Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“I feel like I woke up in the USSR.” — Jules Cutler, Libertarian candidate for lieutenant governor, whose nomination paperwork was rejected Monday by the State Objections panel, removing her and the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Nicholas Gluba, from the November ballot.
Stephanie Berlin, second from right, the chair of the Libertarian Party of Iowa, spoke on behalf of Marco Battaglia, right, a Libertarian candidate whose place on the ballot was challenged, at a State Objections Panel hearing June 15, 2026. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
The State Objections Panel ruled Monday that two Libertarian candidates running for governor and Congress should be taken off the 2026 Iowa general election ballot, sustaining challenges to their qualifications as candidates.
A third Libertarian survived a challenge to his campaign paperwork and will remain on the November 2026 ballot.
The Iowa Board of Regents approved accelerated degree programs for the three state universities on June 15, 2026. Board members are shown here at their April 23, 2026 meeting. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Iowa’s public universities received preliminary approval Monday from the Iowa Board of Regents to launch an accelerated degree program for students hoping to complete their education with fewer credits.
The Bachelor of Applied Professional Studies, presented at the board’s June 15 meeting, wouldn’t replace any other degree programs at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa. It would act as a “new degree path that will enhance educational access and career training opportunities,” according to board documents.
CJ Bio America Inc., a biotechnology plant in Fort Dodge, has agreed to pay more than $90,000 to the state for a spill that resulted in a fish kill in Lizard Creek, according to a consent order with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Pseudorabies, a disease that primarily impacts swine, is again considered eradicated in Iowa, after the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship confirmed a spring outbreak did not spread to other farms.
Damaging storms, one of which reached derecho status, spread across Iowa over the past week, but the state’s crop conditions remain stable, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
President Donald Trump announced Monday that oil barges were moving through the Strait of Hormuz, less than a day after he said the United States and Iran had brokered an end to the war.
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to weigh in on the issue of whether some immigrants with criminal records can be detained indefinitely, Stateline reports.
Days after President Donald Trump’s name was removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a large tarp and scaffolding was still blocking the building’s facade from public view Monday afternoon.
For the first time in nearly two decades, Congress missed a deadline for reauthorization of a key surveillance authority, raising questions about whether the U.S. government can continue to monitor certain communications.
President Donald Trump celebrated his 80th birthday cageside at a multimillion-dollar bloody mixed martial arts event staged on the White House South Lawn that wound up early Monday.
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