DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and attorneys general from 24 additional states are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a stay on California emissions reporting laws. The states allege, in the amici curiae filed, the California laws would impose an “illegal greenhouse gas disclosure policy” and would cause “nightmarish compliance costs and liability on companies across the country.”

In 2023, California enacted laws that require businesses of a certain size to submit greenhouse gas emissions reports and reports on the measures the business planned to adopt to reduce their climate-related financial risk. The brief from the states said California is “trying to be the national regulator of American greenhouse gas emissions—but for many reasons it may not do so.”

The State of Iowa and several other states that also signed onto Bird’s brief, have already sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over a similar law that sought to impose emissions reporting standards. That case is still being litigated, but the attorneys general allege the California law seeks to step in and do the same thing the states objected to at the federal level.

The brief said the California law, which would impact businesses outside of the state with revenues above a certain level, requires businesses to express a “certain viewpoint on the highly controversial issue area of climate change.” It said even if a business believes the climate-related “doomsday scenarios” are unlikely, it has to submit reports about how it plans to respond to the effects of a changing climate. The brief alleges the California laws are illegal because they compel speech from these companies on a topic they may want to avoid speaking on.

It also alleges the laws would impose “irreparable economic harm on other states.” The brief estimates out-of-state businesses would incur “millions” in auditing and reporting costs for emissions that are outside of California’s borders. Businesses with more than $1 billion in annual revenue that do business in California are required by the law to disclose “comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions” along their supply chains. Business with $500 million in annual revenue that do business in the state will have to supply biennial climate-related financial risk reports that are publicly available.

California’s enacted Senate Bill 261 says climate change is affecting California communities and economy with wildfires, sea level rise, extreme droughts and extreme weather events. According to the California statute, mandatory disclosures set by law will help to “ensure a sustainable, resilient, and prosperous future” for the state.

Bird said in a news release Monday about the amici curiae that “California needs to stay in California.” The attorneys’ brief is in support of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America’s suit against the chair of the California Air Resources Board. The parties involved requested, Nov. 10, an emergency injunction prohibiting the enforcement of the California laws, which are set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2026.

FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (KCCI) – An Iowa man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a Nebraska priest, KCCI reports. Kierre Williams pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Rev. Stephen Gutsgell, a Fort Calhoun priest, last month.

According to police, Gutsgell was stabbed during a break-in at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in 2023. Court documents show Williams was found lying on top of Gutsgell perpendicularly, forming a “T.”

Nebraska prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty in February 2024.

(Radio Iowa) – The Emmet County Board of Supervisors will consider hiring another attorney to review a proposed settlement that would resolve the lawsuit over a wind farm in the northwest Iowa county. Late last year the Emmet County Board of Adjustment denied a permit for Chicago-based Invenergy’s proposed Red Rock Energy Wind Center. The company sued Emmet County rather than refile for a permit under a new ordinance that requires greater distances between wind turbines and homes.

David Fauch, an attorney who represents Emmet County Concerned Citizens, is urging the board not to settle with the company and let the case go to trial. “What happened behind closed doors is clear from the settlement agreement. There were monetary threats made by Invenergy and Red Rock against this county, millions of dollars we are told and then a settlement agreement was entered into.

That settlement agreement is wildly one sided,” Fauch said. “…A bully has come in and the other side has simply folded…What you are buying yourselves is not peace. What you are buying yourselves is a mess.” Fauch spoke during a public hearing late last week.

Eric Updegraff, the attorney who’s been representing Emmet County officials in negotiations, also spoke. He’s warning that state law generally favors the free use of property and conditional use permit applications like the one for the wind farm likely need to meet just one and not all of the standards outlined in state law. “If there’s any ambiguity or uncertainty in your ordinance, then it will be construed against restrictions on land use,” Updegraff said.

The Emmet County Board of Supervisors will convene this (Tuesday) morning and their agenda calls for considering hiring an additional attorney to review the proposed settlement with developers of the Red Rock Energy Center. A previous draft of the agenda had indicated the supervisors were likely to vote on whether to approve the settlement.

