Clay Masters
Host: Morning EditionClay Masters is Iowa Public Radio’s Morning Edition host and lead political reporter.
Clay joined the Iowa Public Radio newsroom as a statehouse correspondent in 2012 and started hosting Morning Edition in 2014. He began covering presidential politics in Iowa his first week on the job and created the IPR podcast Caucus Land in 2019, which he co-hosted and which won a regional large market Edward R. Murrow award. Clay is an award-winning journalist whose reporting has appeared on various NPR and American Public Media broadcasts and podcasts.
He was one of the founding journalists of Harvest Public Media. Clay began his public media career in his native Nebraska where he covered agriculture and food production for Nebraska Public Media.
Clay has a bachelor’s of journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
You can contact Clay at cmasters@iowapublicradio.org.
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Gov. Kim Reynolds is asking a district court to lift an injunction on a 2018 law that would ban abortions at around six weeks of pregnancy. State health officials say they are actively monitoring the state’s monkeypox cases and are strategically deploying its limited vaccinations. Plus, IPR’s Kendall Crawford will take us to the Loess Hills to find out how Iowans are protecting that natural land. -
The chair of the RNC says she stands behind Iowa Republicans leading the presidential nominating process in 2024 with their caucuses. Johnson County and Iowa City are in a fight over pandemic relief funding. Plus, we get an update on where things stand with the COVID-19 pandemic in Iowa.
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Federal officials say a southwest Iowa manufacturer has agreed to pay a half a million dollar settlement after a whistleblower claimed the company failed to properly test parts it made for military contractors. A new study says summer nights have been getting warmer by more than 2 degrees since the 1970s. Plus, staying in addiction recovery is difficult when you don’t have a way to get around.
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Planned Parenthood and the ACLU say they are no longer pursuing legal action against Iowa’s 24-hour waiting period law for abortion. A new report has ranked Iowa ninth in the nation for child well-being but the high-ranking is misleading. Plus, the USDA has awarded the Iowa Department of Education a $67,000 grant to support its farm-to-school program.
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The autopsy results are in for the three family members who were killed last month at Maquoketa Caves State Park. Iowa Democratic leaders say a Kansas vote to uphold abortion rights this week shows the same could happen in Iowa. Plus, how Republicans are making conservation controversial.
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Three state agencies are developing guidelines and real-time resources for city and county officials who may have to restrict water usage during a drought emergency. A conservative nonprofit has filed a lawsuit challenging the Linn-Mar school district over a policy that provides confidentiality to transgender students. Plus, state health officials report a slight increase in the number of reported positive COVID-19 tests.
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Friends and neighbors of the three people killed while camping last month gathered in a Cedar Falls park Tuesday night to honor three members of a family killed while camping last month. Small towns used last week’s RAGBRAI as an opportunity to fundraise for town projects. Plus, the synthetic opioid fentanyl is extremely deadly and dealers have been mixing it into other drugs, unknown to buyers.
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The U.S. Senate could be on track to advance a bill as soon as Tuesday that would provide veterans exposed to toxic substances overseas with health care and benefits. Employees of a Cedar Rapids grain processer are on strike. Plus, state Fairs around the Midwest are hoping to see pre pandemic attendance levels this summer.
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The Iowa Democratic Party will have to wait until AFTER the midterm election to learn the fate of the Iowa caucuses. Iowa State University will launch a new major this fall focusing on climate science. Plus, the winning ticket for this weekend's massive Mega Millions jackpot was sold in Illinois, but five tickets purchased in Iowa came within one number of the jackpot combination and are also prize-winners.
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The Iowa Attorney General’s Office is accusing major tobacco companies of illegally withholding millions from the state. Iowa’s public health funding increased by 9 percent during the pandemic. That’s according to a new report by the non-profit Trust for America’s Health. Plus, Refugee organizations in western Iowa are helping Afghan refugees reach an important milestone: passing their driver’s license exams.
