The National Weather Service in Des Moines says over the next several days, many areas of Iowa, including Siouxland, could see temperatures in the 90s with heat indices topping 100 degrees.
Dave Rossman farms near Hartly, in northwest Iowa, and says corn usually thrives on heat and humidity, but breezy conditions could evaporate all the good moisture in his fields.
“The wind is gonna blow a lot of the humidity away. You know, they talk about corn sweat and stuff, but it has to be fairly still for the humidity to stay.”
The most recent USDA crop report shows both corn and soybeans rated 58-percent, good to excellent, with one-third falling into the fair category. Rosman says his soybeans do have early signs of disease.
The upcoming heat wave hits as college students are set to move in for the new school year.
Morningside University is welcoming in around 1,200 new students this weekend. To try and beat the midday heat, the school is starting move-ins at 8:30 instead of 9:00, in an attempt to be done with most of the moving by 10:30 a.m. Morningside will also have plenty of water and golf carts available to help with the loading and moving
A group called Protect Our Rights filed paperwork to get an initiative on a ballot next year to amend Nebraska’s Constitution. The goal is to protect the right to have an abortion, according to the Omaha World Herald.
Initial papers for the ballot initiative were filed with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission on Friday, Aug. 4 — a week before a Lancaster County district judge upheld LB-574, also known as the “Let Them Grow Act.” The law bans gender-affirming care for minors and also an amendment banning abortion after 12 weeks gestation.
The group will need to get 10% of registered voters in the state to sign the petition. Those signatures will also need to represent 5% of registered voters in 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties to qualify for the ballot.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has announced an agreement has been reached with state senator Jessica Castleberry to pay back more than $499,000 in covid funds she received for her Rapid City preschool daycare centers.
The Argus Leader reports that in a July 26 letter to senator Castleberry, Jackley noted that the state supreme court ruled the state constitution prohibits state legislators from receiving such funds. He asked the senator to repay the funds.
An additional $104,100, that has not been included, passed through directly to qualified needy families and their children, and not to the benefit of Senator Castleberry. She has agreed to repayment plan of $2400 a month at 4% interest.
Iowa’s Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg has been elected Chair of the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA). Lt. Governor Gregg was nominated and approved by the NLGA membership and begins service immediately. He will serve as Chair of the NLGA until the Summer of 2024.
Gregg has served in the role of lieutenant governor since May of 2017. He leads the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative, he led the Feeding Iowans Task Force in 2020, and he is a past Chair of the Republican Lieutenant Governors Association.
