Here First

The ACLU and three Iowa journalists who sued the governor for not promptly responding to public records requests say their settlement shows government officials must follow the public records law. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is hiring three new attorneys for the Statewide Prosecutions Section in the Iowa Department of Justice. Plus, Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark was honored as the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.

Planned Parenthood says it will close some of its centers in Iowa but will increase services at other locations. Some of Iowa’s top Democrats marked the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision by pledging to fight to keep abortion legal in the state. Plus, some cities are putting conservation measures in place to keep their water supplies from drying up.

The Iowa Department of Education is going through an unexpected change in leadership. An online news outlet aimed at telling the stories of Black Iowans is publishing in print for the first time. Plus, how the U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking at vaccines to help control the spread of bird flu.

National anti-abortion leaders were in Des Moines Wednesday night to call on Republican presidential candidates to vocally support nationwide limits on abortion. The state of Iowa has settled three lawsuits against Governor Kim Reynolds that accused her of failing to follow the state’s public records law. Plus, Iowa is among just a handful of states that haven’t adopted the federal government’s option to extend postpartum care coverage from 60 days to one year for those on Medicaid.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is co-hosting a donation drive this week for anti-abortion pregnancy centers. Landowners and environmental groups say a state regulator is moving too fast to hold hearings over Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed CO2 pipeline. Plus, continued dry conditions across Iowa are hurting the state’s corn and soybean crops.

The City of Davenport has hired two firms to look into the causes of the collapsed building that killed three people. The personal data of thousands of individuals may have been exposed in a cyberattack that cancelled classes for Des Moines Public Schools in January. Plus, Iowa’s resignation from a bipartisan group that helps states keep their voter rolls clean became official at the end of last week.

Abortion rights supporters are celebrating the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision to decline to reinstate a six-week abortion ban last week. The Iowa Democratic Party’s delegate selection plan was found non-compliant by national Democratic Party leaders. Plus, the story of one small Iowa town that became a popular destination for same-sex couples to tie the knot.

Wildfire smoke from fires burning in Canada wafted across eastern Iowa on Thursday. The Iowa Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision Friday that could lead to abortions being banned in Iowa around six weeks of pregnancy. Plus, how efforts to bring back the pallid sturgeon could also protect the floodplain.

Tuition is going up at Iowa’s three public universities next year. Crews began knocking down the remainder of the partially collapsed apartment building that killed three Davenport residents in May. Plus, A new vaccine to protect seniors against RSV could be available as early as this fall.

A former capitol leader is out of his lobbying job after intervening in a leadership shakeup in the Iowa Senate Democrats’ caucus. An annual report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation has ranked Iowa sixth in the nation overall for child well-being. Plus, organizers at RAGBRAI are dropping their attempt to break a Guinness World Record when cyclists cross the state next month.