ADEL — Gov. Kim Reynolds sat cross-legged, surrounded by first-graders, on the floor of a classroom in Adel Elementary School, watching as the students practiced their vowel sounds. Reynolds had just come from signing a new law aimed at improving how early literacy classes are taught in Iowa. In the classroom, she saw some of those teaching techniques in action. First-grade teacher Erin Koelker showed students letter combinations such as "igh," "ay" and "ore" and had kids call out the sounds the letters make. The students also used handheld whiteboards...

See photos as Gov. Kim Reynolds signs HF 2618 and visits Adel classroom Students raise their hands to answer questions in Adel Elementary School first grade teacher Erin Koelker's classroom at Adel Elementary School on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Adel. Lily Smith/The Register Gov. Kim Reynolds listens to a literacy lesson in Adel Elementary School first grade teacher Erin Koelker's classroom at Adel Elementary School on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Adel. Lily Smith/The Register Gov. Kim Reynolds looks over a student's work during a literacy lesson in first...

The latest instance of “Iowa Nice” as practiced by Gov. Kim Reynolds includes empowering the police in her state to arrest undocumented immigrants. She thereby makes Iowa a place for immigrants to avoid when it is in the midst of an ongoing labor shortage. Even if you were a completely legal immigrant in the county, why would you seek to settle in a state when you have to worry about becoming fair game to any cop who pulls you over? Or, if you are an immigrant already working in Iowa,...

DES MOINES — An Iowa Supreme Court justice had recused himself from the appeal of a pending divorce case over claims he had an extramarital affair with the woman in the divorce more than a decade ago, according to court records. Iowa Supreme Court Justice Christopher McDonald granted an order to recuse himself in response to a motion filed by John Mordini, who is appealing the terms of a divorce proceeding with his ex-wife. John Mordini appealed a Polk County District Court’s decision April 9. In the motion asking for...

“It’s funny that government can never afford to cut taxes or spending, but taxpayers are never asked whether they can afford higher taxes,” stated columnist Cal Thomas. The voice of the taxpayer is often drowned out by special interests that demand greater spending. State Senator Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, and State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, who chair the Ways & Means Committees of their respective chambers in the Iowa Legislature, are pushing to ensure that taxpayers have lasting constitutional protections. As part of their tax reform proposal, Sen. Dawson and...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to let its blocked abortion law go into effect and uphold it altogether, disputing abortion providers’ claims it infringes on women’s rights to exercise bodily autonomy. The law, which bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant, was in effect for a few days last July. A district court judge soon after put it on pause for the courts to assess its constitutionality. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds appealed...

Iowa’s Supreme Court heard oral arguments Thursday in a case that could decide the future of abortion in that state, the latest in a series of legal battles that threaten abortion access across the country during a historic election year. At issue is a ban passed by the legislature last July that restricts the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, the point when fetal cardiac activity can be detected. Planned Parenthood and others immediately sued to block the law and won a preliminary injunction from a lower court. During the...

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R) signed a bill into law on Wednesday that would allow state police to certain illegal immigrants. The law, which goes into effect July 1, will make it an aggravated misdemeanor to be in Iowa if the individual has an outstanding deportation order or was previously removed from the country or prohibited from entering the country. Individuals charged with the offense could face up to two years in prison. The charges are bumped up to a felony offense if the individual’s former deportation order was related...