The Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club has submitted a petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking to remove a state agency’s authority to enforce the Clean Water Act.

The Sierra Club claims that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has failed to enforce the federal law for years.

The petition says that over 450 cattle feeding and industrial operations throughout the state are dumping waste into Iowa waterways despite expired permits.

Wally Taylor, the legal chair for Iowa’s Sierra Club chapter, says the DNR has also failed to prioritize protecting the state’s highest-quality rivers and streams. He says while DNR funding has gone down over the years, he believes failure to enforce the Clean Water Act has been deliberate.

“Over the years it’s been a lack of will, and in the past few years, I think a definite intent not to enforce the Clean Water Act.”

Waste permits must be renewed once every five years.

Iowa City librarian Sam Helmick has been elected president of the American Library Association.

Helmick says libraries are more than book storage, as they provide heat and cooling for residents dealing with the effects of climate change and offer a place to go for people facing homelessness.

“I think it's recognizing those manifold needs and how libraries serve more roles than books on shelves, and then really making sure we’re investing in those values.”

Helmick used to be president of the Iowa Library Association, a chapter of the American Library Association. Helmick’s term begins next year.

About a dozen Iowa firefighters are helping battle wildfires in other states — across the Rocky Mountains, on the West Coast and in the Pacific Northwest.

Ryan Harr, supervisor of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Fire Program, says the department has dispatched Iowans to help extinguish dangerous flareups in California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming — and one crew just returned from fighting wildfires in South Dakota.

Iowa is also dispatching EMTs and logistical planners to points west. Most of their assignments are for two weeks and Harr says it can be both grueling and rewarding.

“They’re long, hot days. They do train for it. There is a rigorous national standard of physical fitness that folks have to meet to be deployed on a national assignment.”

While Iowa has gotten a reprieve from several years of drought with heavy rain in recent months, Harr says the western U.S. has seen just the opposite. After a year or two of generally wet conditions, he says much of the region is drying out rapidly this summer.

Harr says the DNR will continue to support its federal partners by providing firefighters and support staff throughout the summer and early fall.

Every year, Harr says the DNR certifies about ten of its own staff and another 35 Iowans from partner agencies, volunteer fire departments and other organizations to be available for national fire incident assignments.

Enjoy the weekend weather, as the forecast calls for a return to unseasonably hot conditions to start the new week.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Andrew Ansorge says temperatures will return to less comfortable levels, and the humidity will only make it seem worse.

“Humidity will combine to create heat indices that will probably be above 100 at times in portions of the state. That probably won’t be until sometime Monday afternoon… and that could then continue on Tuesday as well as into Wednesday.”

That’s going to be around ten degrees above average. Ansorge says there is the possibility of some storms being generated by the warmer conditions.

The Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience store chain has announced the acquisition of 198 stores, including 148 in Texas and 50 in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi.

Casey’s is purchasing the CEFCO convenience stores for $1.145 billion.

“This acquisition will quickly expand Casey’s presence in Texas, a very attractive market for Casey’s. In addition, we’ll be able to expand our footprint further into the South as well,” Casey’s CEO Darin Rebelez said on a conference call for investors.

Casey’s had already owned 22 stores in Texas and will have 2,900 stores overall once the acquisition is complete.

Fikes Wholesale owns the stores and Rebelez says they will fit well with their operation.

”Acquisitions this size and strategic fit do not come along very often. And we seize the opportunity to add these large, high quality stores to our network. The fit between Fikes and Casey’s is outstanding.”

He says the Texas stores are mostly in smaller towns in the Dallas to San Antonio to Houston triangle. The Florida stores are mainly in the panhandle area.

CEFCO is known for its chicken, and Rebelez says they plan to remodel the kitchens to bring in Casey’s pizza.

“CEFCO has done a really nice job of building their own food business and they have kitchens and a lot of their stores, so that should make the integration process go a little smoother for us. But still we see that as our biggest synergy. Fuel it’d be the next largest synergy that we have.”

CEFCO also has a fuel terminal that is included in the agreement.

Rebelez says the plan is to put the Casey’s name on the stores. The acquisition should be completed by the end of the year.

Planned Parenthood clinics say they are preparing for Iowa’s new abortion law to go into effect on Monday.

The law will ban abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy, when cardiac activity is detected, which is before many people know they’re pregnant. It has exceptions for rape, incest, life threatening conditions and fetal abnormalities that are fatal.

Sarah Traxler, the chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood North Central States, says the new law not only affects Iowans, but those seeking abortion care in some surrounding states.

“This is going to have pretty resounding impacts on the region itself, especially the Midwest in the South. So I imagine we will be seeing people from Missouri in Omaha and Minnesota.”

Alex Sharp, who oversees the Planned Parenthood clinic in Ames, says the clinic has been scheduling extra abortion appointments this week and calling people with appointments who won’t make the new law’s cutoff to come in earlier.

“I would say 30% of the people I talked to on the phone told me that they can't get off work this week… I'm already scheduled for work this week. And I can't find day care.”

Planned Parenthood says it’s expanding abortion care in clinics in Minnesota and Nebraska and will have patient navigators to help Iowans who are past the state’s new cutoff get appointments in other states.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has been working to help with disaster recovery in Iowa.

Public Information Officer Marielle Alipio says the SBA offers loans to not only businesses, but homeowners as well.

“This is a tough time, and navigating disasters is definitely difficult, but the SBA is here and committed to long-term recovery of Iowans to help with these federal low-interest loans in any way possible.”

Alipio has been reaching out to city leaders in impacted counties to get the word out about individual help after flooding, straight-line winds and tornadoes.

She says people and businesses impacted by natural disasters should go to a disaster assistance center to see what assistance is available.

The Biden administration’s Title IX rules prohibit discrimination in education based on sexual orientation and gender identity, not just based on sex.

Iowa joined a lawsuit challenging the rules and a judge has temporarily blocked them from taking effect on Aug. 1.

Gov. Kim Reynolds says she’s proud to be part of the lawsuit challenging the rules, and that she’s doing it to protect women’s rights. If the rules take effect, Iowa could lose federal education funding because of its law requiring people to use school bathrooms that match their sex assigned at birth.

Damian Thompson with Iowa Safe Schools says the injunction isn’t final, as Title IX challenges are likely to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

“While it may seem like a disappointing decision, and it certainly is, we are thankful here in the state to at least right now have plenty of other protections available for LGBTQ students.”

The Title IX changes were not expected to affect Iowa’s ban on transgender women and girls competing in female sports.

Read the full story.

Rep. Ashley Hinson has introduced legislation designed to help law enforcement at all levels better handle Chinese trade violations.

The bipartisan bill would reportedly take an all-encompassing approach to dealing with the Chinese Communist Party’s intellectual theft and trade-related violations.

The bill includes setting up a specialized task force within the Department of Justice and better equipping local law enforcement to respond to violations.

About $20 million would be set aside for the DOJ to start the process.

During her weekly media call Thursday, the Republican congressperson said the first round of funding could just be a first step in determining the extent of the problem.

“It may be something that we’ll have to revisit in a year, $20 million may not be enough to target this. We may just need to get a gauge on how many of these cases they’re able to go after.”

Groups supporting the legislation include the U.S. Steel Workers, National Council of Textile Organizations and the American Shrimp Processing Association.

A district court judge has rejected the latest request for an injunction blocking new rules governing consumable hemp products in Iowa.

Eight companies sued the state, arguing the rules governing serving and container size were too vague, and the regulations are preempted by federal law.

In her ruling on Thursday, Judge Stephanie Rose said the plaintiffs failed to “establish a likelihood of success on any of the claims asserted in their Complaint” and denied the request for injunction blocking the rules, which went into effect earlier this month.

Last month the same judge rejected a separate request for an injunction.

Read more about the new rules.

Sen. Joni Ernst is among a bipartisan group of lawmakers urging the federal government to take immediate action to finalize rules for a tax credit for biofuels producers.

The credit, known as 45Z, will take the place of other credits that expire at the end of September. To get the new credit, farmers and biofuel producers have to implement practices that reduce the carbon score of their products.

Monte Shaw, head of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, said the industry is seeking a “safe harbor” provision that would give them more time to implement those practices and incorporate others.

If the rules aren’t finalized soon, Shaw said biodiesel production could shut down by the end of the year.

“We really need the safe harbor going into place by September so that people can be sourcing feedstock, shipping it to the plants, preparing it, doing what we call pre-treatment so it’s ready to go. And we would be seamless into January.”

Lawmakers also want the U.S. Department of the Treasury to limit eligibility for the tax credit to domestic biofuel producers.

Disability Rights Iowa has worked on issues like ensuring access to public accommodations and voting. More recently, DRI has filed lawsuits to improve children’s mental health care and to stop the use of certain punishments at the Boys State Training School in Eldora.

Catherine Johnson, executive director of Disability Rights Iowa, says job accommodations, access to medical care and a lack of long term support for people to live in their communities continue to be major issues.

“There is no one specific issue that I think faces Iowans with disabilities. It’s many of the same issues we have been addressing for years in and years out.”

She says within the next 40 years, she wants the nonprofit to have strong relationships in each of the state’s 99 counties.

“We take it very seriously that we are here for all Iowans with disabilities, which is essentially almost 400,000 Iowans identify as having a disability. We want to be known to every single Iowan with a disability so that they know we are the place that they can come to for help and support.”

The group is celebrating its legacy with the 40-34 Equal Access Festival this Saturday in Des Moines, that’ll also recognize the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Johnson made her comments this Wednesday on IPR’s Talk of Iowa.Listen to the podcast.

A new report shows nonprofit organizations across the region are facing severe workforce shortages, and potential solutions revolve around boosting salaries and benefits.

Anne Hindery is CEO of the Omaha-based Nonprofit Association of the Midlands which surveyed the leaders of nearly 700 nonprofits in Iowa and Nebraska.

Hindery says it’s always been a challenge finding and keeping qualified people, and it’s only gotten worse since the pandemic.

“We’re still seeing shortages in things like behavioral health therapists, childcare workers, accountants that understand nonprofit accounting — those are still some of the challenges that we’re seeing. So I think the Salary and Benefits Report really helps educate nonprofits on what they need to do to attract and retain talent.”

The report finds the average yearly turnover rate among nonprofits in the two states is 29%, while most open positions are filled in less than two months.

The report finds most nonprofits match market compensation and almost all of them post salaries in job listings. Hindery says it also found that almost all nonprofits granted salary increases of 3% or higher last year and plan to do so again this year. In addition, it shows 42% of surveyed nonprofits offer bonuses.

“I firmly believe that if we’re going to attract smart people to the nonprofit sector, we better pay them enough to pay off their student loans, give them benefits and flexibility. That is, as a membership organization for nonprofits, we try to help our members do just that.”

She confesses that some charitable organizations face the stigma that working for them means you’ll pull down a very meager salary.

“That is an urban legend, that nonprofits mean no money. It just means our profits go back into the organization and into our people to better serve our clients, as opposed to going to shareholders like it does in private corporations. It’s a meaningful mission, and so you can go to work every day and whether you’re in direct service or not, you are making a difference in your community, and I think that’s very attractive to people.”

Sheila Brummer

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Iowa Public Radio

The board of a northwest Iowa community college has accepted a settlement with ten students from Brazil who accused the school of human trafficking.

Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City will pay $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit involving ten students from Brazil.

College President Terry Murrell talked to reporters after a special board meeting Wednesday afternoon and took full responsibility for the program's problems.

“We got too deep into something we were not overly familiar with, and we didn’t do a good job. And not doing a good job certainly had implications to those students. And, to those students, I would say, ‘We wish you luck and hope you are able to pursue your education and career goals.”’

Murrell thought the program would have success like others at the school when it was launched in 2019.

“The J-1 Program is complex, it’s complicated, and I don’t think we appreciated that when we stepped in, and all of that is my fault.”

In April, the college’s board of directors approved paying $3 million to students from Chile who filed a lawsuit in 2020. The students said they were promised a free two-year program with internships but were instead forced into working manual labor jobs to pay off tuition. Murrell disputed that claim, saying the students were free to leave at any time and were paid for every hour they worked, plus free tuition and other amenities.

A new proposed rule from the Biden administration is aimed at helping protect millions of workers from extreme heat. It’s expected to reach 36 million employees across the U.S., including agricultural workers.

Heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S. and the proposed rule is meant to reduce heat injuries, illnesses and deaths in the workplace. The rule would have employers make a heat illness and injury prevention plan including requirements for drinking water, rest breaks and control of indoor heat.

Scott Blubaugh, president of American Farmers and Ranchers and the Oklahoma Farmers Union, says the rule is good common sense and includes practices he uses on his farm anyway.

“You know, the devil's in the details, of course, but I didn't see anything that would give me any worry about the rule.”

But the president of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau says the organization doesn’t like a one-size-fits-all approach and that many operators are already taking measures.

The American Farm Bureau Federation says it’s still analyzing the proposed rule and engaging with members to form the organization’s comment to the proposal.

Read the full story from Harvest Public Media's Anna Pope.

High water from the Rock River heavily damaged the Lyon County Fairgrounds in Rock Rapids. As a result, the fair’s livestock show was moved about 25 miles away to the Osceola Fairgrounds in Sibley.

Lori Rens, the secretary of the Lyon County Fair Board, was grateful the space could accommodate the event.

“They ran their fair last week, so many of their fair board members and livestock superintendents are staying a second week to help us out. Words can’t express how appreciative we are that they opened their home to us.”

Organizers and participants are learning how to navigate a new space after flooding nearly destroyed the Lyon County Fairgrounds in Rock Rapids.

“County and state fairs aren’t about winning, they’re all about learning,” says 16-year-old Dylan Mulder of George, who shows his chickens during the Lyon County Fair.

The livestock show wraps up Thursday in Sibley. The Lyon County Fair plans to hold a street dance fundraiser back in Rock Rapids on Friday night to help repair the fairgrounds and racetrack for next year's fair.

The company hired to administer Iowa’s educational savings accounts for students attending private schools is collecting fees on top of money awarded in a state contract.

The New York-based company Odyssey won the bid to process ESA payments for the Iowa Department of Education, receiving a six-year contract worth $4.3 million.

A report from the state auditor’s office found that the contract was later amended to add additional fees, including payments worth 0.25% of all expenses paid out in the program.

According to the report, the previously undisclosed fee on program expenditures could by itself generate an estimated $784,750 by fiscal year 2026, which is more than the annual payment of around $730,000 the state agreed to make in the original contract.

Grant Leo Winterer

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Iowa Public Radio

On Monday morning, several sites along city trails in Cedar Falls were found tagged with swastikas and homophobic and racist slurs.

Sonja Bock, a member of the Cedar Falls Human Rights Commission, says she’s concerned that far-right extremism has been present in northeast Iowa for a while, and the recent political climate has emboldened those groups to speak out.

“I think it’s been quietly brewing probably since Obama. There are several factions that have really intently mobilized and have done a really good job of spreading their message to certain groups, especially in rural areas.”

In addition to the hate symbols found Monday, a telephone number appeared Tuesday at one of the sites linked to a white supremacist group.

A northwest Iowa community college has reached a tentative settlement with foreign students who accused the school of human trafficking.

Federal court documents show claims involving Western Iowa Tech Community College and employees have been resolved in a second lawsuit involving nine students from Brazil.

In April, the college’s board of directors approved paying $3 million to students from Chile who filed a lawsuit in November of 2020.

The students said they were promised a free two-year program with internships but were instead forced into working manual labor jobs to pay off tuition.

The terms of the new settlement haven’t been made public yet. A special board meeting to approve a settlement agreement is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at the college in Sioux City.

One month after devastating flooding struck the northwest Iowa community of Rock Valley, the mayor said some residents will have to make a tough decision: whether they will stay or go.

Rock Valley Mayor Kevin Van Otterloo said cleanup has been going well after water poured out of the Rock River on June 22, submerging the ground level of homes and imploding foundations on the north side of town.

The challenge now is housing, as there was already a critical need before flooding hit the town of 4,000 people.

Van Otterloo said FEMA is still assessing the damage to determine what financial help will be available for residents impacted the most.

“The major concern is, do I put money back in this house, or are you going to buy me out? We can’t answer that question yet. We keep telling them, ‘It’s your house. Even if there’s a buyout offered, you don’t have to take it. You can still stay there, it’s your property.’”

Van Otterloo said that soon, temporary housing, campers and mobile homes will be set up for an estimated 150 households that can no longer live in their homes due to substantial or unrepairable damage.

