Erin Murphy

Against the background of a dismal federal jobs report, two Iowa business group leaders on Friday said the state’s employers remain optimistic about the economy here, although they also warned against the impact of ongoing uncertainty in federal trade policy.

State and tribal law enforcement officers will be able to cross jurisdictional boundaries while pursuing fleeing suspects under a new legal agreement between the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and the Meskwaki Nation.

Iowa will now have open-seat elections for governor and the U.S. Senate for the first time in nearly six decades, and half of the state’s federal delegation likely will feature new representation after the 2026 elections.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has granted 55 pardons since taking office, more than double her predecessor and mentor, former Gov. Terry Branstad; commuted sentences have been exceptionally rare under both governors.

Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson wasted little time announcing her candidacy for U.S. Senate Tuesday, mere hours after Sen. Joni Ernst published a video announcing she will not seek re-election.

Saying it is time to give back to the family that has supported her during her career in public service, Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst in a video message announced Tuesday that she will not seek re-election next year.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates Rob Sand and Julie Stauch both say they would propose significant changes to the state program that provides taxpayer-funded scholarships for K-12 private school tuition.

The Iowa Barn Foundation, for its last year at the State Fair, added a pair of silos to its display in the Agriculture Building. The structures were auctioned off and the money raised will be used to help preserve Iowa barns.

Materials to help local government officials implement a new state law that requires training on Iowa’s open meetings and records laws are on the way from the state board that oversees the laws.

For the first time in two years, the three-person state panel that regulates Iowa’s public utilities held a general, public meeting — and Iowa landowners who are opposed to a hazardous liquid pipeline and have been critical of the panel’s approval of the project did not miss the opportunity.

J.D. Scholten is dropping out of the crowded Democratic primary in Iowa’s U.S. Senate election, and endorsing fellow Democratic state legislator Josh Turek, who just announced his candidacy this past week.

Iowa Democrats’ campaign speeches sound different this year as the party attempts to win back voters they have lost in the state over the past decade.

Donald Trump swooped in from his helicopter. Hillary Clinton saw the butter cow. And Bernie Sanders drew a crowd so large it almost shut down the Grand Concourse. It was 10 years ago today — Aug. 15, 2015 — that Trump, Clinton and Sanders all visited the Iowa State Fair on the same day.

Amid federal budget cuts, the U.S. Energy Secretary on Thursday in Iowa provided assurances that the Ames National Laboratory that he was touring will continue to receive financial support but said wind energy production will need to start standing on its own.

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