Here First

A key Iowa lawmaker says survivors of sexual assault shouldn’t have to pay restitution to their abusers in criminal cases. Some Iowa school districts are getting federal money to buy electric buses. And Iowa’s food pantries continue to see more people who need help.

Briar Cliff University in Sioux City is hosting a series of workshops devoted to helping Native communities find healing. Iowans have elected the first Arab-American to the State Legislature. Plus, a Quad Cities man known as "Mr. Thanksgiving" and his crew are ready to serve more than 3,000, free turkey dinners.

The Scott County Board of Supervisors has accepted more than 64,000 ballots cast during the General Election, so the results are now official. The USDA crop report shows the 2022 harvest season is done. Plus, how Native communities in western Iowa continue to march every Thanksgiving week to protest the disproportionate number of Indigenous children who were taken from their families and placed into foster care.

The Iowan who is on the panel that will decide if Iowa's Democratic Party Caucuses go first in 2024 says Iowa is key to winning the presidency. Iowa had its second-highest voter turnout ever for a midterm election this year. Plus, University of Iowa researchers have developed a model to detect compromised lung function in long COVID patients using X-rays.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has been elected to lead the Republican Governors Association as she increases her national political profile. The EPA is ordering a chemical manufacturer deal with water wells it has polluted. Plus, how a small Kansas town has changed the way its residents think about water and why more towns might need to do the same in the future.

Iowa’s U.S. Senators split their vote on a bill protecting same-sex and interracial marriages. The Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in a former state public health spokesperson’s wrongful termination lawsuit against the governor and other officials. Republican leaders in the Iowa House have created a standalone committee that will take up any significant reforms to the state’s education system.

Gov. Reynolds picked a new chief of staff. Iowa will receive nearly $20 million from a settlement with Walmart over the way it handled the dispensing of opioids. Plus, few city governments, schools or nonprofits in Iowa are making use of the state’s cyber security tools.

Iowa is experiencing its first snow event of the season. The city of Sioux City has issued a health advisory, due to dangerous chemicals called PFAs detected in one of the city’s drinking water plants. Plus, a New York-based hedge fund known for gutting newspapers it owns has reportedly abandoned its bid to purchase Lee Enterprises.

Two law libraries have created a website aimed at making Iowa law easier to understand. The Board of Regents have approved the University of Northern Iowa to start a nursing program. Plus, snow is in the forecast.

Democrat Rob Sand appears to have been narrowly reelected to a second term as Iowa state auditor. State officials say they have started the process of overhauling Iowa’s child welfare system. Plus, Iowa agriculture officials are canceling live bird exhibitions again this year.