Katarina Sostaric

/

Iowa Public Radio

Thousands of RAGBRAI riders stopped in Greenfield on Tuesday just two months after a tornado devastated the town.

Cyclists rode past homes destroyed by the May 21 tornado that killed four people and injured dozens. It looked like any other RAGBRAI meeting town — full of people in bike shorts lining up at food tents and resting in the shade.

Greenfield resident Mackenzie Meisenheimer said right after the tornado it wasn’t clear if the town would still be able to host RAGBRAI. But she said Greenfield got a lot of support, and volunteers worked hard to make it happen.

“It’s a good thing we had RAGBRAI though because it gave us a reason to clean up. It gave us a reason to get ourselves together a little bit and something to look forward to. Having people here, looking at what’s left of our awesome town, I mean, we have so much left that’s still here and beautiful.”

RAGBRAI rider Dana Kramer of Urbandale said the bike route took her past part of town that was in the tornado’s path. She said it looked pretty good and that Greenfield did a lot of clean up in two months.

“I thought I would see a little bit more of the devastation from the storm, but they’ve gotten pretty much everything torn down. And they’ve started the rebuilding processes. Some houses are still boarded up, but I think it shows the strength of the city in wanting to get things back to normal and continue to host RAGBRAI.”

She was heading into the main square, which wasn’t hit by the tornado. Kramer and others said they are happy to spend money there to help Greenfield’s economy.

Read more.

Iowa DOT records show a decline in the number of cars and pick-up trucks registered to drive on Iowa roads last year.

In 2023, there were just over one million cars registered for use in Iowa and just over one million pick-ups for personal or business use. However, there was a nearly 4% drop in the number of automobiles registered in Iowa last year. Pick-up truck numbers in Iowa fell about 1% from 2022 to 2023.

The DOT’s data includes semi tractors, mopeds and other types of vehicles. It shows more than 3.7 million vehicles were registered in Iowa in 2023.

Gov. Kim Reynolds sent a letter to the United States Department of Agriculture pushing for more help for farmers impacted by natural disasters this year.

She urged the USDA to adjust disaster programs after deadly tornadoes and record-breaking flooding.

The department provides an emergency loan program for farmers, ranchers and producers. But Reynolds said the program is less favorable compared to the assistance offered by the Small Business Administration to non-agricultural businesses.

Reynolds wants greater flexibility for farmers regarding interest and payment terms. Iowa’s congressional delegation also signed the letter addressed to former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who oversees the USDA.

Labor organizers were in Cedar Rapids Monday as part of a new campaign to improve collective bargaining rights for workers in Iowa.

Monica Frank, a school bus driver for the Cedar Rapids Community School District, is represented by the Teamsters, which represents 12,000 public and private sector workers across the state.

“We deserve the right to negotiate for fair and safe working conditions. And we deserve the dignity that comes with being able to advocate for our needs and the needs of our community.”

Because of a 2017 law, her unit’s contract negotiations are only required to bargain over wages. Issues like seniority and working conditions are up to employers. Other changes in 2017 also require public unions to recertify by a two-thirds majority before the end of every contract.

A survey by the Iowa Brewers Guild finds Iowa breweries generated a total economic impact of $1.25 billion from operations, trade and tourism in 2022 — a big increase from the $245 million impact in 2020.

Brewers Guild Executive Director Noreen Otto said the industry has breweries operating in 82 Iowa communities and continues to grow and mature. She pointed to breweries evolving into multipurpose and multigenerational entertainment venues.

“They’re welcoming for so many different occasions. I joke I’ve been to a book club at a brewery, I’ve been to a baby shower at a brewery, I’ve been to a PTA meeting at a brewery. And so they’re really becoming these important community gathering spaces.”

She said there have been changes in laws and regulations that have helped the industry grow, especially after the economic strain of pandemic.

“This last session we expanded the ability of a brewery to pour at a festival, which gives a little more of local flavor to these events around the state of Iowa that you see, especially all summer long. And I think continuing to change the environment to be more supportive of craft brewing and allow more flexibility for the small business owners will help us to remain stable going forward.”

The state has approximately 150 breweries with a workforce of around 7,200 employees for direct operations, and total employment throughout the supply chain of 14,448 jobs.

Otto said there is still room for more growth.

“The economic impact study projected continued growth, almost another 9% increase in jobs are expected and a projection of continued growth about 17% in total economic output. I think we’re gonna see that as we legislatively allow access to more markets for breweries as they continue to mature and continue to grow their product lines.”

One of the recent areas of growth has been partnerships with colleges and universities that includes supporting funding of name image and likeness collectives.

The Iowa Brewers Guild is a nonprofit trade association of professional brewers of beer and cider in Iowa.

Iowans are being warned to use extreme caution when taking weight loss drugs they bought online because they either can’t afford or can’t find FDA-approved medications like Ozempic.

Marisa Pruitt, a registered dietician with the Gundersen Health System, said there is a lot of buzz about these so-called “miracle weight loss drugs,” and taking them without a doctor’s close guidance may be very risky.

“There are definitely shortages. The demand for these drugs has outpaced the quantity and supply, so it’s very difficult to get Ozempic or Wegovy for weight loss. They’re the same medicine, but it’s very difficult to get that medicine right now.”

When there are shortages, Pruitt said what’s known as “compounded” drugs will frequently appear on the market, and it’s often unclear exactly what is in them. She said cheaper doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a better buy.

“The brand of this drug is probably around $1,000 a month — so that can be very limiting for many people — versus the compounded medicines are being sold for a fraction of that. So very appealing in that sense.”

Some of the medications that are being purchased online may in fact work, but Pruitt said any money you might be saving is at the sacrifice of important supervision, which could put your health in jeopardy.

She said patients should undergo a thorough medical evaluation before any weight loss drugs are prescribed.

An Iowa law that bans abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy will go into effect Monday, July 29, at 8 a.m.

A district court judge filed a motion Tuesday to dissolve the temporary injunction next week.

This was following an Iowa Supreme Court decision last month that found the law, which bans abortion when cardiac activity is detected, can go into effect.

When the law does go into effect, it will make Iowa the most recent state to severely restrict the procedure.

Planned Parenthood, which operates four abortion clinics in the state, estimates it will block the vast majority of abortions in Iowa.

Iowa Democrats are backing Vice President Kamala Harris following President Joe Biden’s decision to not seek a second term.

On Monday, 40 delegates met virtually to decide what would happen next. Biden’s big announcement meant Iowa’s delegates were committed but without a candidate.

In the closed-door meeting, party chair Rita Hart asked the room if Iowa’s delegates were unanimous about pledging support for Harris. And the room was all-in.

Davenport’s Adam Peters is a delegate who was involved in whipping votes for Joe Biden before the president dropped out over the weekend. He said the room was enthusiastic.

“Like I said, we’re Iowans. We’ve all supported so many different campaigns in the last four years before we all unified behind Joe Biden. We’ve all seen her [Harris] up close. We know how candid, how vibrant, how smart and intelligent she is.”

Before becoming vice president, Harris ran in the 2020 Iowa caucuses but dropped out before caucus day.

Even with many delegates pledging their support, Harris still has to secure the party nomination by delegate vote. That date has not been announced.

An ISU Extension economist says the price of farmland is expected to fall this year in Iowa. Prices averaged a record $11,835 an acre in 2023, according to ISU Extension’s annual farmland value survey.

Rabail Chandio, who leads the survey at ISU Extension, said there are two factors that will drive land values down: one is high interest rates, and the other is commodity prices.

“We expect crop prices to be slightly lower. We expect yields to be very high, but our demand is not there to accommodate all that great production that we’re expecting for this crop year.”

Creighton economist Ernie Goss predicted Iowa farmland prices would drop by around 3.8% in 2024. Chandio did not commit to a specific number because of uncertainties with the weather. She said the Federal Reserve could still drop interest rates this year, but it will probably come too late to affect land prices before 2025.

The Iowa Supreme Court has denied abortion providers’ request to reconsider its decision to uphold a law banning most abortions around six weeks of pregnancy.

However, the law hasn’t taken effect because a lower court has yet to dissolve the injunction blocking its enforcement. Until that happens, abortion is still legal in Iowa up to about 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled on June 28 that the law banning most abortions when cardiac activity is detected is constitutional and should be allowed to take effect. That started a three-week period for the case to make its way back to the lower court, but Planned Parenthood’s request to reconsider the ruling made that take longer.

A Polk County District Court judge could make the law take effect as early as this week.

Read more.

Farm field drainage failure leads to creek contamination, dead fish

Underground drainage tiling apparently failed and formed a sinkhole in a corn field in northwest Iowa that allowed manure to flow into a creek, where it killed small fish for miles, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The manure came from Roorda Dairy west of Paullina, which has about 4,200 dairy cattle, DNR records show. The dairy was irrigating a field with manure and didn’t notice the damaged tile line because of standing corn, said Tom Roos, a senior environmental specialist for the department.

“With all these rain events, a tile line must have burst,” he said.

Paullina is in O’Brien County in far northwest Iowa, parts of which have suffered from severe flooding in recent weeks. The pressure from influxes of water into tile drains can cause weak areas to rupture, after which soil can flow into the tiling and create a sinkhole.

On July 17 someone noticed dead fish in nearby Mud Creek and reported it to state law enforcement. A DNR investigation found that the manure had been flowing into the creek through the drainage tiling and killed fish along about nine miles of the stream, until it met another creek.

It’s unclear how many gallons of manure might have spilled into the creek and how many fish it killed, Roos said. An investigation is ongoing.

The dairy promptly plugged a culvert to prevent more manure from reaching the creek, Roos said. He did not know how long the spill had occurred.

Roorda Dairy paid a $5,000 fine to the DNR in 2022 for starting construction on a manure digester without state approval. Digesters use bacteria to consume the manure and emit flammable gases such as methane that can be used to heat or power farm operations.

Construction will resume soon on the new bridge over the Mississippi River at Lansing. Work was suspended in early June due to high water levels and eventually flooding.

Pete Hjelmstad, a field service coordinator for the Iowa DOT, said cleanup needs to be done before work on the bridge can restart.

“The problem is their construction yard — the area that they use for staging equipment — on the south side, as well as the construction area for the piers and abutments on the Wisconsin side of the river. They’re going to have to get in there and clean it up because it’s going to be full of debris and everything.”

High water levels also delayed construction on the new Iowa Highway 3 bridge over the Cedar River in Waverly. Originally targeted to start July 8, Hjelmstad said that project is now slated to begin Aug. 1.

The Des Moines City Council heard public comments Monday morning for and against proposed city ordinances affecting the city’s unhoused population. One new law would ban sleeping in public spaces.

After the special meeting, Mayor Connie Boesen discussed the other measure, which would limit how long homeless camps can stand.

“Well, we voted on the first reading of our new ordinances on how we are going to shorten the time frame on homeless camps and take it from ten days to three days. And some other things too, but we’re putting extra provisions because we’re calling all our providers and everyone to work better together in this total metro wide community.”

Both ordinances would need three readings before a final vote, with a second reading likely during the council’s Aug. 5 meeting. Several of those who spoke against the measures say the laws criminalize being homeless.

Many trails, waterways and docks have reopened as water levels throughout the region start to return to normal.

However, bacteria and other contaminant levels in area rivers remain high due to stagnation and sediment that comes with elevated water levels.

Lori Eberhard is the park director for George Wyth State Park in Black Hawk County. She says even though the rivers might look safer, the risk of illness for swimmers remains high.

“If our bacteria level is high on the beach, I would still swim there before I would swim in the river after flooding. Especially when you have major flooding, it gets into those different systems all the way down the river, and that’s what’s in the water.”

The DNR tests bodies of water weekly to track those levels.

Edberhard also stresses caution when walking, even when the ground appears stable.

“There are low spots that still have water on them. We don’t recommend going through flooded trails or water, because you don’t know what’s under there, you don’t know if there’s a hole or things like that. And now, with water along the trails and stuff, trees will just fall down.”

The everyday consumer and the broader dairy industry—so far—has not been hurt by the bird flu outbreak in milk cows.

According to academics who study dairy markets and industry groups, the supply and demand for milk has not changed in the four months since cows first tested positive for the virus.

Alan Bjerga of the National Milk Producers Federation says avian influenza is still on the mind of dairy producers.

“And it’s something that we have to watch because of the public health issues — you know, both for animals and for farm workers as well. But it’s not been something that has been affecting the consumer marketplace.”

Bird flu has been reported in just 13 states at a small fraction of the country’s dairies. And federal agencies say pasteurization makes milk safe to drink.

While individual farmers have taken sick cows out of their rotation, the impact on the dairy industry has been minimal, says University of Wisconsin ag economics professor Chuck Nicholson.

“With any kind of epidemiological situation that we have going on, the future can be quite uncertain. So, it’s something that we need to keep a close eye on, but, for the moment, we don’t see any major…major shifts.”

Nicholson says that could change — but the bird flu outbreak would have to get much worse.

Top Democrats in Iowa are welcoming President Joe Biden’s decision to end his run for reelection and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party’s nominee.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said in a statement she is “personally sad” that Biden made the decision to back out of the race yesterday. Hart said he has served the country well.

Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said Biden can look back on a strong record of workforce and economic recovery. She said the president’s choice to end his candidacy allows Democrats to move forward and reach out to people who have tuned out of politics.

Researchers recently discovered a remnant prairie at the Iowa State University Horticulture Research Station and are working to restore it.

Remnant prairies have never been plowed or completely converted into non-native species.

An estimated 0.1% of this original habitat remains in Iowa, even though it once covered nearly 80% of the state.

Nick Howell, the superintendent for the horticulture research station, says the one-and-a-half acre area had been overgrown with trees and brush next to a lake. Three years ago, a researcher recognized seeds-pods under snow while working on a fish habitat project.

Howell says prairie specialists came out that spring to confirm that it was a remnant.

“It had been protected for a long, long time. And once we cleared the brush and started burning it, the prairie species started to reappear.”

While prairie remnants are rare, reconstructed prairies are becoming more common. They currently account for 1-2% of the state.

An Iowa law that would ban abortions as soon as cardiac activity is detected has not yet taken effect as health care providers and others watch for court filings that would allow the state to begin enforcement.

The Iowa Supreme Court upheld the six-week ban last month.

Before the law is official, the court must return the case to a Polk County judge, who will issue an order lifting a temporary injunction.

In a brief conference with attorneys in the case on Friday, Judge Jeffrey Farrell said he was inclined to allow some time after the Supreme Court’s action before the law takes effect.

However, he did not settle on an exact number of days. The timing may not be certain until his written order is filed.

John Deere says it will get rid of all socially-motivated policies after conservative activist Roddy Starbuck criticized the company as “woke” for being committed to DEI polices.

In a statement on X this week, John Deere said it will continue to follow workplace legal protections.

Courtney Reyes is the executive director of One Iowa, a group that advocates for the LGBTQ workforce.

Reyes says following state and federal law is the bare minimum and doesn’t guarantee a healthy workplace.

“I hear from LGBTQ plus folks, specifically trans folks, specifically Black LGTBQ plus individuals, of how much they get discriminated against in the workplace. And then you have to have the stamina, the funds to sue that employer, if you feel like you're being discriminated against, so it puts the employer in a great position of power.”

John Deere says in the statement that company training and mentoring groups will focus on solely professional development.

Roddy Starbuck also targeted Tractor Supply in early June and that company later said it was cutting its DEI initiatives. Starbuck told The Associated Press he is going to continue to expose what he calls “woke” companies, starting with ones he says have a conservative customer base.

The Des Moines City Council will consider changes to ordinances affecting the city’s unhoused population.

Among the changes the city could change the encroachment ordinance from a complaint-based system to one in which city staff could initiate the process of clearing encampments, and shorten the length of time given for residents to clear them voluntarily.

Josh Mandlebaum represents Ward 3, which includes much of downtown Des Moines. He says the changes are being rushed through in a special meeting Monday morning, with very little advance notice.

“We didn’t work collaboratively in any way with the provider community, the folks who are currently providing homeless services in our community and would have insight into how you come in, to take service and work with them. And in fact I’ve already started hearing from folks that the proposals are going to make their jobs harder. It’s going to make it harder to provide service, not easier.”

Council member Chris Coleman, chair of the Homeless Coordinating Council, tells The Des Moines Register the policies are meant to increase the city's effectiveness in getting people off the street and into programs to better their lives.

