Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“It’s really difficult to build policy coalitions and get things done pragmatically when our disagreements move from political disagreements to ‘I can’t work with you because you’re an idiot.’” — Kelly Shaw, co-director of the Center for Cyclone Civics and professor at Iowa State University, on the decline of civility in public discourse.
Companies are drilling to explore geological hydrogen potential in the state, like this well near Vincent. (Photo courtesy of Iowa State University and Iowa Geological Survey)
Hidden in Iowa’s bedrock could be resources with the potential to launch a lucrative, clean energy economy in the state, but researchers say state actions and corporate interests are burying the ability of others to explore further.
Iowa Geological Survey, Iowa State University and Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials are collaborating to explore — and promote the exploration of — geological hydrogen pooling thousands of feet below ground, deeper than any well and most drilling that’s been completed in the state.
Iowa organizations are working to address the decline of political civility in Iowa. (Illustration by Pict Rider/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
As the 2026 general election nears, Iowa’s airwaves have been consumed by political attack advertisements, while concerns of physical attacks have come up in campaigns and the Iowa Statehouse.
A bipartisan group of former and current officeholders is encouraging civility in order to change the mood of politics statewide, advocating for civic participation and civil interactions with people who think differently.
The founder and former executive director of a public charter school in eastern Iowa is now suing the school over what she says are unfounded allegations of theft.
The federal government is suing a central Iowa physician and his plastic surgery center, alleging they used false information to inflate their Medicare billings for skin cancer treatments.
Members of the New Democrat Coalition asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday to provide fresh details about the nation’s screwworm outbreak and demanded that the Trump administration allocate more resources to containing the spread.
This year several GOP-led states, including Iowa, have enacted laws that give greater power to politically appointed public university boards and administrators while weakening faculty sway over curriculum and university leadership, Stateline reports.
A bipartisan bill to set national standards for college athletes’ compensation has cleared a major legislative hurdle but still faces roadblocks, including opposition from the largest college sports conferences, to becoming law.
Republicans have one more opportunity to use the complex process they relied on to enact their “big, beautiful” law and provide tens of billions in additional funding for immigration enforcement — a chance that becomes less likely the more divisions over a voter identification bill splinter the party.
Activists rallied, danced and marched in the nation’s capital Saturday as they laid out their vision for the future of the United States beyond this year’s semiquincentennial.
John Bolton, a national security adviser to President Donald Trump in his first term, pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of mishandling classified information, the Department of Justice said in a news release Friday.
As law enforcement agencies increasingly embrace AI, some civil liberties advocates, legal scholars and policing experts warn that the technology could amplify surveillance, introduce hidden biases into investigations and make it harder to challenge evidence in court, Stateline reports.
COMMENTARY
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s effort to talk Iowa Libertarian candidates into dropping out of competitive congressional races was in the national spotlight. Dave Price, Laura Belin and Kathie Obradovich also revisit Gov. Kim Reynolds’ use of federal COVID aid for staff salaries and comment on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roundup ruling.
“… (M)aking it harder for poor kids to buy soda and candy seems a bit like trying to stem a flood with a teaspoon when Iowa does so many other things to promote unhealthy behaviors,” guest columnist Ed Tibbetts writes via Iowa Writers’ Collaborative.
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