CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The race to crown the state’s best breaded pork tenderloin is back again!

The Iowa Pork Producers Associated has opened nominations for the 2026 Iowa’s Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin Contest.

Nominations opened Wednesday and will close on June 1.

You can vote for your favorite sandwich here.

The annual contest spotlights some of the state’s best restaurants and sparks some friendly competition, the IPPA said.

IPPA picks the top 40-voted spots across Iowa. Undercover judges will eat at each location and rank the sandwiches on on taste, quality, physical characteristics, presentation and experience. The top five picks will be revealed in October, with the winner receiving a $500 prize and bragging rights.

Last year’s winners, Hometown Heroes in Grinnel, said their pork tenderloin sales were 20 times more after their win.

“Once we made the judging, we did what we do best,” Co-owner Kalyn Durr said in a statement, “we tried to put out a consistently great tenderloin sandwich for each and every order,”

Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.

DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – The Iowa House passed legislation Tuesday requiring parental consent for minors to receive certain vaccines associated with sexually transmitted diseases — a measure that Democrats said could lead to higher cancer rates in Iowa.

Iowa requires parental consent for minors to receive a vast majority of vaccinations. But there’s currently a carveout in Iowa law for human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis B vaccines. Iowans under age 18 can consent, without parental approval, for these vaccines, as they specifically deal with sexually transmitted diseases and infections.

Senate File 304, which passed on a 63-29 vote — would remove this exemption, requiring parental consent for minors to receive HPV and hepatitis B vaccines. Rep. Austin Baeth, D-Des Moines, an internal medicine physician, said the measure was a “pro-cancer bill, period.”

At subcommittee meetings on the measure, advocates representing health care providers and organizations have said HPV is linked with multiple forms of genital cancer, including cervical, penile, anal cancer and vaginal cancers — and that studies have found the HPV vaccine in particular has been linked with much lower instances of cervical cancer especially when a person is vaccinated before age 17.

“We have, with these vaccines, a way to save people’s lives,” Baeth said. “And in a state with the fastest-rising cancer rates, the second highest cancer rate overall, we should be doing more to prevent cancer, not less.”

Rep. Jeff Shipley, R-Fairfield, who supported the bill, said the measure was not limiting access to the HPV vaccine, but ensuring that parents approve of these vaccines being administered to young children.

Rep. Megan Srinivas, D-Des Moines, said the reason why this carveout was introduced in Iowa law in the first place was because there were instances where a parent may not be a trusted adult in a child’s life — including in situations of child abuse or child sexual assault.

“This conversation about needing to always trust our adults does not take the bad actors into account,” Srinivas said. “And what we should be keeping in mind, as we are passing legislation, are the most vulnerable in our society, which are the children that we have been entrusted to protect. By removing one of the most important things we can do in protecting children who might be the victims, we are making a bad decision, and that is why I urge you to vote no on this.”

Rep. Austin Harris, R-Moulton, disagreed with the assertion that the measure was “pro-cancer” — saying it only subjects the HPV and Hepatitis B vaccines to the same requirements as other vaccines.

“Are we pro-polio because we require parental consent?” Harris said. “Pro-measles, pro-mumps, everything else? And I take it personally as someone who has a mother, who is a breast cancer survivor, to be accused of saying, ‘I’m pro-cancer.’”

The measure heads to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk for final approval.

Copyright 2026 IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH. All rights reserved.