The council will also consider an outright ban on camping in public. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled such a banpassed in an Oregon city is constitutional.

Cyclists from across the county, and even the world, are converging on Iowa this weekend for the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, commonly known as RAGBRAI. The start-off point Sunday is the community of Glenwood, about a half-hour southeast of Omaha.

Glenwood City Administrator Amber Farnan expects the town of about 5,000 to more than triple in size on Saturday night, bringing along some much-welcome business.

“It's maybe a longer-lasting economic boost, just in the fact that you get the name of these local businesses out to people who wouldn't normally know about them. Day of, I think you'll definitely see some local businesses make some money. They're not going to get rich, but they will enjoy a nice weekend, I believe.”

Jennifer Uphoff, a Glenwood resident, can’t wait to host some cyclists as they set off on their 434-mile RAGBRAI journey across the state.

“We have a group of one bus for 20 people. I just know they are setting up ten tents, and then we have another bus with ten people coming to stay at our house. So yes, it'll be an exciting weekend.”

From Glenwood, overnight stops are in Red Oak, Atlantic, Winterset, Knoxville, Ottumwa, and Mount Pleasant, before ending in Burlington next Saturday. It’s the 51st RAGBRAI, and this year’s is the shortest and hilliest.

Read more from Sheila Brummer.

Iowa Republican Party leaders say there have been clear signals this week that the Iowa caucuses will be first in the nation again in 2028.

Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann was chosen to deliver the nominating speech for former President Trump and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird was chosen to preside over the vice president’s nomination at the party’s national convention.

State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, the son of the state party’s chairman, is a senior advisor to Trump’s reelection campaign.

“President Trump has repeatedly told many people that he values Iowa’s first in the nation status,” Kaufmann said. “… And I think him putting us in prominent roles in the first day of the convention just solidifies what he’s already said. I'm confident we will have his backing for 2028.”

Steve Scheffler, Iowa’s Republican National Committee representative, said national party rules approved last week keep the Iowa caucuses first, followed by New Hampshire’s primary.

Nearly 30% of the Republican National Committee members are new this year, so Schefler says he and other Iowa GOP leaders will be meeting with them to tout the caucuses.

“Making them understand we play a unique role and there is no reason on God’s green Earth that you should upset the apple cart and start from some other direction,” Scheffler said.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said having the Iowa Republican Party’s chairman and Republican Attorney General Bird in prominent speaking roles this week is a “huge” indicator Iowa’s caucuses will remain first.

“Just super-proud of them and the role they’ve been able to play in the convention and really bringing Iowa just front and center,” Reynolds said.

The Democratic National Committee took the Iowa Democratic Party’s caucuses out of the lead-off position in 2024. Some Iowa Democratic Party leaders have said they intend to try to get their caucuses back in the first voting slot for the 2028 presidential campaign.

Humans transport some non-native species on purpose. Others arrive by accident. The vast majority don't hijack landscapes, but those that do have a significant impact.

Managing disruptive species from faraway places has become an unending part of the job for many ranchers, park workers and homeowners across the Midwest. That won’t change, and more plants, insects and fungi will inevitably arrive.

So communities have begun looking for tools to curb the economic and ecological costs of some nonnative species that hurt wildlife, wipe out street trees and reduce forage for livestock.

Those tools range from rules against the sale of specific plants to fish-offs that turn invasive white perch into fodder for delicious family cookouts. They range from cities getting savvier about street tree plans to public workers and volunteers pouring long hours into keeping their local parks as sanctuaries for native species.“

As our landscape changes, we have to learn to adapt,” says Amy Bousman, an educator at the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks who teaches people to identify and repurpose invasive species.

Read more from Celia Llopis-Jepsen.

Friday is the 35th anniversary of the crash of United Airlines flight 232 at the Sioux Gateway Airport. The Mid America Museum of Aviation and Transportation is holding an open house to remember the 112 who died in the crash, the 180 who survived, and the first responders and community members who aided them.

Museum board member Pam Mickelson says the event begins at 10 a.m. and will have activities throughout the day.

Among the day's activities, Mickelson says Dr. Mitch Simmons will talk about research that tells the story through the eyes of flight attendant Susan White and how the crew worked together with the late pilot Al Haynes. White is one of the few people who were involved who hasn’t retired.

Mickelson says it’s an opportunity for a new generation to hear the details of the heroic efforts of those involved in the crash on July 19, 1989.

Land located in western Iowa will be officially returned to the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.

In the 1970s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used eminent domain to take 2.5 square miles of land along the Missouri River south of Sioux City for a project that never materialized. The Corps then leased the property to the Iowa DNR.

President Joe Biden recently signed the Winnebago Land Transfer Act for the property currently used for public hunting. Tribal officials told KTIV in Sioux City that the land will be accessible to all who want to enjoy its beauty.

The biotech company Bayer is now lobbying Congress to pass legislation that could protect it from lawsuits regarding Roundup. The company is facing thousands of lawsuits over the weedkiller claiming it causes cancer.

The House version of the farm bill includes language that would protect Bayer from lawsuits claiming Roundup causes cancer. So far the bill hasn’t gone to a full House vote.

Similar legislative efforts were made earlier this year in Missouri, Iowa and Idaho, but none of the bills passed.

Melissa Vatterott, of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, says Bayer should not be able to avoid litigation.

“But they are refusing to acknowledge that the product is dangerous. And so when people are getting sick, they are suing.”

Bayer spokeswoman Jess Christiansen says the company is seeking that protection because Roundup has gone through adequate EPA testing and is safe.

“Y’know, some of the litigation industry folks will say, ‘Well, why don't you just label, warn that it could cause cancer? Because it doesn't. And that would go against the process of how we’re supposed to warn.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the state will begin accepting applications to distribute $13 million to organizations that want to develop or expand sober-living housing options.

The funding is part of the $17.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding that Reynolds allocated towards opioid prevention and recovery programs in May.

Last session, the Iowa House and Senate failed to pass a bill that would have distributed millions in the state’s opioid abatement fund to various efforts to combat opioid use disorder.

Reynolds says the state will accept applications for grants through September.

A law banning abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy in Iowa is poised to go into effect Friday.

Three weeks ago, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled a law that bans most abortions when cardiac activity is detected can go into effect, which can be as early as six weeks of pregnancy — or before many people know they’re pregnant.

Emily Boevers, an OB/GYN in Waverly who used to work for Planned Parenthood, said the new law takes away her pregnant patients’ ability to make their own medical decisions.

“We've taken away the choice for women to prioritize their own health or their own well-being. We've taken away their ability to make an autonomous medical decision.”

Francesca Turner is an OB/GYN in Des Moines and a member of Iowans for Health Liberty, which supports abortion rights. She said there are many complications people can face during pregnancy that could lead them to terminate, and they might not be considered life threatening under the law’s exception.

“It's not our jobs as physicians to tell women what to do. But we need to give them the options and allow them to take the risks that they choose for themselves and their family.”

Abortion opponents say the new law will help save more embryos and fetuses across the state.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said this week's Republican National Convention is far different from eight years ago when supporters of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz were feuding. Then, Trump won the 2016 nomination with the lowest percentage of delegates in 40 years.

"This is the most united party I have ever seen. It is electric on the floor. The energy, the commitment, especially after the assassination attempt on Saturday.”

She said Tuesday night's speeches from Trump's 2024 GOP competitors show they are all in for former President Trump.

"It was really good to have them there, to have them up on stage and just to show the full support for a united Republican Party. Such a contrast from what we're seeing from the Democratic Party.”

Wednesday’s marquee speech was from J.D. Vance, the Ohio senator Trump picked as his running mate. Reynolds said she's biased toward governors and was secretly hoping North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum would be vice president. But she said 39-year-old Vance will appeal to younger voters, a critical voting bloc.

"We talk a lot about restoring the possibility of the American Dream. I feel like it's been crushed over the last years, and he's lived it. That's really his life story."

Reynolds said she expects Trump to deliver an optimistic, hopeful speech at the convention Thursday night.

A boating restriction due to flooding in the Iowa Great Lakes area will be lifted this weekend.

Dickinson County Emergency Management announced Thursday morning that the five-mile-per-hour rule will end Saturday at 6 a.m. since high water levels have fallen.

The rule was put in place to protect the shoreline.

Emergency Management Coordinator Michael Ehret says people should use caution since there are still vulnerable areas along East and West Lake Okoboji.

“There were still concerns about the shorelines that were damaged. There's also concerns about the economic impact that it's having on the lakes area and tourism. There's no level that we can set that's going to please everybody. It's just not possible.”

According to tourism officials, tourism is down an estimated 40-60%.

Ehret says the rule would be reinstated if the area received high amounts of rain.

“Everybody's anxious to get out in the lake and have fun but just be careful and then be respectful of the lake shore property owners that had damages.”

During a meeting this week, members of the Dickinson County Emergency Management Commission voted down extending the rule that would have given crews more time to repair the damaged shoreline.

Over the last two years, several large pork packers have closed plants in California, Minnesota and most recently Iowa. For some pork producers, this means additional miles and more money to deliver hogs on top of tough economic times.

“It’s been pretty brutal in the last year and a half,” said Iowa farmer and producer Larry Alliger, who delivered his hogs to the Tyson plant in Perry for 35 years. Now, he and others are forced to spend more time on the road.

Read the full story.

A meal site is opening Thursday in a Cedar Rapids school to address food insecurity in a neighborhood that recently lost a grocery store.

Breakfast and lunch will be served Monday through Friday at Johnson STEAM Academy, which is blocks away from a Hy-Vee location that closed last month.

State Rep. Sami Scheetz helped organize the Cedar Rapids food program. He says when the Hy-Vee closed it created a food desert in a diverse, working class neighborhood.

“This was a huge driver for us, was figuring out just temporarily how we can help mitigate some of the problems that this closure is going to cause for the community.”Meals will be available at Johnson STEAM Academy through Aug.16. Scheetz says the program is open to anyone — not just students and their families.

The school district is able to cover the cost of meals for children but is collecting funds to help cover meals for adults.

Linn County has agreed to provide $10,000 in ARPA funding. The Cedar Rapids City Council will consider a contribution at their upcoming meeting.

Bees in the U.S. are in decline, but figuring out just which species are affected can be hard.

Ecologists who gather bees in the field need help from taxonomists to identify them. And those specialists are in short supply. A Kansas scientist is using artificial intelligence to help bee researchers.

Brian Spiesman, a professor at Kansas State University, built the smartphone app BeeMachine. He and his collaborators are teaching it to distinguish tricky-to-identify bees. This could speed international efforts to pin down trends in pollinator populations. The public can contribute to the BeeMachine app by snapping photos of bees in local parks and gardens.

Read the full story from Harvest Public Media's Celia Llopis-Jepsen.

Rules governing the sale and potency of hemp-based products in Iowa went into effect on Wednesday. The Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee held a hearing on Tuesday where they denied a 70-day hold on the rules while concerns by producers are addressed.

At issue are the definition of a serving size, along with the language in required warning labels on hemp products.

Scott Selix owns Climbing Kites, a company that produces beverages containing THC. He and other producers have filed suits seeking an injunction blocking the rules.

Speaking before the committee, Selix pointed to a similar law passed in Tennessee that’s rolling out over several months while that state works with producers. Selix says Iowa's Department of Health and Human Services used their emergency rulemaking authority to push the regulations through in four weeks.

“They don’t understand the implications of their actions. They don’t understand what you all passed. They’re trying to criminalize a person like me. We’re up here all the time. There’s no imminent public safety threat. It’s been around for four years. But they can’t wait two months to give us notice? Or six months?”

Selix says he’s moved all of Climbing Kites’ operations out of Iowa. The four Democrats on the committee voted to place a hold on the rules, while the six Republicans voted to allow the rules to go into effect.

State Rep. Rick Olson, a democrat, questioned a representative from the Iowa HHS about the final version of rules governing warning labels, which he and the hemp producers present at the hearing were seeing for the first time.

Several producers of hemp-based products are asking a judge to block the rules while their concerns are addressed. There’s no indication when the judge will issue a ruling.

Cleanup efforts are underway in the Quad Cities after Monday night’s storms.

City crews in Davenport and Bettendorf have been working nonstop to clear fallen trees, power lines, and debris.

As of Wednesday morning, nearly the whole area has its power restored, and total damage to homes and businesses is still being tallied.

Scott County Emergency Management Deputy Director Jim Hawkes says initial damage assessments have prompted a response from the state.

“Based on the work done yesterday — the reports from the cities, the damage that was done to the area — we did receive a disaster proclamation from the governor for the storms that night.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for Scott County and four others for the storms. At least two families were forced to find shelter through the Red Cross due to the damage.

Even though the Council Bluffs area didn’t see as much widespread damage from flooding last month as other parts of western Iowa, Mayor Matt Walsh says he’s concerned about future episodes due to climate change.

Walsh points to record-breaking flooding and deadly tornadoes as signs climate change is real and too costly to ignore.

“People justify what they want to justify. I think the proof is in the pudding ... FEMA is running out of money and, you know, between fires and hurricanes and tornadoes and flooding, it’s pretty hard to deny evidence is right in front of your face.”

Officials with the federal government have said that FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund could run out of money by mid-August without additional help from Congress.

If that happened, the director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told The Associated Press that money would be taken from other programs to cover the most urgent needs.

Walsh says a levee protected the city from devastating flooding seen upstream. However, some low-lying areas near the Missouri River were underwater, and about 50 homes were impacted by groundwater. A storm late in June also caused substantial tree damage.

“I think it's time to do a little reality check and take some steps. I don't know if it's too late to correct it, but it's certainly not too late to address it and try to slow it down.”

The Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area received a $1 million grant from the federal government to pay for climate change planning to reduce greenhouse gases. Walsh also says his community has worked to help encourage solar energy development to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution.

In a primetime speaking slot at the Republican National Convention, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird joined a line-up of speakers who claimed former President Donald Trump would make the country safer.

Bird said Trump supports law enforcement, and falsely suggested President Joe Biden backs attempts to defund police departments across the U.S.

“Democrats like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have made life miserable for law enforcement. They treat police like criminals and criminals like victims.”

Republicans have made supporting police officers a top issue since the murder of George Floyd in 2020 by a Minneapolis officer. At the time, some Democrats did support calls to reform law enforcement.

However, Biden has not supported the position of defunding police departments and has proposed increasing federal support for local police.

Millions of federal dollars set aside to help school districts identify and support students without stable housing is still unspent – with a spending deadline approaching. The money came from the American Rescue Plan Act.

In March 2021 the federal government made $800 million available to state education departments across the country. Only about half has been spent.

Any funds uncommitted to school districts by Sept. 30 will go back to the U.S. Treasury, barring some extensions.

Barbara Duffield is executive director of SchoolHouse Connection, a group that advocates for the equal education of students experiencing homelessness. She says it's unlikely the remaining money will be spent.

“School superintendents and finance officers are not familiar with the issue of children and youth experiencing homelessness — and not necessarily aware of how they could use the flexibility to do things differently.”

Duffield says many school districts throughout the country aren’t aware they’re even eligible for the funding.

“It's essentially an incredible loss for families and for youth who really need this help to get support and go to school, which is ultimately their best shot out of homelessness in the long term.”

Read more from Kavahn Mansouri here.

The National Weather Service office in Des Moines has confirmed an EF-1 tornado passed across Urbandale, Windsor Heights and Des Moines Monday evening.

The National Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., also confirms a derecho caused widespread damage Monday night from central Iowa into Illinois, and as far east as Indiana and Michigan.Straight line winds of 60-75 miles per hour were recorded just east of Des Moines and in the Quad Cities.

In the Dubuque area, there were winds between 75 and 100 miles per hour.

The storms that swept across central and eastern Iowa left about 31,000 MidAmerican Energy customers in the Quad Cities without power Monday night.

That number has decreased significantly Tuesday due to efforts from utility companies and tree crews from Nebraska, Wisconsin and Missouri. MidAmerican Energy’s Geoff Greenwood says about 10,000 customers still remain without power. 

“They’re all focused on efforts in the Quad Cities, and we’ll have crews working throughout the night as we expect these efforts are going to have to continue through Wednesday.”

MidAmerican Energy anticipates power to be restored to most Quad Cities customers by then. 

“This is an ‘all hands on deck’ type of situation. In addition to our own crews, we’ve brought in additional tree crews from elsewhere, and even contract line crews, some crews from other utilities here in the Midwest.”

