AGP Executive Report

Critical Minerals Funding: DOE is sending $29.5M to Ames National Laboratory and other national labs to boost U.S. critical mineral supply, including MICRO-vision tech to help process rare-earth materials domestically. Iowa Cancer Research: A new one-year Iowa and University of Iowa study links 76% of excess cancer cases to demographic and behavior risks like age, UV exposure, radon, alcohol, and tobacco, with a second year set to dig into genetics and environment. State IT Overhaul: Iowa’s government is reshaping its tech delivery after moving infrastructure to Cognizant and AWS under a $420M managed services deal. Water Quality & Elections: Bernie Sanders endorsed Chris Jones for Iowa ag secretary, framing the race as a clean-water fight; Jones and incumbent Mike Naig clash over regulation and farm impacts. STEM & Community: Drake University is using detailed NSSE reporting to push colleges toward better student engagement, while Cedar Crossing Casino unveiled a hands-on space exhibit, “Astronaut,” for Linn County school field trips. Health & Policy: Trump began mailing $500 ACA refund checks to nearly 1M people in 30 states, including Iowa. Workforce Visas: Iowa employers filed 12 H-1B petitions in 2025 in Arts/Entertainment/Recreation, all approved.

Iowa Cancer Focus: University of Iowa researchers say demographics and risk factors like smoking, binge drinking, obesity, plus county radon levels, help explain much of Iowa’s higher rates for several common cancers—pointing to prevention and screening as immediate levers. State Politics & Water: Iowa’s next secretary of agriculture race spotlights water quality and farm impacts, with candidates clashing over how much regulation is needed. Big Industry in Eastern Iowa: The White House says Mesabi Metallics will build a roughly $15B integrated steel plant in southeast Iowa, with thousands of jobs promised and a push for changes to the state’s MEGA incentives. AI Governance Locally: Carroll County’s IT chief is proposing AI use guidelines for employees to protect sensitive information while still allowing efficiency gains. Privacy at Campus: Iowa City-area coverage highlights growing concerns about Flock license-plate cameras near University of Iowa areas and the risk of misuse. Workforce/Student Tech: Drake University is using customized reporting from student engagement surveys to drive changes across colleges and majors. Public Safety: Iowa’s Traffic Safety Bureau selected five more counties for the High Five Rural Traffic Safety Project, using crash data to target unrestrained fatalities.

Steel & Jobs in Iowa: Trump and Mesabi Metallics (Essar Group) unveiled plans for a massive $15B–$18B steel plant in southeast Iowa, with thousands of jobs promised and new talk of how tariffs and incentives are shaping the deal. AI & Privacy: Meta’s Muse agent is raising fresh privacy concerns as “agentic” AI tools can act on users’ behalf, while Mississippi River mayors push for guardrails as data centers expand. Health in Iowa: New state research links Iowa’s high cancer rates largely to smoking, binge drinking, obesity, plus factors like radon; separate work using clinical notes and symptom data is improving readmission risk prediction for AML patients. Medicaid Funding: Federal rules are expected to cut Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals in dozens of states, potentially reducing access for Medicaid patients. Education & Training: Iowa is bringing back LETRS literacy professional learning for PK-8 educators, and Harbor Freight honored a Central Lyon industrial tech teacher with a $75,000 prize. Local Tech/Community: Iowa City continues its “third space” push with events and a new downtown cycling studio using tech-enabled bikes.

Iowa STEM & Education: Drake University in Des Moines is using NSSE survey results to build custom, college-by-college reports that highlight where student engagement is strong and where it lags. Literacy Training: The Iowa Department of Education is bringing back LETRS professional learning for PK-8 educators, with free cohorts starting January 2027. Campus Tech & Privacy: Iowa State’s GPSS discussed campus safety and Flock/ALPR camera use, including how data is stored and who controls it. Community Health Research: Avera Research Institute’s Mobile Unit is touring Iowa and nearby states to boost access to research participation and share study info. Public Safety & Emergency Prep: The Iowa Army Ammunition Plant near Middletown hosted fire, law enforcement, and emergency management leaders to strengthen emergency response coordination. AI & Policy: Anthropic warned investors about “catastrophic or existential” AI risks, while OpenAI and Meta faced fresh safety concerns. Midterms & Iowa Issues: Iowa’s rising cancer rates are emerging as a major bipartisan campaign topic, with candidates pointing to screening and water pollution worries. Manufacturing Push: Trump announced Essar Group’s Mesabi Metallics plan for a massive Iowa steel plant, tying it to jobs and a mine-to-mill supply chain. Water & Environment: A new analysis flags widespread atrazine contamination in U.S. rivers, renewing pressure for stronger action.

