Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, the head of the Iowa National Guard, asked lawmakers to improve the Iowa National Guard Service Scholarship and add exceptions to the state’s chronic absenteeism law for high school military recruits and members in his Condition of the Guard address Thursday morning at the Iowa State Capitol.

Osborn also announced construction will begin on a $14 million Army National Guard maintenance facility in Sioux City later this year, and said the Guard is securing funding for a $95 million runway replacement in Sioux City.

The adjutant general began his speech highlighting the 9,000 members of the Iowa National Guard — 700 of whom were deployed for the Iowa floods, Hurricane Helene and Operation Lonestar at the southwest border, as well as missions in the the Middle East, Guam and Kosovo.

“From natural disaster relief efforts to international deployments, our service members have met every challenge with excellence and a steadfast commitment to serve and protect the people of Iowa and our nation,” Osborn said.

Osborn highlighted collaborations with community leaders, nonprofits and governmental organizations, including partnerships with local law enforcement through the National Guard Counterdrug Program and a partnership with the Kosovo Security Force. He also recognized the contributions of individuals in the Iowa National Guard and Iowa Department of Public Defense.

Adding new jobs and improving facilities

Osborn said this year the Iowa Guard will create 137 positions to work in cyber operations, contingency response, field artillery and combat engineering.

The adjutant general said the guard will open a $24 million West Des Moines Readiness Center in May, which will serve the West Des Moines Fire Department and the Iowa National Guard. He said the facility was funded through state and federal funds.

He also announced the Guard will start construction on the federally funded Army Guard maintenance facility in Sioux City towards the end of the summer. After the address, Osborn called the current facility “antiquated,” and said it’s too small and “almost dangerous” for working on new Army vehicles.

The guard is also working on securing funding for a $95 million runway replacement in Sioux City. He said the area needs a thicker and stronger runway due to the types of planes the Air Force operates there. The project could take around two years, depending on funding.

Osborn anticipates receiving funding from the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the military, but he said progress on funding could take a “step backwards” with the new administration and secretary of the Air Force.

Osborn said runway construction will shut down military traffic, but it will be rerouted to surrounding airports. Civilian traffic will not be affected because it uses different runways.

Expanding educational resources members

Osborn said his top priority this legislative session is improving the Iowa National Guard Service Scholarship.

The adjutant general asked legislators to expand the Iowa National Guard Service Scholarship to include certified Department of Labor trades programs and STEM-related credentialing programs. Currently, the scholarship is available to students pursuing a certificate or undergraduate degree at an eligible Iowa college or institution.

Under the proposed bill, students could use the scholarship towards a “credential,” which could be a post-secondary certificate and “other competency-based credential” that does not qualify for federal student aid.

“We know that in today’s world, community colleges, a lot of our universities are offering short-term credentialing programs,” he said after the address. “We’re really focused in the STEM-related fields and the trades related fields for short-term credentialing and certificate programs that allow our people to use that source.”

To support this expansion of the scholarship, Osborn requested service members be required to complete federal military tuition assistance before being able to apply for state tuition assistance.

Addressing chronic absenteeism in teenage military members

The major general also asked for lawmakers to make an exemption to the state’s chronic absenteeism law for high school military members and recruits.

People can sign up for the guard at age 17 with their parent’s permission and can participate in training to prepare for basic training. He said, although training does not typically conflict with school hours, evaluations at Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS) could conflict, given the stations are only open on weekdays.

After he gave the address, Osborn said around 400 17 year olds are part of the guard across the state.

“We’re speaking for the military as a whole in Iowa, any young person — young man or woman — that wants to join the military and they haven’t graduated high school yet,” he said. “They’re going to have to take a day off of school to come to Des Moines to take the test and the physical — not just the guard, but everybody.”

Improving recruitment and community engagement efforts

Osborn said in the past few years, the guard has been focused on engaging with communities.

”Everybody analyzed the recruitment issues over the last few years — COVID probably had something to do with it, 20 years of war probably had something to do with it,” he said after the address. “I truly believe when 9/11 hit, the National Guard, the Army Reserve, our community based military entities really focused on training and preparing to deploy and deploy. And we lost touch with our communities.”

He said American Rescue