The National Weather Service in the Quad Cities has confirmed a tornado hit Davenport during Monday night’s storms. The full extent of the damage is unknown, as is the exact time when the tornado touched down.

However, meteorologist Brian Pierce of the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities says they can identify with some confidence the size and scope of the tornado.

“We have a width of 100 yards and a maximum windspeed of about 100 miles per hour, so it was EF-0 to borderline EF-1.”

He says pinpointing the specifics down may take time due to the scope of last night’s storms.

“We did have straight line winds with windspeeds of about 70 to 75 miles per hour coming through the Quad Cities area. Up through the Dubuque area, winds were pushing 100 miles per hour.”

The tornado moved about eight miles through the Davenport, and ultimately crossed the Mississippi River. Davenport was last hit by a tornado in June of 2023.The Des Moines area weather office has also confirmed at least one tornado touched down Monday night.

An eastern Iowa museum that’s dedicated to preserving the German immigrant experience for future generations is getting a new honor.

The German American Heritage Center and Museum in Davenport will be named this week as the newest site in the Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, which covers a large portion of northeast Iowa.

Jori Wade-Booth, spokeswoman for Silos and Smokestacks, says the area has about 100 sites that all include farms, museums, historic sites and businesses that tell the story of agriculture.

The facility at the foot of the Centennial Bridge and near the banks of the Mississippi River opened in 2004 in a historic building. It offers visitors an interactive experience to learn about the immigrants’ journey by sea, train and foot, to their final destination — the museum — which was originally a busy hotel for thousands of immigrants in the 1860s.

“The German American Heritage Center and Museum is important because not only does it preserve the heritage of our German-speaking ancestors that came to Iowa, but it also tells the important story that German Americans had a huge impact on industry and agriculture in Iowa.”

Those thousands of German immigrants played a significant role in helping Iowa to develop as an early ag powerhouse, something the state maintains to this day.

“A lot of people think of agriculture inside a box, like there’s tractors and crops and mud on your boots, but really it’s the science, technology and math, and it encompasses a whole lot more than just growing corn and soybeans or having animals.”

The museum details other elements of agriculture, like how Davenport used to be one of the nation’s top cigar-producing cities, as tobacco was a widely grown crop here more than a century ago. Lumber was also big for Iowa then, as were the state’s many fisheries.

The ribbon-cutting at the museum is scheduled to welcome the facility as a new national heritage area site on Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird will deliver a speech at the Republican National Convention later on Tuesday.

Bird was the only statewide elected official to endorse Trump before the Iowa caucuses. She declines to speculate on whether she’d accept a role in Trump’s administration next year if he wins in November.

“Biden’s been a disaster and we all remember how much better we were when Trump was president. Just glad to be supporting his campaign and be helping him all the way up through the caucuses until today.”

On the convention’s first day, Bird was tapped to oversee the process of nominating J.D. Vance as Trump’s running mate. Bird was standing in a holding area just behind the convention stage when she spoke with Radio Iowa Monday afternoon.

“The mood here in Milwaukee is so positive and everybody’s so excited.”

Bird, a Guthrie County native, is an attorney who served as Rep. Steve King’s chief of staff and legal counsel for Gov. Terry Branstad. She ran unsuccessfully for Iowa attorney general in 2010, finishing 11 points behind long-time Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. She defeated Miller in 2022 by about 20,000 votes.

A new study suggests predicting high temperatures in Iowa and nearby states is more challenging than in any other region in the country. Geography and climate change both play a role.
 
The Washington Post analyzed data from the National Weather Service to show how many days into the future heat forecasts are accurate. Only two days were accurate in the Midwest.

Experts say that’s because air masses colliding in the middle of the country make predictions less stable. Meteorologist Chris Gloninger says climate change is also a factor.

“We are seeing these records being destroyed by wide margins, not just a degree, but in some cases four, five, six degrees. The temperature's never been this high in recorded history for any date.”

Gloninger says record high temperatures currently outpace record lows at a rate of nearly two to one.

“This is new territory. While our models are keeping up with it, there's forecaster hesitation to forecast these records, even though the forecast models are showing them.”

The National Weather Service data shows that heat predictions for coastal and desert regions are accurate about six days into the future.

Read more from Holly Edgell.

Nearly a dozen counties, the Sierra Club of Iowa and landowners requested the Iowa Utilities Commission reconsider its approval of Summit Carbon Solutions’ initial CO2 pipeline project.

July 15 was the deadline for parties to file their requests with the IUC. If requests are denied, the parties can seek judicial review in district court.

One of the filings came from county supervisors representing Shelby, Kossuth, Floyd, Emmet, Dickinson, Wright and Woodbury counties.

Jennie Zwagerman, director of the Drake Agricultural Law Center, says some of the pushback at the county level stems from support for their citizens’ property rights.

“They don’t believe in this definition of eminent domain being applied correctly ... they’re unhappy with how this impacts their individual government ability to decide what happens in the future in their county."

She says historically, eminent domain was used by local, state and federal governments for purposes that were of clear benefit to the public, like interstates and schools.

“And that idea of what a public benefit is, is where (they’re) really fighting now, because it has changed over time."

Zwagerman points to the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision for Kelo v. City of New London as the opening for eminent domain to be used by private companies.

Summit’s proposed 2,500 mile pipeline would carry CO2 from ethanol plants across five states and store it underground near Bismark, North Dakota. The IUC included overall benefits to ethanol producers, Iowa’s economy and potential effects on climate change, among others, in its decision that the “public benefits of the project outweigh the private and public costs.”

The IUC said Summit cannot begin construction in Iowa until it also has permits in North and South Dakota, among other requirements.

The North Dakota Public Service Commission could make a decision about the pipeline route at any time. The state’s industrial commission oversees the permit for underground storage; a decision is expected in September or October.

The Iowa delegates at the Republican National Convention have cast their votes for Donald Trump for president. Jeff Kaufmann, chair of the Iowa GOP, was chosen to kick off the process with a nominating speech.

Kaufmann began his remarks by talking about the Iowa caucuses, the lead-off contest in the presidential election.

“Everyday Americans listen to the candidates, consider what they have to say and then make a profoundly important choice on who should lead this nation that we love. Earlier this year, Iowa Republicans overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump.”

Trump got over half of the votes cast in the Iowa caucuses, 30 points ahead of his closest competitor. Kaufmann said the “vast majority of states” seconded Iowa’s choice.

“Donald Trump has earned the trust of the people. He has listened to them and Donald Trump has kept his word.”

Kaufmann, a former state legislator, became chairman of the Iowa GOP ten years ago. While Kaufmann declared neutrality as the party’s leader in the competitive 2016 and 2024 Iowa caucus campaigns, he has been a stalwart supporter of Trump’s general election campaigns. His son, state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, led Trump’s 2024 Iowa caucus campaign.

“Over the next four days we will hear about the many failures of the Biden-Harris administration. The sustained criticism does not proceed from a mean or narrow partisanship, but from the broad and sincere concern for the well-being and safety of our fellow Americans. It’s part of our service to our country.”

This weekend’s heat wave brought with it an increased risk for heat-related illnesses.

Prolonged exposure to heat puts people at risk for injuries and illnesses like heat stroke.

Nick Kluesner, associate medical director for the emergency departments at UnityPoint’s Des Moines hospitals, said during heat waves he sees at least a few patients every shift coming in complaining of muscle cramps, fatigue and lightheadedness.

“The majority of our heat illness, I would say, comes in with the clear chief complaint that they've had an environmental exposure, they've been out working and they're overheated.”

He said Iowans who are outdoors need to be proactive during high temperatures by seeking shelter occasionally to cool down and drinking water.

“A lot of people wait until they’re thirsty to start drinking, and that’s a bad idea when it’s as hot as it is here. Because by that point, you’re already behind the ball, and that’s how you can get into trouble.”

Kluesner said elderly people, people with substance use disorder or those who are experiencing homelessness are more vulnerable to heat-related illnesses.

According to state health data, there were 1,085 heat-related ER visits between May and September of last year.

After a sweltering few days, cooler weather is on the way to Iowa. A front will start moving into the state this afternoon, which could trigger some strong thunderstorms.

The National Weather Service said there’s a moderate risk of severe weather this afternoon and evening for areas east of I-35 and south of Highway 20, with a slight risk for the rest of the state.

Brian Pierce, meteorologist with the NWS in the Quad Cities, said these storms will be moving fast, so people should pay attention to warnings and take action quickly.

“The thinking, at the moment, is that most of these storms, once they grow into a line, should be moving along fairly fast. So, although rainfall rates may be very high, they should not last very long in one particular area.”

Most of the state is under a heat advisory until 8 p.m., but Pierce said after the storms blow through, conditions should be cooler and drier for the rest of the week, with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s and dewpoints in the 60s.

Michael Leland

The number of antlerless deer tags will be reduced in seven southwestern Iowa counties for the 2024-25 hunting season. The reduction is part of a trend in western Iowa for the past several years in response to a declining deer population.

Jace Elliot, state deer biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said the overharvesting of antlerless deer in the mid-2000s is the biggest reason for the drop. But Elliot also said a fatal disease is playing a part.

“Specifically, hemorrhagic disease, which hunters may know as EHD or bluetongue. Of course, habitat — landscape has changed considerably in the last 20 years. Our grasslands have been replaced with row crop ag in a way that has potentially influenced a deer’s ability to recover at the same rate.”

Elliot said last year there was an increase of reports of suspected EHD. According to Elliot, data on this has been limited, and the DNR is focusing on bringing in more data through online reporting of suspected cases of EHD.

The DNR has hosted eight public input meetings in western Iowa to share future deer management plans. The last meeting is July 18 in Cherokee.

On Monday the chairman of the Iowa GOP is scheduled to give the speech to formally nominate Donald Trump for a second term as president.

Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann spoke with Radio Iowa a few hours after the shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. Kaufmann said the speech was written last week and he isn’t changing it.

“I think it’s more important that my message does not change. I think I need to say what I was always going to say.”

Kaufmann plans to emphasize the role the Iowa caucuses play in choosing a nominee.

“I’m going to talk about Iowa being first in the nation and starting a process. I’m going to talk about why we need a change. I’m going to talk about why President Trump is the answer to what this country needs.”

Kaufmann and Iowa politicians from both political parties issued statements after Saturday’s assassination attempt and said political violence is never the answer. Kaufmann learned of the shooting as he was leaving a gathering of Henry County Republicans in Mount Pleasant Saturday and his initial reaction was disbelief.

“People ought to be able to go to a Trump rally, they ought to be able to go to a Biden speech, they ought to go any place, anywhere, any time and not even think if their life is going to be in danger.”

A movie theater in Des Moines will have open captions on all its film showings on Mondays starting today.

Ben Godar, executive director of Des Moines Film, the nonprofit that runs The Varsity Cinema, said consistent open caption showings are more comfortable for viewers and more accessible.

“Des Moines Film’s mission is to grow the film culture in Des Moines, and one of the ways you do that is you make film accessible to more people and let more people see themselves up on the screen.”

He said open captions are not just for people with hearing disabilities.

“People who have certain attention challenges or other things. We’ve also heard English language learners oftentimes enjoy having captions up on screen. Younger people, if they’re watching at home, tend to have captions on. It’s offering an alternative way to experience the film.”

Godar said The Varsity Cinema will continue to offer captioning devices daily to moviegoers who request them.

Des Moines Film received a $6,000 grant from the Polk County Board of Supervisors to start open captions Mondays.

This week marks the second anniversary of the launch of 988, the three-digital national hotline for mental health emergencies.

Iowa’s in-state call answer rate is 87%, just shy of the 90% goal, according to a report by the mental health advocacy organization Inseparable.

Emily Blomme, CEO of Foundation 2 Crisis Services in Cedar Rapids, which operates one of Iowa’s two call centers, said the biggest challenge remains finding and retaining staff.

Turnover at her center is at nearly 50%.

“Some of that is people who think that they can do the work — or think they want to do the work —and they get into it and they don't want to do the work, or it's too hard, or they have their own lived-experience and activates them in a way that they just weren't anticipating.”

Blomme said she has had to increase pay and benefits in order to try to attract more staff members.

Cedar Valley Hospice is one of about 400 care facilities nationwide rolling out a new program aimed at improving care for at-home dementia patients.

The program is a new approach by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide both health care and reimbursement resources for patients and their in-home caregivers.

Cedar Valley Hospice Executive Director Michaela Vandersee said the program’s focus will be a step toward equitable care for rural Iowans.

“It is looking to deliver equitable care in addressing health disparities in dementia — the significant financial, emotional and logistical burdens on families.”

Vandersee estimates an additional 1,200 patients will be eligible for assistance across the center’s 15-county area.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said more than 30,000 kids have been approved to receive state funding to go to private school this fall.

This coming year, each student can receive about $7,800 to use for private school tuition.

Reynolds announced the numbers Friday at an event hosted by the Christian conservative organization The Family Leader.

“We’re over 30,000 students participating in the school choice program. Just another indication that parents want options.”

When the program started last year, nearly 19,000 kids were approved. For this school year, kids entering kindergarten, students transferring from public schools and those already in private school who meet an income limit can qualify.

Next year, all Iowa kids can get taxpayer dollars to go to private school.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said he’s had conversations with the state attorney general about ag-related federal regulations that could be targeted for removal. That’s after a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision made it easier to challenge rules made by federal agencies.

Calling the decision significant is an understatement, according to Naig. He’s specifically considering challenging regulations related to constructing water quality wetlands.

“I’d say in the conservation space, we’re having some real challenges with getting some of our projects through permitting with the Army Corps of Engineers. You can be sure that we’re going to be looking at how Waters of the U.S. is defined in the Clean Water Act as it relates to trying to go out and do conservation work.”

When asked if Iowa needs to take a stronger state-level approach to water quality amid little progress in nutrient reduction, Naig said it’s “a long-term game.”

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

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said USDA scientists are still working to understand how bird flu moved to dairy cows and wildlife in the state.

He said epidemiological strike teams were in Iowa collecting information, and now they’re working to connect the dots of the bird flu outbreak.

Naig said he hasn’t seen the results of that research yet, but it will be made public when it’s ready.

“I think what we’re going to get when we get to the end of this, maybe in weeks or even months, is that we’re going to actually have specific strategies, then, that farmers can use to better protect their operations.”

Naig said there haven’t been new cases of bird flu in the past couple of weeks, but if there is another surge, he’ll ask the USDA for more help. He made his comments Friday during a taping of Iowa Press on Iowa PBS.

An Iowa lawmaker found his way back to the pitcher’s mound when a pitcher for the Sioux City Explorers was injured.

Rep. J.D. Scholten, D-Sioux City, had played for the Sioux City Explorers shortly after graduating college in the early 2000s. He went on to play professional baseball in Canada, Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Cuba.

After being effectively retired for several years, Scholten tried his arm at pitching again, watching YouTube training videos on how to improve his form after years out of the game. He’s been pitching for amateur teams when the Legislature isn’t in session.

Last year, 44-year-old Scholten told Steve Montgomery, the field manager for the Sioux City Explorers, that if anything every comes up, he would be happy to step in. He got the call — 10 missed calls in fact — on Saturday morning. Despite having only a few hours to prepare, he pitched a winning game.

Montgomery says Scholten’s involvement with the team has been great for bringing attention to the organization.

“Here's a guy that's worried about flood victims and pouring his heart and soul into revitalizing his community and then takes two hours out of, you know, every five days and goes out and pitches.”

Scholten pitched another winning game for the Explorers on Thursday against Fargo. He hopes to pack the stadium at upcoming games while the regular pitcher is out.

“Anytime I get to represent Sioux City, the place I grew up, whether it's at the Capitol or with Sioux City across my chest on the baseball field, it's pretty special for me.”

All members of Iowa’s U.S. House delegation voted for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act that prevents noncitizens from registering to vote in U.S. federal elections.

Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson said the bill strengthens the election process.

“This bill will prevent illegal immigrants and noncitizens from voting in U.S. elections by requiring our state election officials to ask about citizenship before providing voter registration forms. It would require an individual to provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections.”

She said the Biden administration has allowed millions of illegal immigrants into the country and wants to maintain loopholes that allow them to vote. Only five Democrats voted for the measure, as Democrats who voted against it say the number of voters who illegally vote is very small.

Hinson said if Democrats believe illegals should not vote, they should support this measure.

