(Iowa City, Iowa/ Iowa Capital Dispatch) – An international student at the University of Iowa has had their visa revoked, according to an email sent to members of the campus community. The notification comes amid a national trend of university students facing abrupt changes to their citizenship status. UI International Programs Dean and Associate Provost Russell Ganim emailed “international students and scholars” Thursday to inform them that the visa of a UI student was canceled. The university learned of this April 4, according to the email, and the UI International Student and Scholar Services reached out directly to the student with an offer to meet and describe next steps. “The university did not initiate the action and was not aware of any violation,” Ganim said in his email.

Ganim did not identify the student in his email or provide information on their current situation. He said if the international services office learns of other students’ visas being changed or canceled, it will “reach out immediately to share guidance and outline next steps.” The email also included resources for legal advice, which Ganim said the university cannot provide, including the Iowa State Bar Association, UI Student Legal Services and the Iowa Law law clinic. Students should check the federal updates page for international programs for additional information, Ganim said in the email, and reach out to international services if there are any questions or concerns. “International students and scholars are valued members of the Iowa community,” Ganim said in the email.

A University of Iowa international student’s visa has been revoked, according to a UI email. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Hundreds of international students across the U.S. are in similar situations, with universities from Texas to Oregon and Wisconsin, Ohio, Utah and more reporting changing immigrant statuses among their communities. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in March the State Department had canceled visas of 300 international students, the Louisiana Illuminator reported, some of whom participated in pro-Palestine protests. The Department of Homeland Security announced this week it will start screening immigrants’ social media for “antisemitic activity” and the “physical harassment of Jewish individuals.”

“This will immediately affect aliens applying for lawful permanent resident status, foreign students and aliens affiliated with educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity,” the release stated.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – If you have documents sitting around in your file cabinet that are outdated or no longer relevant, you have a chance to get rid of them safely, and keep them out of hands of those who might seek to steal your personal information. Friends of the Atlantic Public Library are holding a “Shred day” this Saturday, April 12^th, from 9-until 11-a.m., outside of the library. Greg Williams is with the Friends group. They’ve teamed-up with Atlantic Scout Group #54 for the event.

Rob Terrill with the Atlantic Boy Scouts, says they’ve been partnering with the library for events such as this, to raise money for their “Scouting for Food” program.

There’s a method to the means of getting your papers shredded, Saturday.

Terrill says their partnership with Friends of the Library works well for gathering non-perishable goods (Such as boxes of cereal and canned goods), and cash/check donations for the Atlantic Food Pantry.

Just about anything can be shredded. Papers will be removed from plastic binders by the scouts, if they are being kept in that manner.

Anything made from paper can be shredded, including newspapers and magazines. The Friends of the Atlantic Public Library Book Sale helps to fund the Shred Day. It also funds other, various Atlantic Public Library projects. The used book sale will take place April 23rd through the 25th from 9-a.m. until 6-p.m. each day. Donations of good, used books are being accepted through April 21st.

(Radio Iowa) – Imagine a grandfather in his 80s using words like bae, bougie or rizz with a teenage grandchild. The kid likely won’t be receptive and will instead give grandpa the side-eye. The same’s true in business. A University of Iowa study finds when companies try to market themselves as cool using slang, it can be disastrous. Bryce Pyrah, a U-I doctoral student in marketing, says people of similar ages use slang with each other as a way to bond and feel closer.  “There’s this affiliation that you feel with other people, but when brands do it, they’re not people, right,” Pyrah says. “When they use slang, which is this inherent aspect of language that’s used between humans, but they’re using it, which most people assume for some sort of financial gain, then now, all of a sudden, it can backfire.”

In the U-I study, researchers gauged consumer responses to real and fictional corporate social media posts, some that used slang, some that didn’t. Pyrah says they found brands using contemporary slang — words like slap, bae, ghost and lit — to reach a young audience usually just embarrassed themselves.  “Companies that are using these words are attempting to reach out and connect with a younger consumer base,” Pyrah says. “But what we find is, even if these are the consumers that are using those words, it might be most harmful among those younger consumers, because it’s kind of like those brands are stealing those words to try and make a financial profit.” The study used a series of online surveys, asking participants to respond to the social media posts of numerous brands. In almost every case, they responded more negatively to those with slang than those without.

There are exceptions though, Pyrah says, based on the “personality” of the brand. “What we find is that it’s okay for certain companies with a specific, what we call an ‘exciting personality,’ so these would be companies like Monster Energy, Red Bull, things like that, that already have that type of personality, that it’s okay for them to use slang,” Pyrah says, “however, at baseline and for a lot of companies, it’s not.” The findings were consistent through various age groups, as all consumers found the use of slang inauthentic and failed to connect with it, with the exception of already-edgy brands.

Pyrah says the main takeaway is that brands should avoid trying to sound hip in ads, especially when it doesn’t fit the brand’s personality. Or grandpa’s.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston say a man was arrested Thursday evening on a drug-related charge. 18-year-old Jeremy James Eldon Seley, of Creston, was arrested at around 5-p.m. In the 1000 block of E. Howard Street.

