The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slipped 0.7 points to 93.1 in May, the first decline after three months of gains. The measure hasn’t fallen as much this year as other gauges of consumer attitudes, but it has been stuck at a low level since the pandemic. Before COVID-19, it regularly reached 130.

A separate gauge of consumer sentiment released last week by the University of Michigan fell to a record low this month. Soaring gas and food costs have worsened inflation that is outpacing the average growth in paychecks, reducing most Americans’ purchasing power. Americans have soured on President Trump’s economic policies, polls show, potentially creating problems for Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

Consumer sentiment is mostly gloomy even as the economy is still growing and the unemployment rate has stayed low. Some economists argue that the gap reflects inequality in a “K-shaped” economy, with higher-income Americans benefitting from rising stock prices and still spending while lower-income households struggle.

Tuesday’s consumer confidence survey showed that confidence grew among households with incomes at or above $100,000, while it fell for most others.

“The prospect of higher prices and faster inflation continues to loom over confidence readings with many households taking a more cautious approach to purchases this year,” Ben Ayers, Nationwide senior economist, said.

There were some positive signs, Ayers noted: Americans’ expectations for growth six months in the future improved, potentially a sign they expect the Iran war to be over by then.

Still, Americans’ outlook on the job market worsened slightly. The proportion of respondents who said jobs are “plentiful” dropped to 25.5%, the lowest in three years. At the same time, just 18.6% said jobs were “hard to get,” the smallest percentage since October. The findings reflect the “low-hire, low-fire” job market that has made it harder for those out of work to obtain new jobs.

Gas prices have soared to a nationwide average of $4.49 a gallon from $2.98 just before the war began at the end of February, and have been at or above $4.50 a gallon for nearly all of May.

This month, the Conference Board added special questions to its survey, which found rising prices have caused most Americans to change their spending habits. Twothirds of respondents said they are cutting back spending in response to the increases, with most of those reducing overall purchases and delaying more expensive acquisitions.

Many consumers are also planning to economize on clothes, shoes, hobby items, and toys and games, the survey found.

Inflation jumped to 3.8% in April, the highest in three years and far above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. In addition to more expensive gas, grocery prices have also started rising more quickly, likely driven by higher shipping costs. Beef prices have also risen sharply, as drought and other factors have reduced cattle herds.

The higher prices are reducing Americans’ average inflation-adjusted incomes. Average hourly earnings, adjusted for price changes, shrank in April from a year earlier for the first time in three years.

Other data also suggests consumers have grown more cautious amid rising prices. Adjusted for inflation, retail sales actually declined in April, after a solid increase in March.

Senate File 2480 establishes a tax on products like vapes and nicotine pouches and directs the revenue from that tax to the state’s health care trust fund, a Medicaid appropriation program. From there, up to $3 million in funding generated by the tax will go to the Iowa Board of Regents annually, specifically to conduct pediatric cancer research, clinical therapy trials and provide physician-scientist leadership at the University of Iowa children’s hospital where Reynolds, legislative leaders and families advocating for the funding gathered Tuesday for the bill signing.

Reynolds thanked the parents and families of pediatric cancer patients and survivors who made repeated trips to the Capitol to advocate for the measure.

“By standing up for all the children of our state, you’ve honored your loved ones in the greatest way possible, and your advocacy is turning awareness into action, as Iowa now commits $3 million each year to the cause you’ve so effectively championed,” Reynolds said. “As governor, even more so as the wife of someone living with cancer, I could not be more grateful.”

Providing $3 million in additional funding for pediatric cancer research was a goal shared by these families, advocates, and a majority of lawmakers in both chambers. But the measure Reynolds signed into law drew some pushback as it went through the legislative process in 2026 because it tied the continued funding for the research to the use of nicotine products.

Speakers like Rep. Austin Baeth, D-Des Moines, called during floor debate for lawmakers to instead move forward House File 2758, which would create a standing appropriation of $1 for every Iowan — up to $3 million — for pediatric cancer research in the UIHC system.

During subcommittee meetings on the proposal, anti- tobacco and healthcare advocates said the measure did not propose a high enough tax to effectively deter people from using nicotine products. The measure implements a 5-cent tax on a per-unit basis. Vape products would have a tax of 5 cents per milliliter of nicotine or a nicotine analog in a solution, and containers of nicotine pouches containing up to 20 pouches would be taxed 5 cents, with a proportionate tax for each unit above 20 within a container.

Advocates also disputed whether or not the tax would generate $3 million annually. The Legislative Services Agency note on the bill also stated it would take until 2031 for the tax to generate the $3 million in a year — but Sen. Kara Warme, R-Ames, said industry representatives said the tax is estimated to generate between $15 million to $18 million during the first year of implementation. Funding in excess of $3 million going to the UI system would stay within the health care trust fund and go toward funding Iowa Medicaid.

Phil Jeneary, a lobbyist for Iowans for Alternatives to Smoking and Tobacco, said his organization supports funding for pediatric cancer research, but expressed concerns about the regulation of vape products.

“We were registered neutral on the bill. The issue we have is the overall policy as it comes to the regulation of vape products,” Jeneary said.

Jeneary said that the implementation of in 2024 which limits which vaping products can be sold in Iowa and has been challenged in federal court, has affected businesses because consumers have fewer options. He said he wants a statewide environment that regulates vape products when necessary, but expressed a desire for small shops to stay open.

“We’re trying to get the regulation right, keep the bad stuff out, get rid of the bad actors but also have an environment where the ‘good guys’ can stay open,” Jeneary said.

Rashay Reasoner, the regional manager of ABC Smoke in Ames, expressed frustration with the new law. Reasoner said the implementation of House File 2677 has negatively impacted businesses and the new nicotine tax will only drive regulations further.

