Iowa towns

The future of more than 20 small-town newspapers and shopping guides is in the air as the publisher seeks new owners. Experts say the future of rural journalism likely depends on digital growth and new funding models, including nonprofit support.

Many of the places where people gather have disappeared. In some cases, people have adapted to meet elsewhere. In others, people have become more isolated. On this epidsode, rural sociologist Dave Peters shares how gas stations have become a social hub for small towns. Library director Mary Kathryn Gepner talks about the local library enduring as a third space. Jennifer Drinkwater talks about her work uplifting third spaces in Iowa's small towns and how they inspire her art. Finally, Tiara Phillips has been bringing people in the Iowa City area together with "stuff swaps," book clubs and bingo nights through her Instagram page, Bitchin' Events.

There is plenty to learn at historic locations across the state of Iowa.

The Trump administration is closing all Job Corps centers in the U.S. by the end of this month, including centers in Denison and Ottumwa. Also, the New World Screwworm could disrupt American agriculture.

One year after an EF4 devastated Greenfield in southwest Iowa, survivors are still coping with the physical and emotional toll of the disaster.

An EF-3 tornado destroyed homes, businesses and lives in Minden on April 26, 2024. The traumatic experience shifted the perspective of the community's long-time mayor.

The Kalona Historical Village is continuously expanding its exhibits, including transporting a barn from 20 miles away and acquiring an out-of-state box car to convert into a museum.

Saturday is the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since then, nearly 500,000 Ukrainian refugees have come to the U.S., and one woman has helped bring dozens of them to a northwest Iowa county.

The largest pencil collection in the world belongs to a man in Iowa. Aaron Bartholmey of Colfax recently learned his collection of 69,255 pencils set a Guinness World Record.

The western Iowa city will kick off the annual bike ride across the state this weekend. Its local businesses hope to profit off the thousands of visitors.