© 2024 Iowa Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Here First podcast from IPR
Here First
Monday – Friday before 7 a.m.

Start your day with the essentials. Coffee. Breakfast. And the local news you need to know. Our Morning Edition host rises bright and early to bring you the top news stories in under 15 minutes. Wake up, grab that coffee and get your news Here First.

Latest Episodes
  • Iowa’s public universities say they believe they’re complying with new state directives on diversity, equity and inclusion. Authorities in western Iowa say they don’t believe foul play was involved in the death of a trucker who’d been missing for five months before his body was found Wednesday. And, Waterloo plans to create a task force to help address the city’s homelessness problem.
  • Planting is underway in Iowa, except for the northeast. The wife of a missing western Iowa trucker says his body has been found. A northwest Iowa community college reaches a $3 million settlement with students. And, public university students and staff say they feel free to express their opinions.
  • The governor's "Thrive Iowa" Program receives $8 million to help link people in need to faith-based and nonprofit groups. A Sioux City Council member and advocate says the legislature failed to improve the lives of the disabled. A senior housing project helps fill a need in Waterloo. And ISU researchers lead a project to help secure the nation's renewable energy grid from cyberattacks.
  • Kossuth County libraries are facing deep budget cuts beginning this summer, possibly forcing three branches to close. The ACLU in Iowa has filed a “friend of the court” brief in a case that challenges an ordinance in Oregon that bars people from sleeping outdoors in public. And spring planting is underway – corn growers already have 13 percent of their crop in the ground.
  • The Iowa Legislature’s 2024 session is in the books. Before adjourning early Saturday morning, lawmakers passed a flat-rate tax bill, and did not extend a casino moratorium for five more years. Some Iowans are concerned the sale of a Lee County fertilizer plant could mean unfair pricing for farmers. And the bridge over the Mississippi River between Lansing and Wisconsin is open again.
  • Republicans in the Iowa legislature have a plan to speed up planned income tax cuts. Lawmakers face a deadline to pass a law that would allow Iowa men who were sexually abused as Boy Scouts to receive their full payment from a national settlement. And rural newspapers are experimenting with ways to keep local news alive.
  • Iowa lawmakers approve a plan to improve reading scores for students. The state attorney general announced an open-call for a new sexual assault support service for southeastern Iowa. A new study shows a program to help young people as they leave foster care is working. And, former Hawkeye Caitlin Clark is officially introduced as a member of the Indiana Fever.
  • Governor Reynold's plan to eliminate and merge boards and commissions get modified in the Iowa House. The state gets closer to banning guaranteed income programs. Parents in Waterloo raise concerns about a new plan to arm teachers and staff. And, a potential pay raise for lawmakers.
  • The Iowa House is sending a bill to the governor's desk that details training requirements for teachers and staff who are authorized to carry guns in schools. Members of the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force are concerned about a new law that allows state police to arrest undocumented immigrants. Dickinson County is looking at distance requirements for carbon dioxide pipelines. And, as expected, Caitlin Clark was picked first in the WNBA draft.
  • Supporters held a rally in Iowa City to mourn the closure of the Rape Victim Advocacy Program at the University of Iowa. Independent presidential candidate RFK Jr. campaigned in Des Moines and says he received enough support to show up on the ballot in November. The head of the Iowa ACLU comments on a traffic camera proposal. And, Caitlin Clark enters the WNBA draft tonight.