“We have to pass the prices onto consumers, and they don’t like it when we have to do that,” Reasoner said. “It seems like the government is trying to shut us down.”

Though there were disputes with the tax portion of the bill, family members and survivors of pediatric cancer spoke at the Tuesday event about the importance of providing funding for research. Scott Kaas, the father of Devyn Kaas, who was diagnosed with cancer at seven months old, held his daughter as he spoke on the importance of the research for families like his.

After his daughter’s cancer went into remission, Kaas said, “we wanted to make a difference for other families that would have to go through this same journey that we went through,” and after speaking with doctors, they told him the best way to support families was to find more funding for pediatric cancer research.

“So we took it on as an opportunity to do something at the state level, where we needed to help get the funding for the kids, for the researchers, and just continue the fight against cancer,” he said. “The governor said (pediatric) cancer is rare — and we’ve argued that many times with doctors, that it’s not, as you can see standing here, there’s quite a few people impacted. But we’re so very thankful for all the legislators, the governor, all the folks that worked with us.”

News Reporter

Tuesday night, I turned on Netflix and watched “Anaconda,” a reboot of the 1997 “Anaconda” (remember Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube and Jon Voight?), although this time with less diversity (hello Jack Black and Paul Rudd).

“Anaconda” isn’t good. Riding the trend of meta humor (the plot involves a team of indie filmmakers making a fictional reboot of the original “Anaconda”) and recent spiritual sequelboots, so much of “Anaconda” is just referencing industry trends that we’re all sick of. But “Anaconda” isn’t excluded from the trend just because it’s cynical.

Knowing its own existence is ironic, “Anaconda” can’t really sell the idea that “Anaconda” is some beloved masterpiece. This is a film series where the sequel had the subtitle “The Hunt for the Blood Orchid.” It’s a swampy remnant of 2000s horror where cheap thrills ruled.

There’s a big snake. That’s the cultural impact “Anaconda” has had.

But, something about the 2025 “Anaconda” has stuck with me. Like I said, the movie isn’t good, the performances aren’t good, jokes are hit and miss, I do like Steve Zahn but not much else.

You see, 2025 “Anaconda” is about a group of guerilla filmmakers entering the jungle to make a movie with barely any budget. And, even through the cynical lens of the meta humor, the feeling of making something special to only the people involved is captured perfectly.

It’s Jack Black’s character’s birthday party (I forgot his name, but he’s just Jack Black in the movie so I don’t feel too bad). Paul Rudd brings in an old CRT TV with a VHS player, loaded with one of the short films they made in high school called “The Quatch.”

It’s dumb, poorly made and written like a bunch of high schoolers just learned their favorite four-letter words. But it’s full of manic energy that shows how playful and fun it is to work with friends on something dumb. And it’s an emotional experience seeing it again, capturing the time in which it was made. Old friends, younger faces.

Sometimes, a bad movie will have a good scene which itches just right. And in “Anaconda,” a mostly unremarkable movie, the moments I remember are the moments of creativity in the crew’s filmmaking. A big snake does derail everything, but oh well.

In high school, I directed a short film for speech. It’s not very good, I will admit, and I think I knew it wasn’t very good at the time when I submitted it for competitions. The farthest it got was a Division II rating at state.

My film was called “BAIOM,” an acronym for “But Alas, It’s Only Me.” It’s a pretentious story about a crotchety writer who hermits himself in the woods trying to write what he believes to be his redemptive masterpiece.

The writer, at a wooden desk placed in the deep woods, is visited by an impish kid, who bothers and annoys the writer. The two of them have some dialogue where the writer reveals how self-centered he had become in his own isolation, and the kid makes fun of him for thinking so much of himself.

Eventually, the now-humbled writer leaves his writing and scribbles behind at that desk in the woods and leaves the forest. He comes across a grumpy police officer who asks him where he came from. The writer turns around to look for the kid, who is nowhere to be seen. The writer utters the line “He was right here, but alas, it’s only me.”

Like I said, not very good. But at the time, it was my idea that I was so passionate to bring to life, and I worked with my friends and people I haven’t even met properly to make it. We filmed in the freezing cold of January in a winter forest and almost got hypothermia from being outside for filming, but I loved it.

I shot and edited the film, composed some tracks (easily the most embarrassing part of the short as MIDI synths and strings played discordant tunes) and showed it in competition.

I mostly shrunk away from film production due to me losing confidence after actually finishing the short and the fact half my college years were during the pandemic. But, I have old scripts on my laptop and a few solo projects I’m immensely proud of.

I thought the short was lost to time, but I found an old flash drive when I moved to Creston for this job, and found the short in its entirety, alongside the raw footage from shooting. It’s a bittersweet thing to find something so special to me, yet I don’t want to see again.

I haven’t even watched it since I found it. It’s sitting in a folder on my computer at home. It means too much to me, I guess. It’s not like it will hurt me. Maybe some day.

So, seeing that spirit of remembering the old times in “Anaconda,” I can’t help but feel myself getting the old itch to make something of my own and then collaborate with others to make it our own. No matter the budget, no matter the time.

To any students participating in short film, here’s a tip. Make a comedy. Include physical performances and jokes that involve moving around, not just dialogue. Be dynamic with your ideas. Do stunts (within reason, of course). Let your imagination run wild; your friends will catch you.

