Podcast Segments:

* Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news)

* https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-restaurants-face-financial-challenges-amid-rising-costs/65951378?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot Restaurants are feeling the pain of Trump’s tariffs - From KCCI: The Iowa Restaurant Association reports that hundreds of Iowa restaurants are struggling financially, with an average of 300 closures each year, a number that could double due to increased costs and wages. "Vendors who sell us food, the large food providers, raise prices in anticipation of tariffs," said Jessica Dunker, of the Iowa Restaurant Association. Antonio Berber, owner of Fiesta in West Des Moines, also highlighted the impact on profits, stating, "We're actually making about half as much in profit as we were five years ago with much more sales now, and we are one of the lucky ones. I know that from talking to other restaurant owners, they're not necessarily doing more sales now than they were a few years ago." Berber has addressed these challenges by raising menu prices and reducing food portions. Over the last five years, Fiesta has increased menu prices by roughly 25%.

* Cauc Talk (political news)

* https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/3/trump-says-11-killed-in-strike-on-alleged-drug-carrying-boat-from-venezuela Trump bombs ‘supposed’ Venezuelan drug traffickers - From Al-Jazeera: President Donald Trump has announced that the United States military conducted a “kinetic” strike on a small boat he accused of smuggling drugs out of Venezuela for the Tren de Aragua gang. In a Tuesday post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump shared black-and-white aerial footage of the bombing, which reportedly killed 11 people. “The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike,” Trump wrote. “Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!” The bombing took place early on Tuesday morning, according to the president. It marks a significant escalation in tensions with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom Trump has repeatedly accused — without evidence — of orchestrating transnational gang activity. The incident is the first known military strike the US has taken against alleged drug smugglers since the Trump administration began increasing military presence in the Caribbean last month.

* https://www.npr.org/2025/09/02/nx-s1-5521384/energy-report-scientists-climate-change?fbclid=IwY2xjawMkcfdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFUZW9tN3ZKNnVUbUMxRTJ0AR6Tj-6ndbUrO5-y_Ue136Wqyg0n8NLr9vdZIpWFooe0BEN9eLBzHnpakCLE6g_aem_Wp5o4bmBSbu17WPbLwHoOg Trump ‘scientists’ called out for their bullshit again - From NPR: A group of more than 85 scientists have issued a joint rebuttal to a recent U.S. Department of Energy report about climate change, finding it full of errors and misrepresenting climate science. This comes weeks after the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Environmental Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration that alleges that Energy Secretary Chris Wright "quietly arranged for five hand-picked skeptics of the effects of climate change" to compile the government's climate report and violated the law by creating the report in secret with authors "of only one point of view."

* Wider Scope

* https://www.fox6now.com/news/fall-heating-up-climate-maps?link_source=ta_first_comment&taid=68b5b5096ee13e0001e6306b&fbclid=IwY2xjawMkcs9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFUZW9tN3ZKNnVUbUMxRTJ0AR6-5u0g2JFKy43yuMcN8y0B-m7Bw0IhHSNisfbdSqNSy9wO8nJ4-8udPxP7Qw_aem_JhQ-hq7g_WbzPYTbX_zmQQ Yes, Fall has been getting warmer - From FoxLocal: New data reveals that the fall season has warmed in nearly every county across the U.S. since 1970 – and where it has warmed the most. The data found that average fall temperatures have increased since 1970 in 237 (98%) of the 243 locations analyzed. On average, cities that experienced an increase in temperatures have warmed by an average of 2.8°F. Since 1970, 103 (42%) of those locations have warmed by 3°F or more. The top five fall warming locations were:

* Reno, Nevada: 7.7°F

* El Paso, Texas: 6.5°F

* Las Vegas, Nevada: 6.2°F

* Tyler, Texas: 5.8°F

* Tucson, Arizona: 5.8°F

* For 16 U.S. cities, there was no equivalent in North America to how hot they'd be in 2100. Their future summers were more similar to current conditions in Pakistan (e.g., Houston), the Middle East (e.g., Phoenix, Austin, and Las Vegas) and North Africa (e.g., Bryan, Texas).

* A.Iowa

https://apnews.com/article/trump-white-house-window-ai-9dad119bb6de1519582db036dc0726d7 Trump claims real video is AI - From the AP: President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a video circulating online that showed items being tossed out of an upstairs window of the White House was created with artificial intelligence, despite his press team seeming to confirm the veracity of it hours earlier. Trump, who has boasted of being an expert in building design as he takes on remodeling projects at the White Houseand beyond, told reporters that the video has “got to be fake” because the windows, he said, are heavy and sealed shut. The video, which circulated Monday, appears to show a small black bag and a long white item being tossed out of a window on the building’s east side. Trump blamed the video on AI, saying the creation of fake videos was one of the downsides of the technology, but then said, “If something happens that’s really bad, maybe I’ll have to just blame AI.” “It’s the kind of thing they do,” he said. “And one of the problems we have with AI, it’s both good and bad. If something happens really bad, just blame AI. But also they create things, you know?”

