Iowa Capital Dispatch
February 20, 2026

Muscatine County, which has a contract to hold immigration detainees for the federal government, is refusing to publicly disclose its copy of that contract.

In recent months, Muscatine County’s jail administrator has been named in five lawsuits related to the county’s agreement to jail some of the immigrants who are picked up in Iowa by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

Like other Iowa counties, Muscatine County has a contract with ICE to house those individuals in return for payments from the federal government. That contract, and the county’s detention of the immigrants, have been the subject of five civil lawsuits and an alleged ethics complaint concerning former Muscatine County Attorney James Barry, who resigned last year.

by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch
February 19, 2026

Amanda Winkelmann held up a baby bottle filled with tap water as she spoke at the Iowa Capitol Thursday about the need for greater attention to Iowa’s water quality.

“If we could see it,” Winkelmann said and used a paintbrush to put a drop of pink paint into the water. “Would we solve it?” 

Winkelmann, who lives in Des Moines, said she and her husband choose to refill water jugs with filtered water due to their concerns about drinking tap water that has consistently high nitrate concentrations.

She was one of more than 150 Iowans gathered in the Iowa Capitol Rotunda Thursday afternoon urging lawmakers to support bills that would improve Iowa’s rivers, lakes, streams and drinking water. 

Lee Enterprises, Inc. began its new fiscal year with more red ink, losing $5.7 million in the first quarter ended December 28.

Thanks to significant personnel cuts last September the deficit was much less than the first quarter of 2025 when it lost $16.9 million. The company cut 49 full- and part-time positions when it ended print operations at its Davenport facility last September.

Lee – owner of the Quad City Times, the Dispatch/Argus and some 70 other newspapers and online news sites – saw operating revenue decline by more than $14 million in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period a year ago.

by Jennifer Shutt, Iowa Capital Dispatch
February 6, 2026

WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday pulled down a social media post depicting former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys after members of Congress from both political parties expressed dismay and called it racist.

A White House spokesperson told States Newsroom around noon that a “staffer erroneously made the post” that was shared on President Donald Trump’s social media platform late Thursday night. 

But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote in a statement earlier in the day the video wasn’t a real issue.

Listen to Sen. Charles Grassley respond to a question about ICE enforcement which led to the shooting deaths of two citizens on Minneapolis streets. Not surprisingly, the Republican Chairman of Senate Judiciary Committee has no plans to use his powerful position to investigate the shootings: https://outreach.senate.gov/iqextranet/iqClickTrk.aspx?&cid=SenGrassley&...

by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch
January 29, 2026

A new report by a national animal-advocacy group says nearly a third of all actively licensed commercial dog dealers went uninspected in 2025.

The report, issued this week by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, examines the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s oversight of licensed dog breeders.

According to the ASPCA, the USDA conducted around 2,000 compliance inspections, and around 1,000 other types of inspections, at dog-breeding facilities last year.

by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch
January 26, 2026

A federal judge has criticized what he calls the “indefensible” actions of federal immigration enforcement agents in Iowa, ruling they illegally detained a man in the Muscatine County Jail and then attempted to “cover their tracks” through misleading legal filings.

The case involves 28-year-old Jorge Gonzalez Ochoa of Iowa City, who came to the United States from Colombia in 2024, seeking asylum and alleging he was fleeing persecution in the form of threats and extortion.

In October 2025, while still seeking permission to remain in the United States legally, Gonzalez Ochoa was charged by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with unlawful use of a Social Security number and immigration documents. Prosecutors allege he worked under a false name, using a fraudulent Social Security card and permanent resident card to obtain a job at The Bread Garden Market, a restaurant in Iowa City, where he was arrested.

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch
January 22, 2026

Iowa House Democrats released a proposal Thursday aimed at improving the quality of Iowa’s drinking water and waterways through increased monitoring and more incentives for farmers and landowners to implement best practices.

Water quality has been a major topic in the state among environmental advocates for years, who have warned about the impacts of farm runoff and chemicals like PFAS in the state’s water. But these concerns have been further elevated in the past year as central Iowa faced elevated nitrate levels in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers in 2025.

by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch
January 15, 2026

Chris Jones, an author, researcher and Iowa water quality advocate, launched his campaign for Iowa secretary of agriculture Thursday outside of Des Moines Water Works. 

Jones’ platform for the role includes a more diversified agricultural landscape, more regulations on polluters and concentrated feeding operations and greater access to locally grown food. 

“We need a secretary of agriculture that is for the people … and not just for corporate agriculture,” Jones said. “And so that’s what I endeavor to do if I’m elected secretary of agriculture.”