IPR News Stories

Some Iowa farmers and ethanol industry advocates say a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposal released last week to account for lost demand for renewable fuels because of small refinery waivers is not what President Donald Trump promised. But at a news conference following a meeting in South Dakota with three Midwest Republican governors, the governors said President Trump is committed, and a friend to farmers.

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren says in the coming weeks she will start unveiling her plan for paying for Medicare for All. Critics have said she has been avoiding saying whether or not her healthcare plan would raise taxes on the middle class. 

Think October is the best month of the year? You're not alone. 

As you breathe in the smell of the falling leaves and wrap your hands around a cup of apple cider wearing your favorite flannel, take heart knowing there's a camp of Iowa based musicians who have written and recorded you the perfect soundtrack. 

The State Emergency Operations Center in Johnston, Iowa, has sloped auditorium-style seating and plenty of outlets to keep laptops and cell phones charged. This is where officials gather during and immediately after tornadoes and massive flooding.

It’s the center for crisis control. 

An Iowa State state study has found that two out of five young adults have a substance use disorder.

The study, which was published in the Journal of American College Health, surveyed more than 3,200 young adults both in college and not in college and found nearly 40 percent of college students and more than 44 percent of their non-college peers had at least one substance use disorder within the past year. 

The founder of a global vegetable seed company will receive the 2019 World Food Prize in a ceremony Thursday at the Iowa State Capitol.

Iowa biofuels groups are calling on President Donald Trump to resolve a dispute with the Environmental Protection Agency that one farmer called “disgusting and disappointing.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Tuesday she is forming a committee tasked with recommending policies aimed at reducing the rate of ex-offenders returning to prison and removing bias from Iowa’s criminal justice system.

At the age of 21, Lily DeTaeye may not come across as a veteran of the music business, but she’s been writing and performing music for more than a decade.

This Friday, the Des Moines singer-songwriter will release her first full-length album, “BiTe Back,” along with a music video for the first single, “Peppermint.” 

The entire staff of RAGBRAI, the annual bike ride across Iowa, has resigned over the Des Moines Register’s handling of the Carson King story.

It may be harvest season, but Iowa’s chestnut trees don’t have much to offer after spending 10 consecutive months in soil with too much moisture.

Rains began saturating soils in September 2018, an abrupt hard freeze in November locked in the moisture, spring brought repeated freeze-thaw cycles and then more rain.  

Tom Wahl of Red Fern Farm in Louisa County has about a thousand chestnut trees and usually they produce a lucrative crop on his diverse farm.  

Sioux City has taken the first step towards repealing an ordinance banning pit bulls and pit bull mixes in the city. City staff recommend repealing the 11-year-old ban as animal regulations across the country ditch restrictions on specific breeds of dogs and turn to more "breed neutral" regulations.

State revenue forecasters urged caution Monday as they estimated Iowa revenue growth to be much slower this budget year than in the previous one.

“While everything looks pretty good, there are still some warning signs out there,” said Department of Management Director David Roederer.

The United States will not implement increases to tariffs on Chinese goods that were scheduled for Oct. 15. This slight easing of trade tensions follows productive meetings in Washington last week that President Donald Trump says led to a tentative trade deal.

A historic bridge in Madison County reopened over the weekend during the annual Covered Bridge Festival. Two-and-a-half years ago it was destroyed by an act of arson.  The rebuilding of the Cedar Bridge cost nearly $750,000 and had to be paid for by donations and grants because it wasn’t insured.

Fewer than half of the vehicles from the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s two largest law enforcement divisions were equipped to give officers the option of locking up weapons in those vehicles with designated equipment such as locking rifle racks or handgun vaults as recently as May 2019, an IowaWatch investigation revealed.

The process for selecting Iowa Supreme Court justices and appeals court judges was discussed in Polk County District Court again Friday as part of the second lawsuit over changes Republican lawmakers made earlier this year.

More than 50,000 -- or 16 percent -- of Iowa's children ages 10 to 17 are considered obese, according to data released this week by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing some major changes to a longstanding rule that regulates lead in drinking water.

State Rep. Scott Ourth has been charged with drunken driving after a weekend arrest in northwest Iowa.

Ourth is a Democrat from Ackworth, representing part of Warren County south of Des Moines. According to a complaint filed in Cherokee County, police on Saturday night saw a truck with its headlights off.

Vice President Mike Pence says Congress should act quickly to ratify a new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada by the end of the year. Pence travelled to Iowa Wednesday to pressure Democratic lawmakers to hurry the trade deal through the House.

By design, organic agriculture limits the products that can be applied to crops to kill pests and weeds, so farmers often look for other strategies to reduce risk.

Short, fabric-covered tunnels could be the solution for certain organic crops. Researchers at Iowa State University have developed mid-sized mesh-covered tunnels, dubbed “mesotunnels,” that let sunlight and rain in, but keep many bugs out.