A Polk County judge has ruled that Libertarian candidates Nicholas Gluba and Jules Cutler cannot be added back onto the ballot this November, after they were kicked off by the State Objection Panel in June.

The two were filing to run as a Libertarian gubernatorial ticket, with Gluba running for governor and Cutler vying for lieutenant governor. The panel determined Cutler failed to submit the needed affidavit of candidacy.

Libertarian Party of Iowa Chair Stephanie Berlin said the pair is considering appealing the panel’s decision.

“We are clearly unhappy with the decision and the pathway this has taken us down,” Berlin said. “However, we are exploring our next steps.”

The objections filed against the Libertarian candidates come as Iowa’s governor’s race is slated to be highly competitive, with political forecasters ranking the race as a “toss up.” A third-party candidate could draw votes away from major party candidates in a tight race.

Candidate claims she followed guidance from an election official

After being removed from the ballot, Gluba and Cutler filed an appeal June 23, asking a judge to reverse the panel’s decision and add them back to the November ballot.

At a hearing in Polk County District Court on July 21, Cutler claimed that she offered her affidavit to Dani Phillips, an elections official, who told her it was “not needed.”

“She came out of that office with her glasses, meaning business,” Cutler said at the hearing. “She knew what she was doing. At the very least, she presented herself as such, and I had no reason whatsoever to doubt that that's not true.”

Phillips said Cutler didn’t try to offer her the document. And, Phillips said, she didn’t remember whether Cutler was present when Gluba submitted the nominating petitions.

Despite disagreeing with the panel’s finding that Cutler never offered the affidavit and Phillips never declined or refused to receive Cutler’s affidavit of candidacy, Judge Joseph Seidlin did not overturn the decision.

“Although a close call, there is substantial evidence in the record supporting the panel’s findings, including Phillips’s unequivocal statements that she was never offered an affidavit by Cutler, and that fact that her job as an election support specialist is to receive and process election filings, not to reject or refuse them,” he wrote.

Judge says Pate is not required to take himself off panel

Gluba and Cutler also argued Secretary of State Paul Pate should have recused himself from the three-person State Objection Panel due to the dispute involving an employee in his office.

In his decision, Seidlin denied there was a basis for recusal simply due to the credibility of Pate’s employee being called into question.

“There must be direct, compelling evidence of personal knowledge that he [Pate] is unable to set aside,” he wrote. “No such evidence was presented to the panel and none has been presented here.”

In another court filing, the pair asked for Gluba to still appear on the November ballot and be allowed to nominate a different lieutenant governor.

Whether Gluba can stay on the ballot with a different lieutenant governor candidate is unclear. Seidlin wrote that filling a vacancy for a candidate, if applicable in this case, would be separate from objection proceedings.

Berlin told IPR News the party is exploring whether Gluba would be able to proceed with a different lieutenant governor.

Like many of the unhoused Iowans who camp beside the Des Moines River, Stephanie Roth has a long list of health challenges: fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, chronic pain and mental illness. She sometimes uses a walker or a cane to get around.

Her pain and limited mobility make packing up and moving difficult. But that’s something she has done frequently in the past year.

Des Moines is among the more than 350 U.S. cities and some states where camping outside designated recreational campgrounds is a crime. The city said the ban, passed in 2024, hasn’t made a big difference in how aggressively it removes homeless encampments. But Roth and others experiencing homelessness told The Midwest Newsroom they perceive more frequent pressure.

“They tell you to move or we’ll impound, move or we’ll impound. That’s what we got threatened with,” said Roth, 50, who was adopted by her grandparents as a child and graduated from Des Moines North High School.

Unhoused Americans who were interviewed by The Midwest Newsroom for this story said they believe cities have become more aggressive with bulldozing and other tactics in recent years. They reported being pushed from location to location and dodging the bulldozer alongside other challenges that threaten their lives — heat, cold, hunger, thirst, crime, storms.

The rush to clean up homeless encampments is also occurring in locations without camping bans on the books, as the number of people experiencing homelessness in the United States increases in states like Iowa and Missouri, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

A group that provides states and cities with model language for camping bans has argued that these ordinances are a necessary first step toward more effective strategies to reduce homelessness. Leaving people and encampments alone has not worked, said Devon Kurtz, public safety policy director with the Cicero Institute.

Cities and states can approach encampments and the people inhabiting them differently after the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson decision by the U.S. Supreme Court from June 2024. The court ruled that ordinances criminalizing unauthorized “camping” in public spaces were allowed under the Constitution, even if people have no other place to sleep.

This is the second full summer after the landmark decision. Some complaints about enforcement at campsites are about tactics that were legal and common long before the Grants Pass decision. But the threat of being ticketed just for camping has changed the climate, increasing stigma, unhoused people told The Midwest Newsroom.

The most recent U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development data showed a 14% increase in the number of unhoused people in Missouri from 2024 to 2025, to over 8,300 people. Nationwide, according to HUD, the homeless population decreased 3.3%. That figure had spiked in the early 2020s. Estimates in other Midwestern states showed varying trends. Iowa’s unhoused population increased 7%, to over 2,800. Kansas and Nebraska both reported decreases: down 5% in Kansas to about 2,650, and down 2% in Nebraska to about 2,650.

Bulldozing encampments

Melissa Rardin, 43, of Des Moines, said the city bulldozed an encampment where she and her husband were living in May 2026, a few miles north of where Roth is living.

Rardin was not at the encampment when it was bulldozed, she told The Midwest Newsroom. She said her medication, Suboxone, which she takes daily, was left behind in the tent. Rardin said it took two weeks to get it replaced.

Rardin said she lost all her clothes. The couple estimated they lost $2,000 to $3,000 worth of property, which included solar panels, four car batteries, two full propane tanks, a portable heater, a bed, blankets and food, Rardin said.

“We had both just got our food stamps back and went grocery shopping. We had a cooler full,” Rardin said in a text message exchange with The Midwest Newsroom. City of Des Moines officials said that notices are posted before encampments are cleared.

In July, Rardin was still unhoused. She told The Midwest Newsroom on July 25 that she had not eaten anything in three days.

Increased anxiety, more moving

Roth said the threat of bulldozing caused increased anxiety among the unhoused people she knows. She said moving frequently — and sometimes, farther — from their workplaces makes holding a job more difficult.

In addition to making public campsites illegal, the ordinances Des Moines passed in 2024 ban sleeping in public areas such as sidewalks.

Angie Arthur, executive director of Homeward Iowa, a regional homeless planning organization in Polk County, said that initially, she and others had concerns that the city would be issuing citations and fines to unhoused people. Those legal consequences haven’t been occurring, Arthur said.

“I think what has happened is that there is more movement within the camp system,” Arthur said.

In some cases, people have been pushed farther from resources, especially as Des Moines develops more green spaces, Arthur said.