“It’s a vital election integrity issue. It still protects states’ rights to run their own elections, but it makes sure that people understand that their vote counts and that the integrity of their vote counts.”

Iowa State Fair-goers will not be able to visit the milking parlor or milk a dairy cow by hand this year.

Fair administrators said the decision was made to help prevent the spread of bird flu, which has infected dairy herds in a dozen states since March. High concentrations of the virus have been found in the raw milk of sick cows.

Fair-goers will still be able to see cattle in the Boulevard of Dairy Breeds, and cattle shows at the state fair will proceed as scheduled, with added sanitation measures.

In June, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announced new testing requirements for dairy cattle before they participate in fairs and livestock shows.

Abby McKeone

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Courtesy of Lakeside Lab

Flooding is bringing a potential health hazard to the Iowa Great Lakes.

Researchers at the Iowa Regents’ Lakeside Lab are seeing an increase in toxic blue-green algae.

Executive Director Mary Skopec said after years of drought, the lakes are filled with high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and contaminated sediment from runoff. The combination causes the algae to grow, especially when things warm up.

“So, it's very concerning. The lakes are our drinking water source, and we want to make sure that we don't pull those toxins into our drinking water. But when people are recreating, being exposed to that can be quite, quite damaging to health.”

Exposure to blue-green algae can also be life-threatening to dogs. Skopec said people can still swim in the Iowa Great Lakes but need to watch out for debris and stay away from water that looks green and murky and occasionally bright blue.

Skopec said there is some good news when it comes to water quality and E. coli. This week, testing in almost a dozen spots around the Great Lakes showed levels meeting recreation standards.

Summer break can be the hungriest time of the year for children who rely on free and reduced lunch at school.

For years the U.S. Department of Agriculture has offered funding for on-site meals. This year, the USDA also rolled out a new program called SUN Bucks to provide eligible families $120 per child for groceries over the summer months.

But 13 states — including Iowa — opted out of the program, leaving almost ten million children without the food benefit.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said that the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services and the Iowa Department of Education have existing programs that work with community-based providers and schools who know the needs of their community.

“Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families,” Reynolds said in the press release. “An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.”

Read the full story from Harvest Public Media’s Anna Pope.

Tourism is down in the Iowa Great Lakes after heavy rains and high water forced officials to issue boating restrictions.

Vacation Okoboji Executive Director Kiley Zankowski estimates flooding has decreased tourism by 40-60%.

“We're a very seasonal community. So, we definitely depend on tourists coming here. And so, it's been a pretty big hit, especially hitting around the biggest holiday of the summer with the Fourth of July.”

Zankowski said some hotel occupancy was cut in half during the recent holiday. But she said there’s hope as water levels and quality continue to improve. Plus, the area offers other attractions, such as an amusement park, food and entertainment.

A union has launched a campaign to reverse limits on public sector collective bargaining rights.

The Teamsters represent 12,000 public and private sector workers across the state. Teamsters Local 238’s Jesse Case said public union members haven’t seen the same wage increases as their private counterparts.

“Forty percent of our local is public sector, 60% is private sector. And we’re at the bargaining table every week with both private and public employers, and we know what the wages are that we’re getting.”

In 2017, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law changes that have had major implications for public sector employees represented by a union.

Case said the Restore the Dignity campaign is aimed at those changes, which require public unions to recertify by a two-thirds majority before the end of every contract. The 2017 law also only requires public employers to bargain over wages. That means they don’t have to discuss things like health care packages or seniority during contract negotiations.

Case said this was a blow to these employees and their unions.

“I mean, it’s why a lot of union contracts went from being 40 pages to two pages. Because the only thing they’re obligated to bargain is base wages essentially.”

When a child enters the foster care system, the primary goal is to place them with a family member. But when the foster child has significant behavioral or mental health conditions, they're placed in a residential facility with staff trained in specialized treatment.

In Iowa and Missouri, there is ample space for boys in those centers, but not for girls.

If there is no space for a girl seeking a residential bed in the state or there isn’t a center that can provide the particular care that she needs, she may stay in a shelter without specialized care or be sent to an out-of-state provider that does have that service. In aggressive behavioral situations, or when the girl has committed a criminal act, she may end up in the juvenile justice system that may not have specialized care.

In any situation where a girl moves around in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems, she isn’t able to build relationships and trust with caretakers. That disruption of stability can lead to increased risks of emotional and behavioral issues and poorer educational outcomes, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a children’s welfare organization.

It’s hard to nail down the exact number of beds the Midwest needs to meet demand, because the number of girls who seek space at a residential center is always in flux and each person may have a specific or complex treatment need. Some facilities have beds that aren’t gender specific but lack the specialized care that a bed designated for a girl requires.

The limited number of staff with specialized training needed for treating girls in foster residential centers plays into the disparity between the number of beds for boys and the number for girls.

Read the full story from Kristofor Husted at the Midwest Newsroom.

Lucius Pham

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Iowa Public Radio

Two Iowa Democrats running for Congress are calling on President Joe Biden to end his bid for reelection.

Christina Bohannan is a candidate for the 1^st Congressional District in central and southeastern Iowa. In a statement shared on social media, Bohannan said she shares concerns she has heard from others that Biden is “not up to the task of a strong, vibrant campaign.”

She said the stakes in the general election on abortion rights and other issues are too high for Biden to remain at the top of the ticket.

Sarah Corkery, a candidate in the 2^nd District in northeast Iowa, told KCCI-TV she agrees with Bohannan and that Biden should “pass the baton” to Vice President Kamala Harris.

Bohannan and Corkery are the highest profile Democratic candidates in Iowa to say Biden should withdraw his candidacy. Other top Democrats, including state Party Chair Rita Hart, have said they support Biden staying in the race.

U.S. Drought Monitor

Iowa is not only free of drought – it’s also nearly free of “abnormally dry” conditions. Those conditions reflect persisting short-term precipitation deficits.

The latest Drought Monitor map shows just Scott County and a small part of Clinton County are considered “abnormally dry.” That amounts to less than 1% of the state.

Last week, nearly 13% of Iowa was considered “abnormally dry.”

State Climatologist Justin Glisan said the last time Iowa had no “abnormally dry” areas was in early May 2020.

The state has been free of actual drought conditions since late May of this year — ending a four-year stretch of drought. At this time in 2023, 100% of Iowa was either in drought or “abnormally dry” conditions.

University of Iowa Health Care is launching a new toxicology clinic. The clinic is the first of its kind in the state and aims to improve outcomes for Iowans suffering from any number of poisons.

Daniel McCabe, medical director of the Iowa Poison Control Center and director of the UIHC’s Division of Medical Toxicology, said it’s a win for Iowa patients and providers alike.

“There’s been multiple providers in our area for years that have called us — both at the University of Iowa and Iowa Poison Control Center — and have asked, ‘Can you see this person in-clinic?’ And we’ve always had to respond in the past, ‘There is no clinic.’ This has honestly been a request for decades from our providers.”

McCabe said physicians in the state are treating around 30 poisoned patients at any given time.

“And every day or every week, I have providers who are not medical toxicologists. They’re calling me and asking for help, ‘How do I manage this patient?’ And we do that over the phone because there has never been another option.”

The hope is the clinic in Iowa City will help improve care for patients with a variety of poison exposures ranging from adverse reactions to medication or exposure to heavy metals like cobalt and lead.

Lead poisoning impacts the entire body, from blood vessels and arteries to kidneys and bones. And partly due to a higher concentration of lead in the soil, Iowans are at a higher risk of lead poisoning than residents of many other states.

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced four new programs on Thursday aimed at helping Iowans whose homes and farms were damaged by recent flooding and tornadoes. She said more than 5,000 homes were damaged, with 2,000 of those considered destroyed.

Farmers can apply immediately for help paying the interest on loans for farm repairs. The state is planning to launch programs next week for home repair assistance and new housing development in affected areas. It’s the first time Iowa is pursuing free temporary housing for disaster victims through FEMA.

The Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director John Benson urges impacted individuals to utilize the resources available.

“One of the things we will note, and in particular we’ve seen this in northwest Iowa, is that ‘can-do, I don’t need help’ attitude. If you are of that thought process, I would like to discourage you from that thought process. Please apply. Because then you become a known quantity to us and that’s how we can help you.”

State officials are also urging Iowans to apply for existing programs like disaster food assistance and FEMA individual assistance.

Read more.

A north central Iowa man has been found guilty of killing an Algona police officer.

Judge Nancy Whittenburg read the verdict at the Dickinson County Courthouse in Spirit Lake on Thursday.

“We, the jury, find the defendant, Kyle Lou Ricke, guilty of murder in the first degree.”

The jury deliberated for about an hour in the trial of 43-year-old Kyle Ricke. Police video showed Ricke shot Officer Kevin Cram eight times without warning in Sept. 2023.

Sentencing has been set for Aug. 21 at 9:30 a.m. in Kossuth County. The trial had been moved to Dickinson County due to concerns about finding an impartial jury.

The mandatory sentence for first-degree murder in Iowa is life in prison without parole.

The Iowa Business Council’s second quarter Economic Outlook Survey shows some declines in what members are expecting in the next six months, but overall optimism.

The IBC has 22 members who are the chief decision makers of major Iowa employers, which have more than 160,000 workers.

IBC President Joe Murphy said the three main areas saw a drop.

“Expectations across sales, capital spending and employment expectations all declined from the previous quarter’s report.

He said much of the concern in those three measures stems from what’s going on with the national economy, including inflation and other issues.

“While we do have these perpetual concerns around the economy, the Iowa Business Council is once again projecting a positive six-month outlook for Iowa’s economy.”

Concerns about workforce attraction and retention remain the number one concern, with 63% of the surveyed executives listing it as a primary business challenge. An unfavorable business climate — national supply chain, infrastructure and federal regulations — was cited by 47% of IBC executives, while challenges surrounding inflation and growing concerns about the domestic economy tied at 32% to round out the top three primary business concerns.

Murphy said the overall positive outlook is based on Iowa’s economy, which has been stronger than other states.

“Revenue receipts continue to perform well from a tax standpoint. Companies are expanding, and the fact that we have a well-diversified economy enables us to weather some of these economic conditions much better than our neighbors in the Midwest, and certainly around the rest of the country.”

Closing arguments have wrapped up in the first-degree murder trial of a north central Iowa man accused of killing an Algona police officer.

Defense attorney Barbara Westphal doesn’t deny that 43-year-old Kyle Ricke shot and killed Officer Kevin Cram in Sept. 2023.

“In this case, we do have video evidence that shows what happened. However, given the state of mind of the defendant, he was not thinking clearly.”

Prosecutor Scott Brown said claims by the defense that Ricke didn’t premediate the attack are untrue. He had the jury listen to 90 seconds of silence to show the time Ricke left to park his skid loader with Cram’s permission and return with a gun he fired eight times.

“The evidence in this case is overwhelming that murder in the first-degree was committed by the defendant when he took Officer Cram’s life.”

The jury is deliberating to see if Ricke is guilty of first-degree murder.

After 14 years of legal wrangling, plans for a $30 million regional airport between Pella and Oskaloosa are officially paused.

In 2012, elected officials in Pella, Oskaloosa and Mahaska County signed an agreement creating the South Central Regional Airport Agency to build and operate an airport in rural Mahaska County. Landowners at the site objected to the use of eminent domain to seize “prime farmland” for the project and they sued.

Mahaska County Supervisors who took office in 2017 tried to get the county out of the deal. The two cities then sued Mahaska County in an attempt to enforce the agreement.

In June of 2022, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled the agreement was unconstitutional.

Last Wednesday, the Regional Airport Agency’s board notified the cities they cannot acquire the remaining property necessary for the airport, but will continue to own and lease the land purchased for the project.

Orange City, Sioux Center and Sioux County made a similar agreement in 2004 for a regional airport, but it did not generate the same amount of pushback as the project in Mahaska County.

The Sioux County Regional Airport opened in Nov. 2018 and is located near Highway 75 in southern Sioux County.

Iowa’s new consumable hemp law is now in effect.

The law sets the potency limit of THC products at 4 milligrams per serving and 10 milligrams per container. It also establishes the state’s first official age limit for buying THC at 21 years old.

Two lawsuits against the new hemp law are in federal court on Thursday.

The first lawsuit was filed by Climbing Kites and Field Day Brewing, which are both Iowa companies that sell nonalcoholic drinks with THC. Their initial lawsuit took issue with state versus federal control over hemp regulations. That version of the lawsuit failed in late June.

The two companies have renewed their call for an injunction to block the law, which they argue is too vague.

The other lawsuit makes the same claim, saying businesses are in “regulatory limbo” because the state law as written leaves out “critical definitions” of things like how large a serving size should be. The lawsuits represent a total of ten Iowa-based businesses.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has made a serving size definition in proposed rules, but it’s unclear how it is being enforced. Even though the hemp law went into effect July 1, the rules will be finalized on Aug. 7.

Many businesses are playing it safe until the law is made clearer. That means they are removing the majority of their THC products from store shelves. The Gazette reported that the business Your CBD Store has already closed one of their locations in Waukee, and the Des Moines Register said other businesses have cut staff and hours since the law went into effect.

In court documents, Climbing Kites and Field Day Brewing claim that the state has unfairly removed all their products from the state’s list of approved consumable hemp items, even though the companies believe some of their items comply with the new law.

The law leaves Iowa consumers in a similar situation. Because it classifies any noncompliant hemp products as marijuana, penalties for owning and consuming it can range from a serious misdemeanor to a Class B felony.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has said since the law was passed that she believes the growth of hemp-infused goods in the state take advantage of the 2018 Farm Bill. She also had unspecified “concerns” about the law when she signed it in May.

The peach crop across the U.S. has mostly bounced back this summer after a bad year.

With the crop returning to normal, consumers will notice prices returning to normal too.

Flamm Orchards near Cobden, Ill., is reporting production will be at 100% this summer, according to farm manager Austin Flamm.

“But from this point in the season going forward, we expect to have a very nice crop — plentiful. Last year, I think we had 10% overall at best. So we're really happy with where our peaches are at right now.”

But not every orchard was as lucky this season.

Further north in Belleville, Ill., Eckert’s Orchard was hit by a March frost, which left them with about 50% likely production for the second year in a row.

There is some good news, though. Eckert said peach season arrived a little early and the fruit still tastes great.

Read the full story from Harvest Public Media’s Will Bauer.

John Deere announced on Wednesday that more layoffs will hit Waterloo this fall.

Nearly 350 employees will be laid off from the northeast Iowa production center in September. The company said the layoffs are indefinite and will primarily affect non-senior employees.

This is the second round of layoffs for the Waterloo facility this year. Over 300 positions were eliminated at the end of April.

The announcement is part of a string of layoffs within the company. Deere announced earlier this month that nearly 700 positions would be eliminated from plants in Davenport, Dubuque and Moline, Ill., effective Aug. 30.

Testimony wrapped up on Wednesday in the first-degree murder trial of a north central Iowa man accused of killing an Algona police officer.

Kyle Ricke, 43, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted for the death of Officer Kevin Cram.

The prosecutor said Ricke executed Cram with no warning when he tried to arrest Ricke on a misdemeanor charge of harassment.

Ricke chose not to testify, and his defense team did not call any witnesses. They don’t deny Ricke shot Cram but claim the shooting wasn’t premeditated.

The trial was moved from Kossuth County to Dickinson County due to concerns about finding an impartial jury.

Closing arguments are scheduled to start Thursday morning in Spirit Lake.

A new report has found nearly a quarter of Iowa workers make less than $17 an hour.

The report by the nonprofit Oxfam America found 24.2% of Iowa workers earn less than this hourly rate, which is slightly higher than the national average.

Kaitlin Henderson, senior researcher at Oxfam America, said $17 an hour is the living wage needed to afford basic costs.

“If you're making less than $17, it becomes increasingly difficult to afford basic cost of living, ranging from, of course, child care, but also things like food, transportation, housing.”

The report also found Iowans of color are significantly more likely to earn low wages as compared to national numbers.

“The national average, 35% of Black women earn low wages; in Iowa, that number jumps up to 47%. And national averages, nearly 40% of Latino women are in low wages and in Iowa, we see that number jump up to 45%.”

Henderson said Iowa hasn’t raised its minimum wage in 15 years. It’s currently at $7.25 an hour, which is the minimum wage requirement set by the federal government

The Board of Supervisors in Kossuth County has taken a step toward restoring funding for libraries in north central Iowa.

