On this episode, we listen back to a 2025 conversation with Dawson resident and Air Force veteran Justin Wolfe, who received bronze at the 10th annual Invictus Games in Vancouver, Canada. Adaptive sports have helped Wolfe push past limitations from his diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Troy Peterson, a fellow veteran and Winterset resident, helped Justin turn to sports through his non-profit ValorFit. Later in the hour, research from ecologists Steven Dinsmore and Victoria Fasbender at Iowa State University demonstrates that humans can tweak their behavior in relatively small ways that could make a positive impact for the pectoral sandpiper, a migratory shore bird that often stops in Iowa on the way from breeding grounds in the Arctic to where they winter in South America. (This episode was originally produced Feb. 25, 2025.)
Photo courtesy of USA Hockey.
Natalie Krebs
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Iowa Public Radio
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Mothers and infants in the U.S. without legal status and some lawfully present immigrants would be barred from food assistance under a bill that passed the Iowa House Tuesday. The bill would also expand Medicaid eligibility for employed people with disabilities. -
Blind Iowans marched outside of the Iowa Department for the Blind in Des Moines Tuesday as they protested changes to a state program that prepares people with impaired vision to live independently. -
A public arts and culture initiative provides a yearlong mentorship for around a dozen Iowa artists with disabilities who work across a variety of mediums. Then, playwright Mary Swander discusses her new one-man show, Coop.
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As former U.S. Senator Tom Harkin was preparing to retire after serving 40 years in Congress, he founded The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement in 2013 to carry on his legacy and policy work. -
Kevin Negaard started Sioux City's Miracle League 10 years ago and sought a creative way to continue supporting the nonprofit through a baseball-related fundraiser. -
State officials recently announced that they will end the state's Integrated Health Home program, which supports severely mentally ill Iowans, and will transition them to the newly-formed Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics.
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The state's major overhaul of its mental health and disability service systems is going into effect this week. Officials say they hope it makes it easier for Iowans to access services. -
Republicans in the Iowa Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would require certain Iowans on Medicaid to prove they are working at least 80 hours a month to keep their coverage, if the federal government approves the state’s plan. -
The new Iowa PBS documentary "Dogs of Service" introduces viewers to the training process of service dogs and the work they do for a variety of individuals, including veterans.