(Radio Iowa) – Three members of the Remsen St. Mary’s Girls Basketball team suffered major injuries when the team’s vehicle was involved in an accident Saturday. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office says a 16 year old player was flown by helicopter from the scene to a hospital in Sioux Falls. Two other players — a 15 year old and an 18 year old — were taken to a Sioux City hospital, then flown to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. A fourth player and the team’s coach, who was driving, were taken by ambulance to a Sioux City hospital.

Three other Remsen St Mary’s players were treated at the scene. An assistant coach traveling with the team was not injured. Officials say the bus was at an intersection, turning to go north on Highway 75 when it was struck by a Jeep going south on the highway. The S-U-V’s driver, another adult and two children from the Jeep were taken by ambulance to a Sioux City hospital. The Plymouth County Sheriff says the Jeep’s driver had minor injuries and the three other occupants told first responders they were experiencing pain.

Remsen St. Mary’s School will hold an “Annointing of the Sick” mass on Friday afternoon. The Subway in Le Mars has announced 20 percent of sales made from 4 until 8 p.m. Tuesday, will donated to support the hospitalized students.

(Radio Iowa) – The board that governs the three state universities has reviewed a report that was mandated by the Iowa Legislature to study the merits of a tuition guarantee program. Board of Regents business officer Brad Berg says the study committee researched several institutions of varying sizes and types around the country. “Several of them implemented a tuition guarantee program and found them to be unsustainable,” Berg says. “The common theme there was they were terminated when experiencing downturns in the economy, which resulted in in jeopardized state support.”

Speaking at last week’s Board meeting, Berg says some schools have a program where students can pay a premium rate that remains fixed or choose a lower initial per credit rate that is subject to annual increases. He says they reviewed that possibility for the University of Iowa and says the upfront premium would have to be 18-hundred-60 dollars. Berg says the current Regent policy of tying tuition increases to inflation addresses on of the main concerns.

“The primary benefit of a tuition guarantee program is to provide predictability for students and families. A board policy just passed last April, caps based tuition increases for undergraduate residents at a three-year inflation average, which does provide some predictability on future tuition rates,” Berg says. He says another issue in implementing a tuition guarantee program is that the three state schools each operate unique student information systems and billing platforms that would require reworking.

“While this alone is not a barrier to implementing a tuition guarantee program, it does present complexities to ensure these systems can accurately track and enforce guarantees across multiple cohorts of students,” he says. Berg says there are a lot of variables that would have to be considered to make a program work. “Students frequently change majors, often moving into higher cost programs. They’ll travel abroad, and they’ll pursue double majors, which are just some of the contingencies that would require attention,” Berg says.

“Implementation of a tuition guarantee program would require careful assisting, planning and testing, and the establishment of clear policies and ongoing coordination and communication with students and families.” Berg points out that Iowa’s state universities continue to outperform outperformed national averages in retention and graduation rates, which are now the highest on record.

Board policy provides access to all qualified Iowans, enrollments are currently strong, and tuition rates continue to be very competitive with that. The Board received the report and will send it to the Iowa Legislature.

ATLANTIC, Iowa – Cass County Auditor Kathy Somers announced recount results for the Atlantic School District Director At-Large race from the November 4, 2025 City/School Election was completed confirming the original election night results with no changes.

Candidate Justin Williams received a total vote within less than one percent of the winning candidate, qualifying him to request a recount under provisions of House File 928 which went into effect July 1, 2025. Williams submitted the qualified request, prompting the official recount process.

The recount was conducted on November 17, 2025, by the county auditor’s staff and precinct election officials. Ballots from eight Cass County precincts, absentee ballots, and ballots cast in Pottawattamie and Audubon Counties for Atlantic School District Director At-Large were included in the recount. The recount used the same machines that were used on election night.

As shown below, the total number of votes for Justin Williams were 1,003. Chet Meneely received 1,091. Incumbent Josh McLaren received 1,031 votes, and Jordan Zarbono received 636 votes. The results confirm McLaren and Meneely were elected to the two open At-large seats on the Atlantic School Board.

