SPM News

Iowa Democratic leaders want Republican leaders to promise they won’t draw their own political boundaries. State Senate Republicans rejected the first set of redistricting maps that were drawn by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency. The LSA will have a second set of maps done by October 21 st . That would likely give lawmakers enough time to get to a third set of maps—which they can amend- by the December first deadline. Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls says Democrats are very concerned

On Saturday night the Clay County Heritage is hosting an event called “An Evening with Teddy Roosevelt” at the Clay County Regional Events Center in Spencer, Iowa. Roosevelt reprisor Joe Wiegand bring the 26 th president to life. Wiegand, has given performances across the country and currently lives in Medora, North Dakota where he works for the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation . For more information on Joe Wiegand click here . News release from Clay County Heritage : Clay County Heritage is

News 304 100721 A judge has denied a 17-year-old’s request to be tried as a juvenile in a fatal downtown Sioux City shooting in the spring. The trial is set for November 2 nd . Seventeen-year-old Dwight Evans will be tried as an adult on charges of first-degree murder, going armed with intent and two drug counts, the Sioux City Journal reported . Evans had plead not guilty to the charges earlier this year. District Judge Jeffrey Poulson said in his ruling Tuesday that Evans’ extensive criminal

This week on The Exchange we present with the nine canidates for the Sioux City Community School Board. The election is November 2nd. The candidates are current board president Perla Alarcon-Flory, retired SCCS teachers Jan George and Bob Michaelson, occupational therapist Michael Bushby, Sioux City project manager and estimator for construction companies Chad Krastel, lead pastor of the First Assembly of God Church in Sioux City Joshua Potter, former paralegal Amanda Gibson, who is training to

The Iowa Department of Public Health released new COVID-19 data Wednesday showing an additional 91 deaths due to complications of COVID-19. That brings the statewide total to 6,654 deaths since the start of the pandemic. There were almost 9,200 positive tests in the last seven days, down about 650. The state’s 14-day positivity rate dropped from 9.6% to 9.5% since Monday with about a quarter age 18 and under. The number of Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 also declined slightly from 629 to 626.

Nine Republican Governors, including Kim Reynolds of Iowa, visited the U.S.-Mexico border today. “Joe Biden has done absolutely nothing to confront this self-inflicted crisis,” Also, in Mission, Texas, Wednesday, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem stayed behind to focus on wildfires hitting the western portion of the state. The group urged the President to take action against illegal immigration. During a news conference today, Reynolds also spoke about concerns

Investigators searching for an Iowa boy who vanished in May days before his 11th birthday say they have found human remains matching his description in a nearby cornfield in Poweshiek County. The remains were discovered Thursday afternoon by a farmer who was working in a field a few miles outside of Montezuma, where then 10-year-old Xavior Harrelson lived. A spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation says the body “appears to be that of an adolescent” and the clothing found

Data released on Wednesday suggested that Iowa might be turning a corner in the fight against COVID-19. The New York Times reported the state has seen a 25% decrease in cases over the last two weeks, with a new daily average of 1,114 cases per day. Infections reached the highest level of the year last week, with an average of 1,811 new cases per day . The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports Iowa had one of the highest per-capita rates in the U.S., with an average of 55 new daily cases per 100,000

This week on The Exchange, we preview the Sioux City International Film Festival, which begins Thursday, September 30th and runs through Sunday, October 3rd. First, we hear from the editor, owner and publisher of the Storm Lake Times, Art Cullen. The Pullitzer Prize winning paper is featured in a new documentary that is being featured at the festival. It's called Storm Lake. Also, we talk talk with SIFF board members Greg Giles and Leslie Werden about the films, and other activities at the 2021

The Sioux City International Film Festival kicks off with a showing of the documentary Storm Lake on Thursday, September 30. The movie features the Editor of The Storm Lake Times , Art Cullen , and shows how he and his family work to keep the publication in business as the paper covers important stories including water quality, the Iowa Caucuses and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Cullent talked to Siouxland Public Media's Sheila Brummer about winning the Pulitzer Prize , the movie, the future of