Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump hosted a rally in Boone before attending the ISU-UI tailgate on Saturday, drawing nearly 700 people to the downtown area. Trump prefaced his normal stump speech by saying he had to cut his remarks short, as he would be tailgating, but he managed to include plenty of criticisms of…… MORE
Marco Rubio seems to have a thing for local breweries and drawing large crowds at the last minute. His Iowa campaign team organized a meet and greet at Firetrucker Brewery in Ankeny in less than 24 hours, and about 200 people showed up on Friday night to hear him speak. The Florida senator began his…… MORE
Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann is not happy with his congressman voting for the Iran Deal on Capitol Hill earlier today, so he stood outside Rep. Dave Loebsack’s (D) office Friday afternoon to display his disappointment in the freshman Congressman. “The point that we are trying to make to make today by standing outside of…… MORE
The city of Ankeny saluted the heroes and victims of the 9-11 attacks this morning with a remembrance ceremony at the fire department headquarters. The public was invited and a reception followed the event. The latest No Child Left Behind report shows 81 percent of Iowa schools failed to make adequate yearly progress in…… MORE
Iowa is among the 21 states getting money from USDA to put in more gas station pumps selling higher blends of ethanol fuel. Nearly 200 blender pumps will be added in Iowa, letting customers choose between blends ranging from E15 to E85.… MORE
The state of Iowa is about to receive about $5 million from the USDA for its new “Fueling Our Future 100” initiative. Governor Terry Branstad, along with state Ag Secretary Bill Northey put out a statement today about the receiving the grant, noting that it will help expand choices at the pump for Iowans, as…… MORE
Enrollment is growing at Iowa’s three public universities. The latest official figures for the fall show ISU topping 36-thousand students, the largest enrollment in the school’s history. The University of Iowa has more than 32-thousand students, up by more than 700 from last year…and UNI has just under 12-thousand students, up more than 50 from…… MORE
Though he has not been in the political limelight in the past few weeks, Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul is clearly following along with fellow contender Donald Trump’s media frenzy of the past couple of months. Paul spoke to the Torch’s Robert Rees on Thursday morning about his take on the GOP front-leader. “I think…… MORE
Iowa State now has the most students enrolled this semester in the school’s history. The university announced earlier today that 36,001 students are enrolled this fall, marking the ninth consecutive year of growth for the school. More than 3,500 of the freshman class is from the state. It’s a quiet week for presidential candidates…but it’ll…… MORE
President Obama is coming to Iowa on Monday. The president will join Education Secretary Arne Duncan at North High School in Des Moines. It’s part of the secretary’s “Back-to-School” bus tour. Polk County had a number of school board elections that shook up a few boards…although not in Ankeny, where incumbents held their seats. …… MORE
