Here First

The state auditor says state officials are not giving him information he needs to audit the education savings account program. Some state lawmakers want to make it a felony to knowingly bringing a minor to a drag performance. And how does Gov. Reynolds want to address the health care provider shortage in the state?

There's another attempt to let the state's major electricity providers have dibs on building transmission lines. Public libraries and educational institutions would have to follow obscenity laws under a bill in the legislature. And 2026 election bids are starting to come in.

Delayed payments and layoffs are a couple of impacts of the federal freeze on certain USDA grants. A bill moving through the Iowa Senate would create guidelines for voluntary Bible classes in Iowa high schools. And there are unanswered questions about how the state would implement a bill that would require citizenship status on IDs.

Some state lawmakers are trying to require citizenship status on driver's licenses. Religious exemptions from school required vaccinations are on the rise. And how would selling carbon in trees save forestland?

Republican state lawmakers are trying to ban instruction about LGBTQ topics in middle and high school. Several higher education bills are making gains in the legislature. And how might the NIH funding freeze impact research?

Some Republican lawmakers are trying to change the definition of bullying in Iowa. Changing the weather via chemtrails, a conspiracy theory, could be outlawed in the state. And a nonprofit is ready to challenge the recently approved Cedar Crossing casino.

Governor Kim Reynolds signed an executive order creating an Iowa DOGE task force. The owner of a Davenport apartment that partially collapsed in 2023 will not be held criminally responsible for three deaths and one injury from the event. And a snowstorm warning is in effect overnight in much of Iowa.

Protesters will gather at the state capitol today rallying against a bill involving pesticide companies. The Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office is under investigation after the sheriff said he won't help ICE with potential detainers. And the City of Des Moines is fully enforcing its camping ban ordinance today.

A northeastern Iowa county sheriff says his office won't help ICE detain residents. The long disputed casino in Cedar Rapids has been approved by state regulators. And what Iowan will be playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday?

Four protesters were removed from the state capitol yesterday. Governor Reynolds says Iowa was doing DOGE before it was a thing. And will Linn County get a gambling license today?