The U.S. Postal Service would have to continue Saturday mail delivery for two more years and would face a one-year moratorium on closing rural post offices under a bill the U.S. Senate approved yesterday. Both of Iowa's senators voted for final passage... »
More than 50 religious leaders in Iowa have signed an appeal for "responsible precautionary action to limit global climate change." I've posted below the full statement below with all the signatories, including Catholic Bishops Martin Amos and Richard ... »
Competing rallies about lean finely textured beef took place on the Iowa State University campus yesterday. Governor Terry Branstad, Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds, and Representative Steve King were among the speakers at a rally supporting continued... »
The Iowa Senate approved a broad education reform bill yesterday on a party-line vote of 26 to 24. Details on Senate File 2284 and the floor debate in the upper chamber are after the jump. I've also included the latest news on efforts to stop Iowa scho... »
Cedar Rapids city officials received good news on two fronts this week: the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved $13.8 million to cover flood damage to the city's hydroelectric plant in 2008, and the Iowa legislature approved a bill to help loc... »
After several hours of delay due to a suspicious powder mailed to State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad, the Iowa House passed a bill last night to ban local governments from using "automated traffic law enforcement systems." The 58 to 40 vote didn't fo... »
Democratic opponents of a bill designed to promote nuclear power in Iowa have drafted a dozen amendments to House file 561, in case the bill comes up for debate in the Iowa Senate. The bill squeaked through the Iowa Senate Commerce Committee earlier th... »
At least 200 people gathered on the west steps of the Iowa State Capitol Monday evening for a rally and vigil marking one month since Trayvon Martin's killing in Floriday. After the jump I've posted a few notes from the event, along with links about th... »
Friday marked the second anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as health care reform or "Obamacare." After the jump I enclose lots of news related to the milestone, including c... »
The Iowa legislature's second "funnel" deadline passed on Friday, which means that most non-appropriations bills are dead unless they have been approved in one chamber and in at least one committee in the other chamber. It's time to catch up on the mos... »
A third Democratic candidate has filed nominating papers in the new Iowa Senate district 38. Nick Volk, a bank vice president from Walford (Benton County), will face LaForest Sherman and Shelley Parbs in the June primary. The winner will take on first-... »
U.S. Attorney Stephanie Rose told members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday that she wasn't a key decision maker regarding the May 2008 immigration raid in Postville, Iowa. President Barack Obama has nominated Rose for a federal judgeshi... »
Shelley Parbs announced today that she will run for Iowa Senate district 38. She is the second declared Democratic candidate in this district; the winner of the June primary will face first-term Republican Tim Kapucian, a Senate minority leader and ran... »
Expanding nuclear power is again a hot topic at the Iowa statehouse. It's not clear whether Iowa Senate Commerce Committee Chair Matt McCoy can find the votes he needs to advance House File 561. McCoy announced last week that new language in the bill w... »
This morning Ben Lange announced a "steering committee" of 57 Republicans supporting his campaign in Iowa's first Congressional district. Lange's endorsers include nine local or county elected officials, three former state legislators, six current or f... »
