CLIVE, IOWA — The Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) has crowned Hometown Heroes of Grinnell as the winner of the 2025 Iowa’s Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin Contest. Located at 908 Main Street in downtown Grinnell, Iowa, this sports-grill-style restaurant is a gathering spot for community, good food, and local pride. Owner and executive chef Paul Durr said the recognition is both humbling and exciting for his team. “We’ve sold so many tenderloins since the contest started, it’s been incredible,” Durr said. “Our staff has worked so hard, and the community support has just blown us away. We’re so proud to win this award.” Phil Carey, retired chef and culinary instructor and one of the judges in the 2025 contest, praised the winning tenderloin in strong terms: “Hometown Heroes was one of the first ones that we judged, and as we (the judging panel) left, we agreed that this one would be hard to beat. The pork was tender and juicy; it was evenly pounded and well-seasoned… the pork was the star of the show! It was made complete by being served hot on a toasted bun. It’s a great sandwich!”

Opened in 2019 and owned by Paul and Kalyn Durr, along with partners Shannon and Todd Reding, Hometown Heroes blends comfort food with hometown spirit. Paul serves as executive chef and director of operations, with Kalyn overseeing marketing. Alex Phillips is the general manager handling day-to-day operations. The restaurant is part of the Prairie Hospitality Group, which also owns Prairie Canary, a farm-to-table establishment in Grinnell.

More than just a place to eat, Hometown Heroes is designed with the local community in mind. Inside, one wall is dedicated to athletes from nearby high schools and colleges who now represent the region on bigger stages. Other walls pay tribute to first responders, military service members, and those who have served the community in various “hero” roles. The restaurant is casual and energetic with a menu that leans toward bar/family comfort food: wings, burgers, sandwiches, and of course, the now celebrated pork tenderloin.

The Iowa Pork Producers Association is thrilled to officially present the coveted Iowa’s Best Tenderloin Award for 2025 at Hometown Heroes today (Friday) at noon! They will take home a $500 cash prize, a plaque, and a banner to showcase their achievement.

The 2025 runner-up is The 1854 in Gilbertville, Iowa. They’ll receive a $250 prize along with a plaque from the IPPA. Earlier this month, we also recognized several other outstanding finalists, who will receive top-five plaques in alphabetical order:

• Dexfield Diner & Pub – Redfield
• Sugar’s Lounge & Diner – Council Bluffs
• Walker’s – Salix

This tenderloin contest celebrates Iowa restaurants that feature hand-breaded or battered pork tenderloin as a staple on their menu. To qualify, establishments must be open year-round. Winners are unveiled every October in honor of National Pork Month, which pays tribute to the hard work and dedication of America’s pork producers.

Dairy Sweet in Dunlap was the 2024 winner, making it the first restaurant to win the title twice.

See the full list of past winners, dating back to 2003.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The American Legion Memorial Building is almost 100 years old. It has gone through many changes both in the interior and exterior since it was built in 1929 as a memorial for WWI veterans and the National Guard Armory. Learn the story of changes on Sunday, October 19 beginning at 2 pm at the Armory.

In addition to its main purpose, it has served the community in a wide variety of ways. Here are a few examples of uses. Before the “new” Atlantic High School was built in 1937 the drill floor was used as the gymnasium for wrestling and basketball. Community dances were held on a regular basis including one with Lawrence Welk providing the music. It housed the Coca Cola museum in their first years.

When the National Guard closed in 2001 it was sold to Atlantic for $1.00. The question was how it would be used or if it should be demolished. ARISE to the rescue to maintain and plan uses. The purpose of honoring veterans continues through the Military Museum and providing meeting space for veterans’ organizations and Civil Air Patrol. It also provides a large meeting room for community use.

Steve Livengood will give a PowerPoint presentation with before and after photographs of renovation and remodeling and a history of the American Legion Memorial Building this Sunday, October 19 beginning at 2 pm located at 201 Poplar street, Atlantic. It is sponsored by ARISE for everyone to attend. There is no fee and the building is handicapped accessible.

DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Iowa’s largest health insurer, Wellmark Blue Cross-Blue Shield, is suing the Iowa insurance commissioner to block enforcement of a new state law that attempts to regulate pharmacy benefit managers. Earlier this year, state lawmakers and the governor approved Senate File 383, which regulates pharmacy benefit managers, employee benefit plans, insurance carriers, and other third-party payors that provide or administer prescription drug benefits.

The Iowa Association of Business and Industry filed a lawsuit in June to block enforcement of the new law. On July 21, 2025, a federal judge ruled the law was, in some respects, illegal and invalid and issued an injunction blocking its enforcement. However, that court ruling was limited in that it prevents the state from enforcing the law only against the plaintiff in the case, ABI, and its members and contractors.

In its newly filed lawsuit over Senate File 383, Wellmark notes that nowhere in the ABI ruling did the court suggest that non-parties to that case were precluded from similarly challenging any future enforcement efforts, although the injunction in the ABI case is currently on appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. In its lawsuit against Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen, Wellmark says the scope of the injunction raises the question of whether Ommen can “legitimately seek to enforce” the new law.

Wellmark argues, on Sept. 24, 2025, Ommen issued guidance in the form of a bulletin indicating he believes he is “obligated” to enforce the new law “in its entirety” against all regulated entities who were not plaintiffs in the ABI case. In addition, Wellmark says, the commissioner recently asked Wellmark for information regarding the new law’s implementation, signaling possible investigatory and enforcement efforts. The insurer says its legal action will help prevent “many piecemeal complaints” being filed to extend the ruling in the ABI case to others who weren’t part of that lawsuit.

In addition to Wellmark Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Iowa, the plaintiffs in the case include affiliates Wellmark Inc., Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa, and Wellmark of South Dakota. The Iowa Insurance Division and Ommen have yet to file a response to the lawsuit, and the Iowa Capital Dispatch was unable Thursday to reach the division’s spokesperson for comment.

Wellmark is Iowa’s largest provider of health insurance and related administrative services, and also is Iowa’s largest provider of health insurance for individuals, such as those served by the health insurance exchange through the Affordable Care Act. According to the company, through its plans and policies, Wellmark now serves more than 800,000 people in Iowa.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI-TV] — A Des Moines man has been arrested on multiple charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and invasion of privacy. 32-year-old Tyler Pavlick was booked into the Polk County Jail, Wednesday.

Des Moines police say they began an investigation shortly after 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4 when officers were called to the Harvest & Handmade event at Water Works Park. Staff called police to report what appeared to be a recording device that had been placed in a toilet bowl of a portable toilet. Investigators found that the camera had recorded dozens of people entering and using the portable toilet, including children.

Detectives executed a search warrant this week at an East Village apartment and took Pavlick into custody. He is charged with seven counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and three counts of invasion of privacy.If you attended the Harvest & Handmade event Saturday, Oct. 4, at Water Works Park and believe you may have been recorded while using a portable toilet, you’re encouraged to contact Des Moines police at FCS@DMGOV.org. Authorities say evidence shows the device was in place for about six hours, beginning just before 10 a.m

In Marshall County, officials with the sheriff’s office say Pavlick is under investigation in a similar case from September. Investigators say someone placed a camera inside a porta-potty at a cross country meet Tuesday, Sept. 23, hosted by West Marshall. Ten schools participated in the meet held at Lincoln Valley Golf Course near State Center.

Those schools are:

• Ankeny Christian Academy
• Lynnville-Sully
• Colo-Nesco
• East Buchanan
• South Hamilton
• Collins-Maxwell
• Nevada
• West Marshall
• Baxter
• Colfax Mingo

Authorities say they believe the camera was in place for over an hour that day before it was found. Sheriff’s officials say officials at each school were notified about the discovery. Authorities estimate close to 50 victims and anticipate filing 90 to 100 counts of sexual exploitation and invasion of privacy.

