by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch November 26, 2025 The cost of a classic Thanksgiving dinner set for 10 people, at $55.18, is 5% less than the cost in 2024, annual data from the American Farm Bureau Federation shows. While key meal items like turkey and dinner rolls decreased in price this year, fresh vegetables […]
by Anna Claire Vollers, Iowa Capital Dispatch November 21, 2025 As states strive to curb health insurers’ use of artificial intelligence, patients and doctors are arming themselves with AI tools to fight claims denials, prior authorizations and soaring medical bills. Several businesses and nonprofits have launched AI-powered tools to help patients get their insurance claims […]
by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch November 19, 2025 Researchers and public health advocates said Wednesday that water quality and land use continue to be modifiable elements impacting public health, and in particular cancer, in Iowa. The experts spoke to a crowded conference room in the Olmsted Center at Drake University during the 2025 Iowa […]
by Robbie Sequeira, Iowa Capital Dispatch November 14, 2025 School districts have made some progress in addressing the national shortage of school bus drivers, but there still aren’t as many drivers as there were in 2019, according to a new study. The number of drivers has increased by 2,300, or 1.1%, since last year, according […]
by Jennifer Shutt and Shauneen Miranda, Iowa Capital Dispatch November 12, 2025 This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — The longest shutdown in U.S. history ended Wednesday night when President Donald Trump signed a spending package that reopens the government and funds most of it through January. The Oval Office ceremony came just hours after […]
WASHINGTON — The United States Mint struck the final circulating one-cent coin on November 12, 2025, ending 232 years of penny production. The coin will remain legal tender, but no new pennies will enter general circulation. According to the Mint, it cost 3.69 cents to produce and distribute each penny during Fiscal Year 2024 — […]
by Shauneen Miranda, Iowa Capital Dispatch November 4, 2025 This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Tuesday failed for the 14th time to advance a stopgap spending bill to fund the government, as the ongoing shutdown hit 35 days and is now tied with the shutdown of 2018-2019 as the longest ever. […]
by Jennifer Shutt, Iowa Capital Dispatch October 27, 2025 WASHINGTON — The stakes of the ongoing government shutdown rose Monday as the U.S. Department of Agriculture doubled down on its position that food benefits for November could not be paid and a union for federal workers implored lawmakers to pass a stopgap measure. As the […]
by Shauneen Miranda and Ariana Figueroa, Iowa Capital Dispatch October 24, 2025 WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a memo Friday the agency’s contingency fund cannot legally be used to provide food assistance benefits for more than 42 million people in November, as the government shutdown drags on. The position is a reversal […]
by Jacob Fischler, Iowa Capital Dispatch October 24, 2025 The 75 million Americans who receive Social Security benefits will see a 2.8% increase in payments next year, the Social Security Administration said Friday. The cost-of-living adjustment is just below the inflation rate of 3% announced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, also on Friday. The adjustment is […]