Arthur said there is a need for more resources in the community.

“I can safely say that we need more resources across the state, and more investment from the state, particularly as we have that volatility on the federal level,” she said. Homeward has published research about what investment would be required to meet the county’s housing needs. As of 2024, that came out to almost $20 million annually for Polk County.

The Cicero Institute and other supporters of camping bans argue they’re necessary for the safety and health of everyone in the community. Texas-based Cicero’s advocacy has figured prominently in state and local debates about homelessness policy.

If people become homeless because of addiction or poor mental health, providing free housing or other benefits will not resolve that underlying problem, Kurtz said. Other concerns include environmental and safety consequences of large homeless encampments.

Even when shelters have sufficient beds, residents often turn them down because they don’t allow pets or human companions, or because of strict behavioral rules. Another frequent complaint is that residents will lose the belongings they leave behind, a problem officials in Des Moines and other cities say they have tried to address.

Deaths in homeless communities

Several unhoused people living in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska have died while living outdoors recently, including these recent deaths:

• The body of a 56-year-old man was found July 24, 2026, by a Des Moines police officer at a homeless encampment under an interstate overpass, according to police. Police said the body showed no obvious signs of an injury.
• A 54-year-old man died June 11, 2026, in a riverside neighborhood of Des Moines during a strong, early-morning thunderstorm. A tree broke apart and fell on him. Although first responders reached the man quickly, he died at the encampment.
• The body of Krysta “Krissy” Gallagher-McMillan, 40, was found in a tent at a homeless encampment in east Omaha on Feb. 23, 2025, according to the Omaha World-Herald. She died of hypothermia during a time when temperatures dipped below zero. She was an activist who frequently spoke at public meetings about the homeless.

Some Americans have been killed when cities bulldozed homeless encampments. The New York Times identified at least three people who were fatally crushed by bulldozers, undetected in their tents until it was too late.

KB Doman, an attorney for ArchCity Defenders in St. Louis, who works directly with people experiencing homelessness, said there have been some near misses in St. Louis.

“We’ve gotten really close,” Doman said. “There’s been times where community members have literally had to block bulldozers because the city is like, ‘We want this camp cleared. We’re coming in with bulldozers,’ and there have been community members screaming, like, ‘There’s someone in that tent! Do not move!’”

Hard times, basic needs

People who live in encampments typically sleep in a mix of tents, vehicles and makeshift shelters. Some sleep directly under the sky.

“I actually am blessed enough to have a trailer camper. I’m one of the lucky ones,” Roth said.

In May, she was living with her boyfriend, five cats and a dog at an encampment on the east side of Des Moines near the river. The city of Des Moines told The Midwest Newsroom this is a low-priority camp in terms of removal.

Roth said she fell on hard times after a relationship ended, and then lost a job. The bills piled up. She couldn’t make rent.

For a while, Roth lived on a side street outside an apartment complex where her new boyfriend and his family lived. The tenants there knew Roth and her boyfriend, and the arrangement seemed to work. But then a landlord and a maintenance worker moved onto the site and started calling the police on them regularly, Roth said.

They were told they had to move. Roth’s vehicle was not running. A Des Moines group, Direct Empowerment Iowa Alliance, helped Roth and her boyfriend move from the side street to the parking lot of a nearby Walmart. The group then helped them move to the encampment by the river where they were living in May.

Volunteers who help unhoused people in central Iowa told The Midwest Newsroom that the need is incredibly great, and that government programs are not keeping up with the suffering they see firsthand.

Hot dogs, green bell peppers and onions hissed on a griddle May 2 as Direct Empowerment Iowa Alliance volunteers prepared Mexican hot dogs for Roth and the other people living at the encampment on the east side of Des Moines. They also handed out bananas, oranges, kiwis, potato chips and cookies.

Volunteers started the Direct Empowerment Iowa Alliance in November 2025, responding to the fear and panic they saw among unhoused people in central Iowa. The group is in the process of becoming a nonprofit.

Latosha Peters of Des Moines, one of the founding members, said there was a Navy veteran living in a tent at the encampment who had throat cancer and used a feeding tube to eat.

“He couldn’t get access to food. He relies on liquids and baby formula and Ensure and baby food. We managed to put a video out to our community and ask for donations for him, and we brought him out some food, but he was starving,” Peters said.

Peters said there is a sense of community at the encampment.

“They may live in tents and RVs and campers, but they really do try their best to make it a community and a home, and we see that a lot out here,” Peters said.

More people have been moving to the encampment near the river since the group started in November, said Martin Suarez, another volunteer with the alliance.

The barriers to housing for people camping by the Des Moines River include prior evictions and criminal backgrounds. Some have felony convictions. Suarez said the people don’t fit any one profile, and about half of them have jobs.

“I don’t think that poverty really chooses a class. There’s disabled people out here, there’s veterans out here,” Suarez said.

'Soft' approaches

Chris Johansen, director of neighborhood services for the city of Des Moines, told The Midwest Newsroom that the city has not fundamentally changed its approach to the homeless since the city council passed the camping ban in September 2024.

The biggest difference is that the city now has an agreement with Primary Health Care, which offers services to people before encampments are bulldozed, Johansen said.

Shelby Ridley, the director of programs for Primary Health Care, said in an email that 500 people received services in the first 18 months of the project.

Ridley said the city prepares a report daily and sends it to Homeward Iowa, the planning organization that helps allocate federal funds and more.

“Once information is received, outreach workers go into the community to contact the camper. We attempt to make contact twice in the first 48 hours of an identified encroachment and document the attempts. The number of encroachments varies greatly as they are typically reported to the city of Des Moines by residents of Des Moines,” Ridley said in the email to The Midwest Newsroom.

Last spring, the city of Des Moines’ first homelessness policy administrator, Amber Lewis, left her job. It is not clear if the job, which is currently vacant, will be filled. Des Moines has said it needs to cut its budget $17 million over the next two years.

In Des Moines, the community services nonprofit Joppa plans to open a village with 50 low-cost tiny homes in 2027. The development is modeled after a similar initiative in Austin, Texas, that some city leaders have visited.

Proponents of state and city camping bans said that assistance-based approaches have largely failed, and that some populations of unhoused people present real safety risks to themselves and to the larger community.

The Cicero Institute’s draft legislation pops up on government agendas nationwide, although the group pushes for state camping bans instead of city ones.

Opponents of those measures routinely savage the organization as seeking to criminalize poverty and having ulterior motives, such as increasing the demand for private prisons.

Devon Kurtz is Cicero’s director of public safety policy. He said in an interview with The Midwest Newsroom that Cicero’s work is focused on discouraging governments from policy errors that entrench homelessness.

He said that leaving people alone is not, in the long run, a compassionate strategy. Officials need to be allowed to do more than shrug when a person is a danger to themselves or others.