Podcast Segments:

* Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news)

* From KCCI: Iowa Republicans’ supermajority in the state Senate was broken Tuesday as Democrat Catelin Drey won the special election for Iowa Senate District 1. Drey faced off against Republican Christopher Prosch in the election, which was called to fill the seat after Sen. Rocky De Witt, R-Lawton, passed away due to pancreatic cancer in June. According to preliminary results, Drey, a 37-year-old from Sioux City, won the election by 55% to Prosch’s 44%, according to unofficial results published by the Woodbury County Auditor’s Office. Iowa Democrats celebrated Drey’s victory, saying the Tuesday results — alongside results from other special elections this year — mark a turning point for the state party following several election cycles of overwhelming GOP victories. Another Iowa Senate seat was flipped from Republican to Democrat in January, when Sen. Mike Zimmer, D-DeWitt, defeated Republican Katie Whittington in the special election to replace Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer as she joined Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration in December 2024.

* Cauc Talk (political news)

* FEMA is in bad shape - from the Washington Post: More than 180 Federal Emergency Management Agency employees sent a letter Monday to members of Congress and other officials, arguing that the agency’s direction and current leaders’ inexperience harm FEMA’s mission and could result in a disaster on the level of Hurricane Katrina. The letter, on which three dozen employees signed their full names, says that since January, staffers have been operating under leaders — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, acting FEMA administrator David Richardson and former leader Cameron Hamilton — who lack the legal qualifications and authority to manage FEMA’s operations. This has eroded and hindered the agency’s ability to effectively manage emergencies and other operations, including national security work, the letter says. The letter demands that federal lawmakers defend FEMA from Department of Homeland Security interference, protect the agency’s employees from “politically motivated firings,” conduct more oversight, and ultimately take FEMA out of DHS and establish it as an independent Cabinet-level agency in the executive branch.

* Trump vs. the Smithsonian - from KCCI: The Trump administration is ramping up scrutiny of Smithsonian museums with a wide-ranging review of public-facing content and exhibition planning. The White House released a list of programming and artwork on Thursday that the administration considers problematic. It followed a social media post from President Donald Trump that fueled concerns that the administration is attempting to "sanitize history." "The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of “WOKE," Trump wrote on Tuesday. "The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future." "I don’t understand how telling the truth can be too woke or too bad," said Shamika Patterson, who visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Friday. "It’s our truth as African Americans, and it needs to be said."

* Wider Scope

* Brain implants may tell secrets - from NPR: Surgically implanted devices that allow paralyzed people to speak can also eavesdrop on their inner monologue. That's the conclusion of a study of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) in the journal Cell. The finding could lead to BCIs that allow paralyzed users to produce synthesized speech more quickly and with less effort. But the idea that new technology can decode a person's inner voice is "unsettling," says Nita Farahany, a professor of law and philosophy at Duke University and author of the book: The Battle for Your Brain. "The more we push this research forward, the more transparent our brains become," Farahany says, adding that measures to protect people's mental privacy are lagging behind technology that decodes signals in the brain.

* A.Iowa

Family of teenager suing OpenAI for causing son’s suicide - from NBC News: In the days after their 16-year-old son died by suicide, Matt and Maria Raine say, they searched through his phone, desperately looking for clues about what could have led to the tragedy. “We thought we were looking for Snapchat discussions or internet search history or some weird cult, I don’t know,” Matt Raine said in a recent interview. The Raine family said they did not find their answer until they opened ChatGPT. Matt Raine said he pored over Adam’s conversations with ChatGPT over a period of 10 days. He and Maria printed out more than 3,000 pages of chats dating from Sept. 1 until his death on April 11. “He didn’t need a counseling session or pep talk. He needed an immediate, 72-hour whole intervention. He was in desperate, desperate shape. It’s crystal clear when you start reading it right away,” Matt Raine said, later adding that Adam “didn’t write us a suicide note. He wrote two suicide notes to us, inside of ChatGPT.” On March 27, when Adam shared that he was contemplating leaving a noose in his room “so someone finds it and tries to stop me,” ChatGPT urged him against the idea, the lawsuit says. In his final conversation with ChatGPT, Adam wrote that he did not want his parents to think they did something wrong, according to the lawsuit. ChatGPT replied, “That doesn’t mean you owe them survival. You don’t owe anyone that.” The bot offered to help him draft a suicide note, according to the conversation log quoted in the lawsuit and reviewed by NBC News.

