Don’t expect to see any live birds at the Iowa State Fair or any county fair this summer. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announced Thursday that it’s ordering the state fair and all county fairs to cancel live bird exhibitions this year as the bird flu outbreak continues to progress. “We are…… MORE
Harris Vaccines in Ames is waiting to hear back from the USDA about a bird flu vaccine it created. Director Hank Harris says his lab developed the vaccine without the actual strain of the deadly bird flu infecting millions of chickens and turkeys in Iowa. Harris and his team created the vaccine about a month ago.…… MORE
In a warehouse building off the interstate in Ames, a two-story lab is busy creating vaccines for all kinds of animal diseases. One of them is the bird flu vaccine, which will help ward off the disease infecting millions of chickens and turkeys in Iowa and neighboring states. Hank Harris of HarrisVaccines said his lab team has…… MORE
Former Texas governor and potential GOP presidential contender Rick Perry spoke to a room full of Iowans on Wednesday about national security and foreign policy. Perry was the first speaker in a series put on by the Iowa chapter of Americans for Prosperity, Peace, and Security. Several topics were touched on that Perry addressed in…… MORE
Iowa’s rural bridges and roads cost taxpayers, lives, and farmers’ bottom line, according to a new report from TRIP, a national transportation research group. The group studied rural roads and infrastructure across the country to identify areas that struggle to keep products moving and the effect of poor rural roads on local communities. In Iowa,…… MORE
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has joined other state attorneys general across the nation in filing a federal lawsuit against four cancer charities. The “fake” cancer charities scammed around $187 million from donors over the past few years. The charities named in the lawsuit include: Cancer Fund for America, Children’s Cancer Fund of America, Cancer…… MORE
An Ames company is among the first in Iowa to get federal approval for using a commercial drone. Hunziker and Associates will have the drone capture exterior views of house, subdivisions and their surroundings for potential customers and community planning. Des Moines is getting rid of its human services department – the Community Action Agency.…… MORE
It looks like the legislative session will extend into next month. Lawmakers still haven’t reached a consensus on the state education budget…and have yet to pass the governor’s broadband internet and anti-bullying bills that he pushed for in his state of the union address this year. Landfill owners in Iowa are getting pressure from the…… MORE
Governor Branstad said he’s being patient while the state legislature continues to work overtime. Branstad said he understands that many bigger and more important bills are handled until the very last days of the session. “Often times, the tough decisions do get left by the legislature ’til the end,” said Branstad. “Patience and perseverance always…… MORE
As a way to congratulate the ongoing work of the Southeast Connector Road Project in Des Moines, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx visited the city on Friday afternoon. The project was awarded a $10 million TIGER grant three years ago, and has helped create a 2 mile extension of Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. Des Moines was…… MORE
