(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s gratified to hear that President Trump says he’s secured a deal with NATO that will bring the United States complete and enduring access to Greenland. Grassley, a Republican, agrees with the president in saying the territory of Denmark is in a strategic location and it’s in America’s best interest to keep Russia or China from gaining a foothold there.

“The president says there’s an arrangement that’s going to maybe guarantee everything that we would want through owning the territory, that it’s no longer necessary to use force,” Grassley says. “It’s no longer necessary to buy the island.” Trump made the announcement about Greenland earlier today (Thursday) while in Switzerland where he’s attending a NATO summit, and Grassley says he’s pleased with the news.

“The president didn’t need to invade. It didn’t need to be a part of the United States,” Grassley says. “I know that the European countries, particularly Denmark, is open to almost everything the United States needs for our national security. It sounds to me that has been satisfied.” The U-S and Denmark signed an agreement in 1951 that allows the U-S to build military bases on Greenland and move around the island freely.

About 80-percent of Greenland is covered with ice, and it only has around 56-thousand residents, about two-thousand fewer than the city of Dubuque. Greenland covers some 836-thousand square miles, or about 15 times the size of Iowa.

(Clarinda, IA – 1/22/26) – Page County Attorney, James L. Varley, reports the following activities in the Iowa District Court for Page County for the week of January 5, 2026. The Honorable Craig Dreismeier, District Court Judge of the Fourth Judicial District presided. All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Carly Jean Carnine, age 19, of Clarinda, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Assault Causing Bodily Injury. The defendant was granted a deferred judgment and was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $855. Defendant was placed on probation for 2 years and ordered to pay court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees.

Stacey Sue Ann Kudera, age 46, of Coin, Iowa appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Operating While Under the Influence-1st Offense. The defendant was sentenced to 2 days in jail and was given credit for 2 days towards the jail sentence for completing the Second Chances Program. A fine of $1,250 was imposed and the defendant was ordered to pay court costs and surcharges.

Andrew Christopher Polk, age 43, of Shenandoah, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Operating While Under the Influence-1st Offense. The defendant was sentenced to 30 days in jail with all but 2 days suspended and placed on probation for 1 year. As a condition of probation, the defendant is to attend and successfully complete the Drinking Driver’s School which can also be in lieu of the 2 days in jail. Defendant was fined $1,250 and ordered to pay court costs and surcharges.

Michael Ray Simpson, age 60, of Clarinda, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to 3 counts of Forgery. The defendant was fined $1,025 and sentenced to 5 years of incarceration on each count with the sentences to run concurrently. The terms of incarceration were suspended, and the defendant was placed on probation for 2 years. As a condition of probation, the defendant was ordered to reside at the Residential Correction Facility until maximum benefits are achieved. The defendant was ordered to pay court costs, surcharges, court-appointed attorney fees and restitution in the amount of $1,680.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowan who gained national attention for painting flowers on manhole covers has asked a judge in Sioux City to dismiss charges Police arrested Brandon Bradshaw in November for criminal mischief and drinking in public, but he says he didn’t mean to break the law with his painting.  “The Sioux City Mayor, the City of Sioux City, and the residents of Sioux City have all spoken. They want this, so I think it’s just best to let it go and if I was drawing something else, it might be a different story, but it was flowers,” Bradshaw says.

Bradshaw’s attorney told a judge the mayor of Sioux City previously signed an agreement to dismiss the charges against him after the public supported him. Bradshaw spoke after a courtroom appearance Wednesday. “It was never about me. It’s always about the people creating smiles, making people have a better day when they’re going to work or going to school or whatever the case may be, and it was all marker paint, so 90 percent of them are gone anyways,” he says. “So, I felt it was no different than doing it on a sidewalk chalk, to be honest with you.”

The prosecutor says the County Attorney’s Office did not sign off on the agreement to drop the charges. Bradshaw says depending on the outcome of the case, he plans to continue spreading joy through his artwork. The community of Sac City, inspired by Bradshaw, encouraged residents to paint manholes in their town. The judge says she will issue a ruling later in the case.

DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Bicycle Coalition will host the Iowa Bike Expo is a must-attend event for cycling & outdoor enthusiasts, as one of the Midwest’s largest one-day bike shows it draws over 5,000 attendees and features the latest in bikes, gear, trail destinations, rides, and innovations. There are over 120+ local and national exhibitors underscoring the profound economic and community impact cycling and trails has on the state of Iowa. The Bike Expo portion of the overall event runs 9am – 3pm and is free and open to the general public.