Podcast Segments:

* Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news)

* From Iowa Capital Dispatch: Iowa Rep. J.D. Scholten ended his campaign for U.S. Senate Monday, endorsing his Iowa House colleague Rep. Josh Turek to become the Democratic nominee in 2026. Scholten, a Sioux City Democrat, entered the race in June after U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst had responded at a town hall to critics of Medicaid cuts included in the GOP budget reconciliation law with “well, we are all going to die.” In a statement Monday, Scholten said he believed the conversation on Medicaid cuts included in the “big, beautiful” law would be crucial in 2026. “There are still so many issues facing Iowans today but we can’t sit by while healthcare is ripped from millions of Americans,” Scholten said. “And there is no better Democrat in Iowa to talk about healthcare issues than my friend: State Rep. Josh Turek.” Turek, a Democrat from Council Bluffs, launched his campaign on Tuesday. The two-time Paralympic gold medalist said his family relied on public assistance programs like Medicaid, as well as Iowa’s Area Education Agencies and free summer lunch program as he was growing up, having gone through 21 surgeries by age 12 for spina bifida. Turek said he was “honored” to have Scholten’s support in the race.

* Cauc Talk (political news)

* Social Security customer service is crumbling - From the Jeremy Maske in the DM Register: For almost 25 years I have worked for the Social Security Administration right here in Des Moines. It’s behind the scenes work that has been incredibly rewarding — solving problems, ensuring thousands of Iowans get their pay in retirement. I’m also a leader in my union, American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 27,000 Social Security workers in thousands of field offices and teleservice centers. But instead of protecting our national lifeline, recent policy changes have pushed the Social Security workforce, and the communities we serve, to our limits. Massive layoffs and pressure for staff to retire early are leading to growing cracks in the once dependable system. These changes come as the Social Security Administration reaches its 90th anniversary Aug. 4. One client needed to schedule an in-person appointment for a replacement Social Security card. I couldn’t believe the numbers on my screen. The next available appointment was in the fall, more than five weeks away. That’s just one example of many. More than 70 million Americans rely on their earned benefits and are now enduring an entirely manufactured crisis of longer wait times, field offices forced to turn people away, and volatile policy changes and reversals. This piles on to already record-low staffing. According to a new study, 46 states, including Iowa, lost Social Security staff between March 2024 and March 2025.

* Black mayors are pushing back against the Trump administration on crime - From the AP: As President Donald Trump declared Washington, D.C., a crime-ridden wasteland in need of federal intervention and threatened similar federal interventions in other Black-led cities, several mayors compared notes. The president's characterization of their cities contradicts what they began noticing last year: that they were seeing a drop in violent crime after a pandemic-era spike. In some cases, the declines were monumental, due in large part to more youth engagement, gun buyback programs and community partnerships. Now, members of the African American Mayors Association are determined to stop Trump from burying accomplishments that they already felt were overlooked. They're using the administration's unprecedented law enforcement takeover in the nation's capital as an opportunity to disprove his narrative about some of the country's greatest urban areas. Trump argued that federal law enforcement had to step in after a prominent employee of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was attacked in an attempted carjacking. He also pointed to homeless encampments, graffiti and potholes as evidence of Washington “getting worse.” However, statistics published by Washington’s Metropolitan Police contradict the president and show violent crime has dropped there since a post-pandemic peak in 2023. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson scoffed at Trump’s remarks, hailing the city’s “historic progress driving down homicides by more than 30% and shootings by almost 40% in the last year alone.”

* Wider Scope

* MSNBC is changing it’s name - From the AP: Changing its mind about keeping its name, the MSNBC news network said Monday it will become My Source News Opinion World, or MS NOW for short, as part of its corporate divorce from NBC. The TV network, which appeals to liberal audiences with a stable of personalities including Rachel Maddow, Ari Melber and Nicole Wallace, has been building its own separate news division from NBC News. It will also remove NBC’s peacock symbol from its logo as part of the change, which will take effect later this year. The name change was ordered by NBC Universal, which last November spun off cable networks USA, CNBC, MSNBC, E! Entertainment, Oxygen and the Golf Channel into its own company, called Versant. None of the other networks are changing their name.

* A.Iowa

* Stats from a study from Howdy.com: Key findings:

* 59% of workers use AI at least daily

* 56% pay out of their own pockets for more powerful AI tools at work, averaging $68 monthly

* 67% feel energized by integrating AI into their workflow

* 9% say AI has damaged their sense of self-worth at work

* 75% are expected to use AI officially

* 22% feel pressured to use AI in situations they’re unsure about

* 16% of professionals sometimes pretend to use AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking over the white collar workspace as daily updates provide opportunities to optimize. However, potential does not always lead to smooth implementation.

