DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Lawmakers from Iowa and Ohio have introduced legislation to the U.S. House of Representatives aimed at increasing housing access and affordability for college students.

Reps. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, brought forward the “Campus Housing Affordability Act” Tuesday, Nunn announced in a press release. If passed, the legislation would amend current law to allow certain students enrolled in higher education to apply federal housing assistance to their university dwellings.

“College should be about learning and earning a degree, not worrying about where you’re going to sleep at night,” Nunn said in the release. “Housing insecurity undermines academic success, increases the risk of dropping out, and puts a higher education out of reach for too many students. This bipartisan bill gives every student a fair shot at success—regardless of their background or ZIP code.”

According to the release, the bill would let students with Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers use them for campus housing and bar vouchers offered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from being counted as income. This will stop students from “being disqualified from additional forms of financial aid,” the release stated.

These changes would also “expand access” to the communities and support systems found on college campuses, which have been shown to strengthen retention and graduation rates. The release stated that close to 48% of U.S. college students face housing insecurity, and 81% of those impacted by housing insecurity report “they would perform better academically if they had access to safe, reliable housing.”

“We can make college way more affordable, and this bill does that for countless Americans,” Landsman said in the release. “In fact, this will be transformative for students who have been historically left out and marginalized. Campus housing is an enormous expense for students, and our bill eliminates that expense for students who are eligible for housing vouchers.”

(Radio Iowa) – The top Republican in the Iowa Senate will be sponsoring a bill next year that would give developers like Summit Carbon Solutions more leeway in altering the route of pipelines. It would also apply to other utility infrastructure, like transmission lines. Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh of Spillville says for the past three months he’s been talking with Senate Republicans about ideas to resolve the debate over the carbon pipeline soon after the 2026 legislature convenes in January.

“We want to be respectful of private property rights. We want to minimize and all but eliminate the need to utilize eminent domain to build infrastructure,” Klimesh said “and that lies in widening the corridor, giving those companies the ability to find willing landowners that want to enter into an easement with them.” Under his proposal, once a company submits a proposed route to Iowa utility regulators, developers could adjust that route within a 10 mile corridor — to avoid property owned by people who don’t want the project running through their land.

“The goal ultimately is to all but eliminate the need for eminent domain for any infrastructure project to be constructed in this state in the future,” Klimesh said. “I think that shows that Senate Republicans want to be respectful of private property rights for folks that don’t want projects, but also allow private property rights to be exercised by folks that want to benefit from those easements.” Klimesh says last spring the legislature spent a lot of time navigating through a debate over a bill that was complex and he’s hoping a simpler solution prevails.

“Iowa is kind of unique compared to other states where we have a noticed corridor,” Klimesh said. “We don’t allow construction companies building infrastructure to deviate from that corridor. Some states have no noticed corridor requirement.” A dozen Republican Senators refused to vote on state budget plans last spring and joined Democrats in passing a wide-ranging pipeline bill that Governor Reynolds vetoed in June.

In late September Klimesh told Radio Iowa the pipeline issue wasn’t going away and he was searching for a solution that could unify Senate Republicans.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Lottery C-E-O Matt Strawn says sales have picked up as they head toward the midpoint of their fiscal year. “Iowa lottery sales and proceeds have seen double-digit percentage growth over last fiscal year as gross lottery sales and net proceeds are exceeding both budget forecasts and last year’s actuals,” Strawn says. Speaking to the Lottery Commission at their meeting today (Tuesday), he says sales are nearly 193 million dollars through November.

“Represents a year over year sales increase of 11-two-percent. Relative to the budget forecast, it’s a 13-point-four-percent sales increase,” he says. Proceeds turned over to the state are more than 41 million dollars through November. “Represent a year over year proceeds increase of 24-point-four percent, or relative to the budget, a 37-point-two-five percent increase,” he says. Large Powerball jackpots have lifted up sales.

“These revenue and proceeds totals are positively influenced by sales of Powerball during the first half of fiscal ’26.” Strawn says. “Powerball sales have more than doubled when compared with the first five months of last fiscal year.” Strawn the sales increase comes as a drought for mega jackpots ended. “There was not a single Powerball jackpot that exceeded 600 million dollars during fiscal ’25 ,” he says. And we have now had two to exceed that billion dollar amount actually during the first half of fiscal ’26.”

Strawn says the September Powerball jackpot that grew to one-point-eight billion dollars before it was won and the current Powerball jackpot is estimated at more than one Billion.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is suing an online gaming company called Roblox. “They market themselves as a safe place for kids and say they’re the number one place for kids’ gaming,” Bird said. “We found through out investigation that is not the case, that they don’t have adequate safeguards in place and, in fact, child predators could have access to these kids.” Bird says as many as two out of three children between the ages of 9 and 12 have a Roblox account.

“So very young children are on this gaming service,” Bird said, “and many parents don’t realize the problems with Roblox because they’ve been told it’s safe and educational.” The lawsuit accuses Roblox of violating Iowa’s Consumer Protection law by claiming it is equipped with every precaution possible, while allowing adults to hide behind avatars and chat with children playing games online. The lawsuit cites a criminal case in Iowa.

“A man from Tennessee was charged with abducting an Iowa teen that he met through Roblox and then took her back to Tennessee,” Bird said. “And he is charged with sexually assaulting her.” Bird says Roblox created a breeding ground for sexual predators and she’s asking a judge to force Roblox to either provide more stringent safety measures to protect children or stop doing business in Iowa.

