Here First

The top Republicans in the Iowa Legislature say they support making state-funded private school scholarships available to Iowans regardless of a family’s income. Des Moines Public Schools has cancelled classes after a possible cyberattack caused the school system to shut down its computer networks. Plus, the governing board of Iowa’s public universities will conduct midyear performance reviews on Tuesday of their university presidents.

The four Republicans from Iowa who were elected to serve in the U.S. House were finally sworn into office over the weekend after fifteen votes to decide who would be speaker. In Iowa, the 2023 legislative session begins on Monday. Plus, striking auto workers in southeast Iowa have voted down a proposal from Case New Holland.

Republican U.S. Senator Joni Ernst says failure of U.S. House Republicans to elect a Speaker could be sending the wrong message to foreign adversaries. 400 striking workers at the Case New Holland plant in Burlington will get a first look at a new contract on Saturday. Plus, why some are welcoming Confined Animal Feeding Operations and others are fighting against them.

States, local governments and internet providers have until January 13 to challenge the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Map. Anti-human trafficking advocates are discussing steps they want lawmakers to take to prevent human trafficking and help survivors. Plus, it will take significantly more precipitation to break Iowa's long-running drought.

Iowa’s four Republican representatives in the U-S House all support Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen has been elected to another term. Plus, there could be a resolution to the strike at Case New Holland Industrial plants in Burlington and Racine, Wisconsin.

The incoming, recently elected Iowa attorney general has asked for the resignations of 19 current staffers. The top Republicans and Democrats at the Iowa Capitol say lawmakers will discuss proposed carbon capture pipelines during the upcoming legislative session. Plus, the state’s most populous county is swearing in a new county attorney on Tuesday who wants to make big changes in Polk County.

The fire at Marengo’s C6-Zero facility may be out. But there’s still some question over who will pay damages and for the clean-up. In the nearly six months since Iowa launched 988, advocates say call volume to the new easy to remember suicide prevention hotline has doubled. Just a few months after completing one expansion in Clinton, Nestle Purina PetCare has announced another. This week the company said it’ll build a warehouse that'll create 15 more jobs. Plus, another invasive species of carp in North America has established itself in the Mississippi River basin.

A new study has found nearly half of Iowa drivers involved in a crash tested positive for at least one drug. The U-S Department of Agriculture expects national farm income to increase nearly 14% from last year, to a record $160 billion dollars. Even adjusted for inflation, that’s the highest it’s been since 1973. Iowa's Attorney General has announced a settlement with an electronic cigarette maker over the company's advertising. Plus, COVID-19 hospitalizations and reported positive tests have dropped in the past week.

Investors make up a larger share of those buying farmland in Iowa than in years past. IPR’s Katie Peikes reports, that’s according to an Iowa land values survey released this month. A bill that would create a legal pathway to citizenship for Afghan evacuees in the U-S did not make it into an end of the year spending bill passed by Congress. Iowa resettlement agencies are worried about what this means for the hundreds of Afghans now living in the state. Plus, Brenna Bird will take over Monday as Iowa's attorney general, the first Republican to hold the office in 40 years. She plans to review the state's Crime Victim Assistance program.

Iowa legislative leaders say they have no plans to change the state law that says the Iowa caucuses have to go first in the nation – despite the national Democrats’ plans to put other states ahead of Iowa in 2024. Communities in central Iowa are wrapping up negotiations on creating a regional water authority. And leaving for work a little later in the morning could mean a safer drive on bad-weather mornings.