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Iowa News You Can Use

WATCH: Why funding to promote Iowa water quality report ‘disappeared’

By Amie Rivers

September 6, 2025
Iowa’s water quality is making national news. Obviously not in a good way.
  • Amie Rivers

    Amie Rivers is Iowa Starting Line's newsletter editor. She writes the weekly Worker’s Almanac edition of Iowa Starting Line, featuring a roundup of the worker news you need to know. Previously, she was an award-winning journalist at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier; now, she very much enjoys making TikToks and memes and getting pet photos in her inbox.

    Have a story tip? Reach Amie at [email protected]. For local reporting in Iowa that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie's newsletter.

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CATEGORIES: POLITICS VIDEO

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POLITICS VIDEO
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WATCH: Are these the last medical students in Iowa who aren’t rich?

WATCH: Are these the last medical students in Iowa who aren’t rich?

Doctors make a lot of money, right? They can—in some specialties. Still, one Iowa medical student says people don’t understand the costs that get them there.

“People picture that once you graduate medical school, you go out and get a Ferrari, and you zip over to the hospital, you make a million dollars for one surgery, and then you go home after four hours, and that is not at all how it is.”

Jordan Appel came from central Wisconsin and is a fourth year medical student at Des Moines University.

He’s been taking out about $75,000-85,000 in federal loans each year to pay for medical school tuition and living expenses. He’ll have to pay those loans back one day, but he couldn’t afford his education without them.

Students who start medical school next year won’t have the same options.
A provision in President Trump’s “big beautiful bill” ends one grad school loan program, and caps federal student loans at $200,000 total for medical school and law school.

Right now, the average cost of attending medical school is between $250,000 and $363,000 in the US.

OB-GYNs in Iowa say the changes will especially deter future medical students from going into high-need specialities like obstetrics.

✏️: Salina Heller

WATCH: Politics and big money make Iowa sicker (w/ Dr. Andrew Nish) – Cornhole Champions Interview

WATCH: Politics and big money make Iowa sicker (w/ Dr. Andrew Nish) – Cornhole Champions Interview

Iowa has the second-highest cancer rate in the nation, and Dr. Andrew Nish has a blunt explanation: “Politics and big money.” After 34 years treating cancer patients in Iowa, the medical director of John Stoddard Cancer Center connects our climbing cancer rates to everything from agricultural practices and contaminated water to our drinking culture and lack of green spaces.

In this episode of Cornhole Champions, Dr. Nish explains the “exposome” – all the environmental factors we’re exposed to over a lifetime that influence cancer risk. From ultra-processed foods disrupting our microbiome to nitrates in our water system, he argues that Iowa’s health crisis stems from the same forces shaping our economy.

Toss some bags about why politics and big money block solutions to Iowa’s cancer crisis and and what one doctor thinks we need to change to save lives.

Cornhole Champions is a weekly podcast powered by Iowa Starting Line. It’s produced by me and edited by Rebecca Steinberg. Our music is by Avery Mossman and show art by Desirée Tapia. We are a proud member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative.

SHOW RUNDOWN:
02:00 – Doctor blames “politics and big money” for blocking cancer prevention
06:00 – Iowa’s shocking cancer statistics: 2nd highest in nation, only getting worse
18:30 – Iowa’s binge drinking problem affects highest earners most
22:30 – Why sitting is literally deadly and increases cancer risk
29:30 – Sleep study: 2 fewer hours drops immune cells by 40%
33:30 – Nitrates in Iowa water: “It’s not pretty” says cancer expert
40:00 – Why Iowa has world’s largest nitrate removal facility
43:00 – Shocking comparison: Iowa’s hog waste equals 83 million people

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WATCH: Sen. Joni Ernst is retiring

WATCH: Sen. Joni Ernst is retiring

US Sen. Joni Ernst announced this week that she’s not running for reelection. Already, US Rep. Ashley Hinson has jumped in. Before we get into the race, let’s talk about political legacy.

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