Host Ben Kieffer talks with IPR reporter Kendall Crawford about the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors' 3-2 vote to increase the setback distance between wind turbines and county residents, making MidAmerican Energy's plan to construct more than 90 wind turbines no longer viable. They also talk about the Spirit Lake Community School District's decision to allow up to 10 staff members, excluding classroom teachers, to carry concealed firearms.
Axios' Linh Ta details the rollout of Governor Kim Reynolds' $100 million school safety program funded through the American Rescue Plan Act and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, and IPR reporter Zachary Oren Smith looks at the state of small-town newspapers following The Hawk Eye's recent staff layoffs in Burlington.
Later in the episode, we meet a New Zealand writer who's a fall 2022 writer-in-residence at the University of Iowa's International Writing Program.
Guests:
- Kendall Crawford, IPR western Iowa reporter
- Linh Ta, Axios Des Moines reporter
- Zachary Oren Smith, IPR eastern Iowa reporter
- Christopher Merrill, UI International Writing Program Director
- Briar Grace-Smith, IWP participant
- Mark Simmet, Studio One host