“It’s a moral question, and there are a lot of individuals who are not comfortable with structured involuntary intervention for individuals. Full stop,” Kurtz said. “They just don’t see that as something that the state should be able to do. I do see that as something they should be able to do in extreme situations.”

The policies he supports and the goals of the “housing first” movement — the idea that enforcement is inappropriate when the supply of shelter is inadequate — are often painted as irreconcilable, he said. But Kurtz said he sees more nuanced differences, chiefly about distinguishing among the various reasons people might not have shelter.

People with the most severe and chronic mental health and substance abuse problems require a different approach than other homeless people, Kurtz said. And governments and service groups who try to tackle both groups’ problems together without the proper tools are likely to fail, he said.

Those tools include bans on outdoor camping like those enabled by the Grants Pass decision. Cicero also argues that it should be easier to institutionalize people who are a danger to themselves and others without their consent.

“I’m not saying camping bans are going to solve homelessness,” Kurtz said. “I expect to see that there is maybe a change in the percentage that’s unsheltered. That there’s more people going into the shelter system, more engagement with outreach.”

That’s what Kurtz said he is seeing in Kentucky, which has some of the most robust data about its encounters with people experiencing homelessness.

A primary goal of any camping ban is pushing more people to take advantage of shelter services and avoid the sanitation, fire and crime risks that come with outdoor camps, Kurtz said. In some cases, he said, that can be the more compassionate approach: He noted a case that Douglas County, Nebraska, Sheriff Aaron Hanson has shared with state lawmakers about Gallagher-McMillan, the woman who died in freezing temperatures at an Omaha encampment in 2025.

“If that woman had been jailed that night — which, again, not a great outcome — but if she had been, she would have survived. And that’s the stakes,” Kurtz said.

Despite Hanson’s testimony, Nebraska’s Legislature did not advance the bill to implement a statewide camping ban this year. Iowa and Kansas also do not have statewide rules about encampments. Missouri instituted a law in 2023, but the state Supreme Court struck it down because of the process lawmakers used to pass it. Those provisions have not returned in subsequent sessions.

A handful of governments in the region do have bans on the books, including Lawrence, Wichita and Kansas City and Wyandotte County in Kansas. They’re part of the over 350 localities and states that the National Homelessness Law Center said have approved measures to make being homeless a crime.

Kurtz said that Cicero’s vision for other steps to combat homelessness include states investing more money in services that do not duplicate federal efforts.

“We would like to see state dollars go toward things that have more flexibility around behavioral health and can offer a different segment of the continuum of care in terms of addiction and mental health treatment,” he said. For that to be meaningful will mean a lot of money, he said.

“We hear it all the time from Republican lawmakers: They want to make those investments,” Kurtz said. “They just don’t trust that they know they’re going to spend it in the right places.”

The Omaha approach

Together, a food and housing advocacy organization, was formed after an F4 tornado ripped through Omaha in May 1975, killing three people and injuring more than 130 others. According to the National Weather Service, 287 homes were destroyed, and another 1,400 homes were damaged.

Together became a safety net for the community after the tornado. Today, the nonprofit helps people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity in Omaha and in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Rather than pass a camping ban, the city of Omaha launched an encampment pilot program that lasted six months, from Nov. 1, 2025, to May 1, 2026. Community partners from across the city participated. Employees at Together said they worked “Monday to Monday” during that time.

“Every day, we were out, going to these camps, and making sure that everybody had some sort of case management,” said Andrew Mitchell, a street outreach specialist with Together. “And instead of the city coming in and just bulldozing right away and people losing their everything, all their belongings — their IDs, their Social Security cards, their birth certificates, which is really rough — they allowed us the time to get in and to make sure that these people had case management going on before they had to move.”

The pilot program came with some drawbacks: Unhoused people began seeing the nonprofit workers and volunteers, rather than the city, as the ones forcing them to move, which compromised some relationships.

“Instead of showing up as the people with food and services and compassion, we were becoming the hatchet men,” said Michael Fletcher, a street outreach specialist with Together who experienced homelessness in the past.

Some unhoused people began to hide from the workers, Fletcher said.

Gerry Ford, the housing services program manager at Together Omaha, noticed an alarming trend following the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the people struggling with housing were older Americans — people ages 55 and older who are on the streets for the first time and are on a fixed, limited income. Arthur said she’s seen similar demographic shifts in Des Moines.

“Maybe it was something like a spouse died — ‘We owned our house forever; I can’t afford the property tax on it.’ So now, here I am,” Ford said. “I mean, there’s never a good time. But one of the worst possible times is later in life where you’re trying to figure it out with less money and less ways to increase it.”

Mitchell said he has also seen more homeless older Americans. He’s also seeing more homeless people ages 16 to 24.

“I want to say that kids would always have a home somewhere in their family, but they just don’t sometimes, and these kids are out there. So both ends of the spectrum, young and old,” Mitchell said.

Fletcher said the end of COVID-19-era programs has been particularly brutal on the homeless community.

“As that money has dried up, it’s left a big gap in services that are now kind of being stripped down to the bare bones,” Fletcher said.

'When there's nowhere to go'

KB Doman and Lee Camp are attorneys with the advocacy group ArchCity Defenders in St. Louis. ArchCity’s legal goals shifted after the Grants Pass ruling, they said in an interview, away from seeking to enjoin aggressive government action and toward encouraging local protections for unhoused persons.

“Grants Pass changed what’s considered unconstitutional, but cities and states can and should still legislate protections in for their unhoused neighbors,” Doman said. “We should still be making policies saying we’re not going to sweep anyone when there’s nowhere to go.”

Many factors are combining to heighten the crisis in St. Louis. A damaging tornado in 2025 wiped out both occupied and unoccupied housing. Evictions ebbed during the COVID-19 pandemic but they’re now approaching pre-2020 numbers, Camp said. And, Camp said, the absence of useful services for homeless people in rural parts of Missouri means many of those people end up in the St. Louis area, where at least some organizations provide assistance.

Even without a formal camping ban, the situation in St. Louis gives unhoused people few choices, Doman said. “Our shelters have been full for about three months now, so anytime we’re sweeping a camp, it’s with the knowledge that people are going to stay outside, and they’re going to move to a different location outside,” she said.

Each clearing of a camp and each move for the residents damages the social network that helps the population manage, Camp said. But he said he still finds hope in the community’s resilience.

“We aren’t as broken of a society as we think,” he said. “It’s just that individuals in power can put an outsized focus on this issue, and really, we know how to fix it: It’s providing more housing.”

Back in Des Moines, Roth said she believes the city’s camping ban is mostly about aesthetics.

“I think they want us out of sight, out of mind, because of what they’re trying to do with this beautification that they’re doing with the river,” said Roth, referring to a recreational water trails project.

She said she expects the pressure on unhoused people to persist.

