State and Regional News

As summer begins for Iowa’s various school districts, administrators are taking a collective breath after a difficult school year filled with many legislative and safety changes. In the 2021 Iowa Legislative session, there were nearly 300 House and Senate bills introduced that focused on education, according to the Iowa Department of Education. In 2020, there were less than 200...

A Des Moines, Iowa, man pictured prominently with a QAnon shirt ahead of a crowd of insurgents inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack asked a judge on Monday to release him from jail, saying “he feels deceived, recognizing that he bought into a pack of lies.”...

Iowa college students are going to see new training, resources and public commitments to the First Amendment when they return to school in the fall. The Board of Regents met with university provosts and administrators Wednesday to discuss new policies to protect free speech on campus. ...

As COVID-19 restrictions lift, Iowa will see more events and tourism returning to regular scheduling in the summer of 2021. “People weren’t able to get out as much as they might have preferred last year, so we’re anticipating a lot of people hitting the road,” said Jessica O’Riley, spokesperson for the Iowa Tourism Office. ...

Imagine Iowa Great Lakes and the Dickinson County Trails board announced the Tatanka Ska Trace Trailhead project which will be the focal point of where the Tatanka Ska Trace trail meets with the Spine Trail. The trailhead location is perfect as this is where the trail running north and south through the county connects with the rail trail spanning east and west...

Students at Iowa’s public universities are preparing for tuition increases as they shoulder the cost of the Iowa Legislature’s decision to not increase higher education funding this fiscal year. Citing millions in COVID-19 relief funding and declining enrollment in four-year institutions in the state and country, Iowa Republicans kept funding levels for fiscal year 2022 the same in its $1 billion education budget. Legislators, however, did not freeze tuition...

Additional drawings will be added this summer in two of the Iowa Lottery’s well-known lotto games: Powerball® and Lucky for Life®. Powerball will move to drawings three times a week with a new Monday drawing added to those currently held on Wednesday and Saturday nights. Lucky for Life will move from two drawings per week to drawings each night. The changes are designed to produce more winners, and in the case of Powerball, generate larger, faster-growing jackpots...

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds told a national television audience on Wednesday that Iowa had met the challenge of providing a “safe environment” for meatpacking-plant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reynolds made her remarks on FOX News with conservative commentator Sean Hannity presiding over a gathering of Republican governors who were there to discuss how their agendas are helping America...

The new Alta playground was under construction this week. The workers took time during recess for the nearby school to answer questions for the kids that were watching.

Climate change is making Iowa’s water quality problems worse, including nitrate pollution and toxic algae, a panel of experts told the nonprofit Iowa Environmental Council Wednesday. That means the federal government needs to change crop insurance rules and other programs that support we’ve-always-done-it-this-way agriculture in Iowa, they added. A return to more natural river flows and more sustainable farming practices would help, according to the panel...

A Clay County man has won a $30,000 lottery prize. Lance Winther, of Spencer, won the 86th top prize in the Iowa Lottery’s “Bonus Crossword” scratch game. He purchased his winning ticket at Car-Go Express, 1804 Highway Blvd., in Spencer, and claimed his prize Tuesday at the lottery’s Storm Lake regional office. ...

Gov. Kim Reynolds reiterated her claim Wednesday that President Joe Biden is responsible for a humanitarian crisis on the nation’s southern border, while stating again that Iowa is in no position to accept any of the children “put in harm’s way.” An estimated 19,000 migrant children unaccompanied by their legal guardians entered the United States in March — the largest such influx in U.S. ...

Nearly three weeks into overtime and after three back-to-back nights of debate, Iowa’s 2021 legislative session is over. House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, called it “the year of freedom for Iowans” be it through tax cuts, permitless carry of firearms or the choice not to wear a mask. Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, highlighted Republican efforts to bring kids back to school in-person, expand broadband accessibility and protect police officers...

