(Greenfield, IA) – Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman, Wednesday, updated the County Board of Supervisors on Adair County Secondary Roads Department maintenance and activities, including the closing last week of a bridge on the Adams County line, one-half mile west of the Adams-Union line.

Board Chair Jerry Walker asked Kauffman if there are any plans for the bridge one-mile north of the one Kauffman mentioned.

In other news, Kaufmann said his crews are still stockpiling road rock for Adair County.

He said crews are cutting brush, and there will be a February letting for their asphalt project.

DES MOINES, IA – State Treasurer Roby Smith is highlighting Unclaimed Property Day, held annually on February 1, by unveiling a new display at the Iowa Capitol showcasing items found in safe deposit boxes from over the years currently held in safekeeping. The display, unveiled ahead of Unclaimed Property Day, serves as a visual reminder that there are many items — stocks, cash and abandoned checking accounts — being held in safekeeping until they can be reunited with their rightful owners. “Right now, there’s more than $648 million being held in safekeeping and it belongs to rightful owners, not the State,” said Treasurer Smith. “This display helps put into perspective some of the items we receive each year from safe deposit boxes and serves as a reminder for everyone to take a few minutes to search GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov for what may rightfully be theirs.”

Each year, financial institutions, businesses and government entities turn over unclaimed property to Great Iowa Treasure Hunt after being unable to contact the owner for a time period set out in state stature. The office holds these funds in safekeeping and works to reconnect Iowans with their property.

Treasurer Smith stands next to new display in the Iowa Capitol on January 28, 2026. Photo is available for media use with credit to Iowa Treasurer’s Office. (press release photo)

The new Capitol display is located in the State Treasurer’s Office next to the State Vault and includes information on common types of unclaimed property and a QR code directing visitors to GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov where people can search their name, the name of their favorite business and so much more. “Checking for unclaimed property is simple, secure and takes less time than brewing your morning coffee,” Smith said. “I encourage every Iowan — whether you’ve lived here your whole life or moved here recently — to search your name and see if you are among the one in seven with something to claim.”

Unclaimed Property Day is observed annually to raise awareness about the importance of reuniting individuals with their lost or forgotten assets. Connect with the Treasurer on Facebook, Instagram and X to stay informed of updates and news.

(Des Moines, IA – IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Legislation allowing Iowa community colleges to offer four-year degrees in some subjects — an idea strongly opposed by Iowa private colleges — was narrowed Wednesday before passing out of an Iowa House committee. The Iowa House Higher Education Committee also passed a number of other bills Wednesday to change community college and public university operations, including bills that would tax university endowments and freeze tuition.

A majority of the bills discussed by the committee Wednesday came with amendments, including one attached to legislation that would allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees.While the original bill would have authorized all community colleges in Iowa to begin developing baccalaureate degrees, the amended legislation would create a pilot program in which only colleges that are 50 miles or more away from the main campus of a public university or the main campus of a private university already offering the same programs are allowed to start bachelor’s degree programs.

These degree programs must also meet certain requirements — they must lead to jobs in high-demand fields that have unmet workforce needs in the area, “as demonstrated by multiple workforce indicators” like job openings, wage data and more, the amendment stated. They also must fall under the areas of nursing, education, information technology, public safety, business, health care management, agriculture or dental hygiene. Community colleges would not be allowed to offer more than three bachelor’s degree programs, the amendment stated, and participating schools would need to submit reports to the Iowa Department of Education and the General Assembly showing enrollment, completion, workforce outcomes, alignment with regional workforce needs, tuition, challenges and more. Once the first students of community college baccalaureate programs start graduating, the General Assembly would examine the pilot program’s outcomes and decide if it needs to be changed or expanded.

House Study Bill 531, which would freeze tuition for all students from enactment until July 2031, was amended to strike references to mandatory fees, narrowing the legislation to just tuition.The bill, with an amendment, passed the committee.

House Study Bill 540, to make public universities responsible for a portion of defaulted educational loans of their graduates, also passed with amendments, and Committee chair Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, said during the committee he would be open to discussing further changes. The amendment changed the amount of liability from 25% of the amount owed to 10%.

