Erin Jordan

The Iowa River does not show signs of pollution from the Dec. 8 blast at a Marengo workshop that had large stores of petroleum products, officials said.

Palisades-Kepler is one of 17 Iowa state parks and recreation areas offering guided tours Sunday as part of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources First Day Hike promotion.

Shelby Smith founded Gym-N-Eat Crickets in 2018 after deciding she did not enjoy a banking and finance career abroad. She now raises common house crickets in what used to be a single-wide trailer she calls the Cricket Castle. She’s also poised for expansion.

Troy Roth, a 21-year veteran of the Iowa City Fire Department, where he most recently served as captain, succeeds Brian Greer, who retired as fire marshal in November after serving 31 years with the agency.

Megan Lenss, who received a Bachelor of Science in geoscience from the University of Iowa in 2021, now lives in Tromsø, Norway, and works in collaboration with the Norwegian Polar Institute and the University of Tromsø.

New MidwestOne CEO Chip Reeves talked with The Gazette about his connection with former CEO Charlie Funk, the role of a community bank and the ways the banking industry is evolving.

Iowans can expect dangerous wind chills of 20 to 45 degrees below zero though Saturday morning, the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities reported. If you’re going out of town for Christmas, a plumber offers tips to prevent frozen pipes.

Two weeks after an explosion and fire in a Marengo workshop injured up to 15 people and prompted an evacuation of nearby homes, local officials wonder who is going to pay for the long-term cleanup.

The Gazette looked at the boards of 10 agricultural groups at the state and national levels and found, by looking at individual and group photographs, nearly all of the members appear to be white and about three-quarters appear to be men.

Iowa regulators have slapped an emergency order on a Marengo company after a Dec. 8 explosion, calling the C6-Zero facility a “clear threat to public health and the environment” because of “unknown flammable chemicals and gases” remaining in a damaged building.

A shingle recycler whose Marengo plant exploded last week, injuring up to 15 people -- including himself -- ran into problems with regulators and residents when he tried out his idea in other states.

The Westerns own one of only about 1,700 Iowa Heritage Farms, which means a farm in the same family for at least 150 years. Theirs is likely the only such farm owned by a Black family.

Firefighters and state officials did not know exactly what the solvent used at the recycler was, not how much of it was stored on site.

The airport has been negotiating with Paul and Nikki Hynek since 2020 about providing a new well or buying the couple’s property. The airport isn’t certain the PFAS came from firefighting foam used at the airport, but it’s a strong possibility.

Can Play Sports, which provides adaptive sports and recreation opportunities, is one of seven recipients of grants from the Girls with Goals Fund administered by Women Lead Change.