When Republican members of Congress grouse about the president’s excesses, it’s usually just talk. But not always: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) used his power over confirmations to force the Trump Justice Department to drop its frivolous criminal probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell. Perhaps this will be another instance where congressional Republicans assert themselves. They’d be doing a favor not just for taxpayers but their own party. The “Ant i-Weapon ization Fund” announced this week is part of the “settlement” of President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns by a contractor in 2019 and 2020. That leak — which affected thousands of taxpayers — was a serious crime, but it’s not appropriate for the president to dictate the terms of a settlement in his own case. That’s essentially what Trump is doing because he controls the officials in the Justice Department and IRS who signed off on the terms.

The fund will make payouts to people the administration considers victims of government “weaponization.” It’s a loosely defined category expected to primarily include political supporters of the president who have been subject to investigation or prosecution. Congress never approved such a program, so the administration will tap the Treasury Department’s Judgment Fund for paying settlements — a pot of money subject to relatively few controls that has been misused in the past.

Even a small number of Republican members of Congress offended by this extrajudicial arrangement have the power to limit or stop it. The Trump administration is pursuing, and Congress has been advancing, a $72 billion reconciliation bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. The bill is intended to circumvent the Democrats’ filibuster with only Republican votes.

The House or Senate could pair that money with language tightening control over the “Judgment Fund.” They could limit payouts to third parties from the fund in a way that would also constrain future Democratic administrations.

Congress doesn’t need to acquiesce to executive endruns around its power of the purse. As Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote in a recent dissent that was praised to the heavens by Trump: “Importantly, the House, the Senate, and the President annually approve most appropriations. As a result, each House of Congress and the President independently possesses de facto veto power over particular appropriations.”

Just a handful of Republicans in either chamber can stop Trump’s fund from going forward. Trump could veto the legislation Congress passes, of course — but would he really hold up funding for vital government functions over a much smaller pool of money for allies? That certainly wouldn’t be a good political look heading into the midterms.

Two police officers who experienced the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, filed a lawsuit to stop the fund based on the expectation that it will be used to pay defendants in riot cases. But their claim to legal standing is shaky. The courts aren’t the best venue for checking the executive’s misallocation of resources — Congress is. The presidential cynicism on display here just might be enough to create a bipartisan legislative majority.

Wesley Lefferts, ISU assistant professor of kinesiology and health, is the principal investigator of “BRAin & VAscular health across menopause,” also known as the BRAVA study. As the study works to connect with women going through pre-, peri- and post-menopausal stages, Lefferts said more and more attention is being paid to the less-outward side of changes brought about by menopause.

“There’s been a lot of scientific statements coming up in the American Heart Association, and things like that, as well as some focus groups and panels at NIH, all regarding improving health outcomes across the menopause transition and understanding the true implications of that,” Lefferts said. “So I think it is an area that we’re going to be able to make some large advances in and hopefully capitalize on the momentum that we have at the moment.”

Both organizations Lefferts mentioned are funding his research, with a three-year, nearly $300,000 grant from the American Heart Association and a two-year, $405,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging. Both grants were awarded in July and August 2025, respectively.

The National Institute on Aging describes menopause as “the stage of a woman’s life when her menstrual periods stop permanently, and she can no longer get pregnant,” with perimenopause — the transition into menopause — and menopause introducing symptoms like hot flashes, trouble sleeping, joint and muscle discomfort, changes in mood and concentration.

When symptoms begin and how long they last can vary greatly from person to person, and the National Institute on Aging stated online menopause can change someone’s bone density, heart health and physical function. Those who have gone through menopause are more likely to have a stroke or develop a heart disease or osteoporosis.

Lefferts has been gathering data “across the aging lifespan” since his time earning his Ph.D., he said, from people ages 18 to 85. He noticed in studying age-related changes in brain blood flow patterns that the arteries in women’s brains are less protected from blood flow patterns that can cause damage to the brain.

After observing this, Lefferts said he worked to get more data from middle- aged men and women and revisited his study later. He found that around 50 years old — the median age for menopause — there is a “nonlinear increase” in “how kind of discontinuous the blood flow is within the brain in women.”

“That observation, coupled with some of the other vascular health metrics that I had access to within that data set, really suggested that right around that menopause transition, there’s some things going on with the vasculature that may be altering blood flow patterns in the brain and contributing to why men and women’s brains age differently,” Lefferts said.

Much is not known about cardiovascular effects and their impact on the brain during the perimenopausal stage, Lefferts said, partly because it is a period when there is a lot of variability of symptoms. He argued that perimenopause is probably the most important part of the menopause process to study since it is what transitions people from pre- to post-menopausal states.

The goal is to enroll close to 370 people in the study, which Lefferts said will start with online questionnaires. Participants still experiencing a menstrual cycle will track their cycle to ensure study when their estrogen is high, and the team will measure heart functions, cerebrovascular health, blood pressure, sex hormones and cognitive functions at an assessment later on.

Subjects will also bring a fitness bracelet home to track sleep and physical activity, Lefferts said, and the study will also factor in lifestyle behaviors, medications and other things that could impact the menopausal transition.

While grant funding will only support a cross-sectional look at this topic, with a singular visit from study participants, Lefferts said he hopes to find the funding to track subjects over time and create a longitudinal study.

“We’re going to have access to a lot of data that, if we can look at this longitudinally and identify what behaviors or medications might be critical to helping slow down that aging process throughout the menopause transition, that would potentially improve the brain aging trajectories,” Lefferts said.

The Iowa Gold Star Military Museum, located at Camp Dodge, 7105 NW 70th Ave. in Johnston, invites the public and to attend the fifth annual outdoor Vietnam Living History event 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 30 and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday, May 31.

