(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is being honored by a tax-focused think tank that was founded in 1937 by the executives of General Motors and Standard Oil. The Tax Foundation has presented Governor Kim Reynolds with its Distinguished Service Award. She is the first governor to receive the annual award, which has previously honored dozens of federal officials, business executives and educators.

Reynolds has signed five bills to cut taxes since she took over as governor in mid-2017. The most recent will lower Iowa’s income tax to a single rate of three-point-eight percent next year. A panel of state officials recently predicted Iowa tax revenue will decline by a billion dollars over a 24 month period. In a written statement, Reynolds says she’s taken an approach that favors simplicity over complexity and economic growth over government spending.

Reynolds received the Tax Foundation’s award last (Thursday) night at the group’s annual “Tax Prom.” It’s a black tie event in Washington, D.C. with hundreds of officials from businesses and government in attendance. Reynolds is the second Iowan to receive the award. Herbert Hoover is among three presidents to be honored. The others were George W. Bush and Dwight Eisenhauer.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s busiest and largest hunting seasons will be kicking off shortly, as the first of the state’s two shotgun seasons for deer will open in about two weeks. Nate Carr, an Iowa D-N-R conservation officer, says deer hunting is extremely popular. “We see roughly 100,000 hunters get out and participate in those two seasons, and during that time, we harvest about half of the total deer harvest in Iowa within a relatively short period of time,” Carr says. “So it’s a really effective way to manage our deer herd across the state, but also see a lot of good hunter participation.”

The first deer shotgun season runs December 7th through the 11th, while the second season runs December 14th through the 22nd. Deer hunters harvested about 60-thousand deer in Iowa last year, and Carr anticipates this year’s harvest will round out roughly the same. “Eastern, southern Iowa, we have really strong numbers and tend to have strong harvest, and so that kind of makes up for the lower population on the western side of the state right now, so it kind of balances out,” Carr says. “I think we’ll see decent numbers. Hopefully, we’ll get colder temperatures. That tends to get deer on their feet and motivate hunters to get out and pursue them.”

Iowa DNR photo

There have already been several smaller deer hunting seasons held in the state, and this year’s hot, dry weather may have been something of a hindrance. “We’re still seeing pretty decent harvest numbers. I think we’ve harvested around 25,000 deer throughout the youth season, in this early split of the archery season, as well as early muzzleloader, so we’re we’re on track,” Carr says. “We’re down a little bit, and you could probably attribute that somewhat to temperature, a little bit of hemorrhagic disease, which we’ve seen impact central Iowa quite a bit this year.”

Find much more information on the hunting seasons ahead at iowa-d-n-r-dot-gov.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department says two men were arrested on separate charges, Thursday night. A little after 8-p.m., 23-year-old Jeremiah Lee Whitney (no known address), was arrested at the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a charge of Harassment in the 1st Degree. Whitney was taken to Union County Jail and held without bond until seen by a Judge.

And at around 9:30-p.m. Thursday, Creston Police arrested 23-year-old Brodie Wade Starlin, of Creston. Starlin was arrested at his residence on a charge of OWI/1st offense. He posted at $1,900 cash bond, and was released.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Police Department says no injuries were reported following two separate collisions over the past couple of days. Authorities say just before 1-p.m. Thursday, a collision at the intersection of Broadway and Corning Streets in Red Oak, caused a total of $1,500 damage. According to the report, a 2015 International dump truck equipped with a plow and owned by Montgomery County, was behind a 2023 Nissan Rogue SUV driven by 70-year-old Julie Ann Wirth, of Red Oak. Both vehicles were stopped at the red light, waiting to continue south on Broadway Street.

The driver of the truck, 29-year-old Xavier Smith, of Villisca, told police the light turned green and he started to move forward, but then noticed the SUV was not moving. He tried to steer the truck away from the SUV in order to avoid a collision, when he realized he could not stop in-time. The plow attachment on the truck struck the right rear taillight of the SUV, causing minor damage.