In their county budget, approved earlier this year, funding was cut for libraries in Algona and other parts of the county by more than 70%.

A local library director had said if the cuts stayed in place, multiple libraries would have been forced to close.

This week, the board started the process of reversing that decision and restoring county library funding to its previous level.

The amended budget will come up for a final vote in a later meeting.

Photo illustration from U.S. District Court exhibits.

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Iowa Capital Dispatch

Two central Iowa schools are pitted against each other in a legal battle over trademarks.

Des Moines’ Drake University is suing Des Moines Area Community College in federal court over the latter’s recent rebranding effort. DMACC’s marketing features a single-character logo of the letter ‘D’ in a block-style font that’s similar to that used by Drake for the past 122 years.

The community college says it will defend its new logo, arguing that “Drake University simply does not own the letter D.”

The university is suing DMACC’s foundation for federal trademark infringement, unfair competition, injury to business reputation and unjust enrichment.

Ten Iowa regions have launched a wage enhancement program for child care workers. The program has helped existing child care centers hire and retain employees, in addition to helping other centers get started.

It was financed with $3 million in federal pandemic relief money, and Sheri Penney of the Iowa Women’s Foundation said Iowa businesses in the ten areas committed $1.5 million in matching funds. The federal money for the programs must be spent by the end of September.

“We’ve had so much success in this. We’ve had over 110 children in these ten piloted communities in just six months’ time be able to be taken off of wait lists,” Penney said. “In Cerro Gordo County for example, we had a provider opening and they received over 18 quality applications because of this wage and incentive program that we have.”

Officials in Cerro Gordo County, along with Allamakee, Hamilton, Howard, Johnson, Mitchell and Story counties have each established incentives for child care workers in their areas. The program is operating in the cities of Dubuque and Knoxville, as well as the two Linn County cities of Mount Vernon and Lisbon.

Penney made her comments at the recent National Child Care Innovation Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

There are 21 additional free summer meal sites for kids in Iowa this year compared to last year. That’s after a new state grant program put $900,000 into adding 61 new locations, but some other locations have closed.

Gov. Kim Reynolds started the meal site expansion after she rejected $29 million in federal funding for a different food aid program known as Summer EBT. That would’ve sent $120 to low-income kids to help their families pay for food when school lunch isn’t available.

Iowa Hunger Coalition Chair Luke Elzinga said while it’s positive that the state grant program increased free meal locations from 512 to 533, Summer EBT would have a bigger impact and better return on investment.

“That would ensure that all of those 245,000 kids who qualify for free and reduced-price meals, no matter where they live in the state, whether they live down the block from a summer meal site or 20 miles away, would have those additional funds to spend on groceries.”

The Iowa Hunger Coalition launched a petition this week asking Reynolds to accept Summer EBT for 2025. Iowans can get information about their local summer meal sites by calling 211.

State officials are urging northwest Iowans who’ve lost food, appliances or a job due to recent flooding to check if they qualify for federal food assistance.

It’s called Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or D-SNAP.

Erin Drinnin, community access director for the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, said Iowans who live or work in five northwest Iowa counties can apply for D-SNAP this week.

“You can either come to one of the designated sites that we have, there is a site location in each of the five counties — those counties are Clay, Emmet, Lyon, Plymouth and Sioux — or you can apply over the phone.”

The toll-free number is 1-877-828-5648. More information is on the department’s website.

“Those who are eligible may either work in or live in one of those five counties and have had some sort of impact from the disaster. So, you may have lost income because you haven’t been able to go to work or because your business was impacted. You may have been affected somehow by expenses related to repairs or expenses related to sheltering if you couldn’t be in your home.”

Those who qualify for D-SNAP can use an electronic benefits card at eligible businesses and may buy prepared, hot food through Aug.1, which is not allowed under the traditional SNAP program.

Flood victims can apply for D-SNAP benefits this week at the Crosswinds Church in Spencer, the Emmet County Fairgrounds, the Forster Community Center in Rock Rapids, the Le Mars Bible Church and Main Street Plaza in Rock Valley.

Opening statements began Tuesday morning in the murder trial of a man accused of killing an Algona police officer.

Kyle Ricke, 43, is charged with first-degree murder for the death of Officer Kevin Cram in September 2023.

Prosecuting attorney Ryan Baldridge told a Dickinson County jury in Spirit Lake that Ricke executed Cram and that the crime was caught on police video.

“You will see for yourself how he goes to his garage, comes out of the garage, pulls a gun out of his pocket, raises that gun and pulls the trigger eight times.”

Cram was in the process of arresting Ricke in a third-degree harassment case from nearby Palo Alto County.

Ricke’s attorney said he did not premediate the shooting or act in malice.

The murder trial was moved out of Kossuth County due to concerns about finding an impartial jury. It was delayed for two weeks due to flooding in the Iowa Great Lakes Area.

The state of Iowa has barred a southern Iowa pharmacist from continuing to practice or reentering his Jefferson County pharmacy.

Bryan Vander Linden, the owner and former pharmacist in charge at Summit Pharmacy in Fairfield, has entered into an agreement with the Iowa Board of Pharmacy. As part of that arrangement, Vander Linden has agreed to a license suspension and will refrain from practicing pharmacy in Iowa until further notice by the board.

In addition, the board has barred Vander Linden from entering the Summit Pharmacy building and barred him from remotely accessing pharmacy records or software.

According to the board, the action follows Vander Linden’s decision to self-report the fact that he has, over a period of six years, diverted “many” controlled substances from the pharmacy to his own personal use. The available public documents give no indication as to whether Vander Linden’s diversion of drugs had any impact on the individuals who filled their prescriptions at Summit Pharmacy during that time.

No criminal charges have been filed in the case.

As part of a separate agreement with Vander Linden’s father, Thomas Vander Linden, Summit Pharmacy has agreed to name a new pharmacist in charge and to change all the locks at the pharmacy. Summit Pharmacy’s license to operate has been changed to “restricted” status to reflect Bryan Vander Linden’s prohibition from entering the building.

Libraries in north central Iowa could find out Tuesday morning if funding will be restored to keep them all in operation.

The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors cut library funding by more than 70% in April but planned to revisit the issue in July.

Lany Mitchell, president of the county’s library association and librarian in Wesley, said her library and others will have to close if supervisors don’t approve $273,000 for all the libraries to share.

“So, I hear it every day I'm at work. What are they going to do? We need our library. We've lost so much in Wesley. We've lost our school; we've lost a church. There's talk of losing our other church. We won't have anything left.”

Mitchell said at least three other small towns will lose their libraries unless the supervisors decide to return library spending to the same level as last fiscal year. The new budget that started on July 1 gave the libraries about $84,000 instead of $273,000.

A public health collaboration in Polk County is trying to close health disparities among Latinos seeking care for cognitive health.

Jimmy Reyes, a professor at the University of Northern Iowa in the Department of Nursing and Public Health, said Latinos statistically have more uncontrolled chronic health conditions.

He said they also tend to have less access to health care and to be more skeptical of it. This extends to cognitive conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

Latinos in the United States have a one-and-a-half times greater risk of developing dementia than their white counterparts.

“You know, many times in our Latino community we know who the big hospitals are. We know the systems. We know that they exist. And many times, we are hesitant to go into those places because we don’t feel safe. But having promotoras — community health workers who are lay individuals — they are the ones that are actually opening the doors to the community.”

Reyes has partnered with Broadlawns and the Polk County Public Health Department to lead events in locations like churches to increase access. Their hope is to get attendees thinking about their cognitive health.

Dr. Yogesh Shah, director of Broadlawns Memory Clinic, said it’s important to catch early signs of dementia before the symptoms manifest more critically.

“It’s very significant [...] stage wise, they might have more grade dementia but never been diagnosed. And because of that, they end up in emergency rooms or end up in hospitals not knowing that some of the symptoms are related to their dementia diagnosis.”

Reyes and Shah made their comments on IPR’s River to River.

State Climatologist Justin Glisan said most infrastructure — like levies and storm sewers — are not built for the type of torrential rain and flooding that’s occurring.

“You look at 2019, with the ‘bomb cyclone’ and then the epic flooding along the Missouri River basin — all the Corps levies south of Council Bluffs were damaged or destroyed. Those have since been rebuilt,” Glisan said during a recent appearance on Iowa Press on Iowa PBS.

Glisan said urban infrastructure can’t keep up with “high intensity” rainfall.

“Instead of getting these historic quarter inch, half an inch over 24 to 48 hours, you’re getting an inch to three inches. Our systems can’t keep up with that type of behavior and we’re only seeing that behavior increase into the future.”

Forecasts indicate there will be a ten to 15% increase in precipitation in Iowa over the next ten to 15 years, which Glisan said will sadly lead to more flooding.

As for the other severe weather that’s hit the state this spring, Glisan said mobile radars deployed during the Greenfield tornado may help improve forecasting tornadoes.

“The science that we’re going to get out of it — I really think is going to move us forward in terms of advanced lead times and even predicting these types of tornadoes further out.”

The preliminary data from the Greenfield tornado includes a measurement that wind speeds were 318 miles per hour at 160 feet above the ground, making it the second strongest tornado ever recorded.

“It’s hard to fathom,” Glisan said.

Several health advocacy groups are raising concerns about cancer risks linked to a chemical that’s used to decaffeinate coffee. But a local expert says you can still likely trust that morning cup of joe.

Michaela Eckstein, a registered dietician with Gundersen Health System, said a solvent — methylene chloride — is commonly used on coffee beans to wick out caffeine, and the FDA is being petitioned to ban the use of that chemical compound.

“Methylene chloride is in the same category as the sun in terms of being a possible carcinogen,” Eckstein said. “But with the rest of that process, the coffee beans are then rinsed and heated to a super-high temperature, so the methylene chloride all evaporates off, in order to be approved by the FDA and end up on our grocery store shelves.”

Coffee beans are typically roasted at 400°, which is up to four times higher than the evaporation point of the chemical. Eckstein said only very small amounts of methylene chloride may remain in the beans, or fewer than ten drops for every ten gallons of coffee.

The FDA is being asked to ban or restrict the use of several chemicals in food preparation, including methylene chloride, as it’s been connected to causing cancer. Groups making the request include the Environmental Defense Fund, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, Center for Environmental Health and Environmental Working Group.

According to Eckstein, Iowans who love their decaf coffee don’t have to go without, as that chemical can be avoided with a little effort.

“If we are concerned about that methylene chloride, there are other options readily available. You could get solvent-free coffee, certified organic coffee or decaf coffee that’s made with the Swiss water processing method as well, or try some of those other great decaf drinks, like herbal tea or sparkling water.”

Thirteen businesses will receive state money this year from a fund designed to help small-scale meat processors.

Iowa Economic Development Authority spokesperson Kanan Kappleman said the grants total more than $970,000.

“Eligible projects under the Butchery and Revitalization Fund would include expanding or refurbishing an existing facility or establishing a new business.”

According to Kappleman, the money is often used for buying equipment such as refrigeration and freezer facilities or equipment that is “necessary to expand the processing capacity of a facility.”

Kappelman said the fund was created after the large-scale meat processors were shut down during the pandemic and the need was revealed for these types of processors.

She said there are just a few requirements to get the grants.

“Number one, they would be authorized to do business in Iowa. The second is that they employ less than 75 individuals.”

There are also some limits related to the amount of grant received.

“The maximum award amount for any one company was $100,000. No more than 50% of the eligible project expenses can be made with these grant funds.”

There were five projects that requested grants that didn’t win awards this year.

Iowa Senate Majority Whip Waylon Brown resigned from the Legislature, effective July 10. In a statement on Monday morning, Brown did not say why he is leaving office and ending his reelection bid after seven years in the senate.

The Republican senator from Osage narrowly defeated a primary challenger in June in a race that was focused on proposed carbon capture pipelines. Brown’s opponent accused him of using his position as chair of the Senate Commerce Committee to block proposals that would have limited eminent domain use for carbon pipelines.

The Iowa Utilities Commission approved Summit Carbon Solutions’ request to use unwilling landowners’ land for its pipeline in June.

The state GOP is expected to hold a nominating convention this summer to name a different Republican on the ballot in Brown’s north Iowa senate district.

It’s already been a summer of extreme weather across the Midwest and Great Plains, and climate scientists say extreme weather is happening more frequently.

Heavy rainfall in June led to record-breaking flooding in Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota.

The waters caused evacuations, emergency declarations and widespread damage.

At the same time, St. Louis broke a heat record.

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Midwest Climate Hub Director Dennis Todey said it’s difficult to tie specific events to climate change. But he said the Midwest is seeing heavier rain events.

“You can't just automatically go, ‘This was climate change.’ But because of the overall changes in our climate, there are fingerprints of climate that show up, you know, in most everything that we do.”

Scientists say warmer air holds more water, which can lead to more extreme rainfall and flooding like what we saw in June.

Read the full story from Harvest Public Media’s Kate Grumke.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell toured the town of Cherokee in June after the Little Sioux River crested at an estimated level two times over flood stage.

Criswell met with homeowners who lost everything in Rock Valley and Spencer. It was her sixth disaster trip in about 45 days.

“Because of the significant impacts that we're seeing from severe weather, it has to be a result of a changing climate.”

Criswell said the same pattern is happening in other parts of the country. For instance, with warmer water in the Atlantic, she’s expecting a very active hurricane season, with storms that will intensify more rapidly.

Criswell was also in Iowa in late May, seeing first-hand the aftermath of a deadly tornado. There have been three Presidential Disaster Declarations made for the state so far this year.

The trial of a man accused of shooting and killing an Algona police officer gets underway Monday morning.

Kyle Ricke, 43, is charged with first-degree murder for the death of officer Kevin Cram in September. The trial was moved from Kossuth County to Dickinson County over concerns about finding an impartial jury. Because of flooding in the Iowa Great Lakes area, it was delayed for two weeks.

The clerk of court said jury selection is expected to happen Monday, with opening statements planned for Tuesday.

Investigators said Officer Cram was trying to arrest Ricke for his involvement in a harassment case when Ricke opened fire. Ricke fled the scene and was taken into custody four hours later in Minnesota.

Cram served with the Algona Police Department for eight years after starting his career in law enforcement in Nora Springs.

The Iowa DNR says volunteers are urgently needed in Tama County for the state’s annual bat survey.

Since 2015, volunteers have collected acoustic data in more than a dozen counties to help researchers monitor population trends.

Volunteers slowly drive a pre-determined route at night with special recording equipment mounted to the top of their car. In the lab, researchers can then analyze the recordings to identify the species of bat and how many individuals of each species flew over the vehicle during the route.

The project emerged in response to White Nose Syndrome, a fungal disease that can wipe out colonies during hibernation.

Nine species of bats live in Iowa.

With warmer temperatures, experts are warning Iowans who spend time outside to be diligent about checking for tick exposure.

Tick activity is usually highest during summer months, but Nathan Shaw says due to recent warmer weather overall, he’s seeing more people come in during the spring for tick exposure.

Shaw is a family medicine doctor at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He says tick bites can cause a lot of issues that might not always be obviously linked to the tiny bugs.

“I mean, we worry in this area about Lyme disease. But that's not the only infection that ticks can carry. And it can be very confusing, because a lot of the illnesses can present as if a flu or [gastrointestinal] bug.”

He says with a warmer climate will come more danger from tick-borne diseases.

“That probably will mean that we'll have more tick exposures in the area. And we may even see new diseases show up that we haven't been seen before, just because the that area that the ticks like to be as kind of spreading out over time.”

Shaw says prevention is key. This means wearing longer layers when doing outdoor activities in the woods or other heavy tick areas, putting on bug spray and checking for ticks on skin often.

Finding a buyer for a small business can be hard, especially in rural areas. And that problem is likely to get worse.

“There's a silver tsunami coming,” said Renee Wiatt, a research specialist with the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development at Purdue University. “There’s basically going to be this mass exodus of that baby boomer age who are going to all be retiring in the next five to 10 years.”

Read more from Brian Beach.

During the summer, the Animal Rescue League of Iowa sees an increase in dogs and cats. It’s asking for help to manage the dozens of animals it says arriving each day, including around a hundred new kittens each week.

They are asking for residents to adopt, foster or even donate. KC Routos, the shelter’s director of development, says all these methods need to be applied to help as crowding increase.