Living history interpreters and historians, wearing period correct uniforms and accouterments, will set up military displays outside of the museum and exhibit Vietnam War era inert weapons, equipment, gear and vehicles. Participants will represent the service of the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force personnel in Southeast Asia in commemoration of U.S. participation during the Vietnam War. Visitors can explore U.S. Army field tents furnished with military radios, cots, rations and 1960s civilian material culture. Attendees will have the opportunity to visit with Vietnam War veterans as they discuss the role of U.S. forces in Vietnam from 1965-1973.

A former U.S. Marine Corps artilleryman will explain the role of field artillery units in Vietnam and demonstrate the operation of a U.S. 105mm howitzer. The authentic living history environment will provide a hands-on historical context to the historical experiences offered by the veterans in attendance.

A unique added attraction this year is the participation of a U.S. Marine Corps UH-34 helicopter that flew missions in country during the Vietnam War. The aircraft will fly to Camp Dodge and be on exhibit during Saturday’s event.

A rare military “Boston Whaler” fiberglass boat, powered by an outboard motor and armed with an M-60 machine gun will be on exhibit. The boats were operated in Vietnam by all branches of the military for a variety of missions including ambush, interdiction, security, transport and patrol duty. Other Vietnam War era vehicles on exhibit will include a M151 Jeep in 186th Military Police markings and a M37 Dodge weapons carrier.

Enter at www.iowastatefair.org to be a vendor. The market is held inside gate 15. Space is limited, deadline to apply is July 1.

The Kids Makers Market will run at the same location from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Aug. 23.

Enter at www.iowastatefair.org to apply by July 26 or until space is sold out.

Don’t miss the opportunity to showcase your products at Iowa’s largest event. The Iowa State Fair Farmers Markets give Iowa growers, gardeners and makers the chance to reach hundreds of thousands of fairgoers searching for fresh produce, handmade goods and unique Iowa products.

For more information about becoming a vendor, visit www.iowastatefair.org.

The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants up to $7,000 for households with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of personal property or food and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery.

The Disaster Case Advocacy Program addresses serious needs related to disaster-related hardship, injury, or adverse conditions. Disaster case advocates work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice and referrals to obtain a service or resource. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program. It closes 180 days from the date of the governor’s proclamation.

The Disaster Assistance Request Form and instructions can be found on the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management website, homelandsecurity. iowa.gov/assistance.

For more information on disaster-related programs and resources available to Iowans, visit the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department website, Homelandsecurity. iowa.gov. To learn more about the types of disasters that can occur in Iowa and for preparedness information, visit ready.iowa.gov.

Starting May 30, patrons can register for our reading challenges for all ages from birth to adult, and the summer is packed with programs and opportunities to play! Be sure to pick up your summer reading brochure to keep all the important dates in one place.

Performers - Wednesdays at 10 a.m. at the Gibson Memorial Library Pavilion* June 3: Circus Variety Show - Enjoy a big top experience in the form of a one-woman circus show by Martika Daniels!

June 10: Jonathan May, Magician** - Enjoy crowd-favorite magician Jonathan May as he mesmerizes with illusions and humor!

June 17: Blank Park Zoo’s “Zoo To You” - Blank Park Zoo is coming to our library! They will bring a couple of animals to share as well as other educational information to learn about nature.

June 24: Beatbox 101 with Skippy - Join us for an educational concert and learn the basics of beatboxing with Luke Harbur, AKA Skippy, the Human Drum Machine!

*Rain/high heat location United Methodist Fellowship Hall **This event will be held at First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, also our rain/high heat location Family events

Saturday, May 30, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. - Summer Reading Program kickoff foam party: Pick up your summer reading log and partake in food and fun for the whole family, including glitter tattoo artists and a foam party at 12 p.m. Plan to wear clothes that can get wet and bring a towel with you!

Monday, June 8, 4 - 6 p.m. - Good egg adoption: Adopt and decorate your own “good egg” to take on summer adventures!

Wednesday, July 1, 4:30 - 6 p.m. - Seed mosaic art: Come create a masterpiece using seeds and beans.

Wednesday, July 8, 3 - 6 p.m. Library escape room: Sign up as an individual or with friends for a kid-friendly escape room!

Sunday, Aug. 16, 1:08 p.m. I-Cubs Game (for youth program finishers): Each youth finisher gets 2 tickets to enjoy some baseball with the I-Cubs! At Principal Park, Des Moines.

Community Events: Come see us out and about at these events — we’ll have activities for kids and library info!

Creston Farmers Market - Mondays 4 - 6:30 p.m. at McKinley Park, June 15 and July 13.

Tuesdays in the Park - Tuesdays from 6 - 8 p.m. at Afton Park, June 9 and 23, July 7 and 21 and Aug. 11.

Programs for kids and tweens: Tuesdays at 1:30 PM June 2: Marble Terracotta Pots June 9: DIY Paper Flowers June 16: Garden Fairy Wands* June 23: Bricks & Beads June 30: DIY Pressed Flower Lanterns July 7: Farm Bingo July 14: Bleach Painting July 21: DIY Painted Tote Bags July 28: Bricks & Beads *supplies are limited Nature and STEM exploration with Iowa State Extension - Thursdays at 4 p.m. Learn about plants, animal habitats and more in this new series! See details for each session on our website.

Teen Summer Reading Program - Grades 6th through 12th. Sign up begins May 30th for SRP fun!

Teen Programs: Thursdays at 1:30 p.m.

June 11: Keychain-Palooza June 18: DIY Cement Garden Stones June 25: Tied Avocado Pillows July 2: Pine Tree Lantern Jar July 9: Flower Pen & Garden Markers July 16: Zany Sock Caterpillar July 23: Tiny Seed Pots Adult Summer Reading Program Registration begins on May 30 for the adult summer reading program! Participants will receive a seed packet of reading challenges. Complete the varying difficulties of challenges and turn them in to be entered into a drawing for prizes, awarded at the end of the program.