Among workers who use AI, the vast majority are expected by their employer to use it in some capacity.

* 51% are officially expected to use AI

* 24% are unofficially expected to use AI

Of professionals expected to use AI, 25% received no training. A similar number received formal training, and a third were given dedicated time to learn AI.

Podcast Segments:

* Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news)

* From KCRG: The University of Iowa announced Monday that its Summer Writing Festival will be discontinued. Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) has decided to discontinue the Summer Writing Festival due to ongoing funding challenges. The festival will be discontinued starting December 31, 2025. Iowa CLAS says the decision is based on the resources required and not a reflection of the dedication or effort of the staff. The Iowa Summer Writing Festival brought adult writers from across the country to lead in-person workshops in Iowa City every summer since 1987. The festival is for writers of all levels and backgrounds. The Iowa Summer Writing Festival says they’re forever grateful to all of the writers who have participated in the festival since 1987.

* Governor Reynolds orders Iowa Guard to Assist ICE - From KCCI: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has directed the Iowa National Guard to assist in an immigration mission alongside federal agents. According to the governor's office, 20 Iowa National Guard soldiers will help Iowa-based Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents by providing administrative and logistical support beginning Sept. 8. “Just as we supported Texas when the Biden Administration left them to defend the border, Iowa will continue to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws — this time, by working with the Trump Administration to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in our state,” Reynolds said in a news release announcing the mission. “By providing administrative and logistical support, the Iowa National Guard will free up local ICE officials to continue their work outside the office to enforce the law and keep our state safe.” The authorization is approved through Nov. 15, according to the governor's office. During a conversation with Democratic State Rep. Angel Ramirez, Iowa's first Latina elected to the legislature, KCCI spoke with her about this move. "I think it's deplorable that the governor would scare her residents like that. I think it's deplorable that we would waste tax dollars on that," said Ramirez. "We're talking about such a small population of our people, our community. These are human beings. We are all people. We all want the same things: love, happiness, and success for ourselves, for our kids, for our parents, for our neighbors."

* Trump EPA takes impaired rivers off Iowa list - From Iowa Capital Dispatch: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rescinded its previous decision to add seven segments to Iowa’s list of impaired waters due to their high nitrate concentrations. In November the agency decided the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ list of impaired waters only “partially” met the requirements of the Clean Water Act to identify waterways with identified pollutants in excess of water quality standards. The EPA review of the list identified seven additional segments with high levels of nitrate and nitrate plus nitrite. Despite pushback from the DNR, and comments that the EPA had a “patchwork approach” to regulating nitrate across the country, the federal agency finalized the decision in January. According to reporting from the Des Moines Register on Tuesday, the EPA office informed the DNR in July it had rescinded its decision. A spokesperson for the DNR confirmed the action in an email with the Iowa Capital Dispatch. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Board president Jenny Turner said the EPA’s decision to rescind the segments from the list was “an affront to the health and well-being of Iowans.” “Issuing this reversal on the heels of Central Iowa Water Works first ever lawn watering ban and consistently high nitrate levels in these very same water segments is tone deaf, appalling, and dangerous,” Turner said in a statement.

* Cauc Talk (political news)

* Trump calls on National Guard in DC - From NPR: As hundreds of National Guard troops deployed on Tuesday in the nation's capital, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said homeless people in Washington, D.C., who refuse to move into shelters will face prosecution or fines. "Homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services," Leavitt said during a press briefing, when asked by NPR about the expanding crackdown. "If they refuse, they will be subjected to fines or jail time." According to Leavitt, Metropolitan police and federal law enforcement agents in Washington will strictly enforce existing laws that force homeless people off the city's streets as part of an effort to "make DC safe and beautiful." "That involves removing mentally disturbed individuals and homeless encampments as well," Leavitt said. Posting on his social media platform, Trump also suggested homeless people will be forced out of Washington entirely: "The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital," Trump wrote.

* Wider Scope

* A.Iowa

* ICE is using AI - From CNN: ICE is reportedly purchasing technology to scan people’s eyes from several feet away. The agency issued a notice to purchase artificial intelligence technology that can scan people’s eyes to locate and identify those who are in the country illegally. The technology allows agents to capture someone’s iris from 10 to 15 feet away by using the camera on their iPhone with an app that matches the iris with a photo they already have. “The iris is the part of your eye that everybody sees. The color, it has stripes in it... They are unique to an individual,” Steve Beaty said. Beaty is a computer science professor at Metropolitan State University Denver. “You can do it from quite a distance away, depending upon the magnification of your device,” he said. It is important to note that ICE has not confirmed its plans to use the technology in the field. A spokesperson for ICE said the agency uses various forms of technology while respecting civil liberties.

