(Radio Iowa) – There are now four Republicans campaigning for Iowa’s fourth district congressional seat. Ryan Rhodes of Ames worked for President Trump during Trump’s first administration and served as C-E-O of the conservative social media platform Parler for the past year. Rhodes says he’s committed to conservative values, is strongly pro-life, and plans to run on a “Make America Iowa” platform. “It’s going to be a strong message. We are not going to have any pale pastels or anything like that,” Rhodes says. “We are going to be really full-throated talking about fixing this country. It’s going to start here, in Iowa, so that we can take that strong voice out there.”

Rhodes says America’s political system is broken and he’ll ask voters to send him to D.C. to drain and set fire to the swamp. “We can be strong on protecting rural Iowa, strong on agriculture, and also have the ability to still get out there and fight and lead on the cultural issues,” Rhodes says. The other Republicans who’ve announced campaigns in the fourth congressional district are Siouxland Chamber of Commerce president Chris McGowan of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley and Kyle Larson, a farmer from Humboldt. Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra is pursuing a run for Governor next year.

Democrats Stephanie Steiner of Sutherland and Ashley WolfTornabane from Storm Lake recently launched campaigns in the 4th district. Both are stay-at-home moms.

(Radio Iowa) – Plans are being unveiled that may mean faster delivery of packages for online shoppers in north-central Iowa. Officials with Amazon announced this week that the online retail giant has purchased property in Fort Dodge with plans to build a delivery station. There was no information as to when the delivery station will be built. An official with Amazon said there were no details as to the size of the building and how many will be employed.

File photo of an Amazon Delivery Station (From Wikimedia Commons)

The Amazon facility is to be built in Fort Dodge’s Decker Development Park, which is also home to Mid-American Energy, FORCE America, and Moeller Furnace and Air.

(Radio Iowa) – Two satellites built by researchers at the University of Iowa were launched into orbit Wednesday in a partnership with NASA and SpaceX. The satellites will help researchers answer questions about how solar wind impacts the Earth’s magnetic field, which can impact everything from phone calls to G-P-S maps. A crowd at a viewing party hosted by the university erupted into cheers when the rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The U-I received 115-million dollars from NASA for the TRACERS mission, which stands for Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites. The twin satellites were carried into low-Earth orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Over the next few weeks, researchers at the university will slowly begin turning on the satellite sensors and start collecting data. U-I physics and astronomy professor Allison Jaynes says it was a relief to see the launch.  “It’s always this big adrenaline rush after you’ve been working on something for years of your life and you’ve seen it from concept all the way through to design to build and then to launch,” Jaynes says. “And to know that it could all come down to this one moment, whether it’s successful or not.”

The project was pioneered by Iowa physics professor Craig Kletzing, who died in 2023. Two of his guitar picks were sent into orbit with the rocket, one aboard each satellite.

NASA illustration of TRACERS

(An Iowa News Service report) – State officials in Iowa are recruiting local businesses to report suspected cases of human trafficking. It is an ongoing effort but highlighted this year as part of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. Iowa reported 166 cases of human trafficking to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in the 2024 data, the most recent. Paul Pate, Secretary of State, said the state’s rural setting often belies the notion human trafficking only happens in states with bigger cities and added it is a serious issue in the Hawkeye State.

“We do have trafficking in Iowa,” Pate pointed out. “As a former mayor of Cedar Rapids, I like to think our communities and our state is one of the best, and it’s a great place to live. But until it’s great for everybody, our work isn’t done and, yes, there is trafficking and it’s right here in River City, as they say.” Pate noted the Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking initiative has grown to more than 850 members across nearly all 99 counties and more than 350,000 employees are encouraged to report tips if they suspect they see human trafficking happening.

Beyond businesses reporting suspected cases of human trafficking, Pate pointed out residents of local communities are just as important in seeing the signs and stepping in if they suspect it. “Whether you’re in Polk County, Scott County or Allamakee County, it’s everywhere,” Pate emphasized. “The only way we’re going to beat this is, we need to have everybody be more aware of what it is, help the eyes and ears, almost like a neighborhood watch program, making sure we’re looking for some of the symptoms.”

