Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“American farmers, and our nation’s food supply chain, stand on the precipice of an irreversible collapse due to impossibly high input costs that are untethered from the reality of crop prices,” farmer associations from across the country wrote in a letter urging swift action from the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate collusion in the fertilizer industry.
Iowa State University and the University of Iowa both saw a decrease in research support from the federal government in fiscal year 2026. (Photo courtesy of NIH)
Federal support for research at Iowa’s public universities fell in fiscal year 2026, according to numbers released by the institutions Thursday, showing impacts from federal grant cancellations and other actions.
Iowa State University announced in a news release it raised $487.9 million from external funding in fiscal year 2026, $254.6 million of which was dedicated to research in areas of agricultural technology, women’s health, semiconductors and more.
The Iowa Board of Medicine regulates the state’s medical profession as part of the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing. (Photo by Getty Images, board seal courtesy the State of Iowa)
An Iowa physician who successfully challenged the state’s efforts to privately sanction him for incompetence is now suing the federal government.
In 2017, the Iowa Board of Medicine issued Dr. Mark B. Irland, a licensed physician who practiced primarily in Marengo, what it called a “confidential letter of warning.” Court records show the board sent Irland the letter after reviewing a complaint about the medical care he provided patients.
Farmers from across the country are urging the federal government to expedite an investigation of the fertilizer industry as they struggle with “impossibly high input costs.”
A Clayton County school district has fired a bus driver accused of repeatedly driving while using his cellphone.
A Davenport chiropractor has agreed to surrender his license after being accused of leaving a patient paralyzed due to a botched treatment.
President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Labor Department on Thursday defended the agency’s major role in a broader drive by the administration to dismantle the Education Department.
Republicans on the U.S. House Budget Committee approved their budget resolution Thursday, marking one small step forward in the complicated process that could allow the party to enact a third party-line bill.
A major legislative package that would put into law President Donald Trump’s push to greatly reduce the responsibilities of the U.S. Department of Education advanced out of a U.S. House panel on Wednesday.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche vowed Wednesday to lawmakers on Capitol Hill that if he is confirmed for the top post, the Justice Department would not oppose an effort in Congress to permanently ban a controversial “anti-weaponization” fund.
U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries rallied a key group for his party Thursday, telling the American Federation of Teachers’ national convention that, if successful in November’s midterm elections, a Democratic majority in the House would pursue several progressive policies.
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