(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says she’s confident congress can essentially overrule a U-S Supreme Court opinion that upheld California standards for pork sold in that state. The rules require pork sold in California to come from the offspring of sows that had enough space to move and turn around. Hinson says her “Save Our Bacon Act” will put a stop to that policy.

“California should not be telling Iowa farmers who to raise their hogs,” Hinson says. “Prop 12 set unscientific, arbitrary mandates on producers hundreds, if not thousands of miles away and it’s hurting both farmers and families.” California voters approved Proposition 12 in 2018 by a large margin. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled California’s animal welfare law did not violate the Constitution’s commerce clause, but Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that if pork producers believe it causes a massive disruption in their industry, they can lobby congress to intervene.

“In the Supreme Court’s decision, they noted that congress had the authority to determine how states may regulate and get involved here with interstate commerce,” Hinson says, “and I think that when you look at what we’ve got here, this does exactly that.” Congress typically drafts constitutional amendments to undo U.S. Supreme Court rulings that interpret the constitution. However, Congress has occasionally acted to pass a bill in similar situations and Hinson says this particular legislative fix is necessary.

“According to USDA, the cost for producers to comply with Prop 12 is up to $4500 per sow. That is devastating for small, family-run farms that don’t have that kind of money lying around and it’s not just farmers feeling the pain. Consumers are paying more, too,” Hinson says. “Since Prop 12 went into effect, the price of a pork loin has gone up 41%.” California’s rules require about 24 square feet of space for each sow. Hinson says her bill ensures California activists cannot dictate how pork producers raise pigs in Iowa.

“In California, if they want to decide that they want their sows to live in this much space, then they can do that for their producers,” Hinson says, “but for us it’s telling our Iowa producers they can continue to do things how they have with the farrowing process that is scientifically based.”

Supporters of the California regulations say it’s cruel and inhumane to confine pregnant sows in pens that are so small they cannot turn around. The National Pork Producers Council says gestation stalls allow sows to move side to side and lie down, but NOT to turn around and potentially contaminate her water and food.

(Lyon County, Iowa) – A collision between two SUV’s in northwest Iowa late Thursday morning, left an adult male dead, two other adults and two children, injured. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 90-year-old Stanley Kroese, of Sioux Center, died in the crash.

Kroese was driving a 2024 Chevrolet Blazer northbound on Iowa Highway 182 in Lyon County at around 10:35-a.m., when he slowed to turn into a driveway at 2244 Highway 182. A 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe driven by 39-year-old Jennifer Simpson, of Rock Valley, was driving northbound on the highway behind Kroese. When Kroese slowed down to turn into the driveway, the Tahoe crashed into the rear of Kroese’s vehicle.

Kroese was killed in the crash. A passenger in his vehicle, 84-year-old Joan Kroese, also from Sioux Center, was injured, along with Jennifer Simpson, and two children in her vehicle, ages seven and nine, both from Rock Valley. The seven-year-old child was flown to Sanford Sioux Falls Hospital. Simpson and the other child were transported to the same hospital by ambulance. Joan Kroese was taken by ambulance to Avera Hospital in Sioux Falls.

The crash remains under investigation. According to the latest data from the Iowa Department of Transportation, 148 people have died so far this year on Iowa roads. That number is 20 fewer than at the same point in 2024. Over the last five years, an average of 353 people have been killed in statewide crashes annually.

(Ankeny, Iowa) – An Atlantic woman received a prestigious award Thursday afternoon, during 19th statewide Iowa Women in Agriculture conference. The 2025 “Winds of Change Up and Comer” award was presented to Ciara Hoegh. Ciara was nominated by LaVon Eblen and Catherine Booth. The award was presented at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny, where the theme of the conference was “Sowing Our Stories . . . Beyond the Farm Gate.”

The Iowa Women in Agriculture organization is comprised of women farmers, landowners, and agribusiness professionals who focus on expanding the knowledge and economic potential of women and their capacity to network with one another.

Pictured left to right: IWIA past president Deb Schuler, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bailey Smith, Allison Berryhill, award recipient Ciara Hoegh and Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce Program Director Kelsey Beschorner. (Photo courtesy Deb Schuler)

The conference explored the challenges of agriculture’s evolving financial and trade climate, including:

Commodity market scenarios and advice
Soil and water quality initiatives
Lender’s outlook for 2025-26
Prospects for a new farm bill, tariffs, and taxes
Latest on land values and transition planning
Ag community building/storytelling
Role of women in a dynamic ag industry.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Shelby County late Thursday night, reported Deputies responded to a residence in Earling, in request to a welfare check on an individual. Based on information received, Deputies entered the residence at 204 2nd Avenue in Earling, and found a deceased female, 32-year-old Theresa Kenkel.

The woman’s body was transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny, where an autopsy will be conducted. Authorities say they believe this was an isolated incident, and there is no reason to believe there is a threat to the public. The incident remains under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Anyone with information about the incident, is encouraged to call the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, at 712-755-5026.

(Radio Iowa) – Economics professor Luciano de Castro will take over as the temporary director of the University of Iowa’s new Center for Intellectual Freedom. The Board of Regents approved de Castro for the job, and David Barker was one of the Regents to support him. “He’s a very accomplished economist and I’m really excited to see what he can do with the Center,” Barker says. De Castro advocated for the center when the plan was working through the legislature, and says it is necessary to counter other university courses he claims only show capitalism in a bad light.

“The only perspective that the university has on this economic pillar is negative. So I think that something right there is missing in our offerings, and this center creates the opportunity to offer such kind of course,” he says. Democrats criticized the proposal for the school as redundant and ideologically-motivated. De Castro says the Center will look into the characteristics that he says have made the U-S “so special.”

