(Radio Iowa) – A small town in Mills County has a new mayor, and she’s now one of the youngest mayors in the country. Twenty-year-old Eva Fipps was elected mayor of Henderson by a 30-to-19 vote over Scott Schondelmeyer in November. Fipps graduated from Treynor High School in 2024 and was dual enrolled at Iowa Western Community College. She also attended Iowa Girls State and served as a page in the Iowa Legislature. Fipps explains why she decided to run for mayor.

“Every morning I’d go for runs or walks with my dogs,” said Fipps, “and I would stop in at City Hall to see our city clerk, Candace (Knop), and we’d get to chatting. We’ve done this for years, probably since around COVID time, and she recommended that I run for mayor. I never actually thought about because of how young I was, but she said I could. I said, ‘Why not?’ Even if I lost, I’d still be learning something.”

Fipps is part of the youth movement in Mills County government, which includes 19-year-old Mills County Supervisor Jack Sayers and 21-year-old Joseph Jaworkski, recently elected mayor of Silver City. Fipps says there’s a learning curve involved with becoming mayor of a small town and she’s taking a class on open meetings next week.

“It will really help me understand my role and how to properly do it,” she says. “I also have been in communication with a lot of different people, from other mayors to other city clerks, our board members. It’s a lot of communication and a lot of learning, and I’m trying every step of the way to get as much of the information in as I can.” As mayor, Fipps hopes to spark more community involvement and more activities.

“We’re working on a couple of different events that we’re going to be doing come this summer,” said Fipps. “I would love to see more than just townspeople in Henderson. I would love to see those who used to live in Henderson, those who live around us, come together to build up the community — not just Henderson, but in Mills County in general.”

Fipps also hopes to fill some of the community’s empty store fronts, and renovate the city’s playground. She was sworn into office December 29th.

(Red Oak, IA) – Police in Red Oak arrested a man on a Montgomery County warrant for Parole Violation, this (Wednesday) morning. 47-year-old Ronnie Eugene Reynolds, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 9:20-a.m. in the 1700 block of 206th Street.

Reynolds was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

Atlantic, IA — Cass Health will host its next Mammos & Mocktails event on Thursday, January 29, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Cass Health. Participants will receive a private mammogram appointment along with complimentary snacks, a seasonal mocktail, chair massages, and a welcoming, social atmosphere.

Appointments are required, and space is limited. Women can schedule through MyChart or by calling the Cass Health Radiology Department at 712-243-7450.

Cass Health recommends that women begin annual breast cancer screenings at age 40. Women are also encouraged to discuss their personal and family health history with their primary care provider, as some individuals may need to begin screenings earlier or receive additional or more frequent testing based on their risk factors.

In addition, women ages 21 to 64 may be eligible for free cancer screenings, including PAP tests, HPV tests, mammograms, and more. For more information or to enroll in these services, contact Cass County Public Health at 712-243-7551.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen says there’s an urgent need to raise the pay for Iowa judges. Christensen is asking legislators to approve a four-point-three percent increase in judges’ pay, alongside a plan to reduce the number of magistrates who work part-time in courtrooms around the state.  “The way we pay magistrates and distribute their work doesn’t make sense and, more importantly, it’s not fair,” Christensen said. “All magistrates are paid exactly the same, even though there is a huge disparity in workload.” State law currently requires a magistrate in each county — and a total of 206 statewide — to handle things like preliminary hearings, issuing warrants and simple misdemeanor cases.

“We have perhaps 60 more magistrates than the work requires. This is not sustainable,” Christensen said. “…As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we have a responsibility to make choices to serve all Iowans.” Magistrates get a salary and benefit package of about 65-thousand dollars a year to spend roughly 13 hours a week on judicial duties, but Christensen says some magistrates in low-crime areas are working a couple of hours a week. This is the second year Christensen has used the annual “Condition of the Judiciary” ask legislators to approve significant changes in the magistrate system.  “Over the past year I spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to lead an institution like ours,” Christensen said. “What I learned is this: doing what is right for the long term is rarely easy.”