World Day Against Trafficking in Persons was established by the United Nations in 2013 to raise awareness and promote action against human trafficking of all kinds. The event takes place this year, on July 30th.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Iowa’s annual pheasant survey begins Aug. 1, and with all the weather indicators pointing in a positive direction, hunters are eager to see the results. The statewide survey is conducted by Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff between Aug. 1-15, who drive 225, 30-mile routes on gravel roads at dawn on mornings with heavy dew. Hen pheasants will move their broods to the edge of the gravel road to dry off before they begin feeding, which makes them easier to count.

In June the DNR issued its annual prediction for the roadside counts, which uses a weather model based on the snowfall, rainfall and temperatures from the past winter and spring. The model provides a best guess at what the counts might look like, and it is predicting numbers to be likely higher than last year. “Our 100th season of pheasant hunting could be a very good year,” said Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR. But the best indicator for the fall season is the August roadside survey that counts actual pheasants seen along more than 6,000 miles of rural, gravel roads.

The August roadside survey has been conducted over the same routes since 1962. In addition to pheasants and quail, the survey collects data on partridge, cottontails and jackrabbits. Results will be posted online at www.iowadnr.gov/pheasantsurvey in early September. Iowa’s pheasant season begins Oct. 25.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is hosting its first-ever National Senior Games as competition gets underway today (Thursday), with the formal opening ceremony tomorrow night, including the arrival of the flaming torch on the Iowa State Capitol Grounds. Games spokeswoman Mary Johns says this national sporting event is held every other year. “We’re thrilled to have over 12,500 athletes registered to compete in the games coming from all 50 states and multiple countries,” Johns says. “This will be our second-largest National Senior Games in history, so we’re super-excited about that, and predicting over $32-million in economic impact.” One goal of the games is to showcase a new perspective on aging, as the competition is open only to people 50 and older.

“We have 25 sports so it’s a multi-sport, Olympic-style event and for most sports, athletes have to qualify in the year before at their state Senior Games,” Johns says, “so that’s something that makes it a bit unique, that these people have qualified and now they’re coming to compete on the national level.” While many of the athletes are in their 50s, there are quite a few who are over 90, and even a couple of centenarians. The oldest athlete set to compete is 101-year-old Irma Bond from North Carolina. “We have everything from pickleball to swimming, shuffleboard, track and field,” Johns says. “We have some new sports that we’re introducing this year that we’re really excited about like power lifting, billiards, disc golf. It’s something for everyone and a lot for the community to come see and watch.” The events will be underway in venues all around the Des Moines metro and as far away as Ames. All are free for spectators.

“There’s also the opportunity for community members to volunteer. We have shifts available at all different kinds of sports, and all different kinds of tasks,” Johns says. “It could be helping with athlete check-in or scorekeeping, or whatever you may be interested in, so anyone who’s interested in that can visit our website nsga.com and learn all about volunteering.”

This is considered the world’s largest qualified multi-sport event. The games run through August 4th.

(This story was written by the Iowa Capital Dispatch) – A northwest Iowa school district has agreed to prohibit religious organizations from holding events at schools after receiving a complaint about a Christian group holding National Day of Prayer celebrations on school grounds. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a nonprofit organization advocating for the separation of church and state and for nonreligious people, sent a letter to the Le Mars Community School District in June about a local religious group holding events on public school grounds on May 1st.

May 1^st is celebrated as the “National Day of Prayer” by some Christians – in Iowa, several religious organizations as well as officials like Gov. Kim Reynolds have hosted and participated in National Day of Prayer celebrations throughout the state.

