Iowa

i9: Iowa landlords not required to provide air conditioning

Published

2 years ago

July 30, 2024

i9: Iowa landlords not required to provide air conditioning

BURLINGTON, Iowa (KCRG) – Another heatwave is here, but not everyone in Iowa has access to adequate cooling in their homes. An i9 investigation reveals that, in Iowa, there are no laws requiring that access.

Kody Hardin is a renter in Burlington who lives with his girlfriend and their 4-month-son.

Hardin’s home is modified with the family’s efforts to keep cool. Curtains block off the western part of the house where the afternoon sun hits hardest. In the bedroom, a box fan sits in a laundry hamper, which is placed right in front of a window unit air conditioner. The jerry-rigged set up is the main cooling system in the part of the house that Hardin rents.

“I spent time in the service. I know what hot is. I’ve been in hot temps. But this isn’t something we want to live in everyday,” said Hardin.

On the day TV9 visited Hardin and his son Khyler, the thermostat in the living room read 79 degrees. Hardin said, in heat waves, it can get even hotter.

“It’s 80 degrees in here, sometimes its 90 degrees in here.”

During the summer, Hardin says he, his son, and girlfriend basically live in the bedroom trying to stay cool. Getting better air conditioning would mean costly upgrades from his landlord.

“I’ve reached out to the landlords and the maintenance guy before in regards to maybe getting some central air put in or something just better in general,” said Hardin.

TV9 reached out to Hardin’s landlord, but we have not yet received a comment.

Air conditioning is expensive to install and maintain, and it’s also not a right for renters.

“In Iowa, landlords aren’t required to provide air conditioning,” said Patrick Bigsby, a staff attorney with Iowa Legal Aid. Bigsby said the law only stipulated that if landlords do provide air conditioning, they maintain it in good and safe working order.

That’s in contrast to winter, when Iowa landlords are required to maintain adequate heating systems, deemed just as essential as running water.

“We worry historically more about keeping people warm in winter. We have policies to do that. We haven’t invoked policies like that for extreme heat. We need to do so,” said Peter Thorne, a professor in the department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa.

With climate change, Iowa State scientists say the state’s average temperature is up about 1.5 degrees in the last 15 years. That means we’ve had hotter summers and more heat waves.

“Unusually hot summers are becoming more common,” said Thorne.

That’s why Thorne said access to adequate cooling is becoming a public health crisis.

“Heat and extreme heat is basically the biggest killer of people in terms of weather-related disasters,” he said.

The U.S. has already seen the impact of dangerous heat. At least 16 people died of heat-related issues during a heat wave this month in Oregon, a state not used to extreme heat.

Some states like Arizona have made it a law: air conditioning is an essential service that landlords must provide to tenants.

A similar law in Iowa would benefit people like Hardin, who knows he won’t see relief until fall.

“We really don’t know what to do. Just waiting for a miracle,” said Hardin.

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Iowa

Iowa Boys High School State Basketball Tournament Sets Two Classes

Published

7 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Iowa Boys High School State Basketball Tournament Sets Two Classes

The Class 1A and Class 2A Iowa high school boys basketball state tournament brackets are now official following substate action.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Tournament begins Monday, March 9 from the Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

St. Edmond, the top-seed in 1A, gets Woodbine in a rematch of a quarterfinal from a year ago. Woodbine ended the run of defending state champion Madrid in a substate final on the same court that St. Edmond qualified on when they defeated Riverside.

Burlington Notre Dame plays Bellevue, MMCRU meets Boyden-Hull and Bishop Garrigan battles Bellevue Marquette Catholic in the other elite eight games.

The other substate finals saw Burlington Notre Dame defeat Calamus-Wheatland, MMCRU eliminated North Union, Bishop Garrigan downed South Winneshiek, Bellevue bested East Marshall and Bellevue Marquette Catholic topped Montezuma.