All books must be checked out from Gibson Memorial Library between May 30 and July 31 from our collection, interlibrary loan or Libby/ Bridges ebooks. DVDs and children’s books will not count towards your totals.

Adult Programs

June 4 at 4:30 p.m.: Book Bedazzling June 10 at 5 p.m.: Paint Your Own Garden Pot June 17 at 4:30 p.m.: Barnstorming Babe Presentation June 24 at 5 p.m.: Art Meditation July 14 at 4:30 p.m.: Iowa’s Rogues & Heroes Presentation Lunchtime Concert Series: Come enjoy live music and food trucks at our new concert series over your lunch hour! Wednesdays in July, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Come-and-Go Activities:

June 1-6: Pressed Flower Bookmarks June 8-13: Take Home Spice #1 June 15-20: Leaf Printmaking with Greeting Cards June 22-27: Take Home Spice #2 July 6-10: Take Home Spice #3 July 20-24: Take Home Spice #4 LAST DAY to turn in ALL reading logs is July 31.

*All events are FREE and open to the public.* *These programs are not sponsored by area schools or daycare providers. For more information, please contact the library. Events and prizes are sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

A proposed notice announced Tuesday on the Office of Personnel Management website is expected to be posted Wednesday in the Federal Register. OPM is seeking comment on a draft NDA to be used by federal agencies for “both new and existing employees.”

“The form is intended to document Federal employees’ acknowledgment of, and agreement to comply with, current legal obligations to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information, created or obtained through their official duties, while expressly preserving the right to make disclosures authorized by law,” the notice said.

The proposed notice seeks comment on several questions, including whether the NDA should cover only unclassified information and what appropriate actions, if any, agencies should consider for new or current employees who choose not to sign the agreement.

The OPM noted “several recent instances” where internal agency communications related to rulemaking and policy development were disclosed without authorization. It also discussed specific instances in which federal employees at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security disclosed information about planned immigration enforcement actions without authorization.

In one case, The New York Times and The Washington Post received unauthorized information on the U.S. raid on Venezuela this past January and delayed “publishing what they knew to avoid endangering U.S. troops,” the OPM request for comment said.

A Washington Post spokesperson declined to comment.

Charles Stadtlander, executive director of Media Relations and Communications for the Times, said in an email that the paper had extensive reporting on operations targeting Venezuela and preparations for land-based military operations. “Contrary to some claims, however, The Times did not have verified details about the pending operation to capture Maduro or a story prepared, nor did we withhold publication at the request of the Trump administration.”

Ferreting out leaks that the administration deems harmful to its messaging has been a priority across multiple agencies since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. As part of that crackdown, the FBI in January seized the electronic devices of a Washington Post reporter, a move that alarmed media organizations and advocates of press freedom.

One other notable incident occurred last year when dozens of reporters turned in their access badges at the Pentagon, rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.

The American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley said in a statement that OPM’s proposed rule is part of a continuing effort to silence federal employees.

“This proposed NDA is another attempt by the administration to purge the civil service of nonpartisan career employees and replace them with loyalists who won’t speak out against waste, fraud, and abuse,” Kelley said.

Pate was joined by officials from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management as well as Iowa National Guard, the FBI and county auditors at the Iowa National Guard Emergency Operations Center in Johnston for the news conference.

The secretary of state, the top elections official in Iowa, called election security “a race without a finish line,” and said his office, alongside the state and federal partners, have been working year-round to ensure Iowans can cast their ballot with confidence.

“I want Iowans to hear this clearly: When you cast your vote in June for the primary, your vote will be counted fairly, accurately, and securely,” Pate said. “An Iowa Poll found that 91% of respondents have confidence in our election results. This didn’t happen by accident. It’s a result of years of hard work fine-tuning our processes and adding new layers of election security as technology advances and the landscape changes. … As election officials, we hope for the best, but we prepare for the worst, and that preparation is exactly what you’re seeing here today.”

The officials hosted the press availability at the Johnston National Guard building, where staff from the various agencies will gather again on the day of the primary election, Tuesday, June 2, to monitor potential threats or problems that arise in the state’s elections. The officials did not address the potential for President Donald Trump and his administration about to deploy National Guard or immigration enforcement agents to polling places on Election Day.

John Benson, director of the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said, “a good day in here is we’ll be bored.”

“If we’re bored, we’re having a great day at the election,” Benson said. “There’s nothing going on. I’m completely happy to have my people here all day, and have nothing for them to do that’s related to the election. But if something does happen, we can have those conversations with our partners right here, and figure out what we need to do to address any situations that do arise.”

Shane Dwyer, chief information security officer at the state Department of Management’s Division of Information Technology, said Iowans should know there are “security professionals on duty around the clock, before, during, and after Election Day” making sure the election process is running correctly and without interference.

“The Department of Management works shoulder to shoulder with county election offices, federal partners, local law enforcement, and Iowa National Guard, all coordinated, all focused on one goal, making sure your vote counts and your voice is heard,” Dwyer said. “We train for this all year long — real exercises, real scenarios, real partners working together — so that when Election Day comes, everyone knows exactly what to do, and the technology is protecting Iowa’s elections is monitored continuously,” Dwyer said. “Any unusual activity is flagged, investigated, and addressed. Iowans can be confident that dedicated professionals are on duty, and the focus on keeping the process secure.”

