Iowa

Connor Wheeler Added to Men's Basketball Staff

Published

1 year ago

April 8, 2025

Connor Wheeler Added to Men's Basketball Staff

Iowa has hired Connor Wheeler, former Drake assistant, to Ben McCollum‘s new men’s basketball staff in Iowa City.

“Connor is a great up-and-coming coach,” McCollum said in a release. “His career path has been fast and rightfully so. He’s very talented and will continue to hone his skills at the University of Iowa. He will help us get to a championship level.”

Wheeler has eight years of coaching experience at Drake (2024-25), Southeast Missouri State (2022-24), Southern Illinois (2019-22), Southern Miss (2018-19) and Missouri (2016-18).

Prior to his lone year at Drake, where the Bulldogs set a program record with 31 wins and won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles, he spent two seasons at SEMO. While there, he helped guide the program to its first Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament berth. It was the first NCAA appearance in more than 20 years.

Before his two years in Cape Girardeau, Wheeler spent three seasons on staff in his hometown of Carbondale, Illinois, working with Southern Illinois under Bryan Mullins, who is now an assistant at DePaul.

During the 2018-19 season, Wheeler was video coordinator at Southern Miss and he also coordinated video as a graduate assistant at Missouri from 2016-18.

As a player, Wheeler was a member of the Final Four team in 2011-12 at Illinois Wesleyan, he was an all-conference and all-region selection at John A. Logan College, he won a Division II National Championship in 2014 at Central Missouri, and he finished his career at Division I Southern Illinois Edwardsville in 2015-16.

“My wife and I couldn’t be more excited to join the University of Iowa family,” Wheeler said. “This program has a rich history, an incredible fan base and a culture of hard work and dedication. I’m excited to recruit and develop exceptional young men that will make Hawkeye nation proud. I’m honored to be a part of this program and can’t wait to get to work.”

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Iowa

Top 16 announced in Coolest Thing Made in Iowa contest

Published

10 hours ago

April 17, 2026

Press Room

Top 16 announced in Coolest Thing Made in Iowa contest

DES MOINES, Iowa — After a week of voting, a list of more than 50 is down to the Top 16 in the Coolest Thing Made in Iowa Competition.

Hosted by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry and MidwestOne Bank, the Coolest Thing Made in Iowa Contest is a newer competition that highlights items that are designed or produced in the state that carry national, even international, impact.

58 products were initially nominated in the contest’s third year, on Thursday, officials announced the Top 16 had been chosen after a week of public voting. Products that made the cut include agricultural equipment, construction materials, food, and beverages.

Mi-T-M ePowerStation (Mi-T-M Corporation – Peosta)
Pella Steady Set (Pella Corporation – Pella)
Beer Caves (Walk-In Coolers & Freezers) (Leer, Inc. – Carroll)
Weiler D1075 Blasthole Drill (Weiler – Knoxville)
Butter Braid Pastries (Country Maid, Inc. – West Bend)
Ironclad Tornado Shelter & Gun Safe (Ironclad Shelter Solutions, LLC – Earlham)
Spalding Arena Renegade Basketball Hoop (Spalding – Jefferson)
Winnebago EKKO 23B (Winnebago – Forest City)
Gushers (General Mills – Cedar Rapids)
Cedar Ridge Straight Bourbon Whiskey (Cedar Ridge Distillery – Swisher)
Load Cell (Scale-Tec – Anamosa)
Flexzilla Garden Hose (Legacy Manufacturing – Marion)
Marie Callender’s Pot Pie (Conagra – Council Bluffs)
23-28XL Scraper (Mobile Track Solutions – Elkader)
Sterzing’s Potato Chips (Sterzing Food Company – Burlington)
dScribe Studio, 55″ – Digital Lightboard (Revolution Lightboards – Dubuque)

“This is where the competition really comes to life,” said Nicole Crain, ABI President. “These Top 16 products represent the very best of Iowa manufacturing — innovative, high-quality, and made right here in our state. Now it’s up to Iowans to help decide which product rises to the top.”

Voting to decide the Top 8 moves to a bracket-style tournament, which opens on April 17 and runs through April 22. Participants can vote in each matchup, once per day (every 24 hours) per device. The Top 8 will be announced on April 23.

The 2026 Coolest Thing Made in Iowa will be revealed live in June during ABI’s annual Taking Care of Business Conference in Coralville and Iowa City.

Previously, the Vermeer Automated Hay Baler won the first contest in 2024, and the John Deere CP770 Cotton Picker won the second contest in 2025.

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Iowa

April rains ease drought across Iowa, Drought Monitor map shows

Published

22 hours ago

April 16, 2026

Press Room

April rains ease drought across Iowa, Drought Monitor map shows

The last few weeks of rain have alleviated some drought conditions in Iowa, though some areas of the state are still experiencing a moderate drought.

The U.S. Drought Monitor offers a state-by-state tracking of drought conditions nationwide. New maps and forecasts are released each Thursday. What are the current drought conditions in Iowa?

US Drought Monitor map: How much of Iowa is in a drought?

The latest Drought Monitor report, released on April 16, indicated that roughly 22% of the state is experiencing some form of drought. It includes observations as of 8 a.m. April 14, so even more rain has fallen since then.

This is an improvement from the last report, released on April 9, which showed that 73% of Iowa was experiencing some form of drought.

Here is the breakdown of drought conditions in Iowa as of April 16:

83% of the state of Iowa is experiencing no drought conditions
17% of the state is experiencing abnormally dry conditions
5% of the state is experiencing moderate drought conditions
0.02% of the state is experiencing severe drought conditions

The April 16 map shows abnormally dry and moderate drought conditions mainly in western and southern Iowa. Parts of northwest Iowa are in moderate drought, while a separate stretch of dry conditions runs across south-central into southeast Iowa.

Polk County is not experiencing any dry conditions. Des Moines has recorded 5.06 inches of rain so far in April, well above the normal monthly total of 1.70 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

Current conditions are an improvement from a year ago, when 86% of Iowa was abnormally dry, and 30% was in moderate drought, according to the Drought Monitor.

All 99 counties in Iowa were categorized as drought-free last August thanks to record-setting rainfall totals during the summer. It held this designation for several weeks before the first reports of abnormally dry conditions returned at the beginning of September 2025.

Iowa Drought Monitor tracks conditions weekly

The U.S. Drought Monitor offers a state-by-state tracking of drought conditions nationwide. New maps and forecasts are released each Thursday.

The intensity levels range from abnormally dry, or D0, to exceptional drought, or D4.

Typically under D0 conditions, corn can show drought stress. Pond levels start to decline under moderate drought conditions and soybeans abort pods, according to the Drought Monitor. The Drought Monitor also has a look-back chart that compares drought conditions from 3 months ago up to 1 year ago.

Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@gannett.com or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.

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Iowa

Iowa City PD searching for missing man with dementia

Published

1 day ago

April 16, 2026

Press Room

Iowa City PD searching for missing man with dementia

IOWA CITY, Iowa (IOWA’S NEWS NOW) — The Iowa City Police Department is asking for the public’s help finding a man who hasn’t been seen since Wednesday morning.

Kalenga Byondo, 60, has dementia and was last seen leaving his home along Broadway Street around 7:00 a.m. ICPD lists him as 5’10”, and 160 pounds – and he was wearing all-black clothing when he went missing.

Anyone who knows where Byondo could be is asked to call 319-356-6800.

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