Iowa

Sharon Hudson (left) has advanced Alzheimer's. But she smiles and giggles when her daughter, Lana Obermeyer, visits at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Syracuse, Nebraska.

Health & Safety

Rural nursing home operators say new staff rules would cause more closures

5:01am September 14, 2023

by Tony Leys

The Biden administration says a recently proposed minimum staffing standard would help ensure quality care, but nursing home leaders predict it will accelerate a trend of closures in rural America.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (L) speaks with attendees during an Iowa GOP reception on May 13, 2023 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Politics & Government

Trump still leads the pack in Iowa. But other Republicans are hoping for an opening

2:19pm July 28, 2023

by Franco Ordoñez

Former President Donald Trump maintains a double-digit lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in local polls, but Iowa party leaders say Trump has left an opening for his rivals to gain some ground.

Queue Listen Now

In a special legislative session that lasted around 15 hours, Republican lawmakers passed a "fetal heartbeat" bill that would effectively ban abortion after six weeks on Tuesday, July 11. Hundreds of Iowans rallied at the Capitol in protest and support of the legislation, clashing often in the building's rotunda.

Evangelical Christian voters in Iowa love Trump. Can another Republican win them over?

10:50am July 14, 2023

by Clay Masters

At the Family Leader summit in Des Moines, GOP presidential hopefuls will try to convince Iowa's influential evangelical voting bloc they have the conservative credentials to win the caucuses.

Queue Listen Now

Pastor Michael Shover of Christ the Redeemer Church in Pella, Iowa, left, argues with Ryan Maher, of Des Moines, as protesters clashed in the Iowa State Capitol rotunda, while the Iowa Legislature convened for a special session on July 11, 2023.

Iowa Republicans pass bill banning most abortions after about 6 weeks

2:16am July 12, 2023

by The Associated Press

Iowa's Republican-led Legislature passed a bill banning most abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy during a marathon session Tuesday. Gov. Kim Reynolds said she would sign the bill on Friday.

Willard Miller makes a statement during his sentence hearing at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Fairfield, Iowa, Thursday, July 6, 2023. Miller, the first of two Iowa teenagers who pleaded guilty to beating their high school Spanish teacher to death with a baseball bat, was sentenced Thursday to life with a possibility of parole after 35 years in prison.

National

An Iowa teenager receives life for the beating death of his high school teacher

2:23am July 07, 2023

by The Associated Press

The first of two Iowa teenagers who pleaded guilty to beating their high school Spanish teacher to death with a baseball bat was sentenced to life with a chance of parole after 35 years in prison.

The sign for Glen Oaks Alzheimer's Special Care Center is seen on Google Earth. The facility pronounced a living woman dead and is being fined $10,000.

Iowa Alzheimer's care facility is fined $10,000 after pronouncing a living woman dead

11:20am February 04, 2023

by Kaitlyn Radde

The woman was unresponsive, and nurses were unable to detect her breathing. A state agency report found the facility "failed to ensure residents received dignified treatment and care at end of life."

An Iowa official's wife is charged with 52 counts of voter fraud in congressional race

9:22am January 14, 2023

by The Associated Press

The wife of a county supervisor allegedly filled out and cast absentee ballots in her husband's unsuccessful race for a Republican nomination to run for Congress in 2020, federal prosecutors said.

Pieper Lewis speaks Sept. 13 at a sentencing hearing in Des Moines, Iowa.

National

An Iowa teen convicted of killing her rapist escapes from a probation center

12:50pm November 07, 2022

by The Associated Press

Pieper Lewis, who was a 15-year-old sex trafficking victim at the time she stabbed her abuser, could face 20 years in prison if her sentence is reimposed.

Pieper Lewis, left, speaks with Polk County District Judge David M. Porter during her sentencing hearing on Sept. 13. Donations are pouring in to help Lewis, a 17-year-old sex trafficking victim who was ordered by the court to pay $150,000 to the family of a man she stabbed to death after he raped her.

National

A teen ordered to pay $150,000 to the family of her rapist is flooded with donations

2:30pm September 16, 2022

by Vanessa Romo

A GoFundMe account set up by Pieper Lewis' former math teacher has surpassed the amount of the court-ordered restitution — and people are still giving.

The O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant in Jackson, Mississippi, shown late last month. Jackson is currently struggling with access to safe drinking water after flooding caused a disruption at a main water processing facility.

The crisis in Jackson shows how climate change is threatening water supplies

8:41am September 07, 2022

by Scott Neuman

Historic flooding and record droughts are stressing water systems across the country, and experts warn that with climate change intensifying the crisis in Jackson, Miss., may be just the beginning.