Pavlick has not been charged in the Marshall County case.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says the updated prediction that state tax revenues will fall nine percent during the current state budget year is to be expected — due to the flat income tax that went into effect in January.   “When I took office, the (top) individual income tax rate was nearly 9%,” Reynolds says. “Today, it’s 3.8% and that’s how we’ve been able to help families address some of the factors from the Biden Administration: inflation, higher cost of living. We’re starting to bring those numbers down.”

The current year’s state budget now calls for spending one-point-three BILLION dollars more than the state is predicted to get in revenue. Reynolds says she and G-O-P lawmakers intentionally kept spending low over the past few years and stored up more than enough cash to cover that gap.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa G-O-P Chairman Jeff Kaufmann is leading a committee that will help determine whether the Iowa Republican Party’s Caucuses are the first event in the 2028 presidential election. Kaufmann says got a direct message from President Trump that Trump wanted him to lead the Republican National Committee’s review of the presidential nominating process.

“Obviously he trust me to handle the process, but I also think this is a huge weighing in of his opinion that our carve out system, indeed, is working,” Kaufmann said. Since 1980, Iowa has hosted the lead-off voting event as Republicans choose a presidential nominee. New Hampshire holds the nation’s first presidential primary, followed by caucuses in Nevada and then the South Carolina Presidential Primary. Kaufmann guided the same panel four years ago that recommended that line up in 2024. Kaufmann calls it the “carve out system” for Iowa and the three other states.

“I just don’t believe that I would be asked to head up a commission unless there was a great deal of support for my state,” Kaufmann said, “and, more importantly, for the carve out system.” Kaufmann says he’s proud Iowa continues to play a leading role in defining what it means to be a Republican and the style of campaigning in Iowa ensures candidates hear the voices of grassroots voters. “Most of the key people who are likely to run for president have already been here,” Kaufmann said, “and every single one of them have, without hesitation, stated that they believe it belongs here.”

It’s likely the Republican National Committee will vote next year and confirm the dates for states to hold voting contests in the 2024 presidential election. The Democratic National Committee kicked the Iowa Democratic Party’s Caucuses out of the lead-off spot in the 2024 presidential campaign, but some key Iowa Democrats are pushing for their party to hold presidential Caucuses in 2028 before Democrats in other states vote — no matter what the national party says.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says as she meets with local government leaders, business owners and legislators, she’s keeping an open mind about their ideas for reducing property taxes. Reynolds say local law enforcement, streets, schools and other services are largely financed with property taxes, so completely eliminating property taxes is not something that can happen overnight.

“I think it is the expectation of Iowans that we get something done to address the property taxes,” Reynolds said, “at least, to bend the curve and start to look at flatlining and taking them, eventually, down just a little bit.” Reynolds says finding ways to deliver services differently is a priority. Local governments in Iowa have already struck more than 24-thousand agreements to split the costs and share services and Reynolds says she wants to explore how to build on some of those.

Reynolds made her comments after a meeting with local officials in Dallas Center and two members of the Iowa House were there. Representative Carter Nordman is chair of the House committee that will draft tax plans in 2026. “We talk so much about the government entities, the ones who are collecting the taxes, but we don’t talk enough about the people who are paying them,” Nordman said. “…We’ve got to talk about the taxpayer and make sure they are the ones in the driver’s seat during these conversations.”

Representative David Young, a Republican from Van Meter, is chairman of the House Commerce Committee. He expects the House to consider ways to reduce residential property taxes AND the property taxes businesses pay. “We understand it’s going to be meaningful and bold — and it’s going to be hard as well, but we don’t want to come back and revisit this every year,” Young said. “We want reliability and certainty for local governments as well as the taxpayers who work hard and are paying the property taxes.”

The 2026 Iowa Legislative session starts in January 12th — that’s 87 days away.

