(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State Fair butter cow will be displayed in Washington, D-C next year. Sarah Pratt has been sculpting the iconic cow in the cooler at the Iowa State Fair since 2006 and will do the same in the nation’s capital along with her two daughters. “I am just still pinching myself that I have the opportunity to be sculpting for the Smithsonian and representing Iowa and butter sculpting, and then I get to do it alongside my family.” Pratt’s daughters have been helping her with the cow and other sculptures for several years.

The sculpture will be displayed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of a yearlong exhibit celebrating the art of state fairs around the country. “I was already excited and bowled away by the fact that they would be interested in the craft, the art that I do, but also in literally displaying a piece,” Pratt says. The first Iowa State Fair Butter Cow was sculpted in 1911 and Pratt is the fifth person to handle the duties.

The Smithsonian exhibit will be open for one year starting in August after the 2025 Iowa State Fair ends.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 1:12-a.m. Monday in Montgomery County, resulted in the arrest on a drug charge, of a woman from Cass County (IA). The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the traffic stop was conducted near the intersection of Highway 71 and 265th Street. Upon further investigation, 42-year-old Heather Loreen Butler, of Griswold, was arrested for Possession with the Intent to Deliver/Methamphetamine.

Butler was being held without bond, in the Montgomery County Jail.

SAC COUNTY, Iowa (KCAU) — A semi driver from Omaha was killed in a single-vehicle crash near Odebolt on Saturday. According to a release from the Sac County Sheriff’s Office, the crash was reported at around 5:30 a.m. just north of the 360th Street and Cory Avenue intersection, about 6 miles southeast of Odebolt. When officials arrived, they discovered a 2025 Volvo semi-tractor that was in a field off to the west of the road. The semi appeared to have rolled.

Inside the vehicle, officials located 29-year-old Bryan Pubien, of Omaha. Pubien was pronounced dead at the scene. A preliminary investigation determined Pubian was traveling north on Cory Avenue,  when he lost control at the 360th Street intersection where Cory Avenue goes from being paved to gravel. That caused the semi to enter the west ditch and roll several times, according to the sheriff’s office. The vehicle came to rest in a cornfield.

Pubien was pinned inside the cab of the truck and was extricated by Odebolt Fire Rescue. He was not wearing a seat belt. According to GPS data obtained at the scene, the accident happened at 2:37 a.m., about three hours before officials were notified.

The Sac County Sheriff’s Office, Odebolt Fire Rescue, and Sac County EMS responded to the crash scene.

(Radio Iowa) – The two major party candidates in Iowa’s second congressional district met in a debate Monday night on Iowa P-B-S and disagreed on a host of issues. Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says illegal immigrants with criminal convictions should be deported immediately. “The right amount of illegal immigration in this country should be zero,” Hinson said, “and let’s focus on our Visa programs and taking care of those, but we must secure the border first.”

Democratic challenger Sarah Corkery says there should be more border patrol agents and presidents should have more authority to close the border, but immigrants are necessary for the economy. “If we all of a sudden deported everybody, the price of milk would go from $2 to $10,” Corkery said. “We would see massive increases in our costs because we rely on people to do a job.”

Corkery says her top priority would be passing a law to ensure women have a right to an abortion, with no reference to the number of weeks in a pregnancy beyond which abortions would be banned. “This is not a flippant conversation and that’s what it’s become when it’s become when we focus on one metric, so that’s why it should be between a doctor and a patient,” Corkery said. “Nobody should also tell you that the fetus you carry has more rights than you do.”

Hinson did not rule out supporting a federal law to limit abortions after some point in a pregnancy, but Hinson says it would have to provide exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother. “We need to have some protections in this country because life is valuable. I certainly don’t want to support a culture of death like my opponent,” Hinson said. “That, I believe, is extreme and you heard her say it right here. She does not believe in having a conversation about weeks.”

Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-Marion) and Democratic challenger Sarah Corkery of Cedar Falls debated on Iowa PBS on Oct. 14, 2024. (Iowa PBS photo)

The two also disagreed on the Trump-era tax cuts set to expire at the end of 2025. Hinson says they should be extended. “If those are allowed to expire, the average Iowa family will see an increase of about 25%,” Hinson said. “That’s the equivalent of about seven weeks of groceries for an Iowa family.”

Corkery says the tax plan Trump signed in 2017 should end, so the wealthy pay higher taxes. And she called for getting rid of the cap on Social Security taxes, since the payroll tax is not charged today on annual income above 169-thousand dollars. “I’m worried about people who need to pay their groceries and their job is laid off or shipped to Mexico, our union brothers and sisters who are on the picket line,” Corkery said. “That’s who I’m worried about.”

This was the only debate between the two candidates before the November election.