Baylor (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) at No. 16 Iowa State (4-0, 1-0), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (Fox)

BetMGM College Football Odds: Iowa State by 12 1/2.

Series record: Baylor leads 12-10.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

The Cyclones are the highest-ranked team in what looks like a wide-open Big 12, and they’re out to their best start since 2000. Defending home field is key if they are going to be a contender. Never mind its record, Baylor is a tough out. The Bears’ three losses are by 11, 7 (in overtime) and 6 points. This is a big game for Dave Aranda, whose seat is warming quickly in Waco.

KEY MATCHUP

Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson vs. Iowa State defense. Robertson, who has started three games in place of the injured Dequan Finn, threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a TD in last week’s 34-28 loss to BYU. He needs to get the Bears off to a faster start, though. They fell behind 21-0 to BYU. Iowa State’s defense is second-best in the nation against the pass.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Baylor: RB Bryson Washington, the leading rusher in an offense that distributes carries among five players, needs to get going for the Bears to have success. If the Cyclones’ defense has a weakness, it’s stopping the run consistently. Washington ran for a career-high 106 yards against Air Force on Sept. 14.

Iowa State: QB Rocco Becht has been a rock for the Cyclones in his 17 career starts. He threw his 30th touchdown pass — and 18th in eight games — and went over 4,000 yards passing against Houston last week.

FACTS & FIGURES

Matt Campbell last week became Iowa State’s career coaching wins leader with 57. He is 16-11 when the Cyclones are ranked. … The Cyclones’ shutout of Houston was their first on the road in a conference game since a 24-0 win at Kansas State in 1971. … ISU has won the turnover battle in all four games and is 36-9 under Campbell when doing so. … Baylor is 25-28 in five seasons under Aranda, including 15-23 in conference games. … Baylor has held opponents to a total of 20 second-points in five games compared with 74 first-half points.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa City may ban the herbal substance kratom, and the potential ban has prompted suspicious emails to officials.

Kratom can produce opioid- and stimulant-like effects. It is also largely unregulated.

Lots of people are against the Iowa City ban, or at least it would seem that way if you didn’t look too closely.

Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague said he got an email from a friend. It was against the ban of kratom. It had her name and her Iowa City address. The giveaway: she’d just called Teague and mentioned she was living in Des Moines.

“I forward her the email and a text and said, ‘Did you send this?’ She said, ‘Absolutely not,’” said Teague.

City officials said they received almost 100 of these emails.

According to Bobby Kuzma, Director of Offensive Cyber Operations for ProCircular in Coralville, sending emails that seem to be from real Iowa City citizens would actually be incredibly easy to do.

“At a guess, the names were probably pulled from a voter registration list so that they appear to be members of the community or from a property owner list,” said Kuzma.

He added, “It’s something that someone with basic computer skills could probably throw together in under 30 minutes with free software.”

Kuzma said, when it comes to hearing from constituents, elected officials needed to “trust but verify.”

He added, “It’s obviously important for our elected officials to pay attention to what’s going on with their constituents and what their constituents’ concerns are. But when there’s a sudden surge of feedback about a particular topic, diving in a little deeper absolutely makes sense.”

Luckily, that’s exactly what officials in Iowa City have been doing.

“There’s a lot of weird stuff happening with this,” said Teague.

TV9 did reach out to the City Clerk’s office in Iowa City to get a copy of the email to share with Kuzma, but we haven’t received it yet.

The meeting Tuesday was just a first consideration; the kratom ban ordinance will be back on the agenda at the council’s next meeting.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.

Which Iowa communities can still operate speed cameras and where after the state Department of Transportation decided Monday which permits to issue or decline?

The state denied about 44% of the 348 fixed and mobile camera permit requests it received, most often because officials decided less restrictive alternatives were available to address traffic issues at a requested location.

More: Which Des Moines traffic cameras are still operating? What to know after Iowa DOT decision

Search our database to see how the DOT ruled on all permit requests from 28 Iowa municipalities that applied to use mobile and fixed automated traffic-enforcement cameras under a new state law regulating the devices.

How did the DOT rule on Des Moines’ cameras?

Two fixed traffic-enforcement cameras were shut down at 4 p.m. Monday in Des Moines. The state also denied the city’s request to use mobile cameras at 14 locations.

Des Moines, which has three mobile cameras, had permits approved at 25 sites:

• 4700 block Interstate 235, eastbound. (The city’s only approved fixed camera.)
• 4300 block Ingersoll Avenue, eastbound and westbound.
• 2800 block SW Ninth Street, northbound and southbound.
• 1800 block Fleur Drive, northbound and southbound.
• 300 block E. McKinley Avenue, eastbound and westbound.
• 2800 block Indianola Avenue, eastbound and westbound.
• 1700 block Park Avenue, eastbound and westbound.
• 1600 block E. University Ave, eastbound and westbound.
• 2200 block E. 29th Street, northbound and southbound.
• 4800 block Hickman Road, eastbound and westbound.
• 1000 block SE 14th Street, northbound and southbound.
• 2900 block Sixth Avenue, northbound and southbound.
• 3100 block MLK Jr. Parkway, northbound and southbound.

Use of the cameras will pause while the signage required by Iowa law is installed, Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek said.

Once installed, the Des Moines Police Department will make notification 30 days before enforcement resumes at the approved locations.

What did the DOT decide on other municipalities’ permits?

Fort Dodge was the only municipality to see all of its requests granted to use mobile cameras at 19 locations.

Davenport may use cameras at 86% of its 51 requested locations, mostly mobile, while 61% of Des Moines’ 41 requested permits got the green light from the DOT.

Several municipalities had less than half of their permit requests approved:

• Marion: 29 of 59 permits, or 49%.
• Cedar Rapids: 6 of 15 permits, or 40%.
• Waterloo: 15 of 44 permits, or 34%.
• Sioux City: 8 of 18 requests, or 44%.

The DOT declined to issue any permits to 18 Iowa counties or municipalities that applied: Buffalo, Chester, Charles City, Hudson, Hazleton, Fredericksburg, Fayette, Independence, La Porte City, Lee County, Maynard, Oelwein, Postville, Prairie City, Strawberry Point, Tama, Webster City and West Union. Each had requested fixed permits, except for Lee County, which requested permits for two mobile and six fixed locations.

The most common reason for permit denials, involving 62 rejections of fixed cameras and two denials of mobile cameras, was “not least restrictive means.” Iowa law requires “the least restrictive means to address the traffic safety issues at a location.”

The DOT considered the cameras “not necessary” at 39 fixed and 12 mobile locations. Mobile units were deemed “not appropriate” at 18 spots.

The DOT declined permits at 27 fixed and 33 mobile locations because the cameras were not in use before Jan. 1, 2024. Under the new law, communities using traffic cameras for the first time on or after Jan. 1, 2024 cannot be issued a permit by the DOT before July 1, 2026.

Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@registermedia.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @marissajpayne.