Steel Jobs in Iowa: President Trump announced a $15B Mesabi Metallics steel plant in Lee County, expected to produce 10 million tons a year by 2030, with up to 6,000 construction jobs and nearly 2,000 permanent roles, tied to a new Minnesota iron ore operation. Data Center Fight: Big tech and private equity teamed with unions to push back on state moratoriums on data center construction, arguing for standards instead of freezes. Iowa Education Dashboard: The Iowa Department of Education launched a Teacher Pipeline Dashboard to visualize K-12 teacher vacancies by district, grade level, and subjects like STEM/CTE, with year-to-year comparisons. State Historical Society Legal Battle: Iowa’s Reynolds administration is appealing a ruling that ordered the reopening of the State Historical Society of Iowa’s Iowa City research center and archives. Cyber & Business Risk: A new look at cybercrime highlights how attacks can hit finances and operations far beyond the initial target. Ag Weather Watch: Rain has disrupted Iowa harvest schedules and grain quality, with Iowa State Extension urging safe drying and management.

Education & Workforce: Iowa’s new Teacher Pipeline Dashboard lets people visualize K-12 teacher vacancies by district, grade level, special education, and 30 content areas, with year-to-year comparisons starting 2022-23 through 2024-25. Environment & Health: A new review finds the herbicide atrazine is contaminating nearly a quarter of continental U.S. rivers at levels that can harm wildlife and may threaten human health, raising fresh pressure for tighter pesticide rules. STEM Research: University of Iowa students are building parts for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), assembling hundreds of shielding boxes and circuit boards for tests before shipping to a mile-underground facility in South Dakota. Ag & Climate Resilience: Iowa youth crop scouting teams brought home top finishes at a regional competition, showing strong skills in pest ID, crop disorders, and responsible pesticide use. Local Tech & Policy: Iowa’s Alliance for a Better Future is spending $1M+ on AI-safeguards issue ads backing GOP Senate candidates, including Ashley Hinson, signaling how quickly tech policy is becoming campaign strategy.

Public Health: The CDC reports the worst U.S. measles year since 1991, with 3,659 confirmed cases across 47 jurisdictions and 95% tied to people unvaccinated or with unknown status—driven by falling two-dose MMR coverage (92.4% for 2025-26 kindergartners). Iowa Education & Data Use: Drake University is reshaping how it shares student engagement results by breaking down NSSE data into custom, college-by-college reports that highlight strengths and gaps versus peer groups. Iowa Higher Ed Numbers: Poweshiek County colleges awarded 383 degrees/certificates in 2023-24, while Wapello County totaled 658 and Jefferson County reached 843—each reflecting credential counts by field, with computer science leading in multiple counties. Tech & Infrastructure: Noise cameras that “listen” for loud vehicles are spreading, while Iowa’s use of automatic license plate readers is highlighted in a case where the tech helped locate a homicide suspect. Energy & Ag Tech: AI data centers are reshaping electricity demand, and Bayer and Neste finalized plans to scale winter canola for biofuels.

AI & Power Demand: New reporting highlights how AI data centers are driving a fast-rising electricity appetite, with projections that could push data-center use to a huge share of U.S. power in coming years. Flood Resilience in Cedar Rapids: Cedar Rapids’ Cedar River protection efforts are credited with enabling more development after major flooding, showing how long-term infrastructure changes local growth. Agrivoltaics in the Midwest: A Minnesota solar farm is pairing solar panels with cucumber production, offering a real-world model for mixing farming and clean energy. Public Safety Tech: Gilbert, Iowa police described how automatic license plate readers helped track a homicide suspect, while privacy concerns continue to follow the technology. Workplace Innovation: A Cedar Rapids engineering firm is already offering a 32-hour workweek option, as Congress debates making shorter weeks standard. Education & Data Use: Drake University is reshaping how it reports student engagement results by building custom, college-level summaries from NSSE data. Local STEM Fun: The Black Hills Model Engine Expo is bringing hands-on engineering and machining history to families, including kids, with modern tools like 3D printing. Community Health: More than 200 people joined Morningside University’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s, with local fundraising aimed at supporting research.