The Iowa Bike Banquet, immediately after the Bike Expo, features an afternoon of live music and entertainment with delicious food and drinks, inspiring stories from dynamic national and local speakers. The Banquet brings together donors, advocates, partner organizations, cycling enthusiasts with a chance to reflect on the shared successes and look ahead to the future of the cycling community with all funds going to support the Iowa Bicycle Coalition’s mission to promote safe, accessible, and enjoyable bicycling for all in Iowa – and their vision to make Iowa the best place in the country to ride a bike. The Bike Banquet portion of the event runs 3pm – 6pm and is a ticketed event with tickets available for purchase here.

What:  Iowa Bicycle Coalition Bike Expo & Banquet

When:

• Iowa Bike Expo | Saturday, Jan. 24th from 9am – 3pm

• Iowa Bike Banquet | Saturday, Jan. 24th 3pm – 6pm

Where:  Iowa Events Center, 730 3rd Street Des Moines, IA 50309 | Hall B & Jr. Ballroom

Who:

• Connor Fields, First American Olympic medalist in BMX

• Ayesha McGowan, First African American Pro Road Bike Cyclist

• Congressman Zach Nunn

• Supervisor Mark Holm, Vice Chair of Polk County Board of Supervisors

• Bill Nesper, Executive Director of the League of American Cyclists

• Luke Hoffman, Executive Director, Iowa Bicycle Coalition

About the Iowa Bicycle Coalition 

The Iowa Bicycle Coalition is a statewide nonprofit organization that advocates for safe, enjoyable, and accessible bicycling in Iowa through education, events, better policy, and building a community of supporters. Our vision is that bicycling in Iowa is safe, enjoyable, and accessible for all. You can learn more at www.Iowabicyclecoalition.org.

(Corning, IA) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports three recent arrests:

On or about Wednesday, Jan, 21st, Adams County Sheriff’s Deputies executed a search warrant at 807 6th Street in Corning, and as a result of their investigation, arrested 68-year-old Phillip Bassett, of Corning.

Bassett

Bassett was arrested on the following charges: Distribution of a Controlled Substance to a person under the age of 18, and Ongoing Criminal Conduct (Both are Class-B felonies); Solicitation of Prostitution, Enticing a Minor under 16-years-old, and Grooming (All are Class-D felonies); and Keeping a premises for Controlled Substance Use (An Aggravated Misdemeanor). Bassett was transported to the Adams County Jail.

At around 12:26-a.m. today (Thursday), Sheriff’s Deputies in Adams County arrested 40-year-old Jose Huerta, of Clarinda, on an Adams County warrant for Violation of Probation. And, on or about Jan. 6th, 42-year-old David Yazell, of Corning, was arrested on an Adams County warrant for Failure to Appear.

Huerta

Yazell

“Any potential criminal charges identified above are merely allegations, and any defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”

(Radio Iowa) – Corn production in Iowa and the nation was on an upward trajectory last year, but industry leaders say there’s now a problem with declining market demand. A new study produced for two Iowa agri-business groups predicts that demand gap will continue to grow. Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, says an oversupply of corn will drag down prices for farmers unless something changes.

“As is usual, we’re outproducing our markets, and so, there’s really three paths forward,” Shaw says. “There’s the status quo where supply continues to go up faster than demand.” Mark Mueller, president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association and a fourth-generation farmer from Waverly, says he’s worried there won’t be a fifth generation on his family’s land.

Mueller says, “The bottom line is that we have high input prices, we have low commodity prices, and we’re producing more corn all the time. We need more places to move our corn.” The Iowa Corn Growers Association is pushing Congress to allow the year-round sale of E-15 nationwide. A new study for the group finds that would close the demand gap for corn by 2031. The study predicts new markets for corn, like sustainable aviation fuel, are needed for long-term profitability.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission has approved a new three-year contract for monitoring the water quality in the state’s lakes. D-N-R environmental specialist Dan Kendall says the contract continues the partnership with Iowa State University. “I-S-U will be collecting samples from 154 sites, and then the D-N-R will be collecting samples from an additional lake sites,” he says. They are testing for several things in the lakes, including phosphorus levels. Kendall as the data is used for the Clean Water Act water quality assessments report produced by the D-N-R every two years.  “This monitoring typically yields about 10-thosuand sampling results from over 600 sampling events for each year of this contract,” he says.

He says the Lake Restoration organizations uses the data from this program to prioritize their lakes in their restoration plan. The also use it to track the effectiveness of things like alum (aluminum sulfate) treatments in lake restoration efforts.  “Alum treatments are often used as a tool to reduce that internal load of phosphorus in a lake, and then that reduction of phosphorus and often lead to the reduction of phytoplankton overgrowth or algal bloom conditions in the lake,” he says. “So they were wanting to be able to track their efforts as they as they do these applications.” Kendall says I-S-U has a new tool that will help them in monitoring lake water quality.

