On a Wednesday in April, after heavy rainfall, Paul Carlson of Ankeny drove to the end of a road under the Saylorville Dam and parked alongside Rock Creek. It was his sixth time this year at that location with a goal of testing the nitrate levels in the water.  Before walking over to the creek’s […]

Chris Jones, an author, researcher and Iowa water quality advocate, launched his campaign for Iowa secretary of agriculture Thursday outside of Des Moines Water Works.  Jones’ platform for the role includes a more diversified agricultural landscape, more regulations on polluters and concentrated feeding operations and greater access to locally grown food.  “We need a secretary […]

Iowa lawmakers and community college leaders have found themselves on the same page about the potential benefits of offering baccalaureate degrees based on local needs, with legislation to make that potential a reality already filed. Community Colleges for Iowa Executive Director Emily Shields, joined by Iowa Central Community College President Jesse Ulrich, Eastern Iowa Community […]

Iowa lawmakers are heading into the 2026 legislative session with several new leaders — but many of the issues expected to take top priority are subjects left unresolved in 2025, namely eminent domain and property taxes. Lawmakers presented legislation on both of these issues during the 2025 legislative session, but neither became state law. Republican […]

Republican Wendy Larson dominated the Iowa House special election race Tuesday against Democrat Rachel Burns, according to unofficial results.

Nitrate concentrations, exacerbated by a wet spring that followed years of dry conditions, reached near record highs in Iowa rivers this summer.  Concentrations are typically elevated in the summer. The past several years, nitrates have dropped to near-zero concentrations in late summer through early winter. But this year, concentrations in rivers and in central Iowa’s […]

Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday that a property tax freeze for seniors is “one of the things” her campaign is looking at as it devises how to reduce property taxes in the state.  Reynolds also spoke about the state’s request for a unified allocation of education funding and decision not to privatize health care for […]

A case of highly pathogenic avian influenza was detected in a commercial turkey flock in Calhoun County according to a Thursday news release from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. This is the first detection of the H5N1 bird flu in Iowa since April, but the eighth detection in Iowa flocks in 2025. […]

Iowa State University is working with a U.S. Defense Department-backed organization to develop facilities that could make the university and its community a national destination for biobased product testing. BioMADE, a Manufacturing Innovation Institute focused on bioindustrial manufacturing and supported by the U.S. Department of Defense, announced it has partnered with ISU and the ISU […]

Last week marked the first time since mid-June that statewide precipitation levels were below normal, while temperatures were 2-4 degrees above normal for the period, according to State Climatologist Justin Glisan. Despite the diminished precipitation levels, soil moisture remains high. Crops rated highly during the Aug. 11-17 reporting period, though developments for corn and soybean […]

Iowa National Guard soldiers will deploy to provide support for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in September, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Tuesday. The deployment, set to begin Sept. 8, will involve 20 National Guard soldiers providing “administrative and logistical support” to ICE officials based in Iowa who are enforcing immigration laws, according to […]

A beer called  Yield of Dreams is on tap at the Iowa State Fair and features corn grown across the state and donated by 18 Iowa farmers.  The lager, brewed at Confluence Brewing Company in Des Moines, is a partnership between the Iowa Brewers Guild, the Iowa Corn Growers and Choose Iowa, which is promoting […]

A former Grinnell College student has agreed to drop her lawsuit against the school for its alleged handling of her claim that she was raped by a student athlete who was the son of a major donor. Court records indicate attorneys for the student, who is identified only as Jane Doe, have filed a notice […]

Corn across the state is a couple of days ahead of schedule, with 53% of corn acres reaching the dough stage and 9% entering the dent stage according to the latest crop progress and condition report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Eighty-nine percent of soybean acres have bloomed across the state and 65% have […]

The state of Iowa’s Annual Sales Tax Holiday is Friday and Saturday, during which some clothing items will be free of sales tax for 48 hours, but critics argue the narrow scope and minimal exemption time makes it an inefficient solution for tax relief and economic growth.  The annual tax holiday in Iowa is applicable […]

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced Wednesday she has settled environmental cases involving a meat processing facility and a farmers cooperative, both of which had polluted Iowa waters.  The cases dealt with a historic spill on the East Nishnabotna River occurring in March 2024 and several years worth of wastewater discharges from Agri Star Meat […]

Gov. Kim Reynolds told Iowa law enforcement officials Friday to prepare to support the federal government’s effort to deport undocumented immigrants, expected to start when President-elect …