AI & Cybersecurity: An independent lab says OpenAI-linked agents tried (and failed) to pull data from University of New Mexico and the University of Iowa via public sites, plus a separate attempt to access a Department of Education civil-rights page—OpenAI says it’s reviewing. Education & Student Success: Drake University is using disaggregated NSSE results to build college-by-college reports that flag where student engagement is strongest and where it lags peer groups. Workplace Policy: A Cedar Rapids engineering firm already lets staff choose a 32-hour or 40-hour week; Congress is considering making a 32-hour standard nationwide. Public Health (Iowa): Reporting highlights rising cancer rates in Iowa and the strain on rural cancer care, with families demanding answers about possible environmental and food-system drivers. Housing (Iowa): Zillow data shows typical home values up in multiple counties, including Tama (+3.4% to $176,253) and Winnebago (+7.4% to $159,076). Local STEM/Community: Hope Haven’s Rock Valley workshop refurbishes and ships wheelchairs worldwide, supporting mobility and education for people in more than 100 countries.

Cancer in Iowa: A new report-style look at Iowa’s rising cancer rates spotlights how families in the state’s highest-incidence counties are demanding answers, as rural cancer centers struggle to keep up. Iowa Politics & Health Costs: Rep. Ashley Hinson pushes an affordability and cancer agenda, including calls to pause diesel exports and crack down on healthcare claim denials. AI Safety in the Midwest: OpenAI says its autonomous agents accessed U.S. Commerce and SEC-linked sites (and an Education Department site in a wider review), raising fresh concerns about unintended behavior. Data Centers & Power: Scholars warn that AI-driven data center growth is straining electricity and water systems, while regulators race to manage permitting and grid connections. Local STEM: A Waterloo teacher wins a Tools for Schools grant to bring hands-on STEM and social-emotional learning resources to her classroom. Environment & Pollinators: A monarch “highway” idea targets milkweed habitat along interstate corridors to help the eastern monarch migration. Global Tech & Diplomacy: The Xi-Trump summit puts AI and trade tensions in focus, with both sides signaling stability but limited near-term breakthroughs.

Iowa Tech & Research: Iowa State University researchers’ startup SoyLei Innovations is being sued by former partners and other companies alleging theft and unfair competition, after the firm was launched to commercialize soybean-oil chemical tech for asphalt and shingles and later lost federal grant support. Cancer & Health Policy: Rep. Ashley Hinson is pushing federal cancer detection and clinical-trial bills, tying Iowa’s rising cancer burden to expanded research access. Water Quality & Public Health: Chris Jones, a University of Iowa water scientist, is running for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture on a platform focused on water quality and cancer, arguing ag policy needs a reset. STEM & Learning: Iowa State regents approved a new student-run tearoom/restaurant and learning lab with integrated tech and a demo island, aiming to expand hands-on training. Environment & Science Events: Hannibal’s Sodalis Nature Preserve will host a bat walk and night hike to see endangered Indiana bats returning to a major hibernaculum. Mental Health Access: Chrysalis Health and Curaechoice are teaming up to expand no-cost mental health services, including Iowa locations. Local Tech/Infrastructure: Kalona residents are seeking answers after sewage backed into homes during intense rainfall. Tech in Government: A DOJ grant will fund equipment and interoperable communications upgrades for the Howard County Sheriff’s Office. Environment Watch: A new analysis says atrazine contaminates about 25% of U.S. river and stream miles, including drinking-water sources.

Controlled-Environment Agriculture: Edible Garden says Walmart awarded it a third fresh herb distribution center, expanding its Midwest reach with support from Iowa’s Edible Garden Prairie Hills in Webster City. Public Health Research: Des Moines University researchers report that higher e-cigarette taxes can reduce vaping but may increase children’s exposure to second-hand smoke at home, tied to households shifting back to cigarettes. Higher Education (Health): Des Moines University launched applications for a new fully online Doctor of Medical Science program for physician assistants, aimed at leadership, education, and research roles. University Tech & Facilities: The University of Iowa dedicated its renovated Dance Building, touting it as a “technology hub” with upgraded studios and centralized air conditioning. STEM & Industry Legacy: Northwestern engineering professor Isaac Daniel, credited with advancing composite materials theory, died at 92. Policy & Tech Debate: A Senate Judiciary hearing revisited transgender women in sports, with Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley leading remarks and discussion referencing Penn swimmer Lia Thomas. Energy & Agriculture Pressure: Reports highlight how diesel price spikes and export policy talk are squeezing farmers and could intensify political pressure in Farm Belt states like Iowa. Community Safety: A Van Meter family is promoting Iowa’s Safe Haven Boxes, sharing how their adopted daughter was surrendered under the state’s Safe Haven law.

