by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 7, 2025 The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved the Healthy Kids Iowa demonstration project in lieu of the federal government’s summer nutrition program for children, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday. A press release from the governor’s office called the program an alternative to the federal program that […]
by Ashley Murray, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 6, 2025 WASHINGTON — Veterans and Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday protested the Trump administration’s planned cuts for the Department of Veterans Affairs that include slashing some 80,000 jobs, which many worry will affect the massive agency’s delivery of medical care and benefits. The group rallied outside […]
by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 6, 2025 Though an agreement is yet to be reached on state spending for the upcoming fiscal year, the Senate Appropriations Committee moved four bills forward in a Tuesday meeting. Senators passed four budget bills through the appropriations committee Tuesday, making them available for floor debate in the […]
by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 5, 2025 Despite another week of rainy conditions, which left an average of just over three days suitable for field work, Iowa farmers have more corn and soybeans in the ground than this time last year. Corn planted in the state reached 49%, which is three days ahead […]
by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 2, 2025 Several black bears spent the winter tucked into dens in northeastern Iowa, which wildlife experts say is a “step up the ladder” toward an established breeding population of bears in the state. Black bear sightings in the region have been fairly regular over the past decade […]
by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 2, 2025 While Iowa’s federal delegation has spent the week taking action on issues like fentanyl and Air Force facilities in Washington, D.C., some of Iowa’s U.S. representatives have also weighed in on an issue in their home state — the upcoming governor’s race. After Gov. Kim Reynolds […]
by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch April 30, 2025 Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, public Iowa K-12 school districts will be required to set policies that, at minimum, ban the use of cellphones during class time under a law signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds Wednesday. The ban on cellphones during instructional periods was one […]
by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch April 29, 2025 A lawsuit over a Des Moines Register poll that showed Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump in Iowa during the final days of the 2024 campaign has been moved to federal court. The lawsuit, one of two related to the poll, is a potential class-action case filed […]
by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch April 29, 2025 WARREN COUNTY — Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor and the U.S. secretary of agriculture during the Obama and Biden administrations, spoke Tuesday with farmers and rural Iowans about his ideas to grow rural communities. In the pine-paneled Middleswart Lodge, looking out over Lake Ahquabi State Park, […]
by Kathie Obradovich, Iowa Capital Dispatch April 28, 2025 Gov. Kim Reynolds’ lawsuit against the Des Moines Register is both unusual and dangerous for open government in Iowa. Reynolds announced last week that she was filing suit seeking to stop the Register “from demanding production of the documents protected by executive privilege.” That’s strange and […]
