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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. Host Meghan McKinney rises bright and early to bring you the top news stories from around Iowa in under 10 minutes. Wake up, grab that coffee and get your news Here First. You can support what you hear on this podcast at ipr.org/donate

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Latest Episodes
  • Iowa is asking for federal money to fund rural health care initiatives. The state has settled a wrongful termination lawsuit with a former public health spokesperson. And how are Iowans adjusting to higher health care costs?
  • The finalists for the next president of Iowa State University are visiting campus this week. Local residents in southwest Iowa are taking water quality into their own hands. And some school and county election results.
  • The Trump Administration will fund half of SNAP benefits this month. People can't apply for Section 8 housing vouchers in Des Moines right now. And President Trump has endorsed Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks for a fourth term in the U.S. House.
  • Funding for a federal heating assistance program is up in the air. The president of a central Iowa community college is hesitant on a proposal lawmakers are discussing. And how do farmers know when to apply fertilizer to corn and soybean fields in the Fall?
  • The state of Iowa will match cash donations to food banks up to a million dollars. Health insurance premiums through the ACA marketplace are expected to go up. And how are bats helpful to farmers?
  • Some Iowa Head Start programs will have to close Nov. 1 because of the federal government shutdown. The USDA is being sued because of withholding contingency funds for SNAP. Iowa business owners are telling federal lawmakers about their tariff concerns.
  • Republican Fourth District Congressman Randy Feenstra is officially running for governor. Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek says President Trump’s tariff policies are causing a “farmageddon” in rural Iowa. And, Sen. Chuck Grassley says supply prices are squeezing farmers.
  • Google says it will buy electricity from the Duane Arnold Nuclear Power Plant near Cedar Rapids when it’s reopened in 2029. A Republican running for governor is the latest to call for a state takeover of the Des Moines school district. And, all five GOP candidates for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District seat made their pitches to conservative Christian voters in western Iowa Monday night.
  • The Sioux City City Council will have a majority of new members after next week's election. At least one Iowa-based bank is telling its customers that they can no longer get rolls or boxes of pennies, following an order from President Trump that the U.S. Treasury stop making pennies. A soybean disease has been found in Minnesota for the first time, and the 100th pheasant season in Iowa opened Saturday.
  • Immigrant rights advocates say a Des Moines high school student has been deported. Food pantries are preparing for higher need than normal. And beef producers are opposing President Trump's plan to lower beef prices.