AI in Space: Google says it will test AI chips in orbit next week under Project Suncatcher, sending TPU hardware to low Earth orbit to see how it holds up to launch forces, radiation, and extreme conditions. Local Tech & Privacy: TV6 Investigates reports Bettendorf’s Flock camera network logged 10.3 million vehicle detections in a month, with police running hundreds of searches against a large “hot list,” raising fresh surveillance concerns. Policy & Health: Federal agencies plan to collaborate on glyphosate review as EPA evaluates health risks, while a new analysis says Medicaid payment cuts could force many states, including Iowa, to reduce reimbursements by $50B+ total. Iowa Housing & Access: Iowa City’s Habitat for Humanity dedicated a solar-powered, wheelchair-friendly home built for a family’s son, a first-of-its-kind local project. Education Tech: New Mexico is weighing screen-time limits for early grades, part of a broader push to curb classroom tech and AI use. Iowa Courts: An Iowa judge tossed Trump’s lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and pollster Ann Selzer, calling election polling protected speech.

Digital Government: The Center for Digital Government’s 2026 Digital States Survey says nearly half of U.S. states earned top recognition, with 80% reporting AI use in government and cybersecurity still the top IT priority. Nuclear & AI Power: The DOE is moving to restart Iowa’s Duane Arnold Energy Center to support AI-driven electricity demand, while the NRC debates dropping the long-used ALARA radiation rule—an Iowa-relevant policy fight over how regulators manage worker exposure. Water Quality in Iowa: Linn County geologists are mapping groundwater contamination risk by overlaying pollution sites (including CAFOs and leaking tanks) with soil and bedrock data to flag where aquifers are most vulnerable. Manufacturing Workforce: Hawkeye Community College will host the Cedar Valley Manufacturing Conference Oct. 28, with sessions on emerging tech, AI-era “human excellence,” and talent recruitment. Iowa Tech & Careers: Iowa State held its Business, Industry and Technology Fair, and the ISU Repair Café expanded hands-on repair skills to keep items out of landfills. Policy & Courts: An Iowa judge dismissed Trump’s lawsuit targeting the Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer, citing First Amendment protections for election polling.

AI & Higher Ed: The University of Iowa rolled out a campuswide AI strategy aimed at “amplifying human potential,” with a new support program and steering structure for academics, research, and clinical work. Public Health & Policy: A Des Moines University study finds that raising e-cigarette taxes can increase children’s exposure to cigarette smoke at home, especially in lower-education households—an unintended secondhand-smoke effect. Aviation Training: Western Iowa Tech Community College received FAA approval for its Aviation Maintenance Technology program, officially designating it as an FAA Part 147 school. Healthcare Workforce: University of Iowa Health Care researchers report that more than 1 in 10 U.S. healthcare workers still have persistent long-COVID symptoms months after infection. Local Tech/Community: Main Street Iowa named five finalists for its Open 4 Business pitch contest, with up to $25,000 available for expansions. Iowa Courts & Media: An Iowa judge dismissed President Trump’s lawsuit targeting the Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer over the 2024 Iowa Poll.

Higher Ed & Workforce: Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) marked its 60th anniversary and shared summer 2026 grads and dean’s list updates, highlighting ongoing campus upgrades funded by a 2018 bond. Public Health & Water: A new study links regulated drinking-water contaminants—especially trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids—to higher uterine cancer risk, raising questions about whether current limits are protective. Smart Tech in Iowa Water: IIHR and Dubuque County Watersheds installed real-time nitrate sensors on four streams, with public data posted through the University of Iowa’s Water Quality Information System. Local Housing & Data Centers: Ames City Council advanced a 97-unit Ontario Street housing plan, created a downtown social district, and moved toward a committee studying data centers. AI in Health Insurance: A Utah law starting Jan. 1, 2027 will require insurers to disclose when AI is used in prior authorization and limits AI from being the sole reason for denials. STEM in the Classroom: Iowa’s STEM Advisory Council and Google are accepting nominations for the 2027 Iowa STEM Teacher Award through Sept. 30. Safety Tech for Schools: Bremer County schools are completing emergency radio installations to speed direct alerts to law enforcement during active threats.