Before most Iowa elections, Pate and officials with other entities working on election security share information with Iowans on the steps being taken to ensure the integrity of the state’s elections. But the coalition of officials gathered at the Tuesday did not include a representative from Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — often referred to as CISA — with which the state has often worked in the past on cybersecurity and other election security efforts.

Pate said the Iowa election team has “learned a lot during our time in partnering with CISA, and we’ve taken those skills and built a pretty independent operation here with the team you see.”

“We still receive other federal assistance in different ways, so I’m pretty comfortable with what we have,” Pate said. “In fact, I look forward to building on what we have here today, but I don’t think a lot is going to change. Again, elections aren’t just next week — we’ve been working on this all year. We’ve done a series of tabletop exercises. This is something we started to learn from the CISA folks, but bringing our law enforcement partners in, with our Homeland Security people and our County Emergency people, and all the other people involved, trying to anticipate all the scenarios that could happen in an election. So I’m really comfortable with where we’re at.”

Early voting is already underway in Iowa for the June 2 primary elections. Pate said early voter participation is “a little behind last year’s” pace, but noted that voter participation in primaries is a “unique” situation because individual candidates’ campaigns, not political parties, are the entities driving voter turnout.

With several contested primaries including the primary for Iowa’s GOP gubernatorial nominee, Republican and Democratic nominees for the U.S. Senate race and various congressional candidates, Pate said he suspects “there’ll be more activity here this week, pushing that out.”

“This is a pretty important election primary,” Pate said. “Quite often in the fall election, you’ll get people say, ‘hey, I’m not a big fan of the Republican or Democrat candidate for a certain office,’ and I got to go, ‘well, where were you at in June? ‘I mean, we had a bunch of people running, you had a lot of opportunities. So, I hope Iowans pay attention to that, make a plan, and be successful in voting.”

Iowans can find more information about participating in the primary election on the Secretary of State’s website and through our voter guide.

To activate the water, step on the button on the drain. The splash pad is to be used at your own risk, there is no lifeguard on duty.

Yet, fraudsters are ripping off $1.4 billion of taxpayer money every single day. That’s a lot of money to go missing without anyone noticing.

Like I’ve always said, if you can’t find waste, fraud, or abuse in Washington, there can only be one reason: you didn’t look.

Well, folks all around the country are looking, and what they are seeing is shocking.

From vacant child care centers in Minnesota to phony hospices in Los Angeles to bogus home care services in Ohio, taxpayer dollars intended to care for children, the elderly, and the disabled are being stolen by serial criminals and fraud tourists.

It’s the grift that keeps on giving.

I’ve invited several whistleblowers from Minnesota’s Department of Health to testify before the Senate today and share their inside stories of being bullied and subjected to retaliation for calling attention to suspicious activity involving taxpayer money. Other civil servants in the state have been subjected to similar mistreatment, saying they were warned to look away from corruption, which has long been an “open secret.”

We will also hear from Luke Rosiak, an award-winning investigative journalist, who discovered 94 companies located at one address in Ohio that have been billing Medicaid, the health care program for the low-income and disabled, for tens of millions of dollars for “personal services.” Luke went door-to-door in the building and found the offices largely empty or vacant.

Folks, the fleecing is occurring in plain sight. There are even fraud influencers shamelessly sharing their scams on social media.

One woman, who describes herself as a “con artist,” flaunted her pricey purchases and lavish lifestyle on TikTok and Instagram, all financed by defrauding the Small Business Administration (SBA) and federal programs for the unemployed.

An SBA employee actually advertised and promoted her pyramid scheme on social media. She recruited accomplices online, who were instructed how to submit bogus applications for small business assistance, which she then used her insider access to approve in exchange for kickbacks. She got away with it for years, stealing more than $3.5 million from four different programs.

A rapper posted a music video on YouTube bragging about how he got rich quickly by filing over a million dollars’ worth of bogus unemployment claims—and even flashing the checks in the video.

Missing a rap video on YouTube is one thing, but bureaucrats handing out benefits are also missing the extensive rap sheets of repeat offenders fraudulently applying for—and receiving— taxpayer money.

More than 1,300 companies owned by felons were given financial support by the SBA during the pandemic, despite not being eligible for the support due to their owners’ criminal histories.

Other fraudsters are not quite as blatant, but just as obvious, like the Quality Learing Center in Minnesota.

If you can’t even spell “learning” properly, it’s a safe bet that not a lot of learning is actually happening there, but a whole lot of fraud might be. The absence of children at the child care center should have been another dead giveaway. Yet, Minnesota gave nearly $10 million to the nowclosed child care center.

Serial fraudsters seem to live by the motto, “if you succeed, try and try again.”

That is why I dug deeper and discovered that the Quality Learing Center also received nearly a quarter of a million dollars from the SBA during the pandemic, including $221,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and a $10,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan.

At least 28 of the personal care companies in Ohio highlighted by Mr. Rosiak’s investigations also received financial assistance from the SBA, according to a review conducted by my office.

Enough is enough.

I am giving my May 2026 Squeal Award to the fraud-fluencers and serial fraudsters who have made fleecing taxpayers a lifestyle.

I am also demanding the SBA Office of Inspector General investigate by reviewing SBA assistance provided to the Quality Learing Center and, at a minimum, the 28 companies billing Medicaid for personal services in Ohio and recover every penny of taxpayer money that may have been stolen.

Con artists across the country, and especially those at the Quality Learing Center, are soon going to lear the hard way that fraud no longer pays.

Halle has always had good representation from her family at each performance, but this time, they turned out in force to watch her comedic, singing and dancing skills - and some pretty spectacular physical antics on stage. She was thrilled to have family filling a whole row at the theater for her performance.

