IOWA – After expanding their majorities in the Iowa Legislature following the November 5th election, the Republicans in the statehouse have elected their leadership. Senator Jack Whitver will remain Senate Majority Leader and Representative Pat Grassley is still Speaker of the House, according to the Des Moines Register. The GOP holds supermajorities in both chambers, the largest since 1970. Senator Amy Sinclair also remains as president of the senate, and Senator Ken Rozenboom is the new president pro tempore, after Brad Zaun lost his bid for reelection in his district. CEDAR RAPIDS – A new coalition has announced an advertising campaign to stop a new casino in Cedar Rapids. KCCI-TV reports Iowans for Common Sense is asking Iowans to sign a petition to support a statewide moratorium on new construction of casinos. Peninsula Pacific Entertainment and the Linn County Gaming Commission have presented applications for a new facility in Cedar Rapids. IOWA – A Pleasantville woman accused of spiking her husband’s drink with eyedrops has been sentenced. WHO-13 reports 39-year-old Daisy Zantjer was arrested earlier this year for the incident that occurred in 2023, and in September, pled guilty to one count of administering harmful substances and domestic abuse assault. Zantjer received the maximum sentence for both charges, which is five years in prison.

WASHINGTON D.C. – Senator Joni Ernst’s office released a statement that she is “laser-focused” on her work in the legislature in response to a report about possible interest in becoming the Secretary of Defense. The Des Moines Register reported that NOTUS, a non profit newsroom, reported on Monday that Ernst would be open to working in the next Trump administration. A spokesperson for Ernst said Iowa’s junior senator remains focused on advancing in Senate leadership at this time. LAURENS – More than 90 employees at the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky distribution center in Laurens will be let go by January. WHO-13 reports the Iowa Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification webpage showed the company gave notice that 91 employees are part of a “mass layoff.” The current expected last day is January 24th, according to the report. IOWA CITY – An Iowa City woman has been charged for the death of a bicyclist earlier this fall. KCRG-TV reports that the Johnson County Attorney’s Office announced the arrest on Friday, and that 77-year-old Ok Soon Lee allegedly hit 41-year-old Ashlee Hopkins during the Farm Cycle Ride on September 15th. Hopkins died from her injuries.

DES MOINES – Widely regarded as one of the most accurate pollsters in the nation, the firm responsible for the Des Moines Register political poll is assessing a massive miss from the final results on election day. KCCI-TV reports that J. Ann Selzer wrote an op-ed in the Des Moines Register claims she used the same method that accurately predicted Donald Trump’s victories in the state in 2016 and 2020, when reporting a slight lead for Vice President Kamala Harris just before the election. Trump won the state by an even larger margin in 2024, and thus, had the Iowa Poll miss by more than a dozen points. IOWA CITY – While WBNA Rookie of the Year and two-time National College Women’s Basketball player of the Year Caitlin Clark whipped the state of Iowa and the nation into a frenzy over the past few years, it has not translated into the high school game. Sports Illustrated released a report late last week that Sibley-Ocheyedan and West Sioux shuttered their high school girls basketball teams in the coming season. This has spurred rumors that a few more schools may make the move after practice started last Monday. CEDAR FALLS – The longtime head coach of the UNI Panthers football team is retiring. The university issued a release on Sunday noting that Mark Farley will end his 24 seasons at the helm of the program following the conclusion of the ongoing season. Farley is the winningest coach in Missouri Valley Conference History, with 182. He guided the Panthers to seven conference titles and was the 2007 FCS National Coach of the Year.

IOWA – Iowa corn production is forecast at 2.63 billion bushels according to the latest USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Crop Production report. Based on conditions as of November 1, yields are expected to average 213.0 bushels per acre, down 1.0 bushel per acre from the October 1 forecast but up 12 from last year. Corn planted acreage is estimated at 12.9 million acres, with an estimated 12.4 million acres to be harvested for grain. Soybean production is forecast at 608 million bushels. The yield is forecast at 61.0 bushels per acre, down 3.0 from the October forecast but up 3 from 2023. Soybean planted acreage is estimated at 10.1 million acres with 9.97 million acres to be harvested.DES MOINES – A group aiming to improve school safety in the state has made its first batch of recommendations ahead of the upcoming legislative session. KCCI-TV reports the Governor’s School Safety Task Force mentioned increasing shatterproof windows, panic buttons, and door locks. It recommends locating communication dead zones — but also suggested new funding would be needed for the effort. CLIVE – The state librarian of Iowa has been charged for alleged dissemination of obscene material to a minor. Iowa Capital Dispatch reports 53-year-old Michael Lynn Scott was arrested on Friday by Clive Police. Court records indicate Scott used the app KiK to communicate with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old. Scott is accused of sending pictures of his own face before sharing obscene material. The individual Scott was messaging with turned out to be a deputy with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. Scott has been serving as the State of Iowa Librarian, according to financial documents.

ANKENY – One person has died in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 35 in Ankeny. The Iowa State Patrol reports a Chevy Impala driven by 91-year-old Paul Jaques of Burnsville, Minnesota was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes just after 5 p.m. Thursday. Four vehicles ended up colliding due to the wrong-way driver, who died from his injuries. CENTERVILLE – Recordings from a Centerville School Board closed session held in February 2023 have been released. KCCI-TV reports the Iowa Freedom of Information Council filed a lawsuit to allege a violation of open meeting laws. The meeting was held in to discuss the eventual resignation of former guidance counselor and baseball coach Ryan Hodges, who was accused of grooming and sexually harassing a student. No criminal charges were filed.IOWA – A burst of heavy rain last week has relieved drought conditions, or at least its severity, across most of the state. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor Report shows severe drought dipped from 51 to 13% over the last week. Many communities received 3-5″ of rainfall in about a week’s time, from October 30th to November 5th. More rainfall remains possible on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.