(Radio Iowa) – Federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP is not yet known for this year. Utility analyst Keetah Horas told the Iowa Utility Commission the he proposed federal budget zeroed out funding but both the Senate and House had proposed bills at the time of the shutdown to increase total funding. She says some states have paused the program, but Iowa has not. this week.

“The Iowa profile for LIHEAP funding year 2024 indicates that the program served more than 83-thousand households. This includes the one time heating assistance, year round, crisis assistance, and weatherization.” She says sign up for this winter has already begun for one group. “The early application period for households with elderly or disabled members opened on October 1st. Our latest communication with H-H-S reports over 15-thousand applications have been received,” she says.

Horas says other applicants will be able to sign up at the end of this month. “The general application period for all other households begins November 1st. And the deadline for all applications is April 30th. Eligibility is primarily based on household income, specifically, 200 percent of the federal poverty level,” Horas says. She says a family of four making just over 64-thousand dollars annually would qualify for assistance.

The winter moratorium on utility shut offs starts November 1st.

(Radio Iowa) – October continues to remain unseasonably warm, but the Iowa D-O-T has started putting snow plows and salt spreaders on some trucks. Winter Operations director Craig Bargfrede says they start their winter prep every year at this time. “We have to start installing the wedge tanks in the back of the truck that holds some of our liquid brine, installing the spreaders and what not on the back end of the truck, getting the plows out and getting them mounted.

Making sure everything is set and ready to go,” Bargfrede says. They check all the controls to make sure the plows go up and down and the right amount of salt or salt brine is being spread. Bargfrede says the big orange trucks are used year round, so they have to start getting some set up for winter operations.”We’re continuing to do summer time, fall maintenance activities, getting those projects wrapped up,” he says, “but yeah we still have to have a certain percentage of trucks ready to go should we get anything that we need to go out and do some application or do some plowing.”

Bargfrede has been overseeing winter operations for 12 years and says planning ahead is always the key. “I think we got a good routine, yes. But you know, there’s always those crazy things that get tossed at you that make you kind of take a step back and go ‘hmm’, never had that happen before,” he says. The wind storm last March in western Iowa that toppled power poles like dominoes is an example of Mother Nature throwing in something new. “When we had to close I-29 down, that’s the first time in my career that I’ve had to close down the interstate because we had live power lines down across the interstate. So obviously that was a huge safety issue,” Bargfrede says.

The D-O-T hires a lot of part-time workers to help them handle winter operations and Bargfrede says they are still looking to fill the ranks. “So if anyone is interested in coming to work for us part time, contact the nearest D-O-T garage. Last I saw, would have been the end of last week, I think we had about 175 of those 630 positions that have been not filled. So we’re getting a good start,” he says.

The D-O-T has one-thousand-72 full-time equipment operators, mechanics, and supervisors to go along with the temporary employees. The equipment fleet includes 910 trucks, 40 motor graders, 33 tow plows, and 10 heavy-duty, self-propelled snowblowers.

(Radio Iowa) – First District Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks says the effects of the federal government shutdown are being felt in Iowa. She said 18- thousand federal employees in Iowa are furloughed or working without pay because of the federal government shutdown – which she blames on Democrats.

“When I voted to fund the government, I voted people. I didn’t vote politics. They need to stop using this as a political football and taking the American people hostage,” she says. Miller-Meeks held a town hall-style event over the phone last night (Wednesday night).

One caller said they were worried about the effects of the Big Beautiful Bill on Iowa’s renewable energy sector, which supplies the state with over 30-thousand jobs. Miller-Meeks said she wants to protect all jobs and added it has been a tough year for farmers. “We know that our ag sector has been under stress since ‘22-’23, and this year is going to be a tough year for them. So it’s looking at how we can support our businesses in Iowa, how we can have the energy so that companies can continue to grow,” she says.

Miller-Meeks has not held an in-person town hall so far this term. In a video that recently surfaced, she said she would hold an in-person town hall when hell freezes over.