a lot of fertilizer, because it’s been such a marginal production year,” Jones said. “They’re trying to decide if the crop is going to be good enough to justify the high fertilizer cost.”

Jones said farmers worried about turning a profit this season likely won’t spend more than their insurance will cover.

Read more from Harvest Public Media.

State officials say a new IT system that tracks foster care and adoption cases will help keep kids safe and could improve social worker retention and recruitment.

The current IT system, called FACS, was created in the 1980s and requires users to navigate by using F keys on a keyboard because the software isn’t compatible with a computer mouse.

Janée Harvey, director of the Family Well-Being and Protection Division at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, said social workers and recruits have quit because of the dated software.

“We have literally had people go through training who want to be social workers in Iowa, who have left training when we get to the point of trying to teach them how to use FACS,” Harvey said. “We have had people say, ‘Call me when you have a more modern system.’”

Harvey also said the state is less capable of keeping kids safe with FACS because social workers weren’t always getting up-to-date information.

“It keeps our social workers from having timely information,” she said. “So, not having that right info at the right time is both inefficient, but, the nature of our work, it actually invites risk into the work we do. We are less capable of keeping kids safe.”

The new federally compliant IT system, called VISION, is set to roll out in December. State officials started talking about updating it nine years ago. After plans failed with other vendors over the years, Iowa entered into a $41.9 million agreement with Google in 2025.

Summit Carbon Solutions has submitted a new route for its proposed carbon pipeline. The company, owned by Iowa businessman Bruce Rastetter, announced Wednesday that it filed a notice of intent with the Iowa Utilities Commission.

According to a statement from Summit, the amended route removes eight counties on its original route and reduces pipeline mileage in four others.

When Summit first applied for a permit from the Iowa Utility Commission in 2022, the project was designed to transport carbon dioxide from over 30 ethanol plants across five states, including Iowa, to be sequestered underground in North Dakota.

Courtesy of Summit Carbon Solutions

The new route will now end at a site in Wyoming. Summit said the CO2 could be used for enhanced oil recovery “where appropriate.”

The Sierra Club of Iowa said the overall changes to the project show that Summit is struggling to make the project happen.

Natalie Krebs

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Iowa Public Radio

For the first time in 12 years, Iowa is facing an election for an open U.S. Senate seat, after Republican Sen. Joni Ernst announced last fall that she would not seek a third term.

Following Ernst’s announcement, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson jumped in the race and quickly emerged as the Republican frontrunner. But she’s facing challenges from two Democratic state lawmakers — Zach Wahls and Josh Turek — who hope to flip the seat.

Wahls first gained attention as a teenager in 2011 when a video of him testifying in front of Iowa lawmakers in support of his gay parents went viral.

He’s currently serving his second term as a state senator from Coralville, representing a far-left leaning district that he has easily won in both elections. In his last election in 2022, he ran unopposed.

Turek is a two-time gold medalist, playing basketball in the Paralympics. In contrast to Wahls, he’s in his second term, representing a conservative district in Pottawattamie County, which voted for President Donald Trump three times. He flipped his House seat in 2022, edging out his Republican opponent by just six votes.

Read more about the two Democratic U.S. Senate candidates vying for voters’ support during the 2026 primary election.

A seed company spinning off from the global agribusiness giant Corteva will keep its headquarters in the Des Moines area.

The new company, called Vylor, will take over Corteva’s existing location in Johnston. It will also take over Corteva’s seed and genetics business, including the Pioneer brand, which was founded in Iowa 100 years ago.

Business and political leaders lobbied to keep Vylor in Iowa. Gov. Kim Reynolds celebrated the decision and said it validates Iowa’s leadership in agriculture and bioscience.

Chair of the Polk County Board of Supervisors Matt McCoy said the move signals that “industry leaders see our region as a place for innovation.”

Nicole Baxter

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Iowa Public Radio

Even with gasoline prices in Iowa well over $4 per gallon, a survey found most Iowa motorists are simply resigning themselves to paying more to fill the tank, and they won’t let it foil their Memorial Day weekend plans.