“Everything bases on your stability, to be very honest, and it’s also mental because you’re so stressed all the time: ‘Oh no, they’re going to come knocking and tell me I need to move again,’ you know,” Roth said. “‘Is it that time again? Oh, here they come knocking again.’”

— Kavahn Mansouri of St. Louis Public Radio contributed to this story.

The Midwest Newsroom is an enterprise journalism collaboration that includes Iowa Public Radio, KCUR, Nebraska Public Media, St. Louis Public Radio and NPR. There are many ways you can contact us with story ideas and leads, and you can find that information here. The Midwest Newsroom is a partner of The Trust Project. We invite you to review our ethics and practices here.

METHODOLOGY
Journalist Nicole Grundmeier visited an encampment along the Des Moines River on May 2, 2026, and spoke to people there experiencing homelessness. She requested records from the city of Des Moines about citations and homeless encampment removals. Grundmeier also interviewed Direct Empowerment Iowa Alliance volunteers, who were distributing food and other necessities. Grundmeier visited Omaha, Nebraska, and met with employees of Together, including an employee who experienced homelessness in the past. Grundmeier also interviewed people representing the city of Des Moines, Homeward of Des Moines, the Cicero Institute of Austin, Texas, and ArchCity Defenders of St. Louis. She exchanged emails with people representing Primary Health Care and the ACLU. Grundmeier also consulted other media reports about homelessness nationwide, particularly in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

REFERENCES
Two years since the Grants Pass ruling, 350+ cities, 14 states, and the Trump administration have criminalized homelessness (National Homelessness Law Center | June 26, 2026)

Death investigation underway after tree falls on man during severe storm (Des Moines Police Department news release | June 11, 2026)

New report connects anti-homeless Cicero Institute to prisons, surveillance, and defense contractors (Housing Not Handcuffs | June 3, 2026)

The 2025 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress (U.S. Housing and Urban Development | May 2026)

Bill would withhold state money from municipalities that do not enforce public camping bans (Nebraska Public Media | Feb. 19, 2026)

Omaha woman who died in the cold fought for homeless people — in the streets, in the Capitol (Omaha World-Herald | Dec 26, 2025; updated March 29, 2026)

Many homeless encampments have been cleared, but advocates say that’s not a solution (NPR, All Things Considered | Jan. 19, 2026)

Des Moines tightens city camping ban, removing some protections for people experiencing homelessness (Iowa Public Radio | Oct. 21, 2026)

‘A new approach’: Omaha launches pilot program to address homeless encampments (Nebraska Public Media | Oct. 31, 2025)

In cities’ rush to clear homeless camps, people have been crushed to death (The New York Times | March 29, 2025)

100-plus cities in the U.S. banned homeless camping this year. But will it work? (All Things Considered, NPR | Dec. 26, 2024)

‘A heartless disgrace’: Des Moines passes homeless camping ban amid public uproar (The Des Moines Register | Sept. 16, 2024)

City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson (U.S. Supreme Court | June 28, 2024)

Missouri camping ban could give cities opportunity to direct homeless people to support (The Columbia Missourian, guest commentary | April 15, 2024)

Missouri Supreme Court strikes down law banning sleeping on public land (KCUR/Missouri Independent | Dec. 19, 2023)

Q&A: Des Moines' first homeless policy administrator shares vision, challenges (The Des Moines Register | June 20, 2023)

Advocates push back against new Missouri law that criminalizes sleeping outdoors (PBS News | April 20, 2023)

May 1975 Omaha Tornado (National Weather Service)

TYPE OF ARTICLE
Enterprise — An in-depth examination of a single subject requiring extensive research and resources.

Democrat Rob Sand participated in the first of two roundtables directed at the state’s gubernatorial candidates on addressing Iowa’s high cancer rates.

Iowa has the second highest rate of cancer in the country. It's a topic that’s become a major issue in the competitive race for the state’s next top official.

“It is a personal issue to me. It's an important issue to me, and I think most Iowans would say that,” Sand said.

At the event hosted by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in Des Moines on Tuesday, Sand addressed questions from the organization’s volunteers and cancer survivors on radon mitigation, tobacco taxes and state funding for cancer research among other concerns.

Sand said he was supportive of initiatives like removing cost share, such as co-pays and deductibles, from advanced cancer screenings so Iowans who need further tests will not be deterred by cost.

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

He also said he would like to make tests for radon, a naturally occurring gas commonly found in Iowa homes that’s linked to cancer, easier to obtain for Iowa homeowners and would like to increase funding for cancer research.

Last legislative session, Iowa lawmakers passed a bill directing up to $3 million annually for pediatric cancer research at the University of Iowa.

Sand, who has served as state auditor since 2019, said he wants to see more state funding going to this research. He pointed to neighboring Nebraska, which contributes $4.5 million annually towards pediatric cancer — something he said could be available in the general revenue fund.

But Sand said he was uncertain about whether he would support a $1.50 per pack increase in the state’s tobacco tax, saying he would need to work with Republican lawmakers to come up with a number that could work.

“I always want to make sure that everyone has clear expectations about what's going to be possible if I win this race,” he said. “If I win this race, I will be working with the Republican Legislature.”

The tax has been pushed by healthcare organizations, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, which say it would help deter tobacco use in the state.

Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the state, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry, which estimates nearly 23% of all cancer deaths this year will be from the disease.

Sand faces Republican businessman Zach Lahn in the general election. Lahn is scheduled to participate in his own roundtable on Aug. 18.

Following Tuesday's event, Emily Hoffman, a 43-year-old cervical cancer survivor who participated in the roundtable, said she enjoyed talking to Sand about cancer and “just wants to hear [candidates] talk about cancer more.”

“I was impressed that he knew something about every area of cancer issues for Iowans, going from radon in basements and mitigation to Medicaid expansion and also tobacco taxes and things like that,” she said.

Hoffman said she's looking forward to Lahn’s event next month so he can respond to some of Sand’s accusations about his supposed issues with mRNA vaccines and cancer funding.

“I would like to have that conversation with him and … hear his thoughts. Because having that direct conversation … just helps. It's so personal,” she said.

Iowa’s nitrate problem is getting attention from NASA.

The space agency is funding a new project with the University of Iowa and local water facilities to try to predict nitrate concentrations in groundwater and surface water.

Project lead and associate engineering professor Jesus Gomez-Velez hopes if scientists combine satellite images with water quality measurements from monitors across the state, they can create a forecasting tool that predicts when nitrate levels could reach dangerous levels.

“If you have a good forecasting system, you can do a better job at planning where to take water from and essentially use blending without the need of a nitrate removal facility,” Gomez-Velez said. “Or maybe that's not a possibility, but you can better plan how to do that treatment in a more efficient way to meet the demand.”

NASA and the university are partnering with Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, as well as Des Moines Water Works.