“Roblox has some disturbing content that children should not be exposed to,” Bird said, “including aspects of the game known as ‘Epstein’s Island.’ ‘Survive Diddy’ is another experience that can kids can participate in…very sexually explicit, inappropriate material for children or anyone under the age of 18, much less the 9, 10, 11 and 12 year olds that often are on Roblox.”

Roblox faces a growing number of lawsuits filed by government officials and parents who say their children were groomed and exploited by adults on the platform. The Roblox website says the company dedicates substantial resources to detect and prevent inappropriate content and online behavior and has installed 40 new features over the past year to protect children and upgrade parental controls.

(Atlantic, IA) – Officials with the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce surprised a woman who is involved in several community organizations, with the Chamber’s 2025 “Angel of Christmas” award, this (Tuesday) morning. Her nominators wrote, Coleen Babe “has made an impact on this community, specifically on our youth in agriculture, [that] is second to none.”

They went on to say “She has spent the last 20-years developing leadership skills in our young people through a number of service activities,” [such as] chairing the royalty/ambassador program for the Cass County Cattlemen, organizing the county-wide hamburger feed program at the schools,” and so much more.

The 2025 Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce’ “Angel of Christmas,” Coleen Babe (Photo Courtesy the Atlantic Chamber)

Her nominators said “When you meet Coleen, you become part of her family. She takes care of all those around her, and without a doubt would give you the shirt off her back.”

For those, and many other reasons, “There is no one more fitting to receive such an award,” then Coleen Babe, this year’s Angel of Christmas.

(Red Oak, IA) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says a traffic stop late this (Tuesday) morning on Highway 71 in Grant, resulted in the arrest of a man wanted on a Cass County (IA) warrant.

Authorities say 27-year-old William Cody Shepard, of Clive, was found to be driving with a suspended license, in addition to having a warrant out of Cass County for Theft in the 4^th Degree.

Shepard was cited and turned over to Cass County Deputies. His bond was set at $1,000.

(Omaha, NE) – The Community Foundations of Southwest Iowa, which includes the community foundations in Audubon, Cass, Crawford, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page and Shelby counties, is pleased to announce that grant applications are now being accepted from organizations providing charitable services in southwest Iowa. As part of this spring grant cycle, over $1.2 million will be available to support nonprofit organizations and community projects in the nine counties. The deadline to apply for funds through the online application process is February 1, 2026.

Beginning December 15, application details, a fact sheet, and a link to the application form can be found here or by logging in on omahafoundation.org. Applications will only be accepted through the online system.

The Community Foundations of Southwest Iowa, an affiliate of the Omaha Community Foundation, serves to benefit the nine-county region by supporting community needs in the areas of civic engagement, culture, health, education, and social services. The objective of the grant program is to fund projects that will have a lasting impact in our communities.

Only organizations providing services in the nine-county region are eligible to apply. They must be able to demonstrate broad community/county support and be an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) public charity, a local municipality, or a fiscally sponsored project.

This cycle of grants is made possible through the State of Iowa County Endowment Fund Program. Created in 2004 by the Iowa Legislature, the program is funded by a percentage of the state’s commercial gaming tax revenue.

Please contact Southwest Iowa Foundations Advisor Sarah Beth Ray at sarahbeth@omahafoundation.org or 402-342-3458 with application-related questions. All completed grant applications will be considered at the March advisory committee meetings, with applicants being notified of funding decisions by the end of March.

For general questions about the Community Foundations of Southwest Iowa and the County Endowment Fund Program, please contact Southwest Iowa Foundations Director Sunni Kamp at sunni@omahafoundation.org or 402-933-4188.

(Creston, IA) – A woman from Union County was injured during a collision this (Tuesday) morning, in Creston. The Creston Police Department reports 44-year-old Kristi Lynn Wieland, of Creston, suffered suspected minor injuries, after the SUV she was driving was struck by pickup truck, being driven by 33-year-old Corina Jean Buchanan, also of Creston. Buchanan was not hurt.

Police say the accident happened at around 10:07-a.m., when Buchanan failed to stop at the intersection of Irving and Elm Streets. Buchanan was traveling east on Irving when he pickup hit the SUV, which was traveling north on Elm Street.

Police cited Corina Buchanan for Failure to obey a stop sign and yield the right of way. Damage from the collision amounted to a police estimated $9,000 altogether.  (Photos by Chuck Spindler with the Creston Fire Dept., via Facebook)

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is waiting to see the results of an 11th hour meeting Monday night between a bipartisan group of about two dozen of his Senate colleagues, who were working to create their own version of a health care bill. “I think it’s very important that they try to reach an agreement before the end of the year, before big increases in health insurance kick in,” Grassley says, “and I hope it has the reforms in it.” There are widespread reports of Iowans who will face a quadrupling of their monthly health insurance premiums unless reforms pass quickly.

Grassley, a Republican, says in order for him to back the plan, it will have to include an income eligibility cap and efforts to prevent fraud. “People making as much as $600,000 a year, and we have at least one example of that, aren’t getting subsidized for their health insurance,” Grassley says. “People that are on both Obamacare and Medicaid, and that goes into a few million that fall into that category.”

For months, Democrats have pushed for an extension of the tax credits to people who use the Affordable Care Act marketplace, while Republicans have resisted saying the current plan is far too expensive and filled with loopholes. “If we’re going to get an agreement, some of those frauds and some of that duplication must be taken out,” Grassley says, “and it will be taken out because it’s so obvious.”

While the A-C-A subsidies will expire at month’s end, lawmakers are only scheduled to work through the end of this week before they recess for the year.