Sandhya Dirks

The manager at an Iowa Egg Farm implicated in a national salmonella outbreak will admit he tried to bribe a federal official to sign off on unsafe eggs.

In 2010 a salmonella scare spread across the country—500 million eggs were recalled and 2,000 people fell sick.

Now a federal prosecutor says the manager of the farm the bacterial outbreak was traced back to—Tony Wasmund—has agreed to plead guilty to attempting to bribe a public official. Wasmund apparently offered $300 to a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector to let eggs that didn’t pass muster go to market.

It’s been two years since a salmonella outbreak was traced back to several Iowa farms—including Centrum Valley Farms. As Iowa Public Radio’s Sandhya Dirks reports, another strain of the deadly bacteria has re-appeared on that same farm.

It’s the day after the conventions—do you know where you candidate is? If you guessed Iowa, you would be right. While President Obama stops at the University of Iowa, Republican Nominee Mitt Romney stumped at Northwestern College – a private Christian school. As Iowa Public Radio’s Sandhya Dirks reports, Romney rallied the Republican base and tried to woo the youth vote.  

Libertarian-minded voters will have a presidential candidate on the ballot in Iowa this November—but it won’t be Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who galvanized so many Iowa voters when he ran for the Republican nomination. Former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson will have his name in the running, after a unanimous decision by a  three-person bipartisan panel.

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney made a campaign stop at a manufacturing plant in Bettendorf Wednesday - not far from where President Obama wrapped up his three-day campaign swing through Iowa a week earlier.

One of the wackier sideshows in Iowa’s political theater happened earlier this summer  - when the Republican State Senate candidate in the 34th district declared the United States Government illegitimate, and dropped out of the race.

Randi Shannon then announced she was becoming a State Senator in something called the Republic for the United States of America.  Iowa Public Radio’s Sandhya Dirks took a closer look at the political fringe.

President Obama closed out his three-day bus trip across Iowa with an assist— from First Lady Michelle Obama. Her visit helped to highlight the president’s softer side—and remind Iowa why it holds such a special place for the first family.

The state of Iowa – and the Iowa State Fair— once again became the center of the political Universe this week.  Two skinny politicians from bordering Midwestern states stopped by the fair to try and drum up support for their respective campaigns—and along the way they threw a few punches. In the ring for the Republicans was the newly announced pick for vice president — Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Stopping by in the evening for a beer and a pork chop? President Barack Obama.

It’s official: Iowa is deep in the throes of a drought. State climatologist Harry Hillaker is calling it the worst drought since 1988. Yesterday Hillaker joined Governor Branstad at a town hall in Mount Pleasant. Farmers from across the state came to share concerns—but the most worried? It wasn’t those with thirsty grain crops;  it was livestock farmers. 

July 1 is a big date for mental health care in Iowa—that’s the day funding switches over to a redesigned model. The legislature approved a plan to equalize mental health care funding for low income residents across the state.  Some counties are crying foul, saying programs will be gutted. But other’s say the change they say finally gives all counties a level playing field.

There is a culture war raging in the heartland. It’s not about abortion or religion or same sex marriage. It’s about how food is produced in this country. As in any war, language is playing a big role.  Now some groups are borrowing from another hot button issue in the news, bullies and bullying.

You might have heard about the Drake Relays this weekend. Turns out there was another kind of relay going on - a race to make phone and computer applications - using government data.

The event was called the Open Iowa Code-a-thon. It involved around 50 people, 52 sets of data, and approximately 54 hours to get it done. Government agencies made information available, so coders could capture open-source data to turn into useful applications.

A sex offender next door at the nursing home? It could pose a very real problem as Iowa’s population ages. After a 95-year-old woman was attacked by a fellow resident at her nursing home, the legislature stepped forward to act. But there's been some heated debate in the Iowa Senate.

Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, is facing reform in the legislature. The House Ways and Means committee approved a bill that would limit what cities and counties could use TIF to do. Supporters say TIF has become a way to reel in businesses at the tax payer’s expense. Opponents of the legislation says it undermines cities and counties ability to fix blighted and underdeveloped areas. Iowa Public Radio's Sandhya Dirks reports.

You might have heard the term “pink slime” in the news recently. Now the fear over the so called slime is beginning to have economic effects. This week Beef Products Incorporated, or BPI, temporally closed down a total of three meat processing plants in Kansas, Texas, and Iowa. So the Governors of those states are doing damage control. Thursday they toured the only BPI factory still open, in South Sioux City, Nebraska.