“This is not just an academic exercise,” Gomez-Velez said. “[The goal is] that they will actually look at the forecasting and say, 'OK, we can use this forecasting to make a decision about maybe using these other sources of water or maybe do blending for a period of time.'”

Current monitoring methods

The Iowa Water Quality Information System spans the entire state, with monitors intermittently checking nitrates, pH, dissolved oxygen and temperature.

It’s publicly available and color coded, which makes it easy for Iowans to check water quality near them. But a red dot doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t drink your tap water.

“That's giving you a snapshot of the water quality in that particular stream,” Gomez-Velez said. “The water that people are drinking in their communities is going to through a treatment plant.”

The treatment plant is responsible for providing water that meets clean water standards, he said. Right now, plants are often reactive to whatever the most recent measurements are. A forecasting tool would allow treatment plants to be proactive instead, which could improve public health and bottom lines.

“Can we make the operation of the public water supply systems efficient enough to decrease costs at the same time that you're maximizing the safety of the public by making sure that you're delivering the best water drinking water quality possible?” Gomez-Velez asked.

Why NASA?

NASA satellites continually take pictures of Earth’s surface and store them for years. The data is public and very useful for Gomez-Velez’s team.

“Essentially, we're using remote sensing information from NASA to essentially capture some of those variables that explain [water quality] variability — like precipitation, soil moisture, land use,” he said. “There are a lot of different types of remote sensing or satellite images that are provided by NASA that can be used as proxies to explain the variability that we observe in the river system.”

Scientists will feed historic satellite observations and on-the-ground water quality observations into an artificial intelligence model. After analyzing past patterns, they hope it will learn to predict how future nitrate levels will change in the near future based on real-time satellite data.

The monitoring system will also allow scientists to check the accuracy of early versions of the model.

“Like with all these AI models, the more data you have, the better they get, right?” Gomez-Velez said. “The idea is that, once the public water supply systems, ourselves and the developers feel confident that this is a good product, that can be released to the public.”

Gomez-Velez expects it will take at least two years for the tool to become trustworthy. NASA is funding the project for three years.

“We know it's going to be there for the next few years, but we hope there is enough support to maintain it in the long term,” he said. “I think it's critical for the state of Iowa.”

Around 200 people showed up on James Hepp’s farm near Rockwell City Saturday morning. Some were farmers, milling around equipment designed to minimize tilling and fertilizer. But there were also lawmakers, candidates for office, representatives from Des Moines Water Works and advocates for better water quality in the state.

They came for the Lobe Rangers’ first annual field day.

The nonpartisan nonprofit’s name is a nod to the Des Moines Lobe, a flat, tongue-shaped region in north-central Iowa with some of the world’s most fertile soil. Roughly 80% of the land is used for intensive row-crop agriculture.

The Lobe Rangers’ founders — Hepp, Zack Smith and Matt Bormann — farm in the area and say it’s possible to be profitable while also preventing nutrients from flushing out of fields into waterways.

They’ve transitioned to no-till and strip till, use cover crops and apply fertilizer in season. But they’re frustrated by the lack of adoption by other farmers and say voluntary "carrots-only" approaches to conservation are not delivering the scale of change needed to meet the state’s nutrient reduction goals.

Bormann said the public is also starting to lose patience.

“We think regulation is coming, and I think that it's time that we start shaping that ourselves as farmers in our own terms,” Bormann said. “We have science, plenty of it, that says this stuff works, and farmers aren't going to go broke doing it. We as farmers need to set the bar ourselves before somebody else writes the rules for us.”

What is the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy?

In 2013, Iowa set a target of reducing total nitrogen and phosphorus loads by 45% compared to the 1980-1996 baseline period. It’s part of a larger effort to reduce nutrient pollution in the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico.

High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in waterways contribute to algal blooms, which can suck up oxygen and release toxins harmful to people, pets and wildlife.

Nutrient pollution is also an economic issue. Fish kills and spoiled beach vacations affect the seafood and tourism industries, while elevated nitrate concentrations in drinking water require expensive treatments and upgrades.

The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, which was updated in 2025, requires large municipal and industrial facilities that treat 1 million gallons of wastewater or more per day to reduce their nutrient loads. The facilities and Iowa Department of Natural Resources negotiate deadlines as permits come up for renewal.

The strategy also outlines voluntary conservation practices to reduce nutrient pollution from “nonpoint sources,” which account for roughly 93% of the total nitrogen in the state’s waterways.

“We are an agriculturally dominated state, and so most of our nitrate that we see in our in our waters is coming from agriculture,” said Matthew Helmers, director of the Iowa Nutrient Research Center at Iowa State University, during the Lobe Rangers event.

Around 85% of Iowa’s land is used for agriculture, and most of it is dedicated to two annual crops: corn and soybeans.

“If we think about our land use 100 years ago, we had 10 million acres of corn, and we had small grains, hay ground, forage ground,” Helmers said. “We had something growing on the land a greater percentage of the year.”

Living roots reduce erosion, support beneficial microbes and absorb excess water and nutrients. But in most corn and soybean fields, the ground is bare after harvest until a crop is planted the next spring.

“We have an annual cropping system that is vulnerable to leaching, specifically during some of those spring periods when there's nothing growing,” Helmers said.

Without roots, nitrate can move with water in the soil into shallow groundwater or field tile drainage and cause problems downstream. Phosphorus, another plant nutrient that can pollute water, typically moves into waterways through soil erosion.

The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy includes different scenarios to hit its targets through a suite of agricultural practices in fields and along their edges.

“One of them is we do the best job with nitrogen management in our fields, and we have about 60% of all the corn/soybean acres in cover crops,” Helmers said. “And we have about 7.5 million acres treated with wetlands … and about 6 million acres treated by saturated buffers and bioreactors.”

Around 17% of the state’s crop acres were planted with cover crops in 2024, according to the most recent report of conservation practice adoption levels.

Nearly 25,000 acres are treated by saturated buffers, bioreactors and multi-purpose oxbows, and nearly 166,000 acres treated by water quality wetlands, as of 2024.

“We do need to recognize this is a this is a marathon, not a sprint,” Helmers said, adding that certain methods like batch and build can help.

The ‘R-word'

But the Lobe Rangers want to see change happen faster in Iowa.

“One of the downfalls [of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy], in our opinions, is it relied on voluntary change to happen,” Smith said. “It was a good idea off the bat to give farmers time to adapt, but we're 13 years later and we haven't adapted at a rate where we can expect meaningful results.”

To see improvement in Iowa’s rivers and streams, Smith said the Lobe Rangers want to shape policy, which could include regulations.

“We get folks to run for the Legislature that are going to have the 'cojones' to stand up and vote for legislation that actually moves us in a meaningful direction forward,” he said.

