(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds hasn’t made an official announcement about a campaign in 2026, but she sounds like a candidate for reelection. “I’m running on my record. I’m going to run on what we’ve done for Iowans since we’ve been elected and I’m proud of that record,” Reynolds said. “We’ve gotten a lot done on a short timeline and I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do.” Reynolds, who was elected in 2010 as Governor Terry Branstad’s running mate, became governor in mid-2017 when Branstad resigned and she has been elected to two terms.

On Monday, Republican Brad Sherman, a Williamsburg pastor, announced he plans to run against Reynolds in a G-O-P Primary. During a news conference yesterday (Tuesday), Reynolds was asked about Sherman. “I’ll stand on my bold, conservative record of getting things done,” Reynolds said, “…most of which he probably voted for.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds signs bill creating Education Savings Accounts for private school expenses on Jan. 24, 2023. (official photo)

Sherman served in the Iowa House in 2023 and 2024. Sherman endorsed President Trump before the 2024 Iowa Caucuses, while Reynolds endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Reynolds says she has a good working relationship with Trump and while she’d love Trump’s endorsement in 2026, she will run on her own record as governor.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that would require that schools show an ultrasound as well as a video about fetal development to students in 4th through 12th grades has passed the Iowa Senate. Senator Jeff Taylor, a Republican from Sioux Center, says the video will encourage respect for life, no matter how small. “Whether we are a zygote or then we become an embryo and then we become a fetus, it’s all the same person,” Taylor said. “These are just stages of development that have been given scientific names.”

Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner of Iowa City says the bill pushes a political agenda. “It refers to an unborn child. Your religion may teach that a fetus is a child. Mine does not,” Weiner said. “I would hope we could all agree that religion doesn’t belong in the science classroom.” All but one Democrat in the Senate voted against the bill. Senator Molly Donahue, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, says the bill is based on an ideology and local schools should decide what’s appropriate to show in classrooms.

“Communities vary widely across our state in their perspectives and a one-size-fits-all programming does not fit the perspective of all families,” Donahue said. Republican Senator Kevin Alons of Salix says the bill addresses the fundamental question of when life begins. “It kind of boggles my mind to think that it’s somehow political to talk about fetal development from conception on,” Alons said.

Republicans in previous years have proposed similar bills that would have required that schools show a video — titled “Baby Olivia” — that was produced by a group that opposes abortion. This year’s version does not mention a specific video.

(Radio Iowa) – State officials say July 1st is the target date to launch a project to train 460 physicians at 14 Iowa hospitals over the next four years. Governor Kim Reynolds is seeking 150-million dollars in federal funding for the initiative. “We know that doctors often decide to practice where they do their residency,” Reynolds said, “which means this truly could be a game-changer for our state.” While the Trump Administration has been focused on budget cutting lately, Reynolds says she feels good about this request for federal funding.

“We’re going to make a strong case for it, for approval. We feel pretty confident,” Reynolds says “The good news is there are a lot of other states that are already doing this…Remember, we’re setting up state dollars to draw down federal dollars, so we have some skin in the game as well.” Shelly Russell, C-E-O of the Mitchell County Regional Health Center — a 25 bed hospital in Osage — is chair-elect of Iowa Hospital Association Board of Trustees. She says the medical residencies are important, particularly in rural Iowa, because hospitals need to more staff.

“Hospitals don’t have the option of closing early if they can’t cover a shift,” she said. “Illnesses, injuries and emergencies happen every day — day and night.” Reynolds has submitted a bill to the Iowa legislature to address medical residencies as well as other health-related issues, like maternal health. She proposes raising the Medicaid reimbursement rate for patients with a complex pregnancy.

“Today Iowa reimbursement doctors and hospitals and physicians at a single, bundled Medicaid rate, regardless of the number of office visits or the risk level of the pregnancy,” Reynolds says, “and that doesn’t really make sense for doctors or mothers.” Reynolds also proposes expanding a state program that currently provides state funding to four hospitals that have become hubs for specialized care. Kevin DeRonde is C-E-O of Mahaska Health Partnership in Oskaloosa, one of the regional centers in the program today. Its heart doctors saw 800 new patients in the past eight months and the hospital has become a regional hub for deliveries.

“Mahaska Health has seen a 102% increase in births, with 267 born in 2024. We are on pace to deliver over 400 babies in 2025,” he says. “Our OB-GYN specialists opened and expanded the first ever fertility services clinic in southeast Iowa, providing specialized care for 50 couples.”

The governor’s health care package also would consolidate and double student loan repayment programs for doctors who agree to practice in Iowa.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday morning, received monthly and quarterly reports from the Environmental Health and Conservation Departments. Conservation Director Micah Lee was up first. He mentioned the first check has been written for the restrooms at Cold Springs State Park near Lewis.

Micah said other sites received brush clean-up and regular seasonal maintenance.

He said a scout troop lent a hand in helping remove brush at Pellet Memorial Woods.

Conservation staff, he said, are also conducting brush removal activities near the Hitchcock House, and they hope to get some Spring burning of brush and other invasive species taken care of. Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning he said, was busy providing 91 programs over the past quarter, and saw 2,365 people altogether during those programs and events.