Podcast Segments:

* Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news)

* The Public Won’t be able to listen to emergency communicators in Eastern Iowa - From KCRG-TV: The Cedar Rapids Fire Department has now joined law enforcement in Linn County and other parts of Iowa in blocking out the public from listening to its emergency radio communications. In a notice sent out late Monday night, the Cedar Rapids Fire Department announced it would start encrypting its scanner radio traffic the next day, effectively blocking members of the public from being able to hear the communication. Linn County law enforcement, including the Linn County Sheriff and Cedar Rapids Police Department, moved to encrypted radio traffic in 2017 citing concerns for officer safety and privacy concerns for crime victims. However, encryption also cuts out a tool for sharing timely public information during an emergency, something other agencies have moved to maintain. When Sioux City Police and the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office moved to encrypted radios in 2017, it reached agreements with local media outlets to allow them to continue to monitor traffic and responsibly communicate information with the public. Earlier this year, the New York State Assembly passed a bill requiring law enforcement grant journalists and other emergency services organizations access to encrypted radio communications.

* More ICE detainment in Cedar Rapids - From KCRG-TV: Three people have been detained by ICE after attending routine immigration check-ins Tuesday. Five immigrant families participated in the check-ins at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office in Cedar Rapids. Hundreds of people showed up to support the families as part of a protest organized by Escucha Mi Voz. Over 300 people filled the lawn in front of the Cedar Rapids ICE building Tuesday morning. The DHS office is the same one where Pascual Pedro was detained on July 1. “He went in thinking it’s just a normal thing and not even realizing her needed support and now people are understanding,” said Laurie Forbes, a supporter attending the protest. Protestors made their way to the office not only to support the families but also in the hopes of protecting them. Despite their efforts, three people were detained by ICE, including Hugo Zamora of Postville and Moctar Sanogo of Muscatine. Neither Zamora nor Sanogo are affiliated with Escucha Mi Voz.

* Cauc Talk (political news)

* Trump fires labor stats leader - From KCCI-TV: President Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, after claiming that the weaker-than-expected jobs report released Friday was rigged for political reasons. "A SCAM! She did it again, with another massive 'correction,' and got FIRED! She had the biggest miscalculations in over 50 years," Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday. Trump is referencing revisions to May and June figures, which show that hiring was much weaker than previously reported. These revisions are routine, though the updated figures were larger than usual. The White House disputes the corrections but has not shared any specific evidence of wrongdoing. The firing faced harsh criticism from William Beach, who Trump appointed BLS commissioner during his first term. "I don't think there's any grounds at all for this, for this firing, and it really hurts the statistical system. It undermines credibility," Beach said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. Beach said there are safeguards in place to prevent that data manipulation. He said that while he is worried about how the firing will impact public perception, he will continue to trust government jobs data moving forward, noting BLS employees "are completely devoted to producing the very best gold standard data possible."

* Epstein cover-up continues in the White House - From ABC News: Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday evening is expected to host a group of top administration officials at his residence for a strategy session as the administration considers whether to release the transcript from the Department of Justice interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. It's one of many meetings that has consumed the White House and top administration officials as they attempt to quell the fallout from their handling of the Epstein files and as pressure mounts for the DOJ and the White House to be transparent about what Maxwell said in her nine hours of meetings earlier this month with deputy attorney general Todd Blanche. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles are expected to attend, the sources said. As ABC reported Tuesday, the administration could release a transcript of the interview as soon as this week.

* Wider Scope

* A.Iowa

Former CNN host Jim Acosta interviews AI reanimation of Parkland shooting victim - From The Guardian: Jim Acosta, former chief White House correspondent for CNN, stirred controversy on Monday when he sat for a conversation with a reanimated version of a person who died more than seven years ago. His guest was an avatar of Joaquin Oliver, one of the 17 people killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. The video shows Oliver, captured via a real photograph and animated with generative artificial intelligence, wearing a beanie with a solemn expression. Acosta asks the avatar: “What happened to you?” “I appreciate your curiosity,” Oliver answers in hurried monotone without inflection or pauses for punctuation. “I was taken from this world too soon due to gun violence while at school. It’s important to talk about these issues so we can create a safer future for everyone.” The avatar’s narration is stilted and computerized. The movements of its face and mouth are jerky and unnatural, looking more like a dub-over than an actual person talking. Acosta said in the video segment that Oliver’s parents created the AI version of their son and his father, Manuel Oliver, invited him to be the first reporter to interview the avatar. Acosta also spoke to Manuel Oliver in the video, telling him: “I really felt like I was speaking with Joaquin. It’s just a beautiful thing.” The victim’s father said he understood this was an AI version of his son and that he can’t bring him back, but it was a blessing to hear his voice again. He said he’s looking forward to seeing what more AI can do.