Smith said they support funding IWILL, a conservation trust fund approved by voters in 2010, and creating a system of incentives and disincentives. Farmers who opt out of certain conservation practices would “provide the funding for those that do."

The Lobe Rangers said water quality has become a bigger voter issue this year, following two summers with water restrictions in the Des Moines area and growing concerns about Iowa’s rising cancer rates.

“A lot of people don’t like the ‘R-word.' I get it,” Smith said. “But then show me an alternative reality and how we solve this problem without it.”

A new report identifies challenges to agricultural diversification in the Corn Belt and policy changes that could make it easier to grow different crops or integrate livestock and trees.

The findings build on previous focus groups, interviews and surveys with farmers across Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, where 94% of crop production is dedicated to corn and soybeans.

“Farmers across the region are frustrated with their lack of cropping options,” said J. Arbuckle, a rural sociologist at Iowa State University during an Iowa Farmers Union webinar Thursday.

Arbuckle is part of the Diverse Corn Belt Project, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and involves 10 universities, Practical Farmers of Iowa and The Nature Conservancy.

“Almost all the farmers we talked to understand that diversified systems can have major economic and agroecological benefits, such as soil health, reduced reliance on purchased inputs, smoother incomes, more stable yields and profits over time,” Arbuckle said. “But [almost everyone said,] ‘I don’t see a way to get there given the way the system is set up.’”

Arbuckle said that led to meetings in each state over three years with farmers, landowners, agriculture retailers, crop advisors, nonprofits, bankers, agency staff, processors and policymakers.

Their ideas were boiled down into "Diversifying the Corn Belt: Policy Pathways for a Resilient Agricultural Future."

One of the focus areas is crop insurance, said Paige Frautschy, the agriculture program director for the Iowa chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

“Our current crop insurance system is set up to support corn and soybeans,” Frautschy said. “So that was a major barrier but also an opportunity where policy could actually make a difference in terms of moving the needle on creating some enabling conditions for some more diverse crops.”

Changes to conservation programs under the federal Farm Bill could also directly incentivize production diversity, according to the report. This includes piloting a “diversified rotation initiative” under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to encourage multi-year crop rotations that incorporate small grains, legumes and perennial forages.

Two other areas of focus in the report are post-harvest infrastructure and markets. Examples include tax credits to support small- and mid-scale facilities for processing fruits or specialty grains and expansion for programs that help schools purchase local food.

Additional constraints raised by participants were a lack of researchers who focus on forages and small grains, Arbuckle said.

“Most of our research is going into corn and soybeans, and the dominant livestock breeds,” Arbuckle said. “From a lot of people's perspectives, that's a problem because ... we don't have elite germplasm for oats and other small grains.”

Investing research dollars in this area could help farmers produce high-quality, food-grade oats in Iowa, he said.

Katie Turpin turned on a light in the basement of her home in Des Moines to illuminate several cylinders attached to the wall.

Like other point-of-use reverse osmosis (RO) systems, it uses pressure to force tap water through a series of specialized filters. A 5-gallon tank on the floor holds the treated water until Turpin turns on a faucet at her kitchen sink or needs more ice from her refrigerator.

She paid a contractor thousands of dollars to install this system last year to reduce nitrates in her drinking water.

The difference is visible.

Turpin dipped a color-changing test strip into a glass of water from her kitchen faucet and another from a faucet in her basement. While the test strip in the RO water turned pale pink, the other looked like a raspberry stain, suggesting much higher levels of nitrate.

“[It] makes me very glad that I have the reverse osmosis system, and I have zero guilt about the money that I spent on that purchase,” Turpin said. “But it also makes me concerned for people that don't have it.”

Nitrates form naturally in the environment, and they’re an essential plant nutrient. But Iowa has excess amounts in its waterways, largely due to fertilizer, manure and a lack of perennial cover on a landscape once dominated by tallgrass prairie.

Nitrates that accumulate downstream can feed algal blooms and contaminate sources of drinking water.

Under federal law, public drinking water systems are required to keep nitrate-nitrogen concentrations below 10 milligrams per liter. It was set decades ago to prevent infant methemoglobinemia, a life-threatening blood disorder often called “blue baby syndrome.”

But research since then indicates long-term exposure at lower levels of nitrate in drinking water can increase risks for colorectal cancer, thyroid disease, neural tube defects and other adverse health effects.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began a health assessment of nitrate in 2010. However, it hasn’t moved beyond the first step in the process.

As a healthcare provider and someone concerned about Iowa’s rising cancer rates, Turpin said she’s been focusing more on prevention. She views RO as a way to reduce her own health risks as she ages and as a way to help protect her pets.

“I really started thinking about [reverse osmosis] more seriously last year,” Turpin said. “The talk about high nitrates in the water just became a much bigger part of the public conversation.”

Central Iowa Water Works (CIWW), the regional drinking water authority for nearly one in five Iowans, issued its first lawn water ban last year and another earlier this summer.

The restrictions weren’t caused by a lack of water. Rather, CIWW’s leaders said they needed to quickly cut consumer demand to keep pace with nitrate removal as levels spiked and stayed high in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers.

The rivers are two of CIWW’s main sources for drinking water and often contain some of the highest nitrate levels in the U.S., according to the Central Iowa Source Water Resource Assessment.

“[T]he current situation is unique because nitrate concentrations have remained elevated throughout the winter and into 2026, with all available source waters experiencing elevated nitrate levels simultaneously for much of the year,” the press release stated.

While CIWW maintains it has not exceeded the EPA’s standard, researchers and policy experts say RO systems could help protect the health of individuals in central Iowa and other parts of the state where nitrates swing high for extended periods.

But the initial costs and ongoing maintenance of these systems could be out of reach for many, and they say it doesn’t solve the larger challenges with water quality in the state.

Concerns over nitrates and cancer

A week after record rainfall in parts of central Iowa, Colleen Fowle watched the swollen Des Moines River flow south of Saylorville Dam.

“Not only is it difficult to see through, and there’s lots of sediment, and trees and debris … but we also have those invisible chemicals,” Fowle said. “The runoff carries chemicals into the waterways.”

Fowle is the water program director for the Iowa Environmental Council, which has helped coordinate Cancer Community Conversations around the state since last year. She said in-home RO is something that comes up frequently during these meetings.

“I think that Iowans are now realizing some of the health effects that can be contributed from the poor water quality in the state, and so they're asking a lot of questions about how they can take matters into their own hands and reduce some of that exposure to create better public health outcomes for themselves and their families,” Fowle said.

Iowa has the second highest rate of cancer in the U.S. and is one of three states with rising rates.

While certain behaviors, like smoking and UV exposure, are well-established risks, researchers have identified environmental factors that may contribute to Iowa’s outlier status. This includes high levels of nitrate, radon, PFAS — known as “forever chemicals” — and pesticides.

The Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination (CHEEC) at the University of Iowa recommends Iowans test their homes for contaminants and work with trained technicians to install certified mitigation technologies, like reverse osmosis.

How does reverse osmosis work?

RO systems can significantly reduce potential contaminants, like nitrate, PFAS, lead, volatile organic compounds, microplastics and bacteria.

David Cwiertny, director of CHEEC and a professor of civil and environmental engineering and chemistry at the University of Iowa, described RO as straining spaghetti — but with a “very efficient filter.”

“You're allowing clean water to go through, and you're keeping all the things you don't want stuck behind that barrier,” Cwiertny said. “It is about the most effective treatment process we have for removing a wide range of chemical contaminants.”

A reverse osmosis system could drop nitrate levels below detection, Cwiertny said. But its effectiveness depends on the concentration in the tap water and whether the filters have been tested and certified by an accredited third party.

NSF/ANSI 58 is the national standard for nitrate reductions in point-of-use RO systems. Consumers can search NSF’s database for certified drinking water units and filters. The Water Quality Association also lists products that meet NSF standards.

Cwiertny said one downside to reverse osmosis is that it uses more water.

According to the EPA, a typical system connected to a single faucet can “generate 5 gallons or more of reject water for every gallon of treated water produced.” For perspective, the average American household uses more than 300 gallons of water per day, with showers and toilets accounting for nearly half.

Products with the EPA’s WaterSense® label must demonstrate they send no more than 2.3 gallons of wastewater down the drain for every gallon of treated water they produce. 

While individuals can install systems themselves, Cwiertny recommended hiring a professional.

“That's probably the best way to go to ensure that it gets done right,” Cwiertny said. “One of the concerns over point-of-use is if they're not properly installed and people think they're getting this public health protection, and they're not.”

Steve Murtha, CEO of Culligan Des Moines, said he’s seen RO systems installed incorrectly in homes and filters without an NSF certification.

“That can be misleading for people,” Murtha said.

These systems also need routine maintenance, just like a car, Murtha said.

Generally, some filters need to be replaced every six to 12 months, while the semi-permeable RO membrane is every two to five years. The frequency depends on the model, along with the quality of the water and how much it uses.

“You’ll visit customers sometimes that haven’t changed filters in four or five years,” Murtha said. “Just because there’s water coming out of there doesn’t mean it’s working because your filter’s going to be shot and it’s not doing what’s it’s supposed to.”

Many of the companies that install reverse osmosis systems offer maintenance and testing services.

While DIY color-changing nitrate test strips have become popular, Cwiertny warns that different units for measuring nitrate can create confusion.

Products that measure "nitrate-nitrogen," like Hach’s nitrate and nitrite test strips, produce results that are comparable to the EPA's public drinking water standards. Using test kits that measure only "nitrate" would require a conversion.

The DIY test strips also leave “a lot of room for misinterpretation,” he said. Researchers say they’re best treated as screening tools.

“Nothing's as accurate as collecting a water sample, sending it to a lab like the State Hygienic Lab or to us at CHEEC, running it on analytical instrumentation using an EPA-approved method and getting a number,” Cwiertny said.

The State Hygienic Lab tests water samples on a fee-for-service basis. CHEEC provides similar services and offers free- or reduced-prices for private well owners, Cwiertny said. Unlike public water systems, private wells are not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Affordability and the bigger picture

The Iowa Environmental Council (IEC) believes reverse osmosis systems “can play an important role in public health by providing an immediate exposure reduction,” Fowle said.

But Fowle and her colleagues worry about the financial barriers for some Iowans.

“The cost of purchasing and installing and maintaining equipment like this is beyond the reach of many families in Iowa, and so that sets up inequities between the families that can afford it and the families that cannot,” she said.

The cost of in-home RO can swing from a few hundred to thousands of dollars. The price depends on the model, whether it’s a whole-house or faucet-specific unit and whether someone is hiring a contractor to install it.

Drilling through floors or cabinets and the location of the water feed and drain can also affect the installation cost.

IEC and its partners on a recent report, Environmental Risk Factors and Iowa’s Cancer Crisis, recommend expanding the state's Private Wells Grant Program. Low-income residents with contaminated wells could qualify for a free or subsidized water treatment system, like reverse osmosis.

Other states already do this, Fowle said.

Wisconsin has a private well testing and compensation program, and Minnesota provides something similar for eight counties in the southeast part of the state. Nebraska offers a tax credit for reverse osmosis.

While much of the focus on nitrates has been on the Des Moines area and CIWW, Fowle said smaller utilities around the state are struggling.

“We really need to think about eliminating the pollution to begin with, rather than asking downstream users to modify their drinking water systems,” Fowle said.

Roughly 93% of total nitrogen loads in Iowa’s waterways comes from nonpoint sources, according to the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. It outlines a suite of voluntary agricultural practices, like cover crops, wetlands and saturated buffers, to reduce nitrogen loss.

“We need to take a hard look at what is happening in our individual watersheds,” Fowle said. “We have the technology to map all of the watersheds in Iowa and determine through that modeling technology where the sources of the pollution are coming from and what practices we can put in specific locations in order to reduce that.”

Calibrating those models requires a robust water quality monitoring network, Fowle added.

“We really need to use science, data and technology in order to determine where to best spend our dollars,” she said. “We also need leadership in the state to admit this is an issue and continue to work together with all parties.”

Fowle emphasized there are solutions to improve the state’s water quality and its residents’ health.

With both candidates for governor talking about these issues, Fowle is hopeful 2026 could be the “turning point that Iowa has been waiting for.”

Golden Oyster, Skullcap and Pleistocene Snail: Those are the names of some of Iowa’s intriguing flora and fauna. And now, those names mark three new rock climbing routes at a crag in eastern Iowa, outside Maquoketa.

While standing below a sun-dappled bluff, which rises 60 feet from the meadow and runs 150 yards behind a screen of trees, climber Jamie Day was caught in a moment of wonder.

“Nobody would know that Iowa has this super unique landscape, and it's really cool,” he said. “It's why we named a lot of the routes after Iowa plants and animals: to shed light on how unique and special this place is.”

The place Day referred to is a dolostone cliff at the Prairie Creek Recreation Area, a 273-acre park maintained by Jackson County Conservation. On a typical day, it might host a round of disc golf or a picnic.

But beginning this summer, the park offers a new activity: rock climbing.

Jake DeGroat is president of the Iowa Climbers Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes access to the sport. Last year, he and fellow climbers began scouting new climbing areas. A chance encounter with a Jackson County ranger led them to Prairie Creek.

“We walked the park with him, and we turned the corner and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, what the heck?’” DeGroat said. “We saw this huge bluff line of beautiful rock and perfect landings. And he was like, ‘Yeah, we've got this thing. What do you think?’ We were like, ‘This is awesome. We would love to develop it.’”