Barricades limited traffic for a few days earlier this month along Broadway Street in Arnolds Park as some artistic flourishes were being finished for the community. Muralist Ali Hval finished adding decorative painted patterns to two of the city’s crosswalks near the intersection of Broadway and Lakeshore Drive. ...

There’s a pretty good chance that, in the next several weeks, Northeast Iowa will be visited by a few wandering black bears coming down from Minnesota and Wisconsin ahead of the breeding season. It’s been an annual occurrence in this region each spring since 2014...

When the Iowa Senate set priorities at the beginning of the year, they included helping Iowa recover from the pandemic, passing tax relief for hard-working Iowans, and implementing responsible, conservative budgets for the state. This week WalletHub reported Iowa ranked second in the country for fastest recovery following the pandemic. ...

April 30th marked the 110th and presumably final day of the legislative session. But, we’re not done. Additional debate is tentatively scheduled for this coming week which may or may not bring the session to a close. Legislators do not receive “per diem” payments for days of session after the 110 days, so there will be additional incentive to get things done...

After Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey reintroduced the $93 trillion Green New Deal recently, western Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra spoke out against Washington politicians “attempting to force burdensome regulation on Iowa farmers.” Feenstra said he is a cosponsor of two proposals that he feel would be a more practical approach to environmental issues...

The Iowa House approved legislation to outlaw so-called “vaccine passports” last week after first voting down a proposal to eliminate an exclusion for health care facilities. “Fundamentally, this a liberty issue,” Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, who floor-managed the bill, said...

Storm Lake United’s annual Mother’s Day give-a-way is back again for 2021! A Mother Like No Other! is underway, running through Mother’s Day on May 9th. The grand prize is a one-night stay at King’s Pointe Resort plus four waterpark passes. SLU is also giving away two Mother’s Day Gift Baskets valued at over $150 from its participating businesses. Runner-up prizes include $50 & $100 in Storm Lake Bucks...

Iowa’s top academic students have been chosen by their member schools for the 2021 Governor’s Scholar Program. Honors were presented Sunday at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. The 424 seniors being honored have been selected by their high schools as the highest academic achievers - one student each from smaller schools and two from larger ones. All students receive a recognition plaque and certificate to commemorate their achievement...

The last couple of weeks have involved a lot of windshield time, most of it in a tractor and driving back and forth to Des Moines. Floor time has been limited in the House as the final touches are put on some policy bills as well as the give and take of the budget discussions that are ongoing. ...

Anglers are just days away from having their chance at winning $39,000. The 39th annual Walleye Weekend officially begins at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 1 and concludes at noon on Sunday, May 2. Entry forms are available at Fisherman’s Factory Outlet, Great Lakes Marine, Oak Hill Outdoor/The Hook Up, Kabele’s Trading Post, Stan’s Bait & Tackle, and at the Iowa Great Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce office. ...

Farmers continue to question whether climate change is driven by humans, the consensus of scientists worldwide, an Iowa State University researcher said Wednesday. ISU sociology professor J. Arbuckle, drawing largely from ISU’s Farm and Rural Life Poll, said farmers have become more open to conversations about carbon emissions and climate change...

Last week was the fourteenth week of the session, leaving, perhaps, two weeks to go. At this point, I expect session to end on time, but that’s not guaranteed. Please add Senator Lofgren and his family to your prayers. He lost his two-year-old grandson last week...

This is the time of year when schedules in the Legislature get updated, sometimes hourly, in order to accommodate required meetings of the Appropriations Committee and the Ways and Means Committee along with negotiations with the Senate and the Governor’s office. ...

A crew worked a prairie burn Friday on Phil Redenbaugh’s land across from the Casino Marina. It was a perfect day for a fire with a slight wind out of the northeast and cool overcast conditions. Such a fire promotes a healthy prairie, removing non-native plants and allowing prairie plants more nutrients and room to grow. ...

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig on Thursday labeled as “propaganda” a national environmental group’s listing of the Raccoon River as one of the nation’s most-endangered.  “That so-called report was a bit of propaganda, I think,” Naig said of the American Rivers report this week. ...