Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“We’re not trying to get rich here. We just want to break even to keep the doors open.” — Brad Magg, owner of Spring City Pharmacy in Colfax, on the need for federal changes to pharmacy benefit managers.
A screenshot from Des Moines Police body-camera footage shows the arrest of Eric Lee Kelley in October 2024. Kelley is suing the city, alleging excessive force and needless use of the police canine that is seen in the lower left corner of the video frame. (Screenshot sourced from U.S. District Court filings)
A Des Moines man is accusing city police in a lawsuit of excessive force, claiming the officers who allegedly assaulted him were later captured on video laughing about how they “really worked him over.”
Eric Lee Kelley, 39, is suing the City of Des Moines and four police officers in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
Josh Turek, right, visits with Brad Magg at Spring City pharmacy in Colfax, Iowa Sept. 4, 2026 to talk about Turek’s calls for pharmacy benefit manager reform as he runs for U.S. Senate. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Brad Magg, who owns Spring City Pharmacy in Colfax, told U.S. Senate candidate Josh Turek Friday that his business loses money on every prescription because insurance companies pay less than it costs to buy the drugs.
Turek spoke in favor of federal reforms to pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, the entities that serve as middlemen to negotiate prescription drug prices between manufacturers, health insurance companies and pharmacies.
THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES
A federal judge has dismissed an Iowa man’s lawsuit over the denial of his status as a “Professor of Pokémon,” calling the case a “completely frivolous waste of the court’s time and resources.”
President Donald Trump’s executive order placing new restrictions on mail-in voting would assign state officials a Herculean task to reach compliance before the crucial midterm elections.
Iowa Environmental Council’s annual “condition of the state” report on Iowa’s electric generation shows that while wind continues to dominate Iowa’s electricity generation sources, there has been a “reversal” in the state’s progress to meet energy demand with renewable sources.
An animal-welfare organization that is suing the federal government over an alleged failure to enforce regulations against dog breeders in Iowa and elsewhere is now seeking to expand its lawsuit.
Gov. Kim Reynolds joined state law enforcement and public health officials Tuesday in warning Iowans of the risks associated with kratom and its newer, synthetic variants.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said Tuesday that a U.S. decision to lower certain tariffs on ground beef imports has highlighted the importance of working to bring more U.S. food production on-shore.
For the third time in three months, an Iowa nursing home has been fined for resident injuries that include broken bones and gangrene.
Summit Carbon Solutions is abandoning two-thirds of its planned project to store carbon dioxide underground in North Dakota, North Dakota Monitor reports.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said Saturday Iowans would play an important role in keeping “Marxists and Islamists,” who he said have taken over the Democratic Party, out of power by electing Ashley Hinson to the U.S. Senate in November.
Two national Democratic lawmakers endorsed Josh Turek for U.S. Senate on Saturday and called for term limits for U.S. Supreme Court justices and lawmakers.
A University of Iowa researcher is helping to unearth the geological secrets of Earth’s planetary neighbor, with recent findings of a necessary mineral to create certain precious gemstones and future study into the largest canyon in the solar system identified so far.
Iowa State University, in collaboration with Iowa Learning Farms, is working to build out water quality practices on and around its dairy farm in Ames as part of the Watershed Innovation Farm, which will include trails and signage for Iowans to learn about the practices.
NEWS FROM THE MIDWEST AND IOWA'S NEIGHBORS
Judge orders federal logging project halted in Shawnee National Forest | Capitol News Illinois
Indiana lawmakers mum on plan ‘to end property taxes on the home you live in’ | Indiana Capital Chronicle
Kansas report outlines strategies for closing gaps, transforming maternal healthcare | Kansas Reflector
US Supreme Court declines to hear application on Michigan citizens-only voting ballot measure | Michigan Advance
ICE agent Christian Castro turns himself in on federal charge | Minnesota Reformer
Missouri court refuses to delay congressional map ruling, setting up US Supreme Court appeal | Missouri Independent
Nebraska Supreme Court upholds validity of state medical cannabis laws | Nebraska Examiner
North Dakota House kills total ban on kratom, complicating special session | North Dakota Monitor
More than 40% of Ohio school districts have active LifeWise Academy chapters, with more on the way | Ohio Capital Journal
FEMA to reimburse eight South Dakota counties, three tribes for storm-related infrastructure fixes | South Dakota Searchlight
Labor Day report has good news and bad news about Wisconsin workers | Wisconsin Examiner
FEDERAL FALLOUT
States Newsroom relentlessly reports on how changes at the federal level are affecting people at the state level — and how state governments are responding in this volatile political climate. We post new stories each day; here are just a few:
Where have the workers gone? 2 million foreign-born men have left the country, analysis says. | Ohio Capital Journal
U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff tumbles by a quarter in Director Brian Nesvik’s home state of Wyoming | WyoFile
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