One of those celebrations in 2025 in Le Mars took place at the Le Mars Community Middle and High Schools. On May 1, the “National Day of Prayer” Facebook page for Le Mars made a post saying that their members “had the joy of partnering with the Le Mars Youth Network” for the celebration at the Le Mars schools.The social media post featured images showing adults with the religious organization on school grounds.

Sammi Lawrence, an attorney with the FFRF, said a person alerted their organization about the post. The FFRF contacted the school district with a complaint letter after receiving the information, she said, to notify the school asking them to cease allowing religious organizations to hold events and proselytize students on school grounds.

In the letter to Le Mars Community School District, Lawrence wrote it is “well-settled law that public schools may not show favoritism toward, nor promote or coerce belief in religion” – and that a public school allowing outside religious representatives onto school grounds for the purpose of promoting their religious beliefs violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from establishing or giving preferential treatment to any religion.

In response to the complaint from FFRF, Rachel Fritz, an attorney representing the Le Mars district, responded with a letter stating that the school district communicated with members of the local National Day of Prayer group, instructing them “not to facilitate or lead in any prayer or devotional activities involving students on District property.”

The letter also stated the district has taken “appropriate steps to ensure that any prayer activities occurring on school grounds are entirely student-led or student-initiated, in full compliance with applicable legal standards, including the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.”

(Radio Iowa) – A highway bridge over Interstate 29 near Onawa is being closed today (Thursday) for emergency repairs and is currently scheduled to reopen August 5th. Sarah Tracy, an Iowa D-O-T transportation planner based in Sioux City, says the Highway 175 bridge has been hit three times since April.

“It’s been vehicles that are too high and they’re hitting underneath the bridge,” Tracy says. There may be some lane closures on I-29 as crews work on the bridge over the interstate and there’s a work zone on I-29 in the Onawa area that requires drivers to reduce their speed to 55 miles an hour.

The D-O-T has set up a marked detour route for drivers who would otherwise use the Highway 175 bridge.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa baby now holds the Guinness World’s Record for the most premature baby. Nash Keen was born last year at just 21 weeks — so early that most hospitals couldn’t deliver him, but doctors at University of Iowa Health Care resuscitated the baby at birth and supported him using advanced ultrasound technology to measure the blood supply to his heart and lungs. Mollie Keen is Nash’s mother.

“We don’t really know…We don’t have any research on babies this young and so we just held on to hope,” she said. “That was kind of what we did for the first month until Nash started to show us that he was really fighting.” In the beginning, doctors told the family the baby boy had a zero percent chance of survival, but Dr. Patrick McNamara — the U-I-H-C’s director of neonatology, says this case opens a new frontier in his field.

Nash Keen’s family celebrated his first birthday on July 5, 2025 and this week he was named Guinness World Record’s most premature baby. (Photo provided by the University of Iowa)

“Nash is resilient,” he said. “What we have learned, and not just necessarily with Nash, is that survival is possible at 21 weeks gestation, but not just survival — meaningful survival.” Nash, who lives with his parents in Ankeny, turned one on July 5th. He was born at 21 weeks and weighed 10 ounces.

The previous Guinness World Record for most premature baby was a boy born in Alabama five years ago — at 21 weeks and one day.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – The Guthrie Center School District Board of Education will hold a Special Meeting Friday at the AC-GC High School Superintendent’s Office. The meeting begins at 7:30-a.m.  On the agenda are two personnel matters:

• Approval of an Interim High School Principal Contract for Mr. Cody Matthewson, and,
• Approving the resignation of Mrs. Sarah Sheeder – School Business Official (SBO/Board Secretary.

During the regular, joint AC/GC Board meeting on July 16th, the Board accepted the resignation of High School Principal Brian Sauser. The Board began interviewing candidates for his successor last week. Sauser had submitted his resignation at the beginning of the month, so he can move to Texas and be closer to family..

Sarah Sheeder was formally the SBO/Board Secretary for the Atlantic School District. She accepted the same position with the Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center School District following her resignation from the Atlantic District in April, 2023, and has served in that capacity since that time.