The Iowa Utilities Board gave its approval Tuesday for the controversial Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline, and for the company to use eminent domain to acquire landowners’ property. The company hopes to begin construction next year with the goal of making the pipeline operational in 2026. The pipeline, which would be the largest of its kind […]
Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa-based beverage companies sue the state over new THC limits
Two Iowa companies are suing the state over its interpretation of a new law that restricts THC levels in adult beverages. Climbing Kites, a Polk County beverage manufacturer, and Field Day Brewing Co., the Johnson County producer of the Day Dreamer line of cannabis sparkling water, are suing the Iowa Department of Health and Human […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Judge holds Iowa DOC in contempt for denying incarcerated plaintiffs access to reading material containing nudity amid lawsuit
Remarking that it’s not feasible to jail the Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC) for deliberately violating a court order, a Polk County judge has fined the agency $1,500 for contempt of court. The penalty stems from a lawsuit that 13 prison inmates, then housed at Anamosa State Penitentiary, filed against the DOC in 2018. The […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Lawmakers express outrage over City of Davenport’s ‘disgraceful’ actions
The Iowa House Committee on Government Oversight held a rare meeting Wednesday to discuss the City of Davenport’s refusal to disclose information tied to $1.9 million in settlements paid to former city employees. The city is opposing a subpoena that Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand has issued for records related to settlements with the […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Davenport takes state auditor to court over subpoenaed tapes as he investigates taxpayer-funded settlements
The City of Davenport is taking the state auditor to court over an investigation into $1.9 million in settlements paid out to former city employees. The city is opposing a subpoena that Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand has issued for records related to conversations that Davenport city officials had with staff attorneys and contracted […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Vaccine bill advances in Senate, despite medical community’s opposition
A bill that eliminates a minor’s legal right to consent to vaccinations against sexually transmitted infections has advanced in the Iowa Senate despite united opposition from Iowa’s medical community. SF 2064 would revise an existing state law that gives minors the legal capacity to provide the necessary consent for them to receive medical care related […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Complaints pile up as Iowa ranks 49th among states in nursing home inspectors
A federal report suggests Iowa has one of the nation’s worst ratios of nursing home inspectors to care facilities, and that the state’s use of private contractors to inspect homes is extraordinarily costly to taxpayers. The report, published earlier this year by the majority staff of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, highlights some […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Insurance company ‘orchestrated the bankruptcy’ of a Coralville clinic to get tort reform passed in Iowa, court file claims
An insurance company engineered a record-setting medical malpractice judgment against an Iowa clinic as part of a successful scheme to have state lawmakers approve tort-reform legislation this year, according to a court filing by the clinic’s lawyers. In March 2022, a Johnson County jury awarded more than $97.4 million to the family of a boy […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Judge: Sheriff’s secretary violated citizens’ privacy for her own entertainment
A secretary for the Linn County Sheriff’s Department violated the privacy of “innumerable” citizens while searching for entertainment in the trauma of others, an Iowa judge has ruled. The decision comes in the unemployment-benefits case of Shelby Burns, who was fired from the sheriff’s department last fall for using a law enforcement database to satisfy […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa dog breeders responsible for 36% of all violations in the U.S. last year
Iowa’s dog breeders had the worst record of compliance with federal regulations in 2022, accounting for 36 percent of all violations cited nationally. The U.S. Department of Agriculture cited dog and cat breeders and brokers for 795 violations in 2022, a total that excludes citations for “missed” inspections resulting from USDA officials not gaining access […]
Posted inCommunity/News
University of Iowa sued by its corporate partner in billion-dollar utility deal
Just three years into a 50-year, billion-dollar partnership with a utility company, the University of Iowa is being sued over an alleged failure to abide by the terms of the deal. The University of Iowa Energy Collaborative is suing the public university in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. The UIEC […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Iowa church wages four-year fight with IRS over hallucinogenic drug ceremonies
An Iowa-based church that allegedly charges members up to $800 to use a hallucinogenic drug in religious ceremonies is continuing to pursue a four-year battle to win tax-exempt status. Last year, the Iowaska Church of Healing sued the IRS in U.S. District Court, challenging the federal agency’s decision to deny the church status as a […]
