DES MOINES— Governor Reynolds and Iowa Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the state will participate in the federal SUN Bucks program beginning in 2026 after being notified Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had approved the state’s waiver. Iowa is one of a few states to request permission from the USDA to align allowable SUN Bucks purchases with the state’s new Healthy SNAP guidelines, which go into effect January 1st. SNAP and SUN Bucks participants will be able to use the benefits to purchase healthy foods like grains, fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy to supplement families’ nutritional needs. Iowa’s guidelines will exclude the purchase of taxable foods such as candy, soda and some store prepared foods.

BONDURANT – A Bondurant woman has been arrested in relation to the death of a toddler over the summer. WHO-13 reports 41-year-old Tiffani R. Huff Holmes has been charged with child endangerment resulting in death. The investigation started in June, when medics were called to a Bondurant home for an unresponsive three-year-old child.

DES MOINES – Des Moines water works employees have found an invasive species known for clogging water systems. KCCI-TV reports zebra mussels have been found in the river close to Birdland Marina. According to the Iowa DNR, the mussels can harm other local species and lay up to one-million eggs per year. The were first found in the Great Lakes and then Mississippi River in the 1990s.