Christensen says her plan to consolidate and restructure the magistrate system would save the state at least two-and-a-half MILLION dollars a year. She also told lawmakers the pay for district court judges is nearing a point where no attorneys will apply.  “This is not tomorrow’s problem. It is today is reality. District 8A which is in the southeast corner of the state had an opening for a district court judge this past April. District 8A and its contiguous counties are home to about 540,000 people and of those about 940 are licensed lawyers,” Christensen said. “Want to guess how many applied for that job? Two.” And Christensen says one judge who recently resigned is now earning a higher salary — as a county attorney. “Can we even hang on to the judges we have? When we experienced judges leave the bench for other public sector jobs that pay better, we no longer have a recruitment problem,” Christensen said. “We have a retention problem.”

Governor Reynolds appointed Christensen to the Iowa Supreme Court in 2018. In February of 2020, the justices chose Christensen to be chief justice.

DAVENPORT, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a Mexican citizen was sentenced today (January 14, 2026), to six months in federal prison for illegally returning to the United States after being deported.

According to public court documents, Alan Hernandez Lagunas, 42, had previously been deported from the United States three times. On February 21, 2025, law enforcement encountered Hernandez Lagunas in Columbus Junction, Iowa when he was arrested for and later convicted of operating while intoxicated and interference with official acts. Hernandez Lagunas rear-ended a semi-tractor, exhibited signs of intoxication, and resisted arrest. Hernandez Lagunas had been convicted in Iowa of operating a vehicle while intoxicated in 2010 and 2012.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Hernandez Lagunas will be required to serve a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney David C. Waterman of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations.

(Radio Iowa) – A federal appeals court heard arguments Tuesday in two cases concerning the legality of an Iowa law that bans books with sexual content in school libraries. The law also restricts lessons relating to gender identity and sexual orientation. Federal rulings previously blocked the enforcement of most of the law, which passed in 2023. Thomas Story, a lawyer for the A-C-L-U of Iowa, told reporters after the hearing that the law is too vague.

Story says, “They failed to give teachers and students any clear rules and because they unconstitutionally infringe upon LGBTQ students’ rights to express themselves and to join together in GSAs.” G-S-As are school clubs that support L-G-B-T-Q students. An appeals court ruling could take months. “I can tell you that we will never stop fighting for the rights of Iowa students and for the rights of Iowa teachers,” Story says, “and for the rights of everybody to be subject to laws that have clear standards and not be subject to the arbitrary decision-making of elected officials.”

A lawyer for the state says prior court rulings support the law, and parents have a right to know what their children are doing in school.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that would ban the use of eminent domain for pipelines carrying carbon dioxide has cleared an Iowa House subcommittee. The bill is similar to a South Dakoka law and would not allow Summit Carbon Solutions to use the government’s eminent domain authority to seize land along the pipeline route. Kathy Carter owns land in Floyd County along the proposed pipeline route and doesn’t want it on her property. “I have had this black cloud hanging over my head for five years,” Carter said. “I’m tired of it.” Mike Henning owns Greene County farmland along the Raccoon River. “It’s important that those of us that don’t want to have a pipeline on our property have the opportunity to say, ‘No,'” Henning said.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association is on the record opposing the bill and says by capturing carbon from Iowa ethanol plants, that ethanol can be sold in markets that require zero-carbon fuels. Brittany Lumley, a lobbyist for Summit, says the carbon the company captures from Iowa ethanol plants can also be used to recover underground oil. “There are hundreds of billions of dollars of oil in Wyoming and trillions in North Dakota that will never be recovered without our carbon product,” Lumley said. “Truly this pipeline will eventually become an integral part of this nation’s security strategy, giving more access to oil which is essential for everybody’s everyday lives.” Jake Ketzner, a lobbyist for Summit, says the bill would kill the company’s project.

“Summit Carbon is focused on signing voluntary easement agreements and moving off landowners who do not want us,” Ketzner says. “We support widening the corridor to allow for route adjustments to make this possible and significantly reduce any need for eminent domain.” That’s a description of the bill Senate Republican Leader Mike Klimesh says would be a way to end the years’ long debate over the pipeline. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, says that Senate bill will not protect all landowners. “Because under their proposal eminent domain can still be used for the CO2 pipeline project,” Holt said. Holt says that’s why a complete ban on the use of eminent domain for carbon pipeline is advancing in the House.

