Iowa Public Radio News

Every growing season brings a unique set of insects, diseases and challenges for gardeners, homeowners and farmers.

At 10:15 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day, Gov. Kim Reynolds shut down all bars and restaurants by emergency declaration. Even though Iowa never fully closed and "reopened" earlier than most states, COVID-19 has dramatically changed the landscape for business in Iowa.

The day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered an Iowa school teacher took action .

New coronavirus infections are increasing in Iowa and most other states, putting more scrutiny on how states have handled “reopening.” Iowa has fully reopened over the past 2.5 months as Gov. Kim Reynolds ended all closures and restrictions meant to prevent the spread of the virus. She has repeatedly said “data and metrics” were driving her reopening strategy, but the data and metrics she said her decisions were based on have shifted over the course of the pandemic.

The year 2020 has been notable for several reasons. There’s a pandemic, a racial justice movement and it’s an election year. And for a central Iowa woman, it was her first Independence Day as a citizen. Karla Rangel celebrated her first 4 th of July as a naturalized citizen with her family in Grimes. They watched fireworks, lit sparklers and spent time enjoying the warm weather. “I'm an immigrant and now it feels different just because I feel like I'm a part of it now I'm definitely fully...

Ben Kieffer speaks with a variety of guests about top news stories from across Iowa on this July, 10th newsbuzz edition of River to River .

Some people are stunned and can’t believe their ears or their eyes when they hear a countertenor sing. These male musicians can control their voices to sing really high or in a falsetto range. They manipulate their voice so only the air passes over the edges of their vocal cords which vibrate in a lighter, much higher pitch. Saturday on IPR Classical, you have a chance to hear John Holiday, a reknowned countertenor perform in the Des Moines Metro Opera’s rendition of “Flight.”

Incarcerated Iowans and their family members say the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility has struggled to meet their basic human needs, as a coronavirus outbreak batters the prison. Locked in their cells 23 hours a day, some inmates say they’ve been unable to take showers for days at a time, or have waited hours for officers to bring them drinking water.

"Little House on the Prairie" was first published 85 years ago in 1935. It tells the story of the Ingalls family, white settlers traveling West to Kansas from their home in Wisconsin. "The Birchbark House," which was published in 1999, explores a similar time period and similarly revolves around family life, but from a completely different perspective. The book follows an Ojibwe family living on Madeline Island in Wisconsin as they seek to keep their way of life in the face of colonialsim.

As new COVID-19 cases continue to climb across Iowa, the state has seen an increase in demand for testing, but getting access to a coronavirus test for some Iowans isn't always as simple as just requesting one.

It’s a warm and humid summer night in late June in Correctionville. Girls and boys and playing softball and baseball in the small rural western Iowa town. Families have spaced out on the bleachers to watch. Some crowd behind the fence at home plate in lawn chairs.

In 2016, more than 80 percent of white evangelical Christians voted for President Trump. Author Kristin Kobes Du Mez's new book, " Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation" attempts to understand why.

Summer may be a little different this year, but it's still a wonderful time for learning and adventure. Every Tuesday, Talk of Iowa is hosting an episode meant for learners of all ages who are missing out on summer camp this year. On this epsiode of Talk of Iowa , we're taking a deep dive into the history and modern role of rock 'n' roll.

Have you experienced problems sleeping, nightmares or strange dreams since the start of the pandemic? If so, you’re not alone.

COVID-19 has disproportionately affected those in the Black and Latino communities. For Latinos, this may be due in part to the information available in their native language. Some of the Spanish-speaking population in Iowa is staying up to date, thanks to two people.

This program originally aired on August 22, 2018. Trying to slow down floods or filter out pollution? Hoping to capture more water for agriculture? Worried about erosion or wildfire? It turns out that one creature can help with all these problems and more - the beaver. According to Ben Goldfarb, the author of a new book about beavers, the beaver is as useful of an animal as it is interesting. The beaver's iconic tail, for example, has many purposes. "A beaver's tail, it's a fat storage...

Though many people who have been seriously ill from COVID-19 are older or have underlying health conditions, it’s still unclear what causes certain people to get really sick from the coronavirus. Waterloo resident Aquarius Bunch had been a healthy 27-year-old working at an assisted living facility when she got COVID-19.

Across the country and globe, people are grieving. That’s nothing new. People can experience terrible loss and tragedy at any time. But right now, loss is all around us. For Maurine Neiman and Bennett Brown of Iowa City, 2020 brought the worst kind of loss. Their son, JJ, died in February just before his third birthday. His death was categorized as sudden unexplained death in childhood . Until the day he died, JJ was a healthy, happy little boy. Over the last several months, Neiman has...

COVID-19 rapidly displaced students from classrooms to their bedrooms this spring. Looking toward the fall, everyone is asking: how can students safely return to learn? On today’s episode of River to River , host Ben Kieffer speaks with educators, reporters and health experts about how Iowa students may return to the classroom. Later in the hour, we hear from an expert helping track COVID-19 and a statehouse reporter who explains Iowa laws that went into effect yesterday.

Baseball’s minor league teams, including five in Iowa, canceled their seasons Tuesday after Major League Baseball decided not to provide players to its affiliated teams due to COVID 19.Now that MLB has made its decision, except for a few high school games, there will be no baseball at the Iowa Cubs in Des Moines, the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the Burlington Bees, the Clinton Lumber Kings or the Quad Cities River Bandits. But you can hear “play ball” starting tonight at Waterloo’s Riverfront...