The other accident happened at around 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, at 1st and Nuckols Streets, in Red Oak. Authorities say a 1995 Ford Bronco driven by 16-year-old Kendelyne Bartlett, of Stanton, was traveling south on 1st Street through the uncontrolled intersection, when the SUV was hit by a 2016 Ford F-150 pickup, driven by 21-year-old Jayden Ryan Archer, of Red Oak, as he was traveling east on Nuckols Street. Damage from the collision amounted to $8,000 altogether, according to the report.

No citations were issued in those accidents.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa housing market experienced a welcome October surprise, with every metric tracked by Iowa REALTORS® falling into the positive. A late September interest rate drop by the Federal Reserve buoyed buyer and seller sentiments throughout the pinnacle fall month.  Iowa Realtors President Shaner Magalhães says “Buyers and sellers across the state enjoyed a bountiful housing market harvest last month. Increases in inventory and sales show that while many Iowans are firmly planted in their homes, there’s opportunity and desire to make moves even in the typically slower fall months.”

The number of homes on the market across the state grew by double digits in October. With 3,925 homes on the market in October, new listings jumped 15.5% from the 3,397 listed last year at the same time. Monthly the increase was more conservative: a 1.3% increase from September’s recorded 3,873 new listings. Overall inventory saw similar increases in October with 8,819 homes for sale. The inventory represented a 21.9% increase from the 7,236 homes listed last year, and a 2.1% increase from the 8,636 homes listed last month.

Single-family home sales increased 9.1% in October with 2,973 sales completed compared to the 2,726 homes sold in October 2023. The increase was wider month-over-month, jumping 11.3% from the 2,668 homes sold in September. Pending sales continued to increase, showing that buyers continued to take advantage of the market throughout the month. With 2,685 pending sales, October saw an increase of 2.2% from the 2,627 pending sales of the prior year. Monthly, pending sales increased by 0.93% from the 2,660 pending transactions recorded in September. Days on the market increased 13.5% to 42 days compared to the 37 days of last year. Median sales price also increased by 9.3% to $235,000 from the $215,000 of a year ago.

Les Sulgrove, Iowa Realtors statewide housing analyst says “Real estate markets across Iowa vary significantly, with rural areas experiencing slower changes compared to the dynamic metro markets. Affordability, influenced by mortgage rates and the broader economy, remains the key factor driving sales statewide.”

Townhouses and Condos
The townhouse and condo market also benefited from a later fall boost, with positive movement across all metrics tracked. Overall inventory increased 18% in October with 1,598 properties listed compared to the 1,354 properties for sale last year. The increase was much smaller monthly, jumping just 2.9% from the 1,553 homes for sale last month. New listings experienced a similar boost, the 576 properties listed in October came to a 22.8% increase from the 468 townhomes and condos that joined the market in October 2023. Monthly, 30 more properties  were added to the market, a 4.9% increase from the 546 new listings recorded in September.

October saw 426 closed sales of townhomes and condos, a 19% increase from the 358 properties sold last year. Compared to September, sales increased 22.8%. Pending sales experienced a 16.3% increase from 343 pending transactions in October 2023 to 399 pending sales last month. Monthly, the increase was 6.7% from the 374 pending sales of September.  Days on the market increased 7.7% in October to 70 days compared to the 65 of one year ago. The median sales price increased 0.3% in October to $250,000 from the $249,195 median recorded in October 2023.

More housing stats can be found HERE.

(Radio Iowa) – A report shows a 38 percent drop in the number of abortions in Iowa after the state law banning most abortions after the sixth week of a pregnancy took effect in late July. The Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion, estimates about 260 abortions were performed in Iowa in August — down from an average of about 400 abortions a month during the first half of this year. Those stats include procedures performed in a clinic as well as medication abortions.

According to Planned Parenthood of North Central States, many of those abortions in August were likely “telehealth” abortions that involved a clinician in another state prescribing the medication to an Iowan seeking an abortion.

