Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“As regents, our role is governance — we set priorities, establish policies, oversee budgets, and we hold university leadership accountable. We should expect our institutions to promote intellectual diversity, academic excellence, and open inquiry, but reviewing the content of individual classes moves us from governance to management.” — Board of Regents member Nancy Dunkel, one of three regents who voted against proposed policy changes including biannual board reviews of general education course content at state universities.
A declining rural economy and the high cost of healthcare are top concerns for rural Iowans, according to a panel of community leaders. Pictured here is the town of Exira in western Iowa. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
A panel of rural Iowans said Tuesday that a declining rural economy and high cost of healthcare are top concerns as the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary.
The community leaders spoke as part of the Rural Listening Project-250, a multistate research project assessing what rural Americans care about, and said strong community involvement will be the best way to influence change.
Members of the Iowa Board of Regents meet on April 23, 2026 at Iowa State University. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Despite concerns from members about blurring the lines between governance and management of state universities, the Iowa Board of Regents Tuesday approved additions to its policy manual to require further program review and board perspective on search committees.
Policy manual revisions approved Tuesday include an optional tuition guarantee pilot program; a moratorium on new academic construction; biannual reviews of general education courses for diversity, equity and inclusion or critical race theory content, and more.
An alleged whistleblower who reported she was fired from a nursing home after being instructed to “keep your mouth shut” about a resident’s death has dropped her lawsuit.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and other Midwest senators celebrated the findings of a new biofuels study Tuesday during a Capitol Hill briefing in Washington, D.C.
As election officials across the country steel themselves for the midterm elections in less than five months, President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting voting by mail threatens to upend their preparations.
The U.S. Department of Education announced sweeping efforts Tuesday to outsource its special education programs and civil rights enforcement to other agencies, in another major step by President Donald Trump’s administration to dismantle the department.
U.S. senators from both political parties said Tuesday they had yet to see the text of the deal Trump administration officials struck over the weekend to end the war in Iran, though several indicated any final agreement will require their approval.
The Department of Justice Tuesday issued a new indictment against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man accused of killing one West Virginia National Guard member and wounding another in an attack in the nation’s capital, including six new charges that qualify for the death penalty.
The United States has a shortage of the only first-line medication recommended for pregnant women with syphilis to prevent passing it to their baby, even as congenital syphilis rates have been skyrocketing, Stateline reports.
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