Seley was charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was taken to Union County Jail and later released on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The wild turkey hunting season gets underway today (Friday) with the youth season. Iowa D-N-R wildlife biologist Jim Coffey says hunters bagged a record 16-thousand birds last year. “We’re expanding a similar harvest this year as well, because most turkeys that hunters are after are the two year old birds. And we had good production in 2023. Our 2024 production was down a little bit, but it shouldn’t, shouldn’t hamper hunters from seeing plenty of birds this year,” Coffey says. Coffey says the mating season dictates the movement of the wild turkeys and that is why more of the young males are taken.

“There tends to be a dominance hierarchy, and those two year old birds are not yet on that dominance hierarchy, so they’re willing to travel, and then they have to fight a little bit more and kind of look for females versus that dominant male that just kind of stays in one area and kind of lets the ladies come to him,” he explains. Coffey says the warm weather has some of the wooded areas starting to get green and that can impact turkey hunting. “So typically what that does is the green up means a little earlier leaf out, and that makes a little more difficult to see in the woods,” Coffey says. “So from a hunter standpoint, it can help you, because it makes you a little less visible to turkeys that have great eyesight. But at the same time, it’s a little harder for you to see as well. And so as we see the season progress and get greener, it gets a little harder to see the birds and hear the birds and and so hunters like to kind of pick the right time of the year for their situation.”

Coffey says any edge you can get is important as wild turkeys have one of the lowest rates of success for hunters. “We’re going to expect around 22 to 25 percent of our hunters to be successful, and that just depends on how you define success. To me, any day you’re in the woods chasing a turkey is a good day. And some days we take a bird home, and some days we don’t, most days we don’t, most days we don’t.”
Coffey says always remember the safety rules for any hunt. “And turkey hunting world, the first thing to do is be like defensive driving. Is we don’t want to wear red, white or blue on our person, because those are, those are similar colors, so that the head of the male wild turkey. And then, of course, if we do get a chance to take a shot, we must take a shot, and know what’s beyond our bird,” he says.

The youth season starts things off and runs through Sunday. The first regular wild turkey season opens on April 18th.

(Marshalltown, Iowa/ KCCI-TV) – An 84-year-old man from Marshalltown was hospitalized Wednesday morning, after he was hit by a car while crossing the street in a wheelchair. The Marshalltown Police Department says the incident happened in the crosswalk at North 13th and Summit streets. The unidentified man was taken to a Des Moines hospital for treatment.

A spokesperson for the Iowa Veterans Home says the man is one of their residents. The Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs said in a statement, “The thoughts and prayers of the whole Iowa Veterans Home community are with our resident and their family at this time.”

Authorities say the driver of the vehicle allegedly involved in the incident, was cited for failure to yield.

(Red Oak, Iowa)  – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 7-p.m. Thursday, of 66-year-old Gary McKnight, of Villisca. McKnight was arrested in the 100 block of W. 6th Street, for OWI/1st offense. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The Republicans who lead the tax-writing committees in the Iowa House and Senate have released a revised version of their proposed overhaul of Iowa’s property tax system. It still says property tax rates on existing homes may grow no more than two percent a year — but it would give city and county governments limited leeway to raise property taxes if inflation rates soar. Senator Dan Dawson, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, says that’s in response to concerns that were raised by local government officials.

“I think we made some really smart adjustments to the bill to keep this advancing in the right direction,” Dawson said, “and to get property tax relief.” Every homeowner would get a 50-thousand dollar property tax exemption — double what was in the original bill. “Making sure that we’re driving relief to that Iowan,” Dawson said, “to make sure they get property tax relief.” And rather than a five-year phase out of a mechanism called “the rollback” that has limited residential property tax growth in Iowa since the late 1970s, this new plan would eliminate the roll back mechanism next year.

“If you just eliminate the rollback and do nothing else, that could be very problematic for Iowa taxpayers, but because we have that 2% revenue restriction in what’s proposed in the bill right there, that’s the insurance policy for all Iowans no matter what kind of property you own, that governments can’t just collect that windfall,” Dawson says. “They only get to collect that first 2% and the rest has to be returned (to taxpayers) through a lower rate.” House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights says the bill proposes significant changes to a complicated property tax system.

“Let’s do what Democrats have proposed which is pause,” Konfrst said. “Take some time to really look at it and meanwhile give every homeowner $1000 rebate and every renter a $500 rebate so they can see immediate relief.” Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner of Iowa says it’s important to give Iowans time to review the changes made to the original plan. “We’re going through the bill as well,” Weiner says. “I mean, if this bill were to actually lower property taxes for homeowners, especially working Iowans, that would be a positive.”

Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, released a written statement about the updated proposal. Kaufmann says he and Dawson are working on a property tax overhaul focused on property taxpayers who’ve been louder than ever with concerns about the latest round assessment letters.

(Atlantic, Iowa) –  The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests:

On April 4th, 2025, 50-year-old Keith E Zarbano of Atlantic, was arrested on a warrant for violation of probation. Zarbano was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held on bond.

On April 7th, 2025, 33-year-old Jade Michael Nicholson of Atlantic, was arrested on charges of drug trafficking, and possession of a controlled substance. Nicholson was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and released on bond.