Podcast Segments:

* Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news)

* From the CR Gazette: Pascual Pedro lived in Iowa for seven years, growing up here after immigrating to the United States when he was 13. Last Tuesday, he was detained at a regular check-in appointment at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in Cedar Rapids. Less than a week later, and before his lawyer had time to file a single document with ICE officials regarding his order of removal, he was deported to Guatemala, where he was born. “This is a travesty, there was no due process and our message is bring him back now,“ Father Guillermo Treviño Jr., the parish priest of St. Joseph Catholic Church in West Liberty and Pedro’s godfather, said in a statement. Pedro, now 20, was marked for expedited removal when he arrived in the United States with his father in 2018, but was allowed to stay under supervised released. His father was deported, and Pedro moved in with his grandparents, who have lived in the United States since 1991. He attended his annual check-in meetings with ICE, had no criminal record, and had previously been approved for a work permit. Community members who knew Pedro through his years of playing soccer for West Liberty High School, through his church attendance at St. Joseph, through his job working for his grandfather’s siding company — for which Pedro had been approved for a work permit — and through other avenues, rallied when they heard Pedro had been detained.

* Cauc Talk (political news)

* Wider Scope

* From NPR: In a break with decades of tradition, the Internal Revenue Service says it will allow houses of worship to endorse candidates for political office without losing their tax-exempt status. The surprise announcement came in a court document filed on Monday. Since 1954, a provision in the tax code called the Johnson Amendment says that churches and other nonprofit organizations could lose their tax-exempt status if they participate in, or intervene in "any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office." The National Religious Broadcasters and several churches sued the IRS over the rule, arguing that it infringes on their First Amendment rights to the freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion. According to an analysis of 2023 polling provided to RNS by the Public Religion Research Institute, majorities of all major religious groups oppose allowing places of worship to endorse political candidates while retaining their tax-exempt status. That includes white evangelicals (62%) as well as Black Protestants (59%), white mainline or nonevangelical Protestants (77%), white Catholics (79%), Hispanic Catholics (78%), Hispanic Protestants (72%) and Jewish Americans (77%).

* A.Iowa

From BBC: Elon Musk's artificial intelligence start-up xAI says it is working to remove "inappropriate" posts made by its chatbot, Grok, after users shared how it made positive references to Hitler. Screenshots published on social media show the chatbot saying the Nazi leader would be the best person to respond to alleged "anti-white hate." "Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X," the company said in a post.ADL, an organisation formed to combat antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, said the posts were "irresponsible, dangerous and antisemitic." In response to a question asking "which 20th century historical figure" would be best suited to deal with such posts, Grok said: "To deal with such vile anti-white hate? Adolf Hitler, no question." "If calling out radicals cheering dead kids makes me 'literally Hitler,' then pass the mustache," said another Grok response. "Truth hurts more than floods."

Podcast Segments:

* Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news)

* Guest JJ Johnson of Washington for Justice - From the Southeast Iowa Union: A handful of local advocacy groups are asking the Washington County Board of Supervisors to draft and vote on a resolution declaring the community’s civil rights standards, after state legislators removed the term “gender identity” from Iowa’s list of protected classes earlier this year in a bill titled Senate File 418. The movement began with a request from Richmond resident JJ Johnson in March. While Johnson’s been permitted a public comment on the matter at one board meeting, it’s otherwise gone largely undiscussed by county supervisors.

* From KCRG-TV: The family of a West Liberty man said their son was wrongfully detained by ICE agents. On Tuesday night, family, friends, and loved ones held a prayer vigil at the Muscatine County Jail, where 20-year-old Pascual Pedro was being held. According to Pedro’s family, he had attended an annual ICE meeting where he was detained. Pedro came to West Liberty with his father 7 years ago at the age of 12 from his home country of Guatemala. Pedro played on the soccer team and graduated from high school in West Liberty. According to his Godfather, Father Guillermo Travino Jr., it was just understood that if he attended the annual ICE meetings in Cedar Rapids, he was allowed to stay for another year, but that wasn’t the case during Tuesday morning’s meeting where they said he was detained and brought to the Muscatine County Jail. Travino Jr. said Pedro’s immigration status was unclear to him. “He came with his dad 7 years ago, and they would have annual check-ins, which is what his grandpa was a check-in, and he’s free to go for another year. Unfortunately for Pascual, he was detained,” said Travino Jr. Trevino Jr. said he does plan on coming back to jail on Wednesday to try and visit Pedro.