(Glenwood, IA) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office has issued a weekly arrest report. In their report today (Monday), the sheriff’s department said a woman from Cass County (IA) was arrested Nov. 12th in Glenwood. 34-year-old Mikel Ann Erickson, of Lewis, was arrested on a warrant for Failure to Appear on a Class-D Felony charge of Theft in the 2nd Degree. Bond was set at $10,000.

Separately, 46-year-old Amanda Regina Lopez, of Omaha, was arrested in Hastings Nov. 12th, for speeding. Bond was set at $300.

On Nov. 13th, 46-year-old Christopher Joseph Brown, of Pacific Junction, was arrested in Glenwood for Violation of a No Contact Order-Domestic Abuse Assault. Bond was set at $300; And, 43-year-old Dustin Eugene Kalkas, of Shenandoah, was arrested on the 13th for Contempt of Court/Disobediance of a Tribunal Court.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who want to pack some holiday joy in a shoebox for kids around the world can drop them off this week at dozens of locations across the state. Denise Moore of Ankeny, the area coordinator of Operation Christmas Child in east-central Iowa, says this annual effort brings in many thousands of gift boxes from Iowans, and millions of boxes nationwide.

“It’s a project through Samaritan’s Purse and it collects shoeboxes that are filled with fun toys, school supplies and personal care items and delivered to children in need around the world,” Moore says, “and it’s a way to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way.” The shoebox gifts go to children in 170 nations in all parts of the globe, she says, including some of the hardest-to-reach places, from deep jungles to remote villages on mountainsides. During last year’s campaign, Moore was able to hand-deliver boxes to children in Romania.

Photo by Samaritan’s Purse

“The first stop that we made was with children that had never received a gift, probably in their life,” Moore says, “and to receive items like toothbrushes and hygiene items, along with fun items that we call ‘wow items,’ which might be a doll for a girl or a soccer ball for a boy, and the joy in that room was amazing and it was priceless.” The boxes are being collected this week as they have to go through a processing center before they’re carried by ship or plane to their final destinations. Moore has a tip for Iowans who’d like to create their own Operation Christmas Child box.

“There’s a lot of great information on the website that can be found at samaritanspurse.org/OCC that’ll give you a lot of suggestions of what to pack, add to the box,” Moore says, “and also give you the drop-off locations that you can get by just putting in your ZIP code and finding the local drop-off center near you.” There’s also an option to shop online at samaritanspurse.org/buildonline where you can select gifts matched to a child’s specific age and gender, then finish packing the virtual shoebox by adding a photo and personal note of encouragement.

Now in its third decade, the operation hopes to collect shoeboxes throughout Iowa to help with the global goal to reach 12 million children.

(Radio Iowa) – The last day of this month is the final call for the “Hello Operator” exhibit at the Sioux City Public Museum. It features iconic telephones, historic photographs and switchboards.

Museum curator Matt Anderson says Sioux City was among the first cities in Iowa to have a telephone switchboard that provided commercial service. “The very first telephone exchange was in 1879 in Dubuque,” Anderson says. “Sioux City followed a year later and it was definitely among the first cities to have telephone service and so it was a real leader that way and from really that point on Sioux City was kind of our regional hub for telephone service.”

That exchange was a local franchise of the American Bell Company, owned by Alexander Graham Bell — who invented the telephone. The early patents for telephones began to expire in the 1890s, though, and that let independent companies compete for business. The Sioux City museum’s exhibit shows local telephone service was offered by the Sioux City Telephone Company and New State Telephone offered regional long distance service. “Sioux City Telephone and New State kind of worked hand-in-hand and were a significant competitor for Bell Telephone in Sioux City for about 20 years,” Anderson says.

“Hello Operator” exhibit at Sioux City Public Museum runs through Nov. 30, 2025. (KSCJ photo)

New State — the Sioux City-based long distance phone company — was established by Cloid Smith and he sold it to Bell in 1912. Two years later, Smith founded the American Pop Corn Company that produces the Jolly Time brand. Like the rest of the country, Sioux City’s telephone market ultimately came under the full control of Northwestern Bell and Sioux City had a regional office for Northwestern Bell from 1921 until the nationwide Bell System monopoly ended in 1984.