Brian Ortner, spokesman for AAA Iowa, said projections for the holiday ahead indicate slightly fewer motorists will be traveling 50 miles or more from home compared to last year.

“It’s a little lower than we saw in 2025, but not much. And air travel dropped a little bit as well from 2025 numbers,” Ortner said. “But when you look at the other forms of travel, which is bus, trains or cruises, we are up in our region and set a new record, with 406,000 folks opting to take those other forms of travel.”

Gas prices in Iowa are the highest they’ve been in four years, and some analysts project it could be 2027 before Iowans see pre-Iran war pump prices again. Ortner said it’s very difficult to project how long it may take to bring prices down, once hostilities cease.

“The decrease in those prices won’t happen overnight. That’s the unfortunate reality of fuel costs,” Ortner said.

AAA said the average price for a gallon of gas in Iowa on Tuesday were $4.19 — that’s $1.31 higher compared to this date a year ago.

Naomi Delkamiller

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Midwest Newsroom

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is being taken to court over its efforts to deport an Iowa man back to his home country of Vietnam.

Hein Thai is suing ICE, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Polk County Jail in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Thai — whose first name is spelled “Hien” in several court records — is seeking his immediate release from the jail, where he has been held since Jan. 15, 2026. He is alleging his due process rights are being violated.

Court records show that Thai came to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1992 and was eventually awarded lawful permanent resident status.

In 1997, he was convicted of terrorism and second-degree murder. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the charge arose from a shooting between two groups of men at Café Di Vang in Des Moines on Aug. 6, 1995, during which witnesses reported that Thai armed himself with a .38 revolver. The same gun was later used by another man in a fatal shooting, according to the DOJ.

In March 2013, Thai completed his prison sentence and was turned over to ICE, which transferred him to Alabama to await deportation due to his felony convictions. Unable to deport him back to Vietnam, where such transfers are tightly restricted, ICE released him after 90 days subject to an “order of supervision” that required him to complete periodic check-ins with the federal agency.

The DOJ now alleges that in December 2025, Thai missed one of his check-in appointments, leading to his arrest on Jan. 15, 2026.

Keep reading.

Charter school students will have more access to classes and activities offered through their home school district under a bill signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The new law requires public schools to let charter students participate in extracurricular activities that are not offered at their school, and it lets charter school students take college-level courses through their home district. It also lets certain state funding meant for teacher salaries follow students to charter schools. 

“This legislation allows more of students’ per pupil funding streams to follow them to public charter schools, because every public school student deserves equal support,” Reynolds said during the bill signing at Des Moines Prep, a charter school serving eighth and ninth graders.

Democrats criticized the law for diverting money away from public schools to charter schools, which don’t have the same spending restrictions. They also said it leaves public schools on the hook for additional services they don’t receive money for. 

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month, and experts encourage everyone to learn more about detection and prevention.

Darcie Follon, a registered nurse and population health nurse educator for Clay County, suggests that individuals do a monthly self-check.

“Take a few minutes to check your skin in the mirror, looking at your arms, legs, back … then even places you might not think about, such as your scalp or the bottoms of your feet,” Follon said.

Melanoma is the most invasive form of skin cancer, with the highest risk of death. Cases of melanoma in Iowa have increased by 169% since 1992, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry Follon said people who are at higher risk should see a dermatologist yearly. 

“People with fair skin tend to be more susceptible, especially if they have that history of sunburns, and then anyone who uses tanning beds, we are also at increased risk, and then there’s that family history or personal history of skin cancer. But I always like to remind people that skin cancer does not discriminate,” Follon said. “Anyone can get skin cancer, so everyone should be paying attention.”

Medical professionals like Follon say there are certain things to watch for, like a mole that’s asymmetrical, has irregular edges, different colors or is larger than a pencil eraser.

“We want you to watch for new spots, but also anything that looks different or is changing,” Follon said. “That’s simply your skin trying to tell you something and it’s worth getting checked out.”

