• Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner

• Licensed Professional Counselor

• Nurse Educator

• Occupational Therapist

• Physical Therapist

• Physician Assistant

• Physician

• Registered Nurse

• Social Worker (specific to mental health counseling)

(Radio Iowa) – The National Weather Service plans to offer a series of weather spotter classes starting next month. Meteorologist Chad Hahn says they will do in person training and are adding online training as well. “We’re going to be doing some virtual sessions that will be scheduled during the months of March and April that will be during the evening and we might have one or two during the daytime as well so folks could jump on really to learn about what the warning system is about severe weather and how ground truth can help the warning decisions that the forecasters make,” he says.

Hahn says they will have the full schedule out soon.”Definitely encourage folks to check out our website and keep an eye on weather.gov/Des Moines,” Hahn says. “We’ll have some information on there as about those classes and the virtual sessions once they’re scheduled and maybe future in-person sessions as well.”

Hahn says they want to got to some counties they haven’t visit in a while for in person classes and they should start in the first week in March.

(Sioux City, IA) – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, today (Friday) said a Carroll (IA) man, 32-year-old Shawn Zak, pled guilty on Wed., February 11th (2026), to charges that include conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and illegal possession of a firearm. He entered his plea in Sioux City federal court.

At the plea hearing, Zak admitted that from June 2025 through September 2025, he and others conspired to distribute more than 1500 grams of methamphetamine in the Carroll, Iowa, area.  On September 11, 2025, Zak was approached by law enforcement based on an active warrant for his arrest.  At the time Zak provided a false name to officers and he was arrested.  During his arrest, Zak had a brief, physical struggle with law enforcement.  Law enforcement seized 53.19 grams of pure methamphetamine, some marijuana, .22 caliber ammunition, indicia of drug dealing including baggies, syringes, and scale weights from the vehicle.  Zak admitted he planned to distribute the methamphetamine to others.  Law enforcement later recovered a .22 caliber handgun which Zak possessed in the vehicle in which he was stopped.  Zak further admitted he received the .22 caliber handgun from another person earlier in September 2025.

Zak was previously convicted of burglary in January 2023 in Iowa and criminal trespass in Pennsylvania in 2017.  The felony convictions prohibited Zak from possessing a firearm.

The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Zak remains in custody of the United States Marshal and will remain in custody pending sentencing.  Zak faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10,250,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by Carroll County Sheriff’s Office; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and Iowa DCI Laboratory.

(Radio Iowa) – As the Archdiocese of Dubuque is considering plans to potentially end masses and close some small town churches, a group called “Save Our Churches, Save Our Communities” is hosting meetings in the area and hoping to influence the outcome. Wayne Brunsman who attends the St. Boniface Catholic Church in New Vienna. “People want their voices to be heard in the process that so far has only allowed very limited, very structured comments that have left people feeling like they’re on the outside looking in,” Brunsman said. “We have a core group of concerned citizens across the whole diocese and there’s just a lot of growing support once people know there are things we can do to influence the outcome of this process.”

The group has been consulting with a non-profit law firm that’s worked with other groups throughout the country facing similar situations. Brunsman says the firm has helped his group understand what the Canon Law in the Catholic Church requires when planning consolidations. “There are rules in the process that were written by the Vatican itself and we aim to see that the rules are followed so that a fair and workable result can be achieved that helps the Archdiocese manage the workload on priests, which is their concern, without closing 83 churches across 30 counties in the Archdiocese,” Brunsman said, “and also trying to reverse the decline in mass attendance.” The group hosted its fourth public forum in Dyersville this week.

“We hope that the knowledge that we exist and are active will, by itself, lead to the archdiocese come up with an acceptable plan without need of an appeal, but we’re trying to be ready to proceed if need be,” Brunsman said. “Again, we’re not opposed to the church. We’re lifelong and faithful Caatholics and members of parishes that are nearly 200 years old, but we’re just opposed the ‘Journey of Faith’ process and how it’s being managed.”

Save Our Churches, Save Our Communities has a website with information about each parish that could be closed, along with a petition for parishioners to sign.

Council Bluffs, IA – A man who was in handcuffs and escaped from custody this (Friday) morning, in Council Bluffs, was arrested about an hour later.

According to Council Bluffs Police, the white male wearing all black – was arrested in connection with an assault case. Police had been searching for him in the area of N. 29^th Street and Avenue B, just north of W. Broadway Street.

Authorities said there was no danger to the public – since the man was in handcuffs at the time of his escape.

