Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“I want to give peace a real chance for families in the United States.” — Diane Komsky, who drove an hour to the No Kings protest Saturday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, one of hundreds of events around the country and in Iowa.
Volunteers from Food and Water Action discuss their door-knocking strategy during the No Kings Day of Action in Colby Park in Des Moines, Iowa, on Oct. 17, 2026. The event encouraged people to vote early. (Photo by Joanna Schroder for Iowa Capital Dispatch)
It was quiet in Windsor Heights’ Colby Park Saturday afternoon as volunteers from many organizations were out canvassing neighborhoods encouraging people to vote early as part of the No Kings Day of Action.
Marie Herring, an organizer with the group Indivisible 515, said the Saturday event looks different from previous No Kings rallies held in Des Moines because it was not meant as a day of protest, but a day for organizers to get out the vote in Iowa.
MORE NO KINGS COVERAGE
A new University of Iowa exercise oncology clinic is working with cancer patients and survivors to help with their symptoms and health. (Stock photo via Getty Images)
A new exercise oncology research clinic at the UI is helping Iowans dealing with cancer and its aftermath build back strength and trust in their bodies through exercise training.
The new clinic, housed in the UI’s new Health Sciences Academic Building near the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, is funded with $642,896 over three years through the university’s public-private partnership initiative.
Democrat Josh Turek, campaigning with former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, said Sunday he believed President Donald Trump “accurately identified the problem” Iowans face as they struggle with issues like rising costs — but he argued Trump and Republicans’ failure to lower prices since taking power will drive voters to support his campaign for U.S. Senate.
An assisted-living company recently fired one of its top administrators after a resident death in Iowa resulted in a care facility being cited for numerous violations and its license being downgraded to conditional status.
A multimillion-dollar donation to the University of Iowa’s business college, alongside a matching gift challenge to generate even more funds, will help support a student mental health and success initiative that sees participation from thousands.
The sheer size of investment in data centers is drawing concern as it surpasses all other historical booms and crowds out other more job-creating ventures, Stateline reports.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that jurisdictions across the nation, including in Iowa, are struggling to provide attorneys to the estimated 80%-90% of criminal defendants who cannot afford one, Stateline reports.
President Donald Trump has a flurry of travel – including to Iowa -- on deck in the final frantic weeks leading up to the end of the midterm elections, in which the GOP is vying to maintain its control of both the U.S. House and Senate.
Democrats are touting an ambitious legislative agenda centered on affordability and accountability if they take back the U.S. House or Senate — or both — in November.
After the U.S. Department of Justice sued California over its refusal to remove voters the federal government alleges are noncitizens, voting rights advocates fear the Trump administration is violating a court order blocking it from rooting out noncitizens with states’ voter data.
More than 100,000 Ukrainians and roughly 2,000 Sudanese immigrants are bracing for the possibility they’ll lose their humanitarian protections by Monday.
COMMENTARY
President Donald Trump is headed back to Iowa for two events before the Nov. 3 election. Kathie Obradovich, Laura Belin and Eric Woolson discuss his strategy, plus the week’s debates in the races for Iowa governor race, U.S. Senate and the 4th Congressional District.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
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