Developing a climbing area

The coalition embarked on a monthslong process to secure approvals from Jackson County and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. It was the first time the organization had taken on such a project.

“If you had told me seven years ago, when I started climbing, that I would be developing areas like this — it wasn't something that was on my radar,” said Iowa Climbers Coalition Vice President Jake DeVolder.

Securing the approvals required they dispel what DeVolder called “an enigma around climbing in Iowa.”

“A lot of the process was helping people understand the legitimacy of the sport, and that it's growing and it's really cool, while simultaneously being very safe,” he said.

They received permission to install climbs this spring. DeGroat and DeVolder took time off work and camped at Prairie Creek. They spent two weeks scaling the cliff and drilling bolts into the rock.

“It’s pretty laborious,” DeVolder said. “You're hanging in a rope all day. Your harness gets uncomfortable; your legs go numb sometimes. You're blowing dirt out some of these pockets and it gets all over you.”

During an informal opening of the site on June 13, a few dozen dedicated climbers traveled from across eastern Iowa to break in the new routes. DeGroat said the day marked a culmination.

“We’ve been trying to get more climbing areas developed because we know there’s so much great rock out there in Iowa that’s not developed," DeGroat said. "It feels like what we’ve been working on for so long and it’s finally happening."

Jackson County's unique geology

DeGroat estimates the new site is the first climbing area of that scale to open in Iowa in more than a decade. That’s not for lack of potential spots, even in a state better known for cornfields than cliffs. A portion of the state’s northeast has a geology well-suited to the sport.

Most outdoor climbing areas in Iowa are clustered along the Maquoketa River corridor.

Over eons, the river and its side streams carved deep grooves through the bedrock. Along portions of the river, eastern Iowa’s limestone bedrock transitions into dolostone, which contains magnesium.

“That makes it a little bit harder,” said Chad Heinzel, a geology professor at the University of Northern Iowa. “For climbers, that's going to be a good thing, because limestone is pretty soft and the bolts will pop out pretty quickly. In dolostone, they hold better.”

In terms of Iowa climbing, Prairie Creek “is probably about as good as it gets,” Heinzel said.

Climbing in Iowa

Back at the new crag, the mid-June day highlighted what makes the sport unique in Iowa.

“The community is what sets us apart” Day said. “I can name — first name and last name — every single person at this crag. A lot of them, I know their stories, too.”

Day, who is a physical education instructor in Iowa City, said there's room for that community to grow.

“I will absolutely be bringing kids out here, making youth feel comfortable in these spaces and showing them that they can recreate in the outdoors,” he said.

The Iowa Climbers Coalition plans to add routes on a second cliff in Prairie Creek. It's also working through the approval process to develop climbs at Backbone State Park.

The small city of Palo, outside Cedar Rapids, now has clear rules for data centers. But it’s less clear if it will need to use them.

Google has been in talks with both Palo and Linn County about developing a data center near the Duane Arnold nuclear plant, which the tech giant is helping recommission.

The land is currently in unincorporated Linn County but could be annexed into Palo city limits. In case that happens, Palo passed a data center ordinance Monday night after months of public meetings.

Some residents and neighbors pushed back over concerns like water and energy use, noise levels and light pollution. Palo resident Shelley Jacobus didn’t think the ordinance protected people enough.

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

City council member Eric Van Kerckhove said the new ordinance puts the small community in a strong position.

“This ordinance gives Palo the ability to set the terms and ensure any development, if it moves forward, does so under rules written by Palo, for Palo,” he said.

Council members said more requirements could be added to a development agreement further down the line — if a project actually applies to Palo. Mayor Bryan Busch told IPR the city won’t initiate annexation of the site in question. He said it would consider it if Google or the county makes an annexation request.

Linn County recently initiated an 18-month data center moratorium. Data centers in Linn County would otherwise need to be in an Exclusive Use (EU) 3 zone. The moratorium pauses all EU-3 applications, which effectively bans all data centers.

But in the moratorium, the Linn County Board of Supervisors also directed staff to consider allowing data centers as accessories to nuclear plants in EU-2 zones.

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

“It’s hard to say it’s not project-specific because there is only one nuclear plant in Iowa,” he said, referring to the Duane Arnold Energy Center. “But the intent would be, if Linn County is going to permit a data center project anywhere before this 18-month moratorium, does it make sense to permit something that is enabling the restart of a nuclear power plant?”

A rezoning decision will likely take months. Nichols said Aug. 17 is the earliest date that draft language would come before the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Democratic candidate for governor Rob Sand raised nearly $9.4 million between May 27 and July 14, setting what his campaign says is an Iowa fundraising record for a single reporting period. Republican candidate Zach Lahn brought in about $6.4 million during the same stretch.

The new campaign finance reports show a sharp contrast in how each candidate is financing the race so far.

Sand's campaign reported more than 33,000 contributions, with most donations under $100. Nearly 80% of Lahn's fundraising — $5 million — came from a political action committee (PAC) affiliated with the Republican Governors Association. The Democratic Governors Association gave $2.5 million to Sand.

Lahn's latest report also marks a dramatic jump from his previous filing in late May, when his campaign raised about $60,000.

Drake University Professor Emeritus Dennis Goldford said campaign finance reports can reveal more than just who has the most money.

"Money is a sign that people who give believe they're not throwing their money away," Goldford said. "But the Sand campaign certainly wants the public to know that it's a broad-based campaign, at least as they see it, supported by people from all walks of life, not just a campaign that's simply supported by political action committees and interest groups."

Goldford said Sand's donor list reflects that strategy.

"Sand had a few contributions, in my quick scan, that might have been $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000. I don't think there was much more than that," Goldford said. "Some of his donors even gave $1, $2 or $3."

Sand reported nearly $18 million cash on hand at the close of the reporting period, compared to about $1 million for Lahn. Lahn's campaign also reported a $2.5 million outstanding loan.

Goldford said the financial gap could narrow before Election Day.

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

Republicans have previously criticized Sand for receiving large contributions from family members, including his wife and father-in-law, Nixon Lauridsen. Those contributions did not appear in this latest reporting period.

Among Lahn's largest individual donors were Jana Scharnberg, general manager of Iowa United Basketball, who gave $300,000; Houston businessman James "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, who contributed $150,000; James Dean, CEO of Versova and Center Fresh Group in Sioux Center with $50,000; and former Hy-Vee CEO Randy Edeker, who made two contributions of $10,416.98 each.

Meanwhile, Rob Sand's campaign received large contributions from a few labor union organizations, led by a $300,000 donation from AFSCME PEOPLE.

Goldford said both campaigns are likely to continue aggressively raising money as television advertising ramps up.

"I think for both candidates at this point, money is extremely important because the television advertising has started already," Goldford said. "Interestingly, a lot of the negative ads — not just the positive ones — but the negative ads are funded by the campaigns themselves as well."