Jotham Arber, Executive Director of Cass/Guthrie County Environmental Health, provided the Supervisors with his Quarterly report. He mentioned they are in the process of updating their website with aspects of the Environmental Health Department, including systems, water tests, etc. The last time the website was updated, he said, was in 2019.

He said they work with new construction rural homeowners, who are unfamiliar with septic and water systems, or those who have lived in a rural area and are moving into an existing home with a septic or well water system.

There will be recommendations on the web page about how often septic tanks should be pumped out, and water tests conducted, and a link to the Beacon web-based Geographic Information System that details property information.

He said there will be a big push this Spring for water tests, and keeping-up with water quality in the county.

Jotham Arber said also, they’ve been working through Winter projects and getting the drawing updated and into the system.

(Red Oak, Iowa) — Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday (Feb. 18th), unanimously approved a resolution increasing the weekly hours County Veterans Affairs Executive Director Curtis White is allowed to work, from 25 to 28 hours, retroactive to July 1st, 2024 through June 30th of this year. The supervisors also unanimously approved 28 hours per week for next fiscal year, beginning July 1st. Their action followed a request last week by the county’s veterans affairs commission.

The veterans affairs commission previously gave White a $2 per hour merit pay increase. Though White’s office is budgeted for 1,300 hours, Montgomery County Auditor Ozuna says he only spent under 1,200 hours in the previous fiscal year. That left the Board with the option of reducing White’s hours so he doesn’t go over his budget, or increasing the hours and have a budget amendment so they the hours fall within his budget.

In other business, the supervisors approved a 28-E agreement for Highway Bridge Competive Program (HBCP) funding for bridge projects on 250th Street west of Villisca and 270th Street east of M Avenue.

The grant encompasses 28 county bridges across 20 different counties in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – The governor has appointed a University of Northern Iowa student to the Board of Regents.

Lucy Gipple is an elementary education major with a minor in social and emotional learning who is a New Sharon native. She is a graduate of North Mahaska High School where she was student body president, class president, a National Honor Society member and cheer captain for the football and basketball teams.

Lucy Gipple. (UNI photo)

Gipple takes over as the student representative for the Regent’s at their February 27th meeting. She replaces Abby Crow who left the board after graduating from the University of Iowa in June.

(Radio Iowa) – From tractor parades to helping feed the needy through Meals from the Heartland, Iowa’s FFA members are celebrating the agricultural education organization this week through participating in a host of events. Taylor Adams, an instructor with the Webster City FFA chapter, says she’s long had an interest in the group.

“I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was little, and once I got involved in FFA and ag throughout my high school career,” Adams says, “I knew that I wanted to continue to share my passion and teach my potential students in the future.”

The chapter’s president, Ethan Harms, says one of the false myths about FFA is that it’s only open to students who live on farms. Harms notes there are plenty of chapters in big cities and each member takes on what’s known as a Supervised
Agricultural Experience, or SAE. “FFA is for all. Everybody has an SAE project, no matter how big or small in our ag classes,” Harms says. “It can range from managing your household pets to managing 100 head of livestock. Everybody has an SAE project.”

There are 20,000 FFA members in Iowa, with more than a million nationwide. FFA will mark its centennial in 2028.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports three recent arrests:

• 44-year-old Katie Susan Church, of Glenwood, and 26-year-old Dustin Carl Lee Perry, of Maryville, MO., were arrested Monday (Feb. 17) at the Mills County Courthouse, on separate Failure To Appear charges. Their bonds were set at $2,000 each. And,
• 35-year-old Ryan Scott Wendt, of Pacific Junction, was arrested Friday in Pacific Junction, for OWI/1st offense, and Interference with Official Acts.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A bill to update Iowa’s grain indemnity fund with increased capacity and to include farmers with credit-sale contracts passed the Iowa House Agriculture Committee Tuesday.  The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports committee members approved an amendment to House Study Bill 131 to clarify definitions of deferred-payment contracts and credit-sale contracts, the inclusion of which have been the dividing issue on the bill, and the reason it stalled in the Legislature last year.

Rep. Norlin Mommsen, R-DeWitt, said Tuesday, and in the subcommittee hearing Feb. 11, the bill was a compromise from his previous opinion that credit-sale contracts should be excluded. Deferred-payment contracts, which allow the price of grain on a sale to be determined after it has been delivered, are excluded from the fund. The bill would increase the indemnity fund minimum from $3 million to $8 million and the maximum from $8 million to $16 million to help cover farmers’ losses when their buyers go broke.  Mommsen, who has led the bill, said the basics of the existing grain indemnity fund are solid, but need to be updated to reflect the current ag industry.

A combine in a corn field along west-bound Interstate 880. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

For example, he said the price of corn when the original grain indemnity fund started in 1986 was around $2 a bushel.  “I sold corn the other day for $5,” Mommsen said. “So that shows the need to kind of upgrade stuff.” The amendment would also increase the bond amount required to be a grain dealer from $100,000 to $250,000, which Mommsen said, was just bringing the bill up to “today’s dollars.”

The bill moves next to the House floor.