According to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, melanoma is one of the most common and dangerous types of cancer among adolescents and adults under 40. Iowa had the fourth highest rate of melanoma cases in the country from 2018 to 2022.

Madeleine Charis King

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Iowa Public Radio

This is the first day Iowans can cast a ballot in the state’s primary election. Voters can register as a Democrat or Republican to weigh in on which candidates will be listed on the general election ballot this fall.

County auditors’ and elections offices are open Wednesday through June 1 for early voting. Voters must show an accepted form of ID to cast a ballot.

This is also the first day county auditors can mail absentee ballots to voters who requested them. Ballot requests are due at the county auditors’ or elections office by 5 p.m. on Monday, May 18.

That’s also the deadline to pre-register to vote. But Iowans can register to vote after that deadline in person when voting early or at their polling place on primary Election Day on June 2. 

Absentee ballots must be received by county auditors by 8 p.m. on June 2 to get counted.

Read more about how to vote early in Iowa’s 2026 primary election.

Sen. Chuck Grassley said he does not support delaying some of the changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) made under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress last July.

Under the bill, states that make too many mistakes in determining who’s eligible for SNAP must pay a portion of benefits. Opponents of the change say it’s unfair to some states and want it delayed for two years.

“Senate Democrats want us to undo all the fraud in food stamps that we did away with in the tax bill of last year, saving billions of dollars,” Grassley said, referring to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. “They want us to delay the implementation of that, which, for two years, would cost $18 billion.”

The dispute over proposed changes to SNAP are one factor affecting Senate negotiations over a new Farm Bill. The House passed its version of the Farm Bill at the end of April.

Nicole Baxter

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Iowa Public Radio

The U.S. House is expected to vote this week on a stand-alone bill allowing nationwide year-round sales of E15.

Speaker Mike Johnson removed E15 language from a Farm Bill passed by the House last month. Year-round E15 has been opposed by the fossil fuel industry. The gasoline blend contains 15% ethanol, which is made from corn.

During a call with reporters Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley responded to reports that U.S. House members from oil and gas producing states may be looking to scuttle the vote on E15.

“Probably they wouldn't want to kill it, but delaying it would be the same as killing it,” Grassley said. “I would remind Speaker Johnson, who runs the House of Representatives, that he promised Feenstra that there'd be a vote, and so we shouldn't have any delay. Hopefully that vote is positive for E15.”
 
Iowa’s 4th District Rep. Randy Feenstra introduced the amendment to the U.S. House Farm Bill calling for year-round E15.

Torturing a companion animal could lead to a five year prison sentence under a new law in Iowa. This includes intentionally causing pain or death to an animal, as well as assisting or directing someone to hurt a companion animal in this way.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the bill into law Monday at the Animal Rescue League (ARL) in Des Moines. She said the ARL has been a strong advocate of the proposal over the years. The measure passed unanimously in the Iowa House and the Senate earlier this year. 

Reynolds said categorizing animal torture as a felony is common in other states.  

“This is already the legal standard across the rest of the country, and it's only common sense that we adopt it here in Iowa,” Reynolds said.

The nonprofit Humane World for Animals said Iowa is the last state to make extreme animal cruelty a felony. 

Katarina Sostaric

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Iowa Public Radio

Democratic candidate for state treasurer John Norwood is calling for more transparency around the departure of two top officials with Iowa’s public employee pension system, known as IPERS.

The CEO of IPERS resigned this month, and another top official was fired while they were both on administrative leave as the state investigated allegations of misconduct. IPERS officials and Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office haven’t provided details about what happened.

Norwood said the IPERS Investment Board, which includes Republican State Treasurer Roby Smith, should share more information with the public. He said the situation raises serious questions about governance, internal controls and risk management within IPERS. 

“My thought is, it’s most important to understand what went wrong and not repeat the same mistakes again,” Norwood said Monday.

Smith said he was informed last week of the CEO’s resignation, and that there’s no impact to the IPERS trust fund. 