“I-S-U has acquired a flow cam Cyano, which is essentially an automated imaging microscope that can differentiate between the different types of phytoplankton and cyanobacteria,” Kendall says. “And this new process will basically allow the lab to identify the samples faster as well as kind of in that time frame that that we really want to be able to see the information.” Kendall says this contract cost is more than one-point-seven million dollars ($1,741,679), a 20 percent increase. “This is due to several factors, one of which is we’re going from a two-year contract back to a three-year contract again,” he says. “And then some of the other factors contributing to this increase are staff and technician salary increases at I-S-U, increases in the cost of supplies and reagents for analysis, we’ve kind of seen a big jump there. And then increased transportation costs.”

Kendall was asked by a commissioner if working with public agencies and their increased salary costs is the best way to go. He says the legislature requires they work with public agencies and says it is a delicate balance of working with universities and continually trying to see what they can do to limit costs without reducing services.

(Radio Iowa) – As the U-S Supreme Court weighs the legality of President Trump’s tariffs, several farm groups say the administration’s trade policy will have harmful, long-lasting effects. Aaron Lehman is a farmer and president of the Iowa Farmers Union. “This chaotic tariff policy is not getting us any closer to fair trade,” Lehman says. “We are no closer to stopping product dumping, manipulative monetary policies, uneven labor and environmental standards, and unfair labeling restrictions.” Last April, Trump declared a national emergency posed by trade deficits and announced taxes on imports from nearly every U-S trading partner. Small businesses and a dozen states sued, and the case is being reviewed by the highest court.

Lehman says the bigger issue is Trump’s overall approach to trade policy. He says, “It’s wrong to use tariffs like we’re trying to change a light bulb with a hammer.” Lehman says the damage to trade partners and uncertainty makes it difficult to plan for the 2026 growing season, especially as production costs continue to outpace prices for corn and soybeans. “Farmers already have few choices in the marketplace,” Lehman says, “and a chaotic trade policy makes a bad situation even worse.”

He says the administration’s approach undermines decades of investments by farmers to build relationships with buyers overseas, many of whom may switch to suppliers in other countries. Lehman spoke during a press call organized by the group Tariffs Cost US.

(Oskaloosa, IA) – The Iowa State Patrol reports six people were injured in a crash in Mahaska County, Wednesday afternoon. The accident report indicates the crash happened just before 4-p.m., east of Oskaloosa, when a Ford Escape SUV facing eastbound and driven by a 15-year-old from Oskaloosa, stopped on Highway 92 near Patriot Avenue, as the driver was attempting to make a left turn into a driveway. The SUV was struck by an eastbound semi.

The impact caused the Ford Escape to cross the center-line of the road and strike a westbound Ford Edge SUV head-on. The injured, whose names were released, included the driver of the semi, 49-year-old Martin Neely, of Milan, MO; the driver of the Ford Edge, 33-year-old Brooke Thurman, of Brooklyn (IA); 48-year-old Claira Thurman, 26-year-old Jordan Thurman, along with an (unidentified) 13-year-old juvenile, all from Victor (IA), and the driver of the Ford Escape. All were taken by ambulance to Mahaska Health in Oskaloosa. All of the injured were wearing seat belts.

A report on their conditions was not available. The Patrol’s report did not say if any charges will be filed.

(Radio Iowa) – Two state senators are proposing an amendment to Iowa’s Constitution that would ban Iowa corporations from making donations to political candidates or political action committees. Senator Zach Wahls, a Democrat from Coralville who is running for the U.S. Senate, says it’s similar to a Montana initiative that sought to prohibit corporations from directly or indirectly contributing to candidates.

“Iowa’s democracy should belong to Iowans,” Wahls said, “not to corporate dark money and not to anonymous political spenders.” Senator David Sires, a Republican from Cedar Falls, says a PAC — allowed to conceal the names of its donors — spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to defeat him during his 2024 campaign for the state senate. “When donors are hidden, citizens can’t evaluate who’s trying to influence them,” Sires said. “Anonymous influence allows powerful influence to shape outcomes without public accountability.”

Earlier this month, Montana’s Supreme Court ruled the concept was unconstitutional and it’s unlikely to be considered in the Republican-led Iowa Legislature. In 2010, the U-S Supreme Court ruled corporate spending to support causes or candidates amounted to political speech that’s protected by the First Amendment of the U-S Constitution.