(Radio Iowa) – Record travel is predicted in Iowa and nationwide for the Thanksgiving holiday, and those who are flying somewhere else for the long weekend have likely already bought their tickets. Last-minute fliers might still be able to find some deals, and Gunnar Olson with Thrifty Traveler-dot-com says the best way to save money and time at this point is to avoid flying on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. “No matter what time of year, flying on Sunday is always where the pain is,” Olson says. “It’s going to be the most expensive to fly on Sunday, and everybody wants to be there at the same time, so the airports are going to be more busy, passengers tend to be more tense on Sundays. Everybody’s trying to get home. Flights are overbooked. I try to avoid Sundays like the plague.”

Olson says now is a good time to shop for Christmas airfares. He says if you look around, there’s still some value out there, even if you want to head to warmer places like Orlando and Los Angeles.”Because Christmas is in the middle of the week this year, it’s actually helping keep some fares low, travelers are not all traveling on the same days for Christmas this year,” Olson says. “So it’s going to make for a much more competitive flight pricing environment.” If you’re wanting to think even further ahead, he says the best travel deals right now could be for the summer of 2025. Olson says this past summer was disappointing for some of the airlines, so they’re testing the waters with cheaper airfares for next summer. “They haven’t pulled back yet and some fares for July, August, September of 2025 are really cheap right now, especially in the U.S.,” he says.

Olson says you can find cheap airfares for the summer on both coasts, and even normally expensive places like Nantucket Island in Massachusetts.

(Radio Iowa) – A recent Iowa Farm Bureau report shows the Iowa ag economy has seen a down trend from 2023 into 2024 that lead to farm incomes dropping by nearly 25 percent. I-F-B’s economics and research manager Christopher Pudenz says there are some things that could turn the farm economy around. He says getting away from Farm Bill extensions to passing a new five-year bill is one. “One of those aspects that is in that farm bill that’s really important for farmers here in the state of Iowa is the crop insurance programs that are funded in part by the Farm Bill,” he says. Pudenz says the safety net it provides takes some of the uncertainty out for farmers.

“The vast majority of acres for both corn and soybean farmers here in the state of Iowa are covered under crop insurance. That you know really does help during a year like this, when prices are depressed compared to previous years, or like when those folks up in northwest Iowa had all the flooding this spring and wiped out all those acres,” Pudenz says. He says there are some bright spots going forward, including the international export market. “We are looking to have a pretty strong here in terms of corn exports, the beef market remains strong. Iowa is fourth for cattle on feed, and it’s looking like some of those revenues in that in that industry might be shifting to some of those cow calf folks,” he says. “The hog industry, after having a pretty rough stretch there 18 months or so has had a better summer and fall and is looking to have a better 2025.” Pudenz says some of those areas could get farm incomes up a again.

“If farmers have, you know, higher incomes, they can, they can start buying machinery again. And then those manufacturers can start buying, you know, tires from their tire suppliers. Just kind of kick start the whole ag and ag adjacent economy,” Pudenz says. Republicans took back the White House and the Senate in the recent election and that can also impact the Ag economy. Pudenz can’t say yet what that impact will be. “It’s just too early to tell. We don’t know who is going to be the U-S-D-A Secretary yet. We don’t have an announcement about U-S-T-R (US Trade Representative), eagerly awaiting those announcements as we go forward here,” he says.

Pudenz says these factors are all important as the I-F-B analysis shows the negative impact on the state’s economy from the downturn is more than one- and-a-half-billion-dollars.

(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announced the last seven agricultural drainage wells in the state have been closed, which represents the end of about 30 years of research and management around the wells that negatively impacted water quality in Iowa.

Following the establishment of the Iowa Groundwater Protection Act in 1987, IDALS developed an inventory of ag drainage wells in the state and found there were 300, with a majority in Humboldt, Pocahontas and Wright counties. Per the groundwater protection law, the department conducted research on ag drainage wells and in-field nutrient management plans that, according to IDALS had “statewide application in dealing with the water quality concerns about nitrogen and herbicide movement from cropped lands to Iowa’s streams and lakes.”

