News

The Clean Air Act was most recently amended in 1990, with overwhelming bipartisan support.  Is that kind of sweeping environmental policy possible today? 

Joni Ernst, who’s running as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, held her first campaign event after returning from active duty with the Iowa National Guard.

"Cheap energy isn't cheap."

You’ve never heard her name, but many Iowans admire her work; thousands have even sat on it.  Mattie McClure cuts the grass around the State Capitol and Iowa Public Radio’s Rick Fredericksen found her on the west lawn.

Last year at the Iowa State Fair, Jason Powell of Des Moines said his free speech rights were violated after security guards ordered him to stop preaching on public sidewalks. Today on River to River, we find out the status of his lawsuit as well as whether he will be allowed at this year’s fair. We also find out about an Iowa developed vaccine that could cure dust-mite allergies. That and all the week’s Iowa stories on a news buzz edition of River to River.

The band Scythian (pronounced SITH-ee-unn - they’re named after a nomadic Eurasian tribe) has an unlikely combination of influences.  Three of the members are siblings: fiddler Alexander, guitarist Danylo and cellist Larissa Fedoryka are from a family of Ukrainian immigrant, and were classically trained.  Bassist Josef Crosby, who also doubles on fiddle, was classically trained as well. Drummer Tim Hepburn started out in jazz, and banjo player Ben-David Warner grew up on a diet of Celtic music via NPR’s Thistle and Shamrock.

This week, thick clouds of millions of mayflies emanated from the Mississippi River in Northeast Iowa.

It was 60 years ago when mental health professionals welcomed a new option for their patients. Instead of radical brain surgery and dangerous forms of shock treatment, doctors could prescribe a simple oral medication for the first time. An Iowa woman was a nurse during this crucial turning point and IPR’s Rick Fredericksen has her story. 

A giant ‘food dome’ is almost complete next to Central Iowa Shelter and Services in Des Moines. As Iowa public Radio’s Durrie Bouscaren reports, the unusually shaped greenhouse will grow vegetables year round and supply the shelter’s kitchen.

Rodney Volkmar and a team from the Colorado-based company Growing Spaces are attaching triangular sheets of reflective insulation on a 30-foot, dome-shaped scaffolding. They expect to finish work by Friday.

Accommodations are available for college students struggling with depression, but university counseling centers are struggling to keep up with the demand. Hear about an IowaWatch.org report on the difficulty these students experience including what is often a harsh stigma associated with being depressed.

Although interracial marriage has been fully legal in the United States since 1967, these unions are still rare since the overwhelming majority of  Americans marry within their own race.  

In his home in Forest City, Iowa, Riley Lewis has the original warranty deed for his farm, signed by President James Buchanan and issued to one Elias Gilbert, a soldier who served in the War of 1812.

“He moved here, northeast of Forest City, and lived there for one year,” Lewis said, which was the obligation veterans had if they homesteaded. “And then he sold it to Robert Clark, who was the founder of Forest City.”

More than 52,000 have crossed the southern border since October and US politicians are having trouble finding solutions and the right rhetoric. 

In 1935 fifty men were sworn in as the first officers of the Iowa Highway Safety Patrol.

The Okoboji area is known for its tourism industry. The most recent data from the Dickinson County Chamber of Commerce says 255 million dollars are spent annually from tourism. But for last 40 years, cyclists on the Register’s Great Bike Ride Across Iowa have never stayed overnight in the Iowa Great Lakes. The natural barrier is a winding highway that goes from four to two lanes to wind around the lakes and an amusement park. But the RAGBRAI moved through the Iowa Great Lakes with no major problems.

On your mark, get set, lights, camera, action. The Des Moines 48 Hour Film Project is celebrating its tenth year this weekend. At 6 PM this Friday, over 40 teams will pull a slip of paper out of a hat. On that slip of paper is their genre assignment: anything from Romance to Fish Out of Water. 48 Hours later, they'll turn in a finished 4-7 minute film. Host Charity Nebbe speaks with city producer Samuel Pace-Tuomi and ten-time participant Mike Kieler in this hour of Talk of Iowa. 

The drama of mood swings, impulsiveness and bizarre behaviors during adolescence
can take a toll on both teens and their parents.

Daring trapeze artists have been wowing audiences for 150 years, but today's aerial artists are taking things to  a whole new level and a lot more people are getting in on the act. Host Charity Nebbe talks with Iowa's Felicia Coe, the creator of the National Aerial Expo & Competition on today's Talk of Iowa. 

The EPA sets regulations for 6 sources of air pollution, but there are hundreds of pollutants known to the EPA that go unregulated.

http://www.countryviewdairy.com/  

Governor Terry Branstad is defending his reluctance to grant asylum to unaccompanied children fleeing extreme violence in Central America.

"It would be wrong for us to send a signal that if you come here illegally, we're just gonna disperse you throughout the country and you don't have to go home."

Social justice advocate Connie Ryan Terrell of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa says many in Iowa’s faith community are disappointed with Branstad's decision, since the state has a history of welcoming immigrants.

Water quality has been a problem in Iowa since the late 1800s. To improve it, where do we start?

Iowa’s water quality hadn’t nudged much since the 1980s. That’s according to Iowa Geological Survey research scientist Keith Schilling.

According to data from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, there has been a steady increase in calls reporting human trafficking in Iowa. 

Don Gonyea, Scott Horsley and Brian Naylor, team “No Pie Refused” are ready for RAGBRAI.

Iowa and Idaho are two completely different states. Journalist and author Tim Woodward says its time to set the record straight.

The "Hort Gang" from Iowa State is back today.  One of the gang, Cindy Haynes, Assoc. Prof. of Horticulture at Iowa State University, fills us in on ISU's upcoming "Field Days," offering gardeners a chance to get ideas for their own gardens and see a wide variety of plants in action.  The "Field Days" are held at a variety of locations across Iowa.

Also on the program is regular Richard Jauron, Iowa State University Extension Horticulturist and Iowa DNR District Forester, Mark Vitosh of Iowa City. 

In this encore episode of IPR Studio One's "Java Blend" from 2012 host, Ben Kieffer will chat with The Feralings.

Listen to and download the podcast to find out more about the spunky Iowa roots band. 

The Feralings are Benj Upchurch, Nicole Upchurch, Patrick Bloom, and Stacy Webster, but the name is a bit of a misnomer, as the members of the band are far more likely to invite you to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea than they are to jump you and steal your beer money.

A mother black bear and her two cubs were spotted earlier this week, on the border of Fayette and Clayton Counties, in northeast Iowa.  The next day, a beekeeper discovered bear scat and paw prints near some damaged hives. Also this week, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources confirmed the state's first mountain lion of 2014. A deer carcass with signs of mountain lion predation was found in Cherokee County, in northeast Iowa.

100 years ago, amateur radio operators were in the early years of making wireless communication with people around the world.  Professional radio operators started calling them “ham” as a pejorative, because the amateur’s equipment often caused interference, but operators embraced it and the negative connotation disappeared.  There are 800-thousand licensed ham radio operators in North America with 6,619 of them in Iowa. One of the reasons this hobby continues to move forward is because of regular competitions.