House Study Bill 530, which would implement an 80% residency requirement for the University of Iowa’s nursing bachelor’s program, passed without amendment.

ALGONA, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH)— The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has detected a second outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in a Kossuth County mixed-species flock in a week. A spokesperson with IDALS said the flock had about 25,000 birds. The outbreak occurred at a mixed-species game bird hatchery and included pheasants, quails and chukars, a game bird in the pheasant family. The previous bird flu detection in Kossuth County occurred Thursday in a flock of chickens and game-bird pheasants and affected about 7,120 birds. The spokesperson could not disclose if the outbreaks occurred at the same facilities.

This is the second, 2026 outbreak of the H5N1 strain of the bird flu in Iowa. Since the start of the current outbreak, which began in 2022, more than 186 million domestic birds, nationally, have been affected by the strain of the virus, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

The current public health risk of the highly pathogenic avian influenza is low, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as the flu is not currently known to spread between humans.

IDALS urges livestock producers to “continue bolstering” biosecurity measures on their operations to prevent future outbreaks. Additionally, producers who detect symptoms like lethargy, a sudden increase in deaths, swollen heads, or difficulty breathing in their flocks, should contact their veterinarians immediately. The highly pathogenic avian influenza has also been detected in wild birds in Iowa. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources urges Iowans who notice 20 or more sick or dead birds in an area to contact the department.

(Radio Iowa) – D-N-R state deer biologist Jace Elliott says hunters took just shy of 102-thousand deer through the various seasons this year, which is similar to last year. He says the numbers varied quite a bit through each region. “Some places that stand out are the Cedar Valley in east central and northeast Iowa. We continue to see increasing harvest rates there, likely due to increasing deer populations. But then much of the rest of the state, central, southern, and western Iowa, were behind the five-year average,” he says.  “It’s safe to say that in most of the state, we’re seeing population declines. Certainly the western third of the state, as well as much of southern Iowa and central Iowa for that matter,” Elliott says.

He says disease is likely the biggest issue with deer populations. “Population declines are likely a combination of multiple factors, but one thing that we can’t rule out is the E-H-D outbreaks that were reported in 2023 and 2024,” he says. “Those certainly played a big role in some of the population impacts that we’re still dealing with today.” Elliott says it will take some more time to recover from the outbreaks. “It really is situational, over the past we’ve seen some counties bounce back in two to three years after a severe outbreak. But that’s kind of the best case scenario,” Elliott says. “Counties with limited habitat and therefore limited deer populations are likely going to take longer to recover.”

Elliott says one thing that hasn’t changed is the number of people who put on some orange and head out to hunt deer here. “We have very stable hunter numbers in Iowa, which is unique because most of the Midwest and Eastern U-S in general is declining. each year. And we have a relatively stable number of deer hunters, I think likely due to the high quality deer population we have throughout much of the state,” he says. Elliott says the D-N-R will continue to analyze the deer numbers and base the various license allocations on the population of deer in each county.

The D-N-R does an annual spotlight survey every spring to get a handle on the number of deer in the state.

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowa farmers can expect to pay slightly more to plant, maintain and harvest a crop in the year ahead, according to a new report from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Ann Johanns, an ag decision maker program specialist with the extension, says producers will face tight margins in the 2026 growing season. “So on corn production, overall, it was about 4% higher than last year, and then the soybean total costs were about 2% higher, and it ranged within the different categories,” Johanns says. “Labor was just a little bit higher at 1%, and then machinery costs were around 3% to 4%, depending on kind of what type it was.”

The extension’s report, called Estimated Costs of Crop Production in Iowa 2026, takes into account that average market prices for corn and soybeans are projected to stay below production costs, making for a challenging situation. On the plus side, Johanns says the projected land costs came down slightly. “We take data from the cash rent survey that Iowa State does every spring and then, we take input from our specialists and people that we survey for the estimated cash crop production and take that all into account,” Johanns says. “They did all project a slight decrease in the land costs that we use, and of course, every farm operation is going to be different.”

