Casey
Casey, IA · Municipal
The Des Moines Register
Want a white Christmas in 2026? Check the prediction for Iowa.
When Halloween is over, it's time to get ready for Christmas. Sorry Thanksgiving! We need to answer the age-old question: Are we going to have a white Christmas in 2026? Historically in Des Moines, the odds are slightly worse than a coin flip since daily snow depth totals were first recorded in 1939. Here's what the prediction from the Old Farmer's Almanac says. What counts as a white Christmas? The National Weather Service classifies a “white Christmas” as one in which at least one inch of snow is on the ground on Christmas Day. It doesn’t matter whether there’s snow in the air — it’s the blanket of white that counts. Stock up on winter essentials What does the Old Farmer's Almanac say about a 2026 white Christmas in Des Moines? Alas, Iowa is not on track to be blanketed in snow for Christmas, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac . But that's not surprising — there have only been three “official” white Christmases in Des Moines since 2015. Since 1939, there has been at least an inch of snow on the ground in Des Moines on 40 of the 83 Christmas days for which snow depth was recorded. That’s
The Des Moines Register
New boundaries could send Des Moines students to farther schools
Des Moines Public Schools is moving toward a November vote on new attendance boundaries that will reshape how students advance through the district. The boundaries are part of the district's $265 million Reimagining Education plan. Once set, the new plan will replace DMPS' current feeder patterns with Northeast, Northwest and South regions , divided by the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers. They will establish new student pathways from elementary and middle schools to East, Lincoln and Roosevelt high schools, convert some buildings to signature schools and allow more elementary schools to add sixth grade. The proposal redraws current attendance boundaries , which determine which schools students attend based on their home addresses. The new boundaries would organize schools into three regions, with students ultimately assigned to East High School in the Northeast, Lincoln High School in the South or Roosevelt High School in the Northwest. North and Hoover would no longer operate as traditional neighborhood high schools. Instead, they would become two of the district's nine opt-in signature schools, which will offer specialized programs in STEM, the arts, Montessori or dual language that families could apply to attend. North will focus on STEM programs, while Hoover wil will offer hands-on
KCAU 9 News
‘I’m just a chicken guy,’ 11-year-old selling shirts to update Iowa county fair’s chicken cages
At the Iowa State Fair, we met a young contestant who was showing his chickens for a judging competition. Just a few months later, he's turning his attention to his own county fairgrounds.
cbs2iowa.com
Andy Beshear, Tom Vilsack join Rob Sand at Des Moines rally
DES MOINES, Iowa — Just hours after President Donald Trump's visit to Iowa, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and former Iowa Gov. and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack joined Rob Sand on stage for a rally in Des Moines. “I've seen the polls, you've seen the polls, they look...
Des Moines Business Record
biztimes.biz
Filings confirm local number of previously announced UnityPoint layoffs
State filings show the final number of local UnityPoint Health layoffs connected to a previously announced transition of IT and revenue cycle services to a third-party vendor. One employee in Dubuque will be laid off in February, alongside 229 in West Des Moines, according to a notice filed with the state of Iowa.
sparetailer.com
Hot Spring Spas of Iowa and the Twin Cities
Sean Schaben was working the Iowa State Fair when a couple he hadn’t seen in roughly 20 years came looking for him. Schaben sold them a hot tub decades earlier. Now they were celebrating their 30th anniversary and wanted another one — and they wanted to buy it from him.
The Des Moines Register
Letter writers take sides in agriculture secretary contest | Letters
Chris Jones would insist on safer water I grew up in Ottumwa and raised a family in Des Moines. As a volunteer water monitor in Polk County, I’ll say this: Iowa has a hard time talking about what’s in our water. This summer, central Iowa had its second mandatory watering ban in two years. The Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers rank in the top 1% nationally for nitrate. The federal limit for nitrate in drinking water was set to protect infants, not to guard against cancer. Yet studies have found a higher risk of some cancers at levels the law allows. Since 2013, the state’s answer has been a voluntary plan with a 45% nitrogen reduction goal. Voluntary hasn’t come close. More: Chris Jones can-do message resonates in cancer-stricken Iowa | Opinion This problem isn’t new. Iowans have known it for decades. But we’ve built a culture where raising it feels taboo, and a politics where leaders protect the status quo because that’s what donors and big industry want. It won’t be fixed overnight. But we’ve waited long enough, and nothing changes until we can be honest about the problem. That’s why I like Chris Jones, who is running for