Dust exacerbated by dry conditions — Buena Vista County will install two stop signs on 60th and 70th Avenues around a mile east of Alta to accommodate an increase in traffic from Platinum …

The garage at 228 Russell St. burst into flames shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon and sent up a thick cloud of smoke. Storm Lake firefighters put out the blaze, as seen above, but the garage …

Representatives with Lopez Dorada announced plans to add 100 jobs at its Cherokee meat processing plant on Hwy. 59 after a $45 million expansion to the plant’s southwest corner.  …

The big grand opening this weekend puts Storm Lake/Lakeside back in its respectable place on the map of Iowa ballrooms. The Surf, the Laramar, the Roof Garden, the Val Air… the Cobblestone! …

Development owner says he can sell off lots for housing — Jim Bauer intends to sell housing lots north of Storm Lake, no matter what the Buena Vista County Board of Supervisors decide this …

A jury will be empaneled next September to hear the City of Storm Lake’s claims that Buena Vista County misappropriated $5 million in tax-increment financing revenue from the city.  …

This year, Buena Vista University is launching a partnership with the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE), the leader in student success through high-quality instruction. The ACUE …

After failing to appear in court or respond to a lawsuit, a judge ordered a Storm Lake wholesale garden distributor to repay a Chicago company over $20,000 plus interest.  Senior Judge …

Farmers upstream of the Des Moines region are eligible for cover crop incentives as part of state legislation to improve water quality in central Iowa.  The expanded incentive program, which Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced Monday, is the“first of several” conservation initiatives in the Greater Des Moines Watershed Program rolling out over the […]

Zach Lahn, a businessman and farmer, won the Republican nomination for Iowa governor Tuesday with U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra and the three other GOP hopefuls conceding the race. Auditor Rob Sand, the only candidate to appear on the Democratic primary ballot, quickly secured his spot Tuesday as his party’s nominee to become Iowa governor in […]

Three quarters of Midwestern homeowners are concerned about rising home insurance premiums and 86% of homeowners surveyed in a poll released Thursday by Climate Power and the Insurance Fairness Project say elected officials should do more to reduce the cost.  The poll surveyed Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas homeowners and found they largely supported policy solutions […]

Wildfires have reversed years of progress toward mitigating ozone pollution, worsening air quality and causing premature deaths, University of Iowa researchers have found. Eleven “uncontained large” wildfires were burning simultaneously across the United States as of June 12, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Halfway through 2026, more than 32,000 wildfires have swept across […]

Iowa legislators held a marathon session Saturday and Sunday to finish up the 2026 session, ending with a property tax deal and measures on warrant resolution clinics and abortion medication, as well as a budget compromise. The Iowa House began its final session at 8:31 a.m. Saturday, and gaveled out at 6:11 p.m. Sunday. In […]

With settlement talks having reached an impasse, a major lawsuit seeking $15 million in damages from Summit Carbon Solutions is heading toward trial in Delaware. In 2024, pipe manufacturer Welspun Tubular filed suit against Summit Carbon Solutions, claiming it had been commissioned by Summit to produce about 785 miles of pipe, beginning in May 2023, […]

Iowa regulators have suspended the license of a state-employed nurse accused of providing inadequate care for a prison inmate who died hours later. In October 2025, the board charged Penny Lynn Daniels of Newton, a registered nurse who worked for the Iowa Department of Corrections, with committing an act that might adversely affect a patient’s […]

A northern Iowa attorney has been publicly reprimanded for falsely claiming he had dementia in order to be excused from a case. Court records show that in December 2024, police arrested Mario Delapaz of Storm Lake on charges of harassment and domestic abuse resulting in assault or injury. Delapaz was later convicted of both charges, […]

Iowa Democrats told members of the Democratic National Committee Wednesday the national party cannot afford to lose Iowa voters — or the input of rural Midwesterners at large — as they craft the presidential nominating calendar for 2028. Scott Brennan, an Iowan who is a member of the DNC, and state Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, […]

As Iowans across the state turn their gaze toward the quality of Iowa’s waterways, student and faculty researchers at Iowa State University have developed prototype equipment to measure the nitrate levels of hard-to-reach watersheds with drones as the vehicle. What started as a senior design project has grown into a multi-year, federally funded effort to […]