West Union, Fayette County, Iowa

Iowa farmers made headway planting corn, soybeans and oats early last week, but were slowed by storms that caused destruction in southwest Iowa, according to the Iowa crop progress and condition report. The report, covering April 14 through April 20, shows Iowa has 68% of oats planted, 18% of corn and 11% of soybeans. Planting […]

The Iowa House has sent a bill to Gov. Kim Reynolds’s desk that would do away with divorce court orders to pay a subsidy for higher education. Senate File 513 would bar courts from ordering either party involved in the dissolution of a marriage to pay a postsecondary education subsidy, through a temporary order or […]

State Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, announced Monday he is exploring a 2026 gubernatorial bid. His announcement, posted on the social media platform X, comes less than two weeks after Gov. Kim Reynolds said she would not seek another term as governor in the upcoming election. Reynolds has held office since 2017, taking the position after […]

The University of Northern Iowa’s business school has made its first international partnership to bring students from Thailand to Cedar Falls to study, the university has announced. According to a news release, UNI and Assumption University in Bangkok signed an agreement last week to form a 2+2 program for students to complete the first two […]

Sunday, April 13

For many years, Eric Wunderlin’s health issues made it hard to find stable employment. Struggling to manage depression and diabetes, Wunderlin worked part-time, minimum-wage retail jobs around Dayton, Ohio, making so little he said he sometimes had to choose between paying rent and buying food. But in 2018, his CareSource Medicaid health plan offered him […]

Research from The Nature Conservancy found current clean energy tax credits, if kept in place through 2032 would add more than $238 million in annual economic value to Iowa.  Some folks fear the tax credits will be slashed by congressional leaders as they stare down hefty budget cuts and eye Biden-era environmental policies, but advocates […]

Brazil. Iran. Sudan. Tanzania. As United States immigration officers called out countries, more and more of the crowd gathered in the University of Northern Iowa Mauker Union ballroom stood up. There were 25 countries represented among the almost 70 immigrants attending their naturalization ceremony Friday, having come together to complete their journey to becoming a […]

In a medical malpractice case, Catholic Health Initiatives has dropped its argument that an unborn child should not be considered a “person.”

The Iowa Supreme Court has removed from the bench a magistrate who questioned the veracity of an alleged sexual assault victim because he was a teenage male and asked whether a defendant in a separate case was a “wetback.” Magistrate David J. Hanson, who is based in Fayette County and has practiced law for more […]

The Iowa House passed two measures Thursday that would set new educational requirements in Iowa’s K-12 school system — one requiring high school students pass the U.S. citizenship test to graduate and another requiring students in grades 5-12 to be shown fetal development videos and graphics. Senate File 369, sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds, would […]

Simpson College President Jay Byers has died, college officials announced to campus and the public Thursday. He was found deceased in the Sigler House, the president’s residence, in the late morning of April 17 during a wellness check after failing to appear for morning meetings, said Simpson College Board of Trustees Chair Terry Handley during […]

A bill advanced from the Iowa House Thursday that would regulate anaerobic digesters, or systems that break down organic material in an oxygen-deprived system to produce usable biogas and fertilizer, at animal feeding operations.  House File 989 would task the Iowa Department of Natural Resources with regulating the construction, expansion, placement and operation of anaerobic […]

A state corrections officer fired for allegedly assaulting an individual is not entitled to jobless benefits, a judge has ruled. According to state records, Jordan Nuno was employed by the Eighth Judicial District Department of Corrections as a full-time residential officer at the state-run Ottumwa Residential Facility from 2019 until January 2025, when he was […]

The Iowa Senate amended an open meetings and records bill Thursday to list security camera footage from the Iowa Capitol building as “confidential records.” House File 706 is this year’s attempt to implement higher penalties and training requirements for Iowa’s open meetings and records laws. Fines for violating open meetings laws would increase to between […]

The Iowa Senate has sent a bill to Gov. Kim Reynolds’s desk that would bar penalization from accreditors to universities for following state law, despite concerns from some lawmakers that it would not prevent universities from potentially losing accreditation. House File 295 would bar higher education accrediting bodies from taking negative action against state universities […]

SCHEDULED TRAFFIC:

Iowa is an outlier for the wrong reasons, according to several environmental advocates who spoke at the Harkin Institute’s annual wellness symposium, which this year focused on the future of clean water.  Speakers at the symposium noted Iowa’s cancer rates, which are the second-highest in the nation, the state’s overwhelming amounts of animal manure and […]

Iowa Capital Dispatch received an award Wednesday honoring its commitment to the First Amendment. The Mark Witherspoon First Amendment Award, or the “Spoon Award,” was presented to Iowa Capital Dispatch Editor-in-chief Kathie Obradovich at the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University. Witherspoon, known as “Spoon,” is retired as the longtime editorial […]

A bill to waive university tuition and fees for Iowa law enforcement has moved out of a House subcommittee with support from its members and the public. House Study Bill 329 would require Iowa community colleges and public universities to waive tuition and fees for “peace officers,” defined in Iowa code as sheriffs, deputies, police […]

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating a fish kill near Fort Dodge, caused by a leak of a fertilizer byproduct, according a press release.  The spill reached the South Branch of Lizard Creek, where DNR staff observed dead fish for several miles and the byproduct, causing brown, murky water stretched around seven road-miles […]

State universities are planning to increase tuition for undergraduate and graduate students once again this fall, pending approval from the Iowa Board of Regents, according to board documents released Tuesday. If approved by the board at its June meeting, University of Iowa and Iowa State University resident undergraduate students will see their tuition increase by […]

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Tuesday the state has submitted a waiver to the federal government to implement work requirements for Iowans on the state’s expanded Medicaid program. The governor directed the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to seek a waiver to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for work requirements, according […]

The Iowa Senate passed a proposed constitutional amendment Tuesday to raise the bar that future lawmakers must clear to increase income taxes. Senate Joint Resolution 11 would require a two-thirds majority vote from the Iowa Legislature to increase individual or corporate income tax rates, or to establish any new income taxes. The resolution, passed 32-15, […]

An Iowa company that transports Iowa-bred puppies is now embroiled in allegations of racketeering and money laundering and has been cited for the death of an animal in its care. Subject Enterprise, based in the Hancock County town of Britt, was recently cited for one critical regulatory violation and issued a formal warning by the […]

Iowa House lawmakers unanimously passed a bill expanding cancer coverage for emergency responders in Iowa, sending it to the governor. House File 969 expands disability and death benefits for firefighters, emergency medical services responders and law enforcement officers from the current 14 cancers covered to all types of cancer. The bill also proposes changes to […]

Brent Copenhaver and his wife Stacey own Talview Dairy Farm, a dairy operation in Lebanon County, and sell most of their milk regionally in Pennsylvania. To Brent, he thinks there is currently one big issue farmers across Pennsylvania are thinking about. “I think tariffs definitely are on people’s mind,” Brent Copenhaver said to the Pennsylvania […]

The Iowa Senate voted Monday to set residency requirements for classes enrolling in University of Iowa medical and dental programs, despite concerns from some lawmakers that it would create an unfair, affirmative action program in highly sought-after fields. House File 516, which would require that 80% of students accepted to the UI doctor of medicine […]

The Iowa Senate sent legislation to the governor Monday making changes to Iowa’s election recount process. House File 928, passed 31-14, would change who can request a recount for an election in Iowa. In races for local offices and the Iowa Legislature, there would need to be difference of 1% or 50 votes between the […]

When household waste decomposes at a landfill, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas that traps significantly more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires that large landfills monitor and capture the gas, but some landfills in Iowa are going a step further and “upgrading” the landfill gas into renewable […]