Trust for America's Health

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Ready or Not 2026 report

A new report has put Iowa in the lowest tier when it comes to public health emergency preparedness.

The annual Ready or Not report by the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health evaluates each state’s preparedness by looking at indicators like workforce mobility and public health funding. This year, it moved Iowa down from the middle tier to the low tier. 

Jennifer Nuzzo, a professor of epidemiology at Brown University School of Public Health, said states have made some progress in public health preparedness since the COVID-19 pandemic, but those gains are under threat. 

“The preparedness gains that we've made are increasingly threatened by federal instability, budget uncertainty, workforce reductions, the overall erosion of the very systems that preparedness depends on,” Nuzzo said.

The report also found Iowa ranked 20th in the country for preventable and treatable causes of death before the age of 75 and found just 44% of Iowans got a flu shot last season. 

Nadine Gracia, the president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health, said the rankings are meant to show all states where they have room for improvement. 

“What we're identifying is that there are areas in which there are opportunities to take those data and strengthen preparedness and readiness in states,” Gracia said. 

The report recommends policymakers ensure there is sufficient and stable public health funding and leadership, among other things.

A former western Iowa high school guidance counselor faces a charge of sexual exploitation by a school employee.

Jesse McCann, 34, of Greenfield, pleaded not guilty in Guthrie County Court on Friday.

The Stuart Police Department said a former elementary school student reported that McCann inappropriately touched her about 10 years ago. At the time, McCann worked for the West Central Valley Community School District in Stuart.

Court documents state that Stuart police investigated the initial complaint in 2016 but did not file charges. The case was reopened in February after the alleged victim, now an adult, contacted law enforcement again.

The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners permanently revoked McCann’s teaching license in February after he was fired from the Atlantic Community School District. He was accused of inappropriate communication with students, although no criminal charges have been filed in connection with that job.

James Kelley

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Iowa Public Radio

A suspect is in custody in connection with the Pedestrian Mall shooting in Iowa City that injured five people in April. 

Damarian Jones, 17, of Cedar Rapids, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals Service near Atlanta, Georgia. Jones has been charged with five counts of attempted murder, among other charges.

Investigators say Jones was involved in a large fight at the Pedestrian Mall. They claim he used another person’s gun to fire six times into a crowd. One person is still recovering in the hospital. 

Natalie Krebs

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Iowa Public Radio

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Zach Wahls held a campaign event in Des Moines with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Sunday. 

Warren, a progressive Democrat who ran for president in 2020, endorsed Wahls in March in his primary race against state Rep. Josh Turek of Council Bluffs. Wahls is a state senator from Coralville and former senate minority leader.

At the campaign event Sunday, Warren said Wahls is the best candidate to take on Republicans in Congress and fight for policies that make basic necessities, like housing that's more affordable for Iowans.  

“Zach is in this fight because he genuinely believes we can make this a country that works better for working people — and that we can do that together,” Warren said. 

Wahls said he would like to join Warren in the U.S. Senate to help eliminate President Donald Trump’s tariffs and to increase taxes on billionaires and corporations to help working-class Iowans. 

“We see tariffs making everything more expensive; farm bankruptcies doubling in the last year in ag economy, as Sen. Warren mentioned. That works better for Bayer/Monsanto than it does for Iowa farmers,” Wahls said.

Wahls is running to fill the open seat currently held by Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, who is not running for reelection. Iowa’s primary is June 2. Early voting starts Wednesday.

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.⁠
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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.

The two Iowa Democrats running for the U.S. Senate will debate Tuesday night, a month before the June 2 primary.

This is the first televised debate between State Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, and State Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville. It starts at 7 p.m. on Iowa PBS and Iowa Public Radio's news services.

Iowa’s U.S. Senate race is seen nationally as one of the chances for a Democrat to win a seat held by a Republican. In April, a Super PAC that supports Republicans announced plans to spend $29 million backing Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson’s campaign to win the seat currently held by Sen. Joni Ernst.

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.

Read more.

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.