“I think it’s just a fact that the United States is a very special country, and is the richest country on earth,” de Castro says. “And I think it’s a legitimate question that anyone should be interested in understanding.” De Castro says classes will most likely not be offered this year while faculty are hired. But, he still hopes to hold public events and lectures. He says developing an American history course is a priority as the new law requires the Center to offer the class.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Organizers with Nishnabotna Water Defenders – a non-profit environmental conservation organization – Thursday evening, issued a statement with regard to a settlement announced Wednesday, between the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and the NEW Coop in Red Oak. The statement said members of the organization “…Are disappointed that the settlement issued by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird with no public input represents a slap on the wrist to NEW Coop. This settlement does not require the coop to implement any new measures that will prevent future contamination.”

In March 2024 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen spewed into the East Nishnabotna River from a non-monitored tank at the NEW Coop in Red Oak, Iowa. The historic spill traveled 50 miles down the river and killed approximately 750,000 fish. The cost of only the fish kill was estimated to be $225,000.00. This dollar amount does not include other wildlife that suffered the consequences of this catastrophe.

NWD logo

New Coop controls 82 operating locations in Iowa and Missouri and is said to be the eleventh largest ag retailer in the United States. The settlement comes without any input from the public and comes 16 months after the tragic spill occurred. Terry Langan, Co-Chair of the Nishnabotna Water Defenders, said in a press release, “The settlement signifies the lack of respect that our Attorney General has for Iowa’s people, the land and the wildlife. To put a price of $100,000 on a loss that will be felt for decades, is a total disregard for the importance of Iowa’s waterways.”

The statement said also, the fine does not even recoup the cost of the investigation following the liquid nitrogen incident. “The lack of significant repercussions to this travesty and the significance of Iowa’s water pollution,” the group says, “has led the Nishnabotna Water Defenders to organize training and educational opportunities for citizens to monitor local rivers and streams for nitrates. NWD believes that water is sacred and must be treated with respect.”

(Radio Iowa) – About 2,000 people who set of fireworks for a living will be in central Iowa for a convention over the next week and they’ll open two nighttime shows to the public that promise to far outshine the most spectacular 4th of July celebrations. Connie Widmann is spokeswoman for the Pyrotechnic Guild International, which is meeting August 2nd through the 9th in Boone. Daytime activities will focus on safety, seminars and certifications.

“We are a volunteer organization,” Widmann says. “We’re basically a club and this club supports people who have interest in pyrotechnics at all levels, whether they shoot public displays for local municipalities, whether they’re a hobbyist, they may be interested in consumer fireworks, and people who make fireworks for a living.”

One of the public shows will feature “pyro-musicals” where the colorful explosions in the sky are precisely choreographed to music. “It is important, if people are going to come from the public, to actually buy a ticket and come in,” Widmann says. “It’s flat here in Iowa, so people think, ‘Oh, I’ll just go park on the road and watch it from there.’ There’s a very different experience when you’re up close with these types of pyro-musicals, and these are not shows that you will ever see in a municipality.”

Pyrotechnic Guild International photo

Sunday night’s public show will include four pyro-musicals and what Widmann describes as a breathtaking, unforgettable fusion of fireworks and drones. “We will have 2,500 drones — and that is a very large number of drones — that will be choreographed with pyrotechnics and some of the drones will have pyrotechnics firing off of the drones,” Widmann says. “That’s a totally new concept, and Sunday night will be quite a spectacle.”

Most fireworks you buy at roadside tents are in the two- to four-inch range, and while the Boone shows will feature six-, eight- and even 12-inch shells, Widmann says they’ll be setting off one very special firework for a jaw-dropping grand finale. “The 24-inch shell, the chrysanthemum, is a big flower in the sky,” Widmann says. “It would be the largest shell shot this week and certainly ever in Iowa, probably be about a quarter-mile diameter.”

That single shell alone is worth about $2,000. The public shows are planned for the nights of August 3rd and 8th. Purchase tickets here.

(Radio Iowa) – The City of Sioux City will be applying for grants to help finance replacing lead pipes in water lines. Many Sioux City residents got a letter last November, warning that their property could have a water service line or a galvanized service line affected by lead. Brad Puetz, the utilities director for Sioux City, says an E-P-A mandate issued last October means those pipes must be replaced.

“Between now and 2027 we have to have a Lead Service Line Plan put together,” he says, “and that’s what kicks off all of the replacement.” Sioux City then will have until 2037 to complete the project. Puetz says the city has identified seven MILLION dollars in grant money that’s available.”That has to be applied for by December 31st of this year,” Puetz says. “That project is really going to entail picking 100 homes to start and that will really get us into the rhythm of how we want to pursue replacing those lines.”

Puetz says the city will pursue other grants as well and an unexpected classification may help with federal funding. “They’re considering Sioux City disadvantaged for this project,” Puetz says, “so 49% of whatever we apply for is forgiven and then the other 51% is some of the information that we’re going to have to seek council information on.” An initial estimate indicated there were 72-hundred locations in Sioux City where lead lines need to be replaced, but Puetz says that list has been reduced by a few hundred after water utility records were reviewed and lines were found not to contain lead.

It is the city’s responsibility to make sure the utility’s lead lines are replaced, but city council member Julie Schoenherr says the 100 property owners involved in the first wave of replacements will have to sign off on the lead pipe removal. “The homeowner, whether they live there or not, has to agree to it as well. That’s another caveat,” she says. “We don’t just go and do it. They have to agree to it.” Homeowners will be approached three times about the replacement and Puetz says it’s not clear what happens if they refuse.

Early last year, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird joined a 15-state coalition that sued the Biden Administration over this mandate, arguing it may force homeowners to pay to replace their own water lines if they contain lead and connect to a city-owned water utility line.