“Big picture, if we can chip away at all these smaller things like fostering and volunteering and supporting our community outreach then I think together we’ll be able to really taper down. But we’ll really have to hit it from all those angels to overcome this bigger challenge.”

Routos says a veterinarian shortage in the country has led some owners to avoid spaying and neutering. She says the shelters are seeing the impact in the litters of puppies coming in.

While Des Moines’ ARL of Iowa recently tripled its capacity with a new facility, Routos says it’s not enough. By July 8, the Animal Rescue League of Iowa is trying to adopt out 250 pets.

Before people go out to watch Fourth of July fireworks, crews are quickly working to get everything set up. Jake Amsden, a lead shooter with J&M Displays, a national fireworks company, says some of the big shows can take two to three days to set up.

“And then it all gets shot off in 15-20 minutes.”

This is his second year running the show in Ames, where he’s planning a finale with 150 fireworks that will fire off in 30 seconds. During set up at Jack Trice Stadium this week, one member of his crew dropped fireworks into tubes while another ran wires back to red plastic boxes.

“Every firework has its own wire that comes off of each individual firework, and plugs into each one of these boxes here. And it's a wireless connection from that box to my controller.”

Beyond the technical and safety aspects, Amsden says there’s a lot of creative license to decide which colors and effects to use.

“The colors are just getting absolutely amazing now and they last longer than when they're actually burning through the sky and stuff. So a lot of people like to see those, what we call a long duration effect, where they can almost come down to reach the ground from the time that they blow up.”

While this time of year is a big deal for pyrotechnicians and fireworks enthusiasts, Amsden says his job doesn’t slow down after the fourth.

Read more from Rachel Cramer.

Google plans to spend $1 billion this year on its complex in western Iowa.

Google opened a data center in Council Bluffs in 2009 and added a second in 2013. Google data centers keep the platform running, including Google’s cloud storage, Google Maps, Google’s search function, as well as Google Gemini, the company’s artificial intelligence software.

In March, Google announced it would build a data center in Cedar Rapids.

Google is also donating $1.3 million to support efforts at 47 southwest Iowa sites along the Missouri River to improve flood protection and reduce soil runoff into the river.

Summit Carbon Solutions has proposed new public informational meeting dates for 23 counties that would span about four weeks. The company that recently gained approval from state regulators for its carbon dioxide pipeline system in Iowa wants to proceed with expansion requests for that system starting in late August.

Summit must hold the meetings in affected counties before it can negotiate with landowners for easements and file petitions for permits to build the extensions.

The Iowa Utilities Commission, formerly as the Iowa Utilities Board, indicated it would grant Summit a permit for the company’s initial proposal, which has about 690 miles of pipe.

The company hopes to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol producers in five states to North Dakota to be stored underground. The IUC has stipulated that Summit cannot start laying pipe in Iowa until it obtains permits in the Dakotas. It said the company can use eminent domain to force agreements with unwilling landowners to use their properties for the project.

The new proposed meeting schedule — which has not yet been approved by the IUC — goes from Aug. 26 to Sept. 20 in the following counties: Adams, Bremer, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Butler, Clay, Fayette, Floyd, Greene, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Ida, Kossuth, Mitchell, Montgomery, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Sioux, Webster and Worth.

Read more from the Iowa Capital Dispatch’s Jared Strong.

Some substance abuse prevention specialists in Iowa support the state’s new consumable hemp law that went into effect on Monday.

The new law limits the potency of THC in hemp products to four milligrams per serving and ten milligrams per container. The state law also prohibits sales to people under 21 years old and classifies non-compliant hemp products as a controlled substance.

At a public comment meeting on Tuesday, Maggie Ballard, who works in substance use prevention services, spoke in favor of the new regulations.

“While that’s not going to be a popular thing to do with an industry that profits off of addiction, it is a good way to put public health first.”

The last public hearing on the rules will take place on the morning of July 8. The Department of Health and Human Services said final regulations will be adopted no earlier than July 17, with the final rules being published in August.

There are multiple lawsuits challenging the law.

Read more about hemp laws in Iowa.

There will be a hearing on July 11 in another lawsuit challenging Iowa’s new law governing consumable hemp products. One of the plaintiffs is a hemp producer in Jefferson, Andy Krieger. He owns Krieger Greenhouses and Greene Goods Market, where he grows industrial hemp and produces hemp-based goods, including beverages and gummies.

Krieger said the last few weeks have been very frustrating, as the state rolled out new rules governing THC content in products.

“As a retailer, as a grower — it’s one thing because we are also a grower and a retailer. But from a retailer’s standpoint we don’t know exactly where we stand with the products that we have on our shelves.”

He said his customer base is local, and not a demographic one normally would associate with hemp.

“My customer would be between 60, maybe 65, up to the mid-80s. It’s a much older group of individuals that walk into our door every day.”

Krieger said his customers are looking for relief from pain, anxiety and poor sleep, and for an alternative to prescription drugs.

In 2020 there were 86 licensed hemp growers in Iowa. That number is down to 15 this year, and Krieger said changing regulations are largely to blame.

Last Friday, a district court judge rejected a separate request for an injunction blocking the new hemp law, which went into effect July 1.

Read more about hemp laws in Iowa.

State officials say an estimated 2,000 homes were damaged or destroyed during recent flooding in northwest Iowa. There is concern about a shortage of housing, especially for Cherokee Mayor Craig Schmidt. Local emergency management estimated that 70 homes were destroyed, and Schmidt doesn’t know where displaced residents will go.

“The reality of it is, and it's not comforting, but all other towns around us are saying the same thing. ‘No workers and no housing.’ So, what do you do?”

Schmidt joined Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and the director of FEMA on a recent tour of a neighborhood devastated by the overflowing Little Sioux River. Schmidt says during previous flooding, FEMA bought out 40 properties. This time, there is more destruction, with an estimated 70 homes destroyed. But Schmidt doesn’t know where people will go.

“They're not staying if they can't find another place to live if their home is devastated and gone.”

During a news conference with the head of FEMA last week, Reynolds said the state needs to figure out how to combine state and local resources and get new homes built as quickly as possible. She says the state is working on providing incentives for developers to help with critical housing needs and to provide transitional housing in the meantime.

John Deere is announcing plans to eliminate some 800 jobs at plants in Iowa and Illinois over the coming weeks. It follows word last month that the company would shift production of its skid steer loaders and compact track loaders from Dubuque to Mexico by the end of 2026.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig is reacting to the news.

“Anytime that you’re hearing about rollbacks, layoffs, moving things outside of the state of Iowa or the United States you’re concerned about those things, you want to understand them.”

In a statement, the company cited increasing manufacturing costs as a key factor, while lower crop prices have also caused a slowdown in new ag equipment sales. Some forecasters predict a 25% drop in farm income this year over last.

Naig says the agricultural economy in general is experiencing what he called “softness” due to a number of factors.

“The announcements that you’ve heard made of late are indicators of very much some softness in the ag economy. Given the effects of inflation, high input prices, the cost of capital interest rates remaining where they are, all those things are contributing in the ag space to delaying decisions if you can — let’s just go sideways for a little bit.”

Deere is eliminating more than 200 jobs at its Davenport plant and another 99 in Dubuque at the end of August, and more than 500 in East Moline, Ill. at the end of September. Deere announced earlier this year it’s cutting more than 800 jobs at facilities in Waterloo, Ottumwa and the Des Moines metro.

Several states across the Midwest have restricted abortion access since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. Nebraska has a 12 week ban. Iowa’s Supreme Court just upheld a six week ban. Laws like these are forcing some families to seek abortions outside of their home states.

One Nebraska couple was happily expecting their second child. But 12 weeks into the pregnancy, the mother was diagnosed with cytomegalovirus, an infectious disease that causes birth defects.

After weighing their hopes for a potentially healthy baby against possible problems like hearing and vision loss, developmental delay or even pregnancy loss, they decided to end the pregnancy.“Abortion bans aren’t helping pregnancies and aren’t helping children. In this case, what we needed was more science.”

Read of the full story from Elizabeth Rembert.

The Iowa Food System Coalition wants to make locally-produced food the norm rather than an exception and released a 250-page plan to get there in the next decade.

One of the priorities in the plan is to make it easier to get food from the farm to the table. This means supporting more local and regional infrastructure – like small-scale processing for specialty crops, grains, dairy and livestock.

Chris Schwartz is the executive director of the coalition. He says more than 40 partners across the state helped shape the plan, “which details all the things that we think we need to do to have a food system that is more local, that is more nutritious, that is more environmentally sustainable and is more just for people doing the work.”

Schwartz made his comments during an event in Des Moines, which was livestreamed on Facebook.

The plan features nine priority areas, including more infrastructure for processing, transporting and distributing food.

Giselle Bruskewitz is the senior program director at Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development.“We’re talking about small grain processing; rural grocery stores getting the infrastructure that they need; vegetables that can be processed at scale so that schools and other institutions can buy them.”

Bruskewitz says the coalition also wants to invest in more refrigerated trucks and food hubs, which aggregate and distribute local products.

Iowa’s network of food hubs serves nearly 70% of the state’s counties.

Iowa is expected to receive about $174 million in opioid settlement funds over the next 18 years. That money is supposed to address both preventing and treating opioid use disorder, but there are many questions - and concerns - as to just how this funding is going to be distributed.

Ann Breeding, a Bondurant resident whose son Daniel died of an overdose, says the opioid settlement dollars should go to prevent more tragedies like Daniel’s from happening.

“It's blood money. And that money needs to go to the people who are suffering because of the opioid epidemic, like those are the people that need the help.”

As millions of dollars from settlements with opioid manufacturers begin to flood into state and local governments, public health experts say now is the time for officials to start planning how to best use those funds.

Read the full story.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has sent a letter to the Department of Labor in response to what she called excessive fines levied against Iowa businesses for violating federal child labor laws, which conflict with new state laws.

In her letter to DOL Acting Secretary Julie Su, Reynolds says her office has received “multiple reports of small business owners who have been subjected to investigations and excessive penalties for employing teenagers until 9 p.m. on school days or 11 p.m. on non-school days, as permitted by state law.”

Reynolds cites the investigation of North Liberty’s Sugapeach Chicken and Fish Fry. Under federal law, 14 and 15 years olds can work until 7 p.m. during the school year and until 9 p.m. when school is out of session. Since passage, the U.S. Department of Labor has been clear that states cannot loosen federal protections for child workers.

Federal emergency funding is now available to dairy farmers who have been impacted by bird flu.

The USDA expanded its Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm Raised Fish Program – also called ELAP – to help cover lost profits from the H5N1 virus.

Dairy farmers are required to discard milk from sick cows to prevent the spread of pathogens.“This is a support for farmers that are having decreased production because of H5N1, but because it provides that support, it is also, creates that incentive for farmers to get tested,” sys Matt Russell, executive director of USDA Iowa Farm Service Agency.

Russell says expanding the program supports dairy farmers and creates an incentive to get tested.

“Because if you are seeing some cows be sick and they happen to have H5N1, then this program kicks in and will provide some support for that loss.”

To be eligible for recovery assistance, producers need a positive test result from the National Veterinary Services Laboratories.

Dairy producers can visit their county’s Farm Service Agency office to apply for the ELAP program and get more information.

Smithfield Foods says it will close its ham-boning plant in Altoona. About 300 workers will lose their jobs. The company says it will meet with workers to discuss a severance plan or potential work at Smithfield’s other facilities. The company didn’t give a date for the shutdown.

Production from the Altoona plant will be consolidated into production at Smithfield plants in Illinois, South Dakota and Nebraska. Smithfield employs about 4,000 people at plants in seven Iowa cities.

This news comes days after the shuttering of the Perry Tyson plant.

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a city ordinance banning people from sleeping in public did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The Iowa Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed an amicus brief in the case.

ACLU attorney Shefali Aurora says such ordinances unduly punish people who don’t have housing.

“Issuing fines that unhoused people simply cannot afford or arresting them for simply sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go is cruel. It runs afoul of basic human dignity and the exact type of cruel and unusual punishment that the 8th Amendment should bar.”

Friday’s ruling centered on an Oregon city’s outside sleeping ordinance, which imposes escalating penalties from fines to jail time.

Following the ruling, the chair of the City of Des Moines’ Homeless Coordinating Council issued a statement saying, “Our legal team will review how this ruling impacts our City ordinances and policies, and provide advice to our City Council and City Manager on potential changes.”

The Iowa Legislature's moratorium on new gambling licenses has expired and groups in Linn County plan to seek a license for a casino in Cedar Rapids.

President of the Linn County Gaming Association Anne Parmley says the plan has been in the works for some time.

“We were prepared to apply for a license before the legislature introduced the moratorium, and so we've just kind of been patiently waiting for two years for that to lift and to continue forward with that process.”

State regulators have denied a gambling permit twice for Cedar Rapids. Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission says commissioners will discuss what may come next now that the moratorium on gambling licenses has expired.

They meet next on July 8 in Altoona.

A Libertarian running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Iowa’s 3rd District says he would put Iowa first as a member of Congress.

Marco Battaglia says he’s running on decriminalizing marijuana, ending what he calls abusive prison labor practices and cutting American spending on foreign conflicts including in Ukraine and Israel.

Battaglia says the money would be better spent on domestic issues.

“You know, we basically have to get our own house and our own budget in order before we even consider sending money to other countries.”

Battaglia lives in Des Moines and works as a correctional officer at the state women’s prison in Mitchellville.

He faces incumbent Republican Rep. Zach Nunn and Democrat Lanon Baccam in the 3rd District, which covers the Des Moines metro, as well as rural parts of southwestern and southcentral Iowa.

In the past he’s run as the Libertarian candidate for Iowa attorney general and lieutenant governor.

Keokuk is beginning work on what city leaders say is no ordinary road project.18th Street in the southeast Iowa community leads to the only national cemetery in the state. The city has given the street the honorary designation of the Road of Honor.

But 18th Street is in rough shape. It has never received a proper resurfacing – it’s only been patched up through the years.

Now, however, Mayor Kathie Mahoney said Keokuk has issued bonds to pay for road repairs. A good chunk of the money will be put toward the $3.4 million Road of Honor project.

“In honor of the veterans and the Keokuk National Cemetery, that was the first choice of roads to assure a safe trip and a comfortable trip.”

The city is also receiving $960,000 in federal grants for the Road of Honor.

The seven-block stretch will be closed while the work is done. It should be completed by the end of the year.

Read more from Will Buss.

Bird flu has infected dairy cows in a dozen states since the first outbreak earlier this year. But unless cows are going to be moved across state borders, testing for the virus is largely voluntary.

Shortly after bird flu was detected late this spring in northwest Iowa, the state announced that dairies within a 12-mile radius of infected poultry sites would need to be tested.

The virus can spread from dairy cows to poultry, and vice versa.

Yuko Sato, an Iowa State Extension poultry specialist, said during a recent webinar that testing is key.

"We don't know how to do anything about control, prevention or eradication until we start with diagnosis."

Federal regulations only require testing for dairy cattle moving across state lines.

Scott Poock is an extension veterinarian in Missouri. That state hasn’t had any affected dairy herds and he says he can understand why Iowa, a big poultry state, would want more bird flu testing.

“I can see their concern. And when you look at the fact that yes, this causes some trouble with cows, but in general you don’t have death in the cows, where it can just wipe out a poultry farm.”

The USDA also has a voluntary testing program which producers in Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and New Mexico are enrolled in.

A federal judge has denied a request to block parts of Iowa’s new hemp law from taking effect.

Starting Monday, the law will limit consumable hemp products to four milligrams of THC per serving and ten milligrams per container.

While the court agreed that the language of the law and how it will be enforced is vague, it rejected an argument from companies that make consumable hemp products, saying the state should not be able to regulate components of hemp products over the federal government.

THC beverage companies Climbing Kites and Field Day Brewing say an interpretation of the law would criminalize 80% of their products. They plan to send it out of state to avoid penalties.

The moratorium on new gambling licenses imposed by the state Legislature is set to expire at the end June 30.

Racing and Gaming Commission administrator Tina Eick says they are prepared for a discussion of their next step.

“The commission has signaled at the last meeting in June that they would be discussing what to do with any potential applications at its July 8 meeting in Altoona at Prairie Meadows,” she says.

A group in Cedar Rapids announced it will seek an application. Eick says the Racing and Gaming Commission discussion will likely center on the impact of any new licenses.

“Historically what the commission has done as a part of any application process for considering new facilities or new licenses would be to conduct a new or its own specific market study at that point in time,” Eick says.

