*Planned Parenthood will close four clinics in Iowa as part of a reorganization across a five-state area, and that includes the facility in Sioux City.
According to Planned Parenthood North Central States, a total of eight health centers will close in the region over the rest of the year. That includes Iowa locations in Ames, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City and Urbandale.
Laws restricting abortion access and cuts to federal funding are some of the reasons the organization says it must downsize.
Two locations would remain in Iowa after the changes – in Des Moines and in Iowa City.
The Planned Parenthood Sioux City location is along Stone Avenue in the Morningside area. Officials from the clinic did not respond by Tuesday afternoon to a request to get more information on the closure, which other media outlets have described as taking place by July 1.
The Sioux City location had closed some years ago, then reopened about five years ago.
*There will not be a blanket moratorium placed on future wind turbine facilities in Dickinson County, Iowa.
The Dickinson County Board of Supervisors deadlocked on that proposal in their Tuesday morning meeting, as first reported by Explore Okoboji News.
Two weeks ago the county supervisors debated, but tabled the possibility of a six-year “moratorium on future renewable energy projects.” When it returned for the Tuesday meeting, the time frame had dropped to two years, but that did not pass after a 2-2 vote.
Dickinson County Supervisor Stephen Dullard was among the supervisors who wanted that measure to be pondered.
On April 30, the Dickinson County Board of Adjustment unanimously voted for the Red Rock Wind Energy Farm with 67 turbines to proceed, after a final hearing that lasted four hours.
The proposal the Board of Adjustment approved included fewer wind turbines and farther setback distances in eastern Dickinson County than what had initially been proposed in a first permit in 2023.
*Iowa and Nebraska health officials have reported the first cases of measles in each of those states for the first time in more than five years.
The confirmed cases were an unvaccinated adult in Iowa on Friday and a vaccinated child in Nebraska on Monday.
Nationally, there have been 1,046 confirmed cases and three confirmed deaths due to measles in the this year. By comparison, there were a total of 285 cases reported in 2024.
According to the Centers of Disease Control information, vaccination rates in kindergarteners have decreased to under 93 percent.
In an Iowa Health and Human Services press release, Dr. Robert Krause said the best tool in preventing measles is getting the MRR vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella.
*The K-12 school year has concluded in some Siouxland districts, and the school year in Sioux City will be one of the longest to complete in the area.
Sioux City School District student will attend classes through June 5. However, the three city public high schools are holding graduation ceremonies through the next three evenings.
All those events will take place at 7 p.m. at the downton Tyson Events Center. The first graduation will have students from North High School on Tuesday, followed by West High on Wednesday and East High School on Thursday. Doors open each evening at 6 p.m.
The graduation ceremonies for the Bishop Heelan High School in Sioux City and South Sioux City High School already took place on May 18.
*An organization running a substance abuse treatment center for adolescents and young adults says state opioid settlement funding will help expand its services.
A bill awaiting Gov. Kim Reynolds’ signature designates how the state will distribute $56 million dollars of its opioid settlement funding. About half that funding will go to 10 substance abuse treatment programs across the state.
One of those programs is the Ember Recovery Campus in central Iowa, which is slated to get $3 million dollars.
Andrew Allen is the president and CEO of YSS, which runs the center. He says the funding helps support services like a workforce training center that exposes residents to trades.
Iowa is expected to receive more than $300 million dollars in opioid settlement funding over the next 15 years.