Making her day even more special was the fact my sisters were with us and seeing her perform for the first time. My older sister, 88, and her husband; my younger sister, 83, and I at 85, made the trip to Iowa City and back, and got along just fine with lots of help from the younger generation. We left Saturday morning at 8 a.m., with my daughter who lives here in Creston doing the driving, and met for lunch before the play with Halle and her mom (my other daughter) and my son and daughter-inlaw from Dubuque. We attended the musical from 2 to 4:30 p.m., and then drove all the way back, arriving home by 7:30 pm. (My granddaughter from Dubuque went to the final performance on Sunday.)

It was a long, tiring day but well worth the effort. My daughter who drove bore a lot of responsibility for our welfare. She called us “the four elderlies.” We were glad she is a nurse as there is always the possibility of a medical emergency with four passengers of advanced age. In fact, my sister’s husband took a bad fall in the theater but, fortunately, his only injury was a bruised hip. We had not told him to “break a leg.”

I’m sure our nurse/driver was amused as much of the conversation during the trip revolved around our collective health issues. She heard discussions of back pain, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, AFib, vertigo, blood thinners, heart palpitations, cataract surgery, knee surgery, medications and falls.

The condition of our health, however, was not the only topic of conversation. We visit and text often enough to keep up with the activities of our respective families, but when you’re confined to an automobile for a total of six hours, it’s possible to cover a lot of topics in depth. As usual, we talked about how fortunate we are to still have one another in our lives. We all have various health problems but our minds are intact. Obviously, we all struggle with recalling names and thinking of the right word as we converse, but generally, we do well and can easily share memories of when we were kids growing up on the farm.

We all three remember the good things about growing up with wonderful parents and playing together as children. We recall the chores we were responsible for and the pets we loved, and all the kittens we played with in the barn. We played dress-up and hide and seek, and spent hours tossing a ball back and forth over the wash house and shooting a basketball into a makeshift net Dad attached to the corncrib.

We love sharing memories of our experiences at Thayer Consolidated School and our years of playing basketball. My sisters were both guards and I was a forward playing six-on-six basketball. As a freshman, I played with my older sister during her senior year, and as a senior I played with my younger sister when she was a freshman.

We pursued different careers, lived in different towns, married and each had three children. There were many years of less involvement in one another’s lives as our families were growing up, but the close bonds remained intact. At our age now, memories are a big part of our lives so we are blessed that none of us is afflicted with dementia.

We’ve all experienced sadness and sorrow, but mostly, we’ve had full, wonderful lives. We like to talk about our good fortune and the joy our children and grandchildren bring us. That’s why we cherish every extra year we keep on living.

Tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok are designed to engage in conversations with users and can answer questions, give advice, complete tasks, and even offer emotional support in ways that feel personal and human. They also have serious potential for harm.

Iowa has set the right course in beginning to regulate AI, but these first steps must lead to further action.

In 2024, I helped draft the first legislation in Iowa to address concerns about AI. Those first laws targeted fake sexually explicit images, including deepfake pornography used to harass others and sexual abuse material involving minors. While this legislation addressed the malicious use of AI, it did not regulate the AI systems themselves.

That changed when Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 2417 into law. Beginning July 1, 2027, Iowa will, for the first time, regulate AI services directly by establishing guardrails for conversational AI services, rather than merely punishing people who misuse these tools.

The law addresses concerns regarding transparency, consumer protection, and child safety. A user in crisis should not be manipulated by a chatbot into harming themselves. That is why this law will require these systems to make clear that they are AI systems, encourage users to seek help if they exhibit signs of suicidal ideation or self-harm, and prohibit them from representing that they can provide professional mental health services.

Nor should a child be drawn into sexual conversations by a system designed to keep them engaged. That is why for account holders under 18, the law will prohibit such systems from encouraging minors to commit sexual acts, prohibit companies from using addictive engagement tactics, and require tools for minors, and in some circumstances their parents or guardians, to manage privacy and account settings.

While this law addresses real issues, it also leaves several critical gaps that future legislation should address. Companies are not required to verify a user’s age, leaving an enforcement loophole if a minor claims to be an adult. Parental consent is not required before minors create accounts, and companies are not required to enable maximum privacy settings by default for minors.

Companies are not required to report serious safety incidents, submit to independent audits, or refrain from sharing or selling highly personal information that users provide to an AI system, such as health data. Finally, individual citizens are not able to sue AI companies for violating the law because only the attorney general has the authority to enforce these protections. Despite these shortcomings, SF 2417 provides a starting point for future AI regulation.

In the coming years, the Legislature has much work to do to address other risks posed by AI in areas such as elections, employment, housing, lending, and education. As some of the largest technology companies in the world watch, and quietly shape, AI regulation, Iowa must ensure that its elected officials put the needs of Iowans, rather than industry, first.

Social media changed society, but AI will reshape it. It will change how people learn, work, communicate, form relationships, and live. If we fail to act now to address the potential harms of this technology, we risk repeating the mistakes we made with social media: waiting to respond until the damage is done.

The U.S. military characterized Monday’s strikes in southern Iran as defensive, with targets that included missile launch sites and minelaying boats, and said the U.S. acted with “restraint” in light of the weekslong ceasefire.

Iran’s foreign ministry called the strikes a ceasefire violation and warned that Washington would bear responsibility for “all consequences,” without elaborating.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will leave no act of aggression unanswered,” it added in a statement.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Tuesday that it shot down at least one drone and deterred another drone and a fighter jet that entered its airspace, according to Iran’s official Mizan news agency. It didn’t specify when the incidents occurred.

Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, used a statement about Islam’s annual Hajj pilgrimage to address his country’s confrontation with the U.S. and Israel, declaring that other Mideast nations “will no longer serve as a shield” for U.S. military bases. Iran has previously complained about U.S. military facilities in the region and targeted them.

It was not immediately clear what the developments would mean for negotiations.

Iranian state TV reported Tuesday that Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Qatar, where talks had been taking place. The report did not elaborate or point to any next steps.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio projected that talks on extending the ceasefire and reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz will “take a few days.”

Meanwhile, Iranian authorities eased a monthslong internet shutdown that they cast as a wartime necessity, but that has cost the country’s economy an estimated $30 million to $40 million a day. Internet users reported that access was gradually being restored, at least in some places. State media said fixed broadband service was back. It was unclear when mobile internet would be widely restored.

Iran has long enforced filters and policed content on platforms such as You-Tube and Instagram. But before the war, Iranians could bypass restrictions with cheap virtual private networks, known as VPNs, and other easy workarounds.

Authorities cut off internet access in January during massive anti-government demonstrations and later began to relax those restrictions before imposing a complete internet blackout after the U.S. and Israel attacked on Feb. 28.

The internet outage made it difficult for Iranians outside the country to maintain contact with loved ones, and the lack of connectivity devastated the country’s relatively vibrant online businesses, putting further pressure on an already battered economy.

In other developments, Iran hanged a man it convicted of spying for Israel, the latest of more than two dozen allegedly espionage- and security-related executions since the war intensified a crackdown on dissent.

The Iranian judiciary’s news outlet, Mizanonline, identified the man as Gholamreza Khani Shakarab, calling him “a ringleader” for operations for Israel’s intelligence agency, the Mossad, and accusing him of recruiting members inside and outside Iran to work against the nation’s security. He was involved in sports and traveled to neighboring countries, according to the news agency.

Activists and rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge accusations and often are forced to confess.

The official judiciary agency said the country’s Supreme Court had upheld Shakarab’s death sentence.

The U.S. strikes were the latest flareup in the fragile ceasefire that began April 7 and has largely held.

Negotiations center in part on the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway off southern Iran through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and natural gas passed before the war began. Once the fighting started, Tehran retaliated by effectively closing the strait, stranding hundreds of ships, shocking the global economy, disrupting energy markets and squeezing fertilizer supplies worldwide.

Iran has let a limited number of ships pass and has charged tolls. The Revolutionary Guard navy said Tuesday that 25 oil tankers, container ships and other commercial vessels were allowed to pass in the previous 24 hours, according to state broadcaster IRIB. Before the war, over 100 ships a day went through the strait.

Eli Kading of Casey, graduated with majors in accounting and business management and a minor in economics.

Wyatt Mairet of Lorimor, graduated with a major in business management.

Johnathan Weaver of Lenox, graduated with a major in accounting.

Prior to awarding the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees to students, Mike Main, M.D., a cardiologist, Central trustee and 1987 graduate, was presented with an honorary Doctor of Science degree. He addressed the audience and encouraged graduates to embrace lifelong learning, pursue meaningful opportunities and lead lives grounded in purpose during the 2026 Commencement ceremony.

Reflecting on his own experiences as a Central student in the 1980s, the speaker described the huge impact of the college’s liberal arts environment and the mentors who helped shape his path from political science major to physician leader.

The speaker emphasized that curiosity and critical thinking will become even more important in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

“When information is abundant, judgment becomes critical,” he said. “Center your lifelong learning on the skills you’ve developed here through a diverse liberal arts education - critical thinking, communication, adaptability and emotional intelligence.”

In discussing purpose, the speaker urged graduates to focus less on status and possessions and more on service to others. As heart doctor, he strongly encouraging graduates to maintain healthy habits that will allow them to fully engage in meaningful work and relationships throughout their lives.

He also encouraged graduates to remain open to unexpected opportunities, recounting how mentors at Central helped him pivot from plans for law school to a career in medicine following the loss of his younger sister to heart disease.

“Say yes anyway, and don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself,” he told graduates. “Maybe more than once.”

“Armed with the knowledge, experiences and education you’ve gained at Central College,” he said, “you’ll meet challenges with skill and with heart, and you’ll achieve great things for your faith, your family, your profession and your community.”

The ceremony was livestreamed and is available for viewing on the Central Dutch Network.

Soccer - Creston vs. Des Moines Christian

7-9 p.m. Varsity boys soccer at Des Moines Christian School - Lions Field Thursday, May 28

Baseball - Red Oak vs. Creston

5-7 p.m. Junior varsity baseball at Creston High School

7-9:30 p.m. Varsity baseball at Creston High School Softball - Creston vs. St. Albert

5-7 p.m. Junior varsity softball at St. Albert Catholic Schools softball field

7-9 p.m. Varsity softball at St. Albert Catholic Schools softball field Soccer - Creston vs. Knoxville

7-9 p.m. Varsity girls soccer at Knoxville High School Friday, May 29

Baseball - ADM vs. Creston

5-9 p.m. Varsity baseball at Creston High School (doubleheader) Saturday, May 30

Softball - Winterset Varsity Softball Tournament

10-11:30 a.m. Varsity softball at Winterset High School - junior high softball field

12-1:30 p.m. Varsity softball at Winterset High School - junior high softball field

Acts are limited to four minutes. An electronic keyboard will be available for use.

The Creston talent show will have five age divisions, the Bill Riley Talent Search has two divisions. Placement of group acts is determined by the age of the oldest participant in the group.

First, second and thirdplace winners of the Creston Talent Show will receive Creston bucks after the show.

To sign up as a contestant, fill out the linked forms for the Creston Talent Show or the Bill Riley Talent Search.

Registration closes at noon on July 2.