In 2A, Kuemper Catholic is the No. 1 seed and will face Union Community in the opening game on Wednesday, March 11. The other quarterfinals see Treynor vs. Grundy Center, Unity Christian vs. defending state champion Western Christian and Iowa City Regina vs. Aplington-Parkersburg.

Kuemper Catholic survived vs. Roland-Story, Union knocked off Pella Christian in a nail-biter, Treynor bested Underwood, Grundy Center downed Beckman Catholic, Unity Christian handled Southeast Valley, Western Christian ran past Tri-Center, Iowa City Regina downed Northeast and Aplington-Parkersburg defeated Cascade.

Here are the Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Basketball Tournament pairings for Class 1A and Class 2A.

Quarterfinals

Tuesday, March 10

Semifinals

Thursday, March 12

Championship

Friday, March 13

Wednesday, March 11

Semifinals

Thursday, March 12

Championship

Friday, March 13

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Iowa

Minnesota Wild Recalls Tyler Pitlick From Iowa | Minnesota Wild

Published

19 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Minnesota Wild Recalls Tyler Pitlick From Iowa | Minnesota Wild

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has recalled forward Tyler Pitlick from the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Pitlick, 34 (11/1/91), has tallied two goals, 24 penalty minutes (PIM) and 26 shots in 31 games with Minnesota this season and ranks fourth on the team with 76 hits. He has also collected 11 points (8-3=11) and 31 shots in 12 games with Iowa. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound native of Minneapolis, Minn., owns 111 points (58-53=111) and 565 shots on goal in 451 career NHL games over 11 seasons with the Edmonton Oilers (2013-17), Dallas Stars (2017-19), Philadelphia Flyers (2019-20), Arizona Coyotes (2020-21), Calgary Flames (2021-22), Montreal Canadiens (2021-22), St. Louis Blues (2022-23), New York Rangers (2023-24) and Minnesota (2025-26). He has tallied three points (2-1=3) in 22 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. Pitlick has also recorded 140 points (60-89=149) in 289 career AHL games in parts of eight seasons with the Oklahoma City Barons (2011-15), Bakersfield Condors (2015-16), Hartford Wolf Pack (2023-24), Providence Bruins (2024-25) and Iowa (2025). He was originally selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round (31st overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft. Pitlick was signed by Minnesota as a free agent on July 2, 2025, and wears sweater No. 19 with the Wild.

Minnesota hosts the St. Louis Blues tomorrow at 4 p.m. CT on FanDuel Sports Network and KFAN FM 100.3.

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Iowa

Iowa Boys High School Basketball Substate Finals Locked In For 4A

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Iowa Boys High School Basketball Substate Finals Locked In For 4A

The fourth and final bunch of Iowa high school boys basketball substate championship games are now set after the second round of Class 4A games were completed on Friday, February 27.

Substate championships in Iowa’s largest classification will take place on Tuesday, March 3, with the higher seed serving as host in all eight games. Winners advance to Des Moines, Iowa and the Casey’s Center to compete in the Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Tournament beginning March 9.

Three-time defending 4A state champion Valley was eliminated by Ankeny, 72-36. The Tigers, who lost all five starters from a year ago, won just one game prior to earning a victory in the opening round of postseason play.

Cedar Falls, who has held the No. 1 spot in 4A throughout the season, scored a dominating 78-45 decision vs. Iowa City High to move on.

Colin Rice, a Nebraska commit for Fred Hoiberg, scored a single-game school-record 50 points as Waukee Northwest topped Iowa City Liberty, 101-58.

Council Bluffs Lincoln, Ames, North Scott, Dowling Catholic, Dubuque Senior, Johnston, Linn-Mar, Muscatine, Norwalk, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Des Moines Roosevelt, Urbandale and Waukee all joined them in the next round after winning games at home.

The 1A and 2A substate finals will take place on Saturday, February 28 while the 3A games go down on Monday, March 2.

Here are the Iowa boys high school basketball Class 4A substate finals for Wednesday, March 3.

Wednesday, March 3

Class 4A

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