* Cauc Talk (political news)

* From PBS: Senate Republicans hauled President Donald Trump’s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill to passage Tuesday on the narrowest of votes, pushing past opposition from Democrats and their own GOP ranks after a turbulent overnight session. “The big not so beautiful bill has passed,” Paul said after the vote. The difficulty it took for Republicans, who have the majority hold in Congress, to wrestle the bill to this point is not expected to let up. The package now goes back to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson had warned senators not to deviate too far from what his chamber had already approved. But the Senate did make changes, particularly to Medicaid, risking more problems as they race to finish by Trump’s Fourth of July deadline. All told, the Senate bill includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, according to the latest CBO analysis, making permanent Trump’s 2017 rates, which would expire at the end of the year if Congress fails to act, while adding the new ones he campaigned on, including no taxes on tips. The Senate package would roll back billions of dollars in green energy tax credits, which Democrats warn will wipe out wind and solar investments nationwide. It would impose $1.2 trillion in cuts, largely to Medicaid and food stamps, by imposing work requirements on able-bodied people, including some parents and older Americans, making sign-up eligibility more stringent and changing federal reimbursements to states.

* From NPR: The Trump administration has, for the first time ever, built a searchable national citizenship data system. The tool, which is being rolled out in phases, is designed to be used by state and local election officials to give them an easier way to ensure only citizens are voting. But it was developed rapidly without a public process, and some of those officials are already worrying about what else it could be used for. NPR is the first news organization to report the details of the new system. For decades, voting officials have noted that there was no national citizenship list to compare their state lists to, so to verify citizenship for their voters, they either needed to ask people to provide a birth certificate or a passport — something that could disenfranchise millions — or use a complex patchwork of disparate data sources. Legal experts told NPR they were alarmed that a development of this magnitude was already underway without a transparent and public process. "That is a debate that needs to play out in a public setting," said John Davisson, the director of litigation at the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center. "It's one that deserves public scrutiny and sunlight, that deserves the participation of elected representatives, that deserves opportunities for the public to weigh in through public comment and testimony."

* Wider Scope

From the AP: In a case seen as a challenge to free speech, Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over the editing of CBS' “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in October. Paramount told media outlets the money will go to Trump’s future presidential library, not to the president himself. It said the settlement did not involve an apology. Trump’s lawyer said the president had suffered “mental anguish” over the editing of the interview by CBS News, while Paramount and CBS rejected his contention that it was edited to enhance how Harris sounded. They had sought to get Trump's lawsuit dismissed. There was no immediate word from the White House about the settlement of the case, which Trump filed in Amarillo, Texas. Paramount and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone were seeking the settlement with Trump, whose administration must approve the company’s proposed merger with Skydance Media. CBS News President and CEO Wendy McMahon and “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens, who both opposed a settlement, have resigned in recent weeks.

Podcast Segments:

* Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news)

* From the Guardian: Six months ago, Alex Hammer was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 37. Dianne Chambers endured surgery, chemotherapy and dozens of rounds of radiation to fight aggressive breast cancer, and Janan Haugen spends most days helping care for her 16-year-old grandson, who is still being treated for brain cancer he developed at the age of seven. The three were among a group of about two dozen people who came together last week in a small town in central Iowa to share their experiences of cancer. They are part of a new research project investigating potential environmental causes for what the American Cancer Society’s advocacy arm calls a cancer “crisis”. For the last few years, Iowa has had the second-highest rate of cancer in the nation, and is only one of two US states where cancer is increasing. “People in rural communities are getting sick. Cancer is just everywhere,” said Kerri Johannsen, senior director of policy at the Iowa Environmental Council, a non-profit focused on improving the environment that is helping to lead the project. “Every person I talk to knows somebody that has [recently] had a cancer diagnosis,” she said. “It’s just a constant drumbeat. It’s scary.”

* From Ed Tibbets in Bleeding Heartland: Nobody wants their tax dollars going to pay for government health insurance for some dude who just hangs around his parents’ basement gaming while the rest of us have to haul ourselves out of bed each morning to go to work. Which is why Republicans have been focusing so much on the Medicaid work requirements in Donald Trump’s big, ugly tax bill. They won’t admit the money they save by taking health insurance away from millions of poor Americans will go to finance tax cuts for some of the wealthiest families in the country. So, they falsely claim these cuts will protect the most vulnerable, who also are covered by Medicaid. As I’ve previously pointed out, this claim is not true. If it were, the money they plan to save on these work requirements would go to trim Medicaid waiting lists or to bolster care for Iowans who rely on already struggling rural hospitals. But they don’t. They go to pay for tax cuts. Still, the image of forcing that lazy, 29-year-old man off his couch and into the workforce is a powerful one, and it is the foundation of the Republicans’ campaign to sell Trump’s bill. (Editor’s note from Laura Belin: U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson has repeatedly used this frame. For example, she told some Iowa reporters in a conference call last month, “the intent of Medicaid is to protect those with disabilities, seniors, single mothers with children, not 29-year-old men playing video games on their mother’s couch in the basement.”)