Johanns says opportunities for profit are expected to be limited this coming year, underscoring the importance of careful cost tracking and farm-specific planning, which is where the extension can help farmers to plan.”We have corn and soybean budgets, but there’s a low till budget, there’s a strip till budget, and so they can look at multiple types of production,” Johanns says. “There’s also some budgets in there for hay, for alfalfa ground, there’s choices within these budgets, so we have some tools online to help people do the calculations themselves.” Johanns says the report’s figures should be used as planning benchmarks, not exact estimates for individual farms, adding, farm-level cost data is vital information for producers to track.

(Onawa, IA) – A fire on the Monona County Fairgrounds is being called suspicious, and a possible case of arson, according to the fire chief in Onawa.  The blaze at the grandstand was reported at around 6:15-p.m., Wednesday. The more than 100-year old structure made of old timber, had a kitchen under the bleachers, aluminum stands, and an eating area. 

The Monona County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who saw anything suspicious or has cameras anywhere near the area or any area that leads to the fairgrounds please review them if you are able, and to report what you find to the sheriff’s office.

Any information anyone may have of any activity you think is suspicious in the area, should also contact the Monona County Sheriff’s Office at 712-433-1414, or 712-423-2525. The State Fire Marshal was requested to help investigate the blaze which destroyed the landmark fairgrounds.

Two other fires in Onawa on Monday night are being investigated as suspected cases of arson.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that would force ALL chatbots to inform users that it is not a human has cleared a House subcommittee, but lawmakers intend to narrow the proposal. As currently written, it would require a chatbot to disclose it’s not a human at the start of an online interaction and to remind the user it’s not human every half hour after that. A company could be fined up to 100-thousand dollars each time its chatbot fails to make those statements.

Republican Representative Austin Harris of Moulton — the bill’s sponsor — says chatbots are an unregulated new frontier in technology. “Artificial Intelligence chatbots, mental health chatbots posing as such are encouraging kids to commit suicide or do harmful things to themselves and so we’re bringing this bill forward to be able to start a discussion and see where it goes,” Harris said.

Amy Campbell is a lobbyist for the Iowa Behavioral Health Association and the Iowa Psychological Association. “This is a patient safety, public protection, transparency bill,” Campbell said. Lobbyists for Google, Verizon and other businesses told the subcommittee they’ll make suggestions for narrowing the bill, to ensure it doesn’t apply to “everyday business tools,” like chatbots that help someone find a new flight or schedule an oil change.

(Radio Iowa) – A Senate subcommittee has advanced a bill that’s a response to the case of Ian Roberts, the former Des Moines Superintendent who was arrested by immigration agents in September and has pleaded guilty to falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen. The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners granted Roberts a professional license in 2023.

The bill says applicants for teaching and administrative positions in Iowa schools must provide proof to the state’s licensing board and the local school board that they are lawfully present AND authorized to work in the United States. Groups representing school boards and school administrators are suggesting the bill solely require proof a person is authorized to work in the U.S., since that’s the standard Iowa schools are using based on federal requirements.

Senator Lynn Evans, a Republican from Aurelia, says the bill would make state law stronger. “It takes some statements that would be interpreted as may or even directly labeled as may and changes those to a shall,” Evans says, “so that we’re not having things slip through the cracks.”

In October, Governor Reynolds issued an executive order requiring state agencies use federal databases to verify citizenship and immigration status of job applicants. The bill requires those checks for the initial application for a teacher’s or administrator’s license AND for renewing that state license.

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Two Davenport residents were sentenced to federal prison on January 28, 2026, for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and distribution of a mixture and substance containing cocaine base.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Lloyd Demico Franklin, 44, and Michelle Collins, 40, sold cocaine base (“crack cocaine”) in the Quad Cities area for several years. From June 2022 to December 2024, law enforcement conducted 20 controlled purchases from Franklin and Collins and purchased a total of more than 500 grams of crack cocaine.

Franklin was sentenced to a 25-year prison term for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, followed by a five-year term of supervised release. Collins was sentenced to a three-year prison term for one count of distribution of a controlled substance, followed by 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. The FBI Quad Cities Resident Agency of the Omaha Field Office, Moline Police Department, and Scott County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.