(Glenwood, IA) – Sheriff’s officials in Mills County, Tuesday (Jan. 13th) along with Glenwood Police, executed a search warrant at 911 N. Walnut St. in Glenwood, with regard to an investigation concerning forced entry into a 911 emergency communications tower. Authorities identified the alleged offender as 18-year-old Cameron Germar, of Glenwood. The Sheriff’s Office says from the ongoing investigation it was discovered that Germar had cut the security fence and gained access to the tower which controls paging for Fire and Emergency Medical Service response.

Germar was arrested and charged with Violating Iowa Codes:

716.8 (6) Trespass – Public Utility Property – D Felony
716.4 (1)(A) Criminal Mischief 2nd Degree – D Felony
713.6B(1) Attempted Burglary 2nd Degree – Aggravated Misdemeanor
713.7 Possession of burglar tools – Aggravated Misdemeanor

(Photo of Cameron Germar courtesy of the Mills County Sheriff’s Office)

Germar also was charged with violating the following Iowa Codes from an unrelated Glenwood Police case.

713.6 Burglary 3rd Degree – D Felony
713.7 Possession of burglary tools – Aggravated Misdemeanor

Germer’s cash-only bond on the latter 3rd Degree Burglary and Possession of Burglary Tools, was set at $7,000. He remains in the Mills County Jail.

Disclaimer: A criminal charge/citation is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

(Pocahontas, IA) –  A woman who formerly worked for a business in the northwest Iowa community of Pocahontas was arrested this week multiple felony charges Monday, in Tennessee. The Pocahontas County Sheriff’s Office says a local business reported on Dec. 24th, 2025, that one of their employees had allegedly been fraudulently stealing money from them through a payroll account. The employer told authorities the actions of 35-year-old Cassandra Weaver, of Cleveland, TN, may have been occurring for more than a year before being discovered.

An investigation resulted in Weaver being charged with:

• Ongoing Criminal Conduct – a Class B Felony
• 1st Degree Fraudulent Practices, and Theft in the 1st Degree – Both are Class-C Felonies, and
• 2nd Degree Theft – A Class-D Felony.

The Pocahontas County Sheriff’s Office worked with authorities in Tennessee to coordinate Weaver’s arrest. She was taken into custody January 12th in Tennessee and is awaiting extradition back to Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – While 2025 wasn’t an especially terrible year for natural disasters in Iowa, a new report finds it was one of the most expensive years nationwide, with 23 major weather-related incidents that cost more than a billion dollars each. University of Iowa finance professor Martin Grace, an expert on risk management, says new home construction has to meet the latest codes, but Iowans living in older homes may find themselves facing expensive upgrades in the years to come. “Most homeowners who have older houses are going to have to make their houses resilient,” Grace says, “and you don’t remodel your house every seven years, or you don’t remodel your house maybe once in your in your lifetime of owning a house.”

In 2024, northwest Iowa saw historic flooding, while the entire state was raked by a record 125 tornadoes. The multi-state derecho wind storm in 2020 destroyed some seven-million Iowa trees and overall cost more than 11-billion dollars, the bulk of it in Iowa to houses, businesses and crops. Grace, a past president of the American Risk & Insurance Association, says climate change predictions call for these severe weather events to worsen and become more frequent. Iowa homeowners, he says, will have to act to make their homes more durable. “I think over time, what’s going to happen is that we’re going to remodel houses to have more resilient roofs,” Grace says. “We’re going to have property that is going to be a little bit more flood tolerant. We’re going to do other things that the homeowner is going to have to essentially manage to reduce the risk.”

While Iowa is in middle of what’s considered the nation’s tornado alley, other states face significant threats from both tornadoes and hurricanes, like Alabama. “With the industry’s help, they have formed a program that helps people make their homes more resilient,” Grace says. “I think this is the next transition for homes and buildings around the country, especially in wind and cyclonic areas where we have tornadoes and hail. This is going to be a more important thing in the future, but it doesn’t happen overnight.”

Even though no hurricanes made landfall in the U-S last year, for the first time in a decade, the study from Climate Central found weather-related disasters in 2025 nationwide cost more than 115-billion dollars, led by the Los Angeles wildfires.

https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/2025-in-review