Recent Stories

government transparency

Evans: Making Laws Should Not Be About Lawmakers’ Convenience

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One of the biggest contrasts in public access to state and local governments in Iowa came into focus last week, and Iowans should be concerned by what occurred. A bit of context: Iowans have long had the right to sit in on almost every meeting of state government policy-making and governing boards and on meetings of their local school board, city council and county board of supervisors. Randy Evans
STRAY THOUGHTS
Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. He is a former editorial page editor and assistant managing editor of The Des Moines Register. Opinions are his own.

pesticide inspections

Years Later, Little Action On Recommendations For Iowa’s Pesticide Inspections

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Problems the Iowa State Auditor’s office identified in a 2012 audit and subsequent reports and recommendations for investigating Iowa’s pesticide use violations still linger years later. The Iowa Legislature has not changed state law on some fees the state Department of Agriculture Land Stewardship Pesticide Bureau charges licensed pesticide distributors and applicators, an IowaWatch review of public records shows. In other instances, applicators do not take continuing education classes in the same year they apply. Explanations exist for some of the concerns. For example, applicators take continuing education after harvest and before the next spring’s planting season during what is called the crop year, which runs Oct.

News Quizzes

Looking Ahead, With A News Quiz: Importance Of Iowa’s Presidential Precinct Caucuses

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Iowa’s voter registration data shows shifts among party affiliations in the months before, during and following the state’s 2008, 2012 and 2016 presidential precinct caucuses. Taking a closer look at registered voter numbers in those caucuses, IowaWatch discovered intriguing trends. Do you have the knowledge to determine some of these changes? Take a look at the IowaWatch database.

opinion

Evans: You Don’t Solve Problems By Taking Hostages

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I’m not sure you can get Republicans and Democrats to agree on many things these days — not even on motherhood and apple pie. Some people believe a wall along the border with Mexico is a national security priority and is necessary to stop the movement of migrants into the United States. Others think the $5 billion at the center of the border wall dispute could be better spent on additional border agents, more drones and sophisticated new security technology. Randy Evans
STRAY THOUGHTS
Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. He is a former editorial page editor and assistant managing editor of The Des Moines Register.

Iowa 2019 Condition of the State address

Governor Calls On Iowa To Move Forward On Mental Health, Education, Rural Needs, Voting Rights

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Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds stressed keeping promises for mental health care funding, education, rural revitalization and second chances Tuesday in her Condition of the State address. The call for second chances would come via a new state constitutional amendment that restores voting rights for felons who have served their full prison terms.

government shutdown

Podcast: Government Shutdown Starting To Affect Rural United States

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The effects of the government shutdown are starting to be felt in rural parts of the country. For example, implementing the new farm bill is on hold, Anna Johnson, Midwest policy manager for the Center for Rural Affairs and based in Iowa, said in a weekend IowaWatch Connection radio report now available in a podcast.

USDA Rural Broadband Investment Tops $200 Million In 2018

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The USDA has announced plans for a pilot program to bring broadband internet to all of rural America. The plan, which Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue calls a “proof of concept,” will provide $600 million dollars in grants and loans to internet service providers to bring connection to parts of the country that are too remote, underpopulated or expensive to serve. “I absolutely, unequivocally believe that broadband connectivity is part of rural prosperity,” said Perdue in a press conference on Dec. 13. “We don’t want an urban rural divide in this country.

ag-gag laws

Federal Judge Strikes Iowa Ag-Gag Law

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A federal judge has struck down as unconstitutional a 2012 Iowa law that banned undercover recording at agricultural production facilities in the state, saying the law’s primary aim is curbing speech critical of practices at those facilities. IowaWatch was part of a friend of the court filing in this case.