by Allison Prang, Iowa Capital Dispatch
July 26, 2025

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has submitted a proposal to scrap a years-old finding that greenhouse gas emissions threaten the environment and public health, a move that former agency officials say would gut the EPA’s authority to reduce emissions and is sure to end up in the courts.

The EPA sent a draft proposal to the White House late last month calling for scrapping what’s referred to as the endangerment finding on top of vehicle emissions standards for certain cars and trucks. The White House Office of Management and Budget could finish reviewing the draft on Monday and some expect an announcement on the issue the last week of July, Joe Goffman, a former assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, said in an interview.

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch
July 17, 2025

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst praised the cuts to U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) included in the bill passed in the early hours of Thursday to cancel $9 billion in federal funding for foreign aid efforts and public broadcasting.

Ernst spoke in support of the cuts made through the rescissions bill, requested by President Donald Trump’s administration, that will claw back federal funding that had previously been approved, some of which were provisions targeted by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) service earlier in 2025.

The Iowa Republican has regularly criticized USAID spending and supported the DOGE cuts and the closure of the foreign aid agency.

Iowa Capital Dispatch
July 11, 2025

State regulators say they have never inspected and are not investigating a home health agency alleged to have falsified records, billed for services never delivered and used an unlicensed nurse.

State records show that Compassion North America, a home health provider based in Cedar Rapids, was incorporated in 2017 with M’balu Madlene Kebbie, a registered nurse, as its director, but was not licensed by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing until September 2024.

When asked about that, department spokeswoman Diane McCool said it’s possible the company was not providing any medical services in Iowa prior to being licensed last summer.

However, records from the Iowa Board of Nursing, which is administered by DIAL, and sworn testimony from a state health investigator at a hearing overseen by DIAL, indicate the company has been providing medical care for clients at least since June 2022.

by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch
July 3, 2025

Amid allegations of “gamesmanship” and forum shopping, a federal judge has blocked, at least for now, President Donald Trump’s attempt to move his lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and its pollster out of federal court and into state court.

Noting that Trump recently filed an appeal on one specific issue within the federal lawsuit, U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger found that because the president’s appeal had conferred jurisdiction of the case to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, he must first dismiss that appeal before voluntarily dismissing the underlying lawsuit.

For now, that means the president and his lawyers are pursuing the same legal case against the newspaper and pollster Ann Selzer in both state court and federal court.

by Jared Strong, Iowa Capital Dispatch
June 25, 2025

A long-awaited scientific report commissioned by Polk County says farm pollution threatens the ability to drink clean water and to safely interact with central Iowa streams, Iowa Capital Dispatch has learned.

The county announced its Central Iowa Source Water Research Assessment in 2023 and heralded it as a first-of-its-kind, unbiased and comprehensive examination of the watersheds that feed the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers, which converge near downtown Des Moines.

The topic is acutely important: Central Iowa Water Works recently banned lawn watering — for the first time ever — to prevent nitrate concentrations in its treated drinking water from exceeding a federal health limit.

by Tom Foley, Iowa Capital Dispatch
June 16, 2025

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ “healthier and cheaper” alternative to federal summer food assistance programs is again facing criticism that it is less convenient and covers fewer food-insecure Iowans than the national program and offers families fewer choices than initially promised.

Reynolds’ Healthy Kids Iowa was announced in May after the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the pilot program as an alternative to the federal Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program. The federal program would have added $40 per month to a family’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program card for each school-age child during schools’ summer break that can be used at retailers across the state.

The Healthy Kids Iowa program was billed in the initial release as having “more than 500 access points statewide.” Currently, there are 254 access points for the governor’s program, where families can pick up pre-made boxes of food, valued at $40, to be prepared at home.  A spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services said the remaining access points are summer meal sites overseen by the Department of Education, where kids can eat a meal on site.

Meanwhile, there are over 2,900 retailers across Iowa that accept SNAP benefits, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Advocates for food assistance say the state’s program falls far short of Summer EBT as a way to get help to families in need.

by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch
May 16, 2025

A federal judge has again temporarily blocked portions of an Iowa law aimed at restricting schools’ recognition of LGBTQ+ people and banning books with sexual or LGBTQ+ content.

The law, which was signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds in May 2023, was immediately challenged by Lambda Legal and ACLU of Iowa on behalf of students, teachers and the organization Iowa Safe Schools.

As originally written, the law prohibits school districts and educators from providing “any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion, or instruction relating to gender identity or sexual orientation to students in kindergarten through grade six.”

Lee Enterprises, Inc. – owner of the Quad City Times and Daily Dispatch-Argus newspapers – lost $12.6 million in its second quarter and reported it obtained waivers to avoid having to make payments in April and March on its $453-million loan.

The Davenport-based company operates some 70 newspapers and online news sites including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Buffalo News and Omaha World-Herald.

For the quarter ended March 30, Lee reported a loss of $12.6 million, or $2.07 per share, compared to a loss of $12.3 million, $2.06 per share, for the same period a year ago.