Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“It’s really starting to shift the culture, demonstrate to some of our neighbors and peers that hey, this can be done.” — Nick Helland, during a tour by the Iowa governor and agriculture secretary of conservation practices on his farm aimed at promoting the state’s new “farm to faucet” program.
Nick Helland explains how a nutrient reducing wetland on his property took about six acres out of crop production and filters nutrients from about 170 acres. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Nick Helland and his father have embraced a slew of conservation practices – bioreactors, saturated buffers, cover crops and a nutrient reducing wetland — on their farm in the Greater Des Moines Watershed.
Helland said he feels there has been a “shift in the culture” among farmers from judging one another on how black they could till their soil, to now, how frequently they till and how much cover they leave on the fields.
Charlie Cook, founder of Cook Political Report, spoke about the 2024 election season at Drake University in Des Moines Nov. 29, 2023. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Political expert Charlie Cook, the founder of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said Monday he thinks Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand will win Iowa’s gubernatorial election, but the U.S. Senate race between State Rep. Josh Turek and U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson may not be as competitive as Democrats might think.
Cook said Iowa is no longer considered a “swing” state and “hasn’t been for a long time,” adding that he does not believe Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat will flip due to hyperpolarization in modern politics.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand’s campaign said Monday he broke an Iowa record for the most money raised by a statewide campaign in a fundraising period, raising more than $9.38 million from May 27 to July 14.
A former eastern Iowa pharmacist has been sanctioned by state regulators for a 2022 conviction for sexual exploitation of a minor.
Temperatures across Iowa were, on average, more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit above the climatological normal over the past week, and the statewide average precipitation was near zero according to the weather and crop report from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship for July 13 through July 19.
President Donald Trump ordered 50% tariffs on several Canadian products Monday in response to what his administration describes as retaliatory restrictions on imports of American goods, including alcohol, dairy and automotives.
Seeking to stop a “flood” of court cases freeing immigrants from mandatory detention, the Trump administration is asking an appeals court to put three immigrants back in detention, Stateline reports.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Sunday that the Taylor Farms lettuce sample that tested positive for the parasite cyclospora was actually a false positive.
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Monday encouraged the Trump administration to preserve the sections of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that it says a Maryland man damaged to ensure the case moves forward.
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision makes it easier for political parties to put their stamp on the most important campaigns, just as the struggle heats up for control of Congress in the midterm elections.
Former U.S. Department of Education officials in Republican and Democratic administrations sounded the alarm Monday over the agency’s efforts to outsource its special education programs and civil rights enforcement to other agencies.
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