The four companies picked to run Iowa’s Medicaid program are promising to create hundreds of jobs to help do it. United Healthcare is projecting the addition of 250 workers, Amerihealth Caritas plans to open three community wellness centers, Wellcare pledged to open several offices, and Amerigroup has found space in West Des Moines for a…… MORE
Iowa is getting its first female speaker of the House. Linda Upmeyer was voted in to the position, one that her dad held a few decades back. Upmeyer has served as House Majority Leader for the past five years. She’ll replace Kraig Paulsen in January, when he steps down.… MORE
Though many in the Republican-controlled Iowa state House say it is no surprise Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer was chosen to be the new Speaker of the House, Upmeyer herself was surprised and honored by the decision. “This has been an emotional day for me and my family,” said Upmeyer on Thursday morning. Upmeyer’s late father,…… MORE
Des Moines’ tax abatement program expires at the end of the year, and city officials wanted to get residents’ and developers’ take on extending it. The city is recommending using a declining scale system in some cases, and eliminating it altogether for multi-family units outside the target area. Developers at a public meeting last night…… MORE
Poultry producers in Iowa are pushing for vaccine protection for their birds this fall. Both the state and the feds have held back on recommending anti-bird-flu shots, because of potential repercussions from importers. But farmers are afraid that without the vaccine, any money they spend restocking their flocks could be wasted.… MORE
Being the former governor of a state that borders Mexico, one of the messages Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry conveys to crowds and reporters is that he wants to fix the illegal immigration problem by securing the border. While addressing the Iowa State Fair audience on the soapbox stage on Wednesday,the former governor of Texas again…… MORE
More than 12-thousand ISU students are moving in to campus today before the start of the new fall semester. Ames police are warning drivers around Ames there could be a shortage of parking spaces, as parents and students unload. A landlord company near another major Iowa university is appealing a state Supreme Court decision that…… MORE
A group of Iowa landowners are suing the state board of utilities, saying it has no authority to grant Dakota Access permission to go on private property for its proposed oil pipeline. The suit says the oil company is not an Iowa utility, so it cannot use such options.… MORE
Despite at times heavy downpours and cooler temperatures, dozens of voters turned out to hear Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio have his turn on the Des Moines Register’s soapbox on Tuesday morning. Rubio began his campaign speech by thanking the crowd for coming out with umbrellas to hear him, and he promised he would make…… MORE
The keys to the 4-billion dollar Medicaid program in Iowa are being turned over by the governor to four private companies, starting the first of the year. The decision marks a key point in Governor Branstad’s transformation of the healthcare program for the poor and disabled that serves more than half-a-million Iowans. Iowa workers would…… MORE