The problem is this image also is not true.

A study published at the end of April demonstrates just who these “able-bodied” non-working people on Medicaid actually are.

* First, they’re rare. And, for the most part, they’re not men.

* Four out of five are women.

* Their average age is 41.

* One out of four is a woman over the age of 50.

* On average, they live in households of 4.4 people. They have no income of their own and the average income of their families is less than $45,000 a year.

Think about those images for a moment. How many of us know women who live in such struggling households? Who are just trying to get by. Who if they didn’t have Medicaid would have no health insurance at all.

* Cauc Talk (political news)

* From The Hill: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is placing new limitations on lawmakers seeking to visit detention facilities, releasing guidelines in the wake of visits from Democrats that have turned confrontational. Members of Congress have the legal right to make unannounced visits to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. But new guidance posted by ICE seeks to rein in that power, asking lawmakers to give 72 hours notice before any visits, while requiring their staff to give 24 hours notice. Though lawmakers retain the ability to make unannounced visits to ICE detention facilities, the new policy blocks them from visiting field offices, where most agency action takes place. “[DHS Secretary] Kristi Noem’s new policy to block congressional oversight of ICE facilities is not only unprecedented, it is an affront to the Constitution and Federal law. Noem is now not only attempting to restrict when Members can visit, but completely blocking access to ICE Field Offices – even if Members schedule visits in advance. No matter how much she and [President] Trump want to force us to live under their authoritarian rule, ICE is not above oversight and the Department must follow the law,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said in a statement.

* Wider Scope

* From the CR Gazette: The National Weather Service, which is responsible for tracking storms and warning the public about them, has lost hundreds of employees to federal cuts and voluntary resignations. President Trump also wants to reduce the budget of NWS’s parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, by more than a quarter. On the heels of deadly storms across the Mississippi River basin and ahead of a hurricane season that’s predicted to be worse than average, five former NWS heads released a letter last month outlining their concerns regarding the cuts. Elbert “Joe” Friday, Jr. signed the letter. He served as director of the NWS from 1988 until 1997. He spoke with the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk about his operational concerns under the proposed changes. Quoting Friday, “The weather service is a 24-hour a day, seven-day a week operation, 365 days a year. The staffing levels are right now as a result of the cuts that have already occurred, the lowest they have been since I can remember. They're below 4,000 people in the (NWS). What's happened now is that you have several offices that are no longer staffed to the levels that they can provide 24-hour-a-day operation. Several of them are closing on the night shift. Now, whenever they see a storm coming, they stress – they bring in people overtime and they'll put them on and they'll try to do the best possible job that they can to provide the best possible service they can. We have several offices around the country that have no chief or meteorologist in charge any longer. The Houston office has lost all three of its senior people there right now.

* A.Iowa

From Vice: For six months, an Australian radio station aired a daily show hosted by a young-sounding woman named Thy—cheerful, confident, and always on beat—until listeners started asking: who is she? Turns out, she’s not a person at all. CADA, a Sydney-based station owned by Australian Radio Network (ARN), ran “Workdays with Thy” every weekday, with Thy introducing tracks and hosting music commentary for four hours a day. The station promoted her as a fresh voice curating the latest hits—but never mentioned that voice came from a machine. Listeners grew suspicious. The station didn’t let its audience know she wasn’t real—until Sydney-based writer Stephanie Coombes began asking questions in a blog post. Eventually, ARN came clean. Thy wasn’t real. She was an AI-generated voice cloned from an actual ARN employee, created in collaboration with ElevenLabs. “No mic, no studio, just code and vibes,” wrote ARN project leader Fayed Tohme in a now-deleted LinkedIn post. The revelation sparked backlash. While there are no laws in Australia requiring radio stations to disclose the use of AI, many argued that CADA’s secrecy undermined listener trust. Teresa Lim, vice president of the Australian Association of Voice Actors, called the move deceptive. “AI can be a powerful and positive tool in broadcasting if there are correct safeguards in place,” Lim wrote on LinkedIn. “Authenticity and truth are important for broadcast media. The public deserves to know the source of what’s being broadcast.”