She says they will have a full discussion of any issues involving new licenses.

“The commission would be looking to gather as much information about any new facility and what the impact good or bad would be to a new license,” Eick says.

The IRGC denied previous license requests for a Cedar Rapids casino in 2014 and 2017 based in part on concerns of the impact on the existing casinos.

One year away from a federal deadline to reduce nutrient runoff into the Gulf of Mexico by 20%, increases in tile drainage, livestock and fertilizer use have made success unlikely.

The oxygen-deprived "dead zone" in the Gulf is predicted to be 5,827 square miles this summer, 5% larger than average, according to a forecast last week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Progress made so far reducing nutrients flowing to the Mississippi River is due to tighter standards for water treatment plants and other “point-source” polluters. But 70% of the nitrate load to the Gulf comes from nonpoint sources – mostly agriculture.

“We need every other field in some kind of winter cover to drive down nutrient loss,” said Sarah Carlson, an agronomist and senior programs and member engagement director with Practical Farmers of Iowa. “We are way, way behind. Not even close.”

Read more from Erin Jordan.

The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled a law can go into effect that bans abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy.

The law bans abortion when cardiac activity is detected, which can be as early as six weeks — before most people know they’re pregnant. It does offer exceptions for rape or incest.

Iowa lawmakers passed the law during a one-day special session last July. This was after the Supreme Court's decision at the time that struck down a law with a nearly identical ban when justices deadlocked in a 3-3 decision.

Read more from Natalie Krebs.

Repeated flooding in Iowa’s Cedar River has complicated nature preservation efforts in northeast Iowa.

The river has crested over 90 feet two times in the past three weeks, which has been uncommon during the past few years of drought.

Regular flooding in the region used to be the norm, but a three-year dry spell has changed how conservation officials are thinking about how to preserve nature.

Mike Hendrickson, the executive director for Black Hawk County Conservation, says if the river keeps rising and falling so quickly, it could result in unforeseen erosion.

“It will eventually take its toll, because it will find ways to cut erosion gullies down through areas, and that will take out vegetation and every time it does that it’ll get bigger, and we really can’t get in there to fix it until it’s over.”

Flood conditions on the Cedar River are expected to remain in effect at least into the weekend, and more rain is likely.

The Iowa Supreme Court is expected to rule Friday morning on a case that will determine the fate of a state law banning abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion in Iowa is currently legal up to 20 weeks.

The law at the center of the case would ban abortion when cardiac activity is detected. This is before many people know they’re pregnant.It’s the second time Republican lawmakers have tried to enact a so-called "fetal heartbeat" law.

The first law was permanently blocked by a deadlocked Iowa Supreme Court last year.

Gov. Kim Reynolds responded by calling a special session last July where lawmakers passed a nearly identical law. That’s the version the court is set to rule on Friday morning.

The State of Iowa has responded to a lawsuit filed by two Iowa beverage companies who say the state health department’s interpretation of new potency limits outlined in updates to Iowa’s hemp law would criminalize 80% of their products.

Iowa-based companies Climbing Kites and Field Day Brewing Co., which sell beverages with hemp-derived THC, are seeking an immediate injunction to block the new law from going into effect on July 1.

The law would limit the legal amount of THC to 4 milligrams per serving and 10 milligrams per container. Guidance from the state health department says the department may define a single serving size as 12-fluid-ounces, which is the current size of a Climbing Kites drink.

The companies argue the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, which the state has given authority to interpret the law, should not be able to “regulate matters exclusively reserved to the federal government.”

In a response Wednesday afternoon, the State of Iowa argued that the 2018 Farm Bill allows states to regulate production and distribution of hemp products “more stringently” than federal standards.

A hearing for the injunction is scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m.

City council chambers in Burlington were flooded with members and supporters of the LGBTQ community on June 3 as the city officially declared it Pride Month for the first time in history.

Then there was the first-ever Pride Parade down Jefferson Street, followed by the first Pride at the Riverfront Festival.

Myra Goldie, one of the organizers, says they call themselves the “Queer Many” and this year’s expanded events built on what Pride in the Park did in the past.

Goldie says one of the goals of Pride events was to provide a safe space for the LGTBQ community and their allies.

“Just being able to live out loud and not have that fear.”

Goldie says another goal of the event was to spread awareness.

With Bird Flu infecting dairy cows in northwest Iowa and across the country, some have questions about the safety of retail milk.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration sampled retail milk earlier this year and found that while there were remnants of H5N1 - there was no live virus after pasteurization. But new research suggests that the bird flu virus could survive.

In a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this month, researchers outlined laboratory tests that showed live virus surviving the pasteurization process.

In their letter, researchers called for tests to be conducted outside of laboratory settings to better understand the potential risks in real life.

Amesh Adalja is a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. He wasn’t involved with the study, but he says he’s not particularly worried about what researchers are seeing in a lab setting.

“I think it's good information to have to understand the characteristics of pasteurization, with this particular virus. But the bigger threat to me comes from unpasteurized milk.”

The FDA continues to affirm the safety of commercial milk and advise individuals against drinking raw, unpasteurized milk.

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office will fund Iowa City’s Domestic Violence Intervention Program to provide sexual assault services in southeastern Iowa.

Alta Medea, the program’s director of community engagement, says she still doesn’t know how much money they will get. That funding is dependent on how much the federal government passes to the state for crime victim services.
They’re anticipating large cuts.

“This year — mid-September to October — is when we will find out exactly how large those funding cuts are. We’ve been informed that they are between 40 and 44%.”

Medea says DVIP hopes to make up the difference through fundraising.

Crime victim services in Iowa are funded in large part by federal dollars from the Victims of Crime Act. But that fund has been insolvent. This year, Congress failed to pass stopgap funding for these services. And the Iowa Legislature did not fund a $10 million proposed increase to victim services.

Securing the Attorney General’s funding is an important step for the organization after the University of Iowa announced it was closing its sexual assault crisis service last April. The full transition to DVIP will occur on Sept. 30.

Arkansas-based Tyson Foods employs nearly 1,300 people at its facility in Perry. Hundreds more work there as contracted cleaning crews and cafeteria workers, according to city officials. The pork processing plant is shuttering on June 28.

For many, the decision to close was completely unexpected. Tyson had poured millions of dollars into the facility in recent years, including upgrading their meat freezers.

“Everybody walked in there happy, joking around, laughing, and Tyson handed us a piece of paper that said they were closing,” said Joyce Wells, who has worked at the plant for nearly three decades.

Community leaders are trying to make it easier for workers and their families to stay in the community and find new opportunities.

Read more from Rachel Cramer.

Iowa’s agriculture department is rolling out new testing requirements for dairy cattle to participate in fairs and livestock shows in the state.

The order goes into effect July 1. It’s intended to prevent the spread of bird flu, which has been detected at 11 dairies and three poultry farms in Iowa.

The order requires a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection for dairy cattle going to livestock shows and fairs.

Each lactating dairy cow will need to test negative for the H5N1 virus no more than a week before arriving at an exhibition. A bulk milk sample representing the whole herd must also be taken, along with individual samples from up to five sick cows on a farm.

Exhibitions also need to develop and implement biosecurity measures, and producers are encouraged to bring their own milking equipment.

Cattle from herds with H5N1 detections are banned from exhibitions until the order lifts.

The state ag department said Iowa has detected additional positive tests because of increased testing. Dairy farms are encouraged to participate in voluntary testing to help with the broader research effort.

The requirement to test dairies within a 12-mile radius of infected poultry sites is still in effect.

Read more.

Representatives of the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club said they’re not surprised by the Iowa Utilities Board’s decision to approve Summit Carbon Solutions’ CO2 pipeline project. They plan to ask the agency to reconsider.

Sierra Club attorney Wally Taylor said the pipeline still faces several hurdles, including approval in other states. The IUB’s decision does not guarantee the Summit pipeline will be built.

Brian Jorde said the three members of the board were hand-picked to make such a decision. IUB board members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Iowa Senate.

Speaking at a press conference hosted by the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club on Tuesday, Jorde said construction on the pipeline is still a long way off, and they’ll exhaust all options in trying to stop it.

“The condition that requires, or that prohibits commencement of construction until all approvals across the footprint are met is, in my view, significant, because in South Dakota Summit doesn’t even have an application on file.”

In August 2023, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission denied Summit’s permit application. Jorde said it should take at least a year for South Dakota to approve another application.

Sherri Webb, whose family owns a farm along the proposed pipeline route in Iowa, said she won’t accept Summit taking her land through eminent domain.

“I hope that the Iowa landowners now understand that absolutely none of their land is safe from being taken. Will we give up? No. We will appeal, and we will never give up.”

The Iowa Utilities Board has approved Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed CO2 pipeline project.

The decision by the three-member board was unanimous.

Summit’s pipeline would cross 29 counties and connect with 30 ethanol plants in Iowa.

In a statement, Summit called the approval a “significant milestone” for the ethanol industry, which views the project as a path into markets for low-carbon fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel. Summit will have the right of eminent domain to build the pipeline on property where landowners have not signed on with the plan.

The company must acquire a $100 million insurance policy to cover any damage caused by construction and operation of the pipeline.

Construction cannot start until some final filings are reviewed by the IUB and pipeline permits are approved in North Dakota and South Dakota.

Summit has said the project would be the largest of its kind in the U.S. with 2,500 miles of pipe across five states.

A soul food restaurant in eastern Iowa is under investigation for violating federal child labor protections. The U.S. Department of Labor confirmed that it is investigating North Liberty’s Sugapeach Chicken and Fish Fry.

Details on the accusations or any fines that could be levied will not be available until the department finishes its investigation.

Under federal law, 14 and 15-year-olds can work until 7 p.m. during the school year and until 9 p.m. when school is out of session. But a 2023 Iowa law would have allowed children to work as late 9 p.m. on a school night and 11 p.m. when school is out of session.

The U.S. Department of Labor has advised Iowa officials that federal child labor protection cannot be loosened by the states. This year, the department has continued to investigate and find child labor violations in many states, including Iowa.

In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division completed 955 investigations, identifying 5,800 children whose working conditions violated federal protections. It assessed over $8 million in penalties.

Gov. Kim Reynolds characterized these as “excessive penalties against Iowa businesses that employ teens.”

A U.S. Department of Labor spokesperson said no child should be working long hours, doing dangerous work or be employed in unsafe conditions.

“It’s dangerous and irresponsible, that amidst a rise in child labor exploitation in this country, Iowa’s governor and state Legislature have chosen to repeatedly undermine federal child labor protections despite the labor department’s clear guidance,” the spokesperson said. “The U.S. Department of Labor is working every day to ensure that children seeking their first work experiences are doing so in a safe and responsible way. But under our watch, that will not include allowing children to be exploited.”

On the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs decision, Planned Parenthood North Central States says it’s planning to expand services at a number of clinics, including in Iowa.

In 2023, Planned Parenthood closed three of its clinics in Cedar Falls, Council Bluffs and on the south side of Des Moines.

Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said the organization is still working to expand its remaining Des Moines clinic, as well as the one in Omaha.

“Alongside our brick-and-mortar expansions, we've leveraged investments and telehealth to make care more accessible for patients with barriers to traveling for care, including patients in rural areas and those with disabilities.”

Leah Vanden Bosch with the Iowa Abortion Access Fund said a number of Iowa laws have made it harder to get an abortion in the state, including one that requires a 24-hour waiting period.

“So, that means that folks need to get to a clinic twice in order to receive abortion care. And unless someone is living in one of those three cities with an abortion clinic, there's going to need to be travel required in order to receive that care.”

Iowa has abortion clinics in Ames, Sioux City and Iowa City.

The state is currently awaiting a Supreme Court decision that could enact a law banning abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy. The decision is expected this Friday.

Abortion in Iowa remains legal up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The jobs numbers are out for May, and Iowa Workforce Development director Beth Townsend said they are positive.

“The unemployment rate remained the same (2.8%), although the national unemployment rate went up in May. And then the labor force participation rate ticked down a tenth of a percentage point, which is negligible.”

She said there was some growth in jobs.

“Education and health care gained 1,400 jobs — and we always like to see health care growing. They grew about 1,100 jobs individually.”

Townsend said the Tyson closing in Perry, as well as layoffs announced by John Deere and Bridgestone, will start to show up in the June and July unemployment numbers. But the job conditions remain very good for the workers impacted by those company moves, according to Townsend.

“You have 56,000 open jobs. We have the reemployment case management program that’s been very effective in helping Iowans find their next job. We’ve been working with the Tyson employees since that layoff was announced, for instance, and helping them find that next job, hopefully with little to no break in their employment.”

Unemployment rose above 3% at the end of 2023 and has been moving down slightly since the start of 2024. The May rate of 2.8% this year is the same as in May one year ago.

At least four Iowa mayors attended the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Kansas City over the weekend. The nonpartisan gathering of more than 200 mayors was open to those from communities with populations of 30,000 or more.

Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart said homelessness is one challenging issue many of the elected leaders from across the country are facing. Hart said he launched a homelessness task force earlier this month.

Gun violence is another key topic, though Hart said Waterloo’s numbers in that category are trending downward, which he credits to efforts like gun buy-back programs. Many communities are also struggling with mental health and how to expand services, according to Hart.

“No longer is it the day where we can say mental health services only belongs at the county level. But cities have to work to engage and share best practices.”

The mayors compiled a list of priorities for the next administration prior to the November presidential elections. Even with so many elected leaders at the conference, Hart said there’s no political grandstanding. He said there’s no such thing as a Republican pothole or a Democratic pothole.

“Folks are working here, shoulder-to-shoulder, outside of partisan lines, to make sure that we create the best communities possible. That’s one great thing about being on the local level, it is the intersection of people, the intersection of state and federal governments. But our folks are expecting us to move beyond politics and move towards real solutions.”

Other Iowa mayors at the 92nd annual conference included Danny Laudick of Cedar Falls, Connie Boesen of Des Moines and Brad Cavanagh of Dubuque.

Sen. Chuck Grassley said foreign adversaries have a proven track record of using apps and websites to secretly collect data from Americans, and he’s introducing legislation that aims to thwart such efforts.

The Republican senator is sponsoring the measure with Nevada Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto.

“Our bipartisan bill gives Americans further control over their own data. Our legislation would shine a light on malicious foreign actors that store, expose and transfer Americans’ personal data.”

Grassley said those illegal actions threaten national security and violate privacy rights. His bill is called the Internet Application Integrity and Disclosure Act.

“It would require websites and apps owned by China, North Korea, Russia and Iran to disclose their ownership to potential users. This helps consumers make informed decisions on when, and with whom, they share their private information.”

He said the goal is to keep Americans’ private information private and away from the eyes of foreign enemies.

Cortez Masto introduced an earlier version of the bill in 2023 that required websites and apps to disclose ties with the Chinese Communist Party.

State officials are warning homeowners about contractors who are offering to manage insurance claims for storm damage without the required license. The Iowa Insurance Division has already issued “cease and desist” orders to four such contractors.

Deputy Commissioner Jared Kirby said the companies traveled door-to-door in areas impacted by storms, offering to assess damage and handle the insurance claim.

He said they might offer repairs that don’t match a homeowner's insurance policy, which can delay resolution of a claim and cost extra money.

“Where they start to reach over the line and get pushy with the consumer, have them kind of sign away the right to the insurance contract or control of the insurance claim itself.”

Kirby said people with storm damage often feel the need to get it fixed as quickly as possible and don’t check out a contractor who may be from outside the area. He said it’s best for homeowners to get a written estimate and submit it to their insurance company themselves.

The four contractors cited by the state are Recon Roofing & Construction, Exterior + Home Remodeling, American Dream Home Improvement and Darren Reeves Roofing. If homeowners have questions about contractors, Kirby recommends they contact the Iowa Insurance Division.

IPR reporters are covering the latest updates in northwest Iowa as flooding continues to spread. Stay informed throughout the day by following our special flooding coverage.

Courtesy Eurisha Brauhn

Some livestock groups want all meat products to clearly disclose where the livestock was born, raised and processed. Congress reversed mandatory “country of origin labeling” in 2015.

Tim Gibbins of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center supports reinstating mandatory labels.

“One of the main purposes of a representative democracy is to enforce antitrust laws so that markets are open, fair and competitive… country of origin labeling is a first step in ensuring competition in markets.”

Others argue the costs of the mandate would outweigh any benefits.