(Radio Iowa) – A plan to create drug-free zones around facilities the provide services to homeless Iowans could be debated in the House Public Safety Committee next week. The idea comes from the Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank based in Texas. Dennis Tibben, an Iowa based lobbyist who represents the group, says it would be similar to drug-free school zones where penalties are enhanced for people caught with drugs in the area.

“Those drug free school zones create a buffer of 1000 feet outside of a school that illicit drug use can’t occur,” Tibben said. “This legislation would create a similar buffer of 300 feet around homeless shelters and other supportive service areas.” People selling or distributing drugs within 300 feet of a facility offering homeless services would have an extra year added to their prison sentence. Homeless service providers that receive government funding could be criminally charged if someone is allowed to have drugs in the facility and the organization would be ineligible for government funding for three years.

Advocates for the facilities that serve homeless Iowans say they already have drug-free policies in place, but their goal is to provide emergency assistance and they may not realize a person is using or possesses drugs when they walk in the facility.

(Radio Iowa) – More people than ever before flew out of Iowa’s commercial airports in 2025. The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Stuart Anderson says December numbers resumed the upward trend after a drop in November. “We ended the year up four-point-eight percent (4.8%) over calendar year 2024. So for the first time ever more than five million passengers flew out of Iowa’s eight commercial service airports,” he says. Anderson says the drop in November travel was due in part to the government shutdown. Back on the ground, December highway travel was down, but overall 2025 travel was up slightly.

“We were down about four-tenths of a percent compared to December of ’24. Of course, we did have some weather towards the end of the month, which probably impacted that a bit,” he says. “Over the entire year, we are two-tenths of a percent higher than calendar year ’24.” Iowa traffic deaths were at a record low of 259 in 2025, but Anderson says January started the new year with 24 traffic deaths, which is seven more than last January.”This month, we saw more fatalities in younger and older drivers, and we had at least one multi-fatality incident. So we’re hoping this is a bit of a bit of an outlier,” Anderson says.

The state’s top two airports in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids each saw record use in 20025. Anderson made his comments during a report to the Transportation Commission.

DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – A House subcommittee advanced a bill Thursday that would allow landowners to renegotiate damage claims and file complaints with the Iowa Utilities Commission, or court, for damages and yield losses due to pipeline construction.  Rep. David Young, R-Van Meter, sponsored the bill and said it was really about “the premise of you want to leave what you found … in the same condition if not better.”

Young specified that House Study Bill 691 was not related to any particular pipeline, but would provide “predictability” and “consistency” in the standards protecting landowners. The bill was supported by agricultural commodity groups including Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. Summit Carbon Solutions, a company seeking to build a carbon sequestration pipeline through Iowa, along with the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, also registered in support of the bill.

Doug Struyk said some members of the Iowa Soybean Association, which he represented at the subcommittee meeting, are still dealing with yield losses from pipelines built close to a decade ago. The bill allows landowners to renegotiate damage claims for compensation with pipeline companies even if damages were apparent at the time of settlement, or it has been more than five years since a settlement was reached.

HSB 691 also allows landowners, rather than just county supervisors, to file complaints directly with the Iowa Utilities Commission. Landowners can also file claims in small claims or district courts for “violations of damage payment provisions” with the pipeline company.

Onnalee Gettler, a lobbyist for MidAmerican Energy Company, opposed the bill but offered an amendment to lawmakers that would “avoid unintended” legal outcomes of the bill text. Gettler said the ability for landowners to renegotiate claims past five years could lead to them reopening damage claims “in perpetuity,” and MidAmerican would like to see that language changed. She explained that part of the proposed amendment would also clarify the relationship between landowners and farm tenants to ensure a pipeline company is not required to compensate both landowners and tenants for the same parcel. Gettler said the utility company would support the bill if the amendment were adopted.

Rep. Charley Thomson, R-Charles City, chaired the subcommittee and said he intends to take a “closer look” at some of the language raised by MidAmerican. The Iowa Utility Association, American Petroleum Institute and Black Hills Energy were also registered against the bill, but did not speak at the hearing. Kevin Kuhle, speaking on behalf of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, said the language in the bill is supported by Farm Bureau policies set in 2022.

Under the bill, farmers could also seek compensation for things like lost or reduced yield, soil compaction, damage to irrigation systems and damage to soil or water conservation structures. Speakers and lawmakers on the committee noted that similar language has been brought up in the Legislature in the past, including in 2023 when a bill to restrict eminent domain for pipelines passed in the House.

The bill heads next to the House Commerce Committee.