A schematic showing how agricultural drainage wells operated. (Graphic courtesy of Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship)

Another element of this research found that wetlands could remove up to 90% of nitrogen and herbicides from tile drainage. Drainage from the last seven ag drainage wells, all near Gilmore City, will be redirected to a 137-acre wetland to help manage water quality of the runoff. “Improving water quality takes time, commitment, and dedicated funding, but this demonstrates that when there is a strategy and funding in place, this impactful work can get done successfully,” Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said in a news release.

Closed agricultural drainage wells have a cover like this. (Photo courtesy of Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship)

Michael Schmidt, staff attorney for the Iowa Environmental Council, said the issue of ag drainage wells has been part of the council’s priorities since it started in 1995 and advocated for the 1997 law that required the closure of the wells. In areas prone to excess water, cropland will have tile, or underground drainage structures, to help drain water out of the fields and into ditches or streams. Ag drainage wells would funnel water from the tile down into bedrock aquifers, meaning any ag chemical or excess nutrients from that field would flow down into aquifers, many of which were also used for drinking water.

Most of these wells were constructed in the early to mid-1900s, and according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency more than 95% of all agricultural drainage wells in the country were in Iowa, Idaho, Ohio, Minnesota and Texas. To date, IDALS has made use of $25 million in state appropriations and an additional $12 million in landowner and partner contributions to close nearly 200 of these wells. The other third of the 300 identified wells were closed by landowners or were non-functioning. Landowners were also eligible for assistance to close the wells from the Watershed Improvement Review Board.

The final seven wells were closed on Tuesday, following six years of planning and construction around the closures, which according to IDALS, involved eight properties and 13 landowners.  Schmidt called the effort a “big step forward” in addressing some of the major ground water pollution issues in the state.

(Radio Iowa) – There’s an Education Committee in the Iowa House, but the House Speaker says a comprehensive review of the state’s colleges and universities is long overdue — and he’s establishing a new committee to do it. Republican Representative Taylor Collins of Mediapolis will be chairman of the House Higher Education Committee.

“It’s no secret that we have a workforce shortage in this state and I think many people have seen the fact that our institutions have been distracted by ideological agendas rather than actually filling the needs of Iowa’s workforce,” Collins says, “so we’ll be looking at a comprehensive review of Iowa’s higher education system.”

Collins led the effort to force the recent closure of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices at the three state-supported universities. Collins say there’s been great progress on that front, but the panel may push for the elimination of some courses or majors. “I think when you’re looking at some programs, for example when they focus on teaching literally a major in Social Justice, I think there is a question that needs to be asked: ‘What is the return on investment for the taxpayer and should our constituents be paying for those kinds of academic programs?” Collins asked rhetorically.

“…We have a lot of members in the House Republican Caucus that are passionate about reforming our system and making sure that we’re not wasting taxpayer money on initiatives or agendas that do not benefit Iowans. We have to make sure that Iowans are getting a return on their investment when it comes to these institutions.”

Collins says the focus will not just be on the three public universities in Ames, Cedar Falls and Iowa City, but on Iowa’s community colleges AND the state’s private colleges and universities. Taxpayer money is used to provide Iowa Tuition Grants to students at those private institutions who are Iowa residents. “Last year we looked at what kind of course offerings and what return on investment Iowa taxpayers are getting with the Iowa Tuition Grant,” Collins says. “I think there is work in the future where we could look on ensuring when we are providing dollars to these institutions that they are focused on those high demand fields.”

In recent years bills to eliminate tenure at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa were introduced in the legislature, but Collins does not expect that policy to become law. “That issue’s been considered in the past. I don’t think it’s something that that legislature’s serious about, though,” Collins says. “There is a value to tenure and making sure the individuals are able to freely teach ideas.”

Collins was just reelected to a second term in the Iowa House. Collins earned a degree in business management from Iowa State University. He also has a master’s in public administration from Drake University. House Speaker Pat Grassley has announced all House committee leaders for the 2025 legislative session. Next year’s list of Senate committee chairs has not been released.