Kate Payne
ReporterKate Payne was an Iowa City-based reporter and served as a co-host of Iowa Public Radio's podcast Caucus Land. Kate has won Regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her feature reporting and her sound editing. Her political reporting has been featured on Morning Edition, All Things Considered and The NPR Politics Podcast. She's been a guest on MSNBC, CBSN, KQED, WGBH, CapRadio, WYPR and New Hampshire Public Radio.
Before coming to IPR, Kate was a reporter and fill-in host at WFSU in Tallahasse, FL. She is a proud North Florida native and a dyed-in-the-wool hand talker.
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Researchers have detected “forever chemicals” in a third of the Iowa streams they tested. The scientists say it’s significant that they found the toxic chemicals known as PFAS in remote and rural areas, away from sites known to have used them.
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A political scientist says threats like those made against Iowa Democratic Party Chair Ross Wilburn may be related to an increase in inflammatory political rhetoric. Across the country, school board members and local election officials have also been targeted.
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Linn County Supervisor Stacey Walker has announced he will not run for reelection. Walker is currently the chair of the board and is the first African American to hold the seat. He says he intends to finish out his term, which runs through January of 2023.
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Iowa Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra has formally announced he is running for reelection in the state’s 4th District. First elected in 2020, Feenstra primaried longtime Rep. Steve King, after King was removed from his committee assignments for making racist comments.
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The racial disparities in Iowa's state prisons continue to rank among the highest in the country. According to The Sentencing Project, the state’s Black to white prison ratio has decreased somewhat in recent years, but it’s still among the 10 worst in the nation.
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Iowa's state medical examiner has confirmed that the human remains found in a farm field outside of Montezuma last month are that of 10-year-old Xavior Harrelson, who disappeared in May, just days before his 11th birthday. The cause of death has not yet been released but law enforcement officers continue to investigate the boy's death as suspicious.
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Cedar Rapids police have arrested a 17-year-old boy for allegedly killing both of his parents. According to a criminal complaint, the teen told officers he killed his parents with a knife and an ax in order to “take charge of his life."
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A plan to build a carbon dioxide pipeline through 30 Iowa counties is raising concerns among farmers and environmentalists. The project would capture carbon from ethanol plants and bury it deep underground in North Dakota through a process called carbon capture and sequestration.
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Iowa needs targeted investments to strengthen and expand its electrical grid, in order to prepare for extreme weather events brought on by climate change. That’s the recommendation from the latest Iowa Climate Statement, which was released Wednesday by a coalition of more than 200 researchers.
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City officials say the funds will help speed up construction on the west side of the river, providing more protection sooner.