Iowa’s attorney general is joining 44 others in asking major phone companies to offer call-blocking technology for intrusive robocalls. The AGs say a new FCC rule clarification lets telecommunication service providers offer customers the ability to block unwanted calls.… MORE
President Obama is getting another disaster request from Iowa…this one for aid to 19 counties struck by damaging storms a few weeks ago. Dallas, Lee and Warren counties were among those hit hard by winds, tornadoes, heavy rain and hail. Governor Branstad, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, and several other ag leaders are gathering next week…… MORE
USDA is seeking federal funding to stockpile a bird flu vaccine it says is 100 percent effective in protecting chickens. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack told a House Ag panel yesterday they’re now testing the vaccine for turkeys. Vilsack will be with Governor Branstad on Tuesday at a conference in Des Moines that will go over…… MORE
Looks like Iowa is a step closer to its goal of becoming the healthiest state in the U-S. The latest Kids Count ranker places Iowa 4th overall in terms of the well-being of its children, and number one for physical health. Iowa’s jobless rate has dropped again. The unemployment rate dipped from 3-point-8 percent in…… MORE
Governor Branstad and U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack will kick off next Tuesday a two-day conference on the bird flu. The industry conference at the downtown Marriott is designed to go over the response to the virus and how it can be improved.… MORE
The Greater Des Moines Partnership wants to broker a settlement in Des Moines Water Works’ suit against upriver counties over nitrate pollution. The group’s Jay Byers told the Register they want to bring together business, farming, environmental and legislative leaders to come up with long-term water quality solutions. The recent shootings in Chattanooga have prompted…… MORE
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack isn’t ready to call the bird flu over in the Midwest. It’s been more than a month since the last case was reported, but Vilsack says the threat has not passed. The warmer temps tend to kill the virus, but they’re nervous about the fall.… MORE
Two political summits set up shop in the first-in-the-nation caucus state over the weekend. Hillary Clinton received the loudest applause of the candidates at the Iowa Democratic Party Dinner in Cedar Rapids. Donald Trump received the most negative attention for the press for commenting on John McCain. Trump criticized McCain for “doing nothing” for the…… MORE
It’s a political star-packed weekend in Iowa, with the Iowa Democratic Hall of Fame dinner tonight in Cedar Rapids. And the Family Leadership Summit in Ames tomorrow draws in the Republican presidential hopefuls. Iowa lawmakers have been concerned about the governor eliminating the state’s mental health hospitals…but it appears a Tennessee-based company may bring a…… MORE
Three siblings of Eddie Tipton took the stand yesterday in his Hot Lotto fraud trial. The three all said the person in the video buying the winning ticket could not have been their brother. Tipton is accused of rigging a lottery computer so he could get the winning ticket, and having someone else claim it…… MORE
