Isabella Luu
Central Iowa ReporterExpertise: Reporting, writing and producing stories about communities across Des Moines and central Iowa.
Education: Bachelors degree from the University of Georgia
Favorite Iowa Destination: Maquoketa Caves
Experience:
- Covered local and regional issues as part of WUGA's flagship news show Athens News Matters, for KCUR in Kansas City, for NPR, and for IPR
- Has covered homelessness policy and issues in Des Moines, Iowa's Third District congressional seat and other state races, and the compatibility of solar and crop production
- Has reported and written features across many topics, including a three-part series on Asian-American experiences in northeast Georgia, community organizers' efforts to rename Kansas City's historic Troost Avenue and a non-narrated feature highlighting an iconic Kansas City restaurant
My Favorite Stories
-
Under the new bans, people who do not leave or remove their campsites can be arrested, charged with a simple misdemeanor and fined $15. -
Backed by the Department of Energy, Iowa State University researchers are studying how farming the land around solar panels can diversify farm income, boost biodiversity and improve worker safety. -
YSS, a youth social services provider in Iowa, is opening the Ember Recovery Campus with a residential addiction treatment program, crisis stabilization and crisis recovery services. -
DMACC is ending a food forest and urban prairie program that harvested fresh produce and rescued food waste around Des Moines, citing funding issues, aesthetic concerns and irrelevance to academic programs. -
The council approved a ban on camping and sleeping on public property that targets people who are unhoused. Opponents of the plan at the crowded meeting booed the decision.
My Latest Stories
-
An Iowa training course is the first federally approved program that’s part of the country's new Workforce Pell Grant program. The expanded program was included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in 2025 and is designed to help low-income students access short-term career training. -
Marco Battaglia, who is vying for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District seat, said he plans to appeal a judge’s ruling preventing him from appearing on November’s general election ballot. -
A judge ruled to uphold a state panel's decision to remove Libertarian candidates Nicholas Gluba and Jules Cutler from the November ballot. Gluba was running for governor with Cutler as his running mate. -
Elizabeth Wehrle, of Montezuma, received a quadruple organ transplant earlier this year with a new liver, kidney and retransplanted lungs. This week, she returns home. -
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is throwing his support behind Iowa gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand and other Iowa Democrats. The 2020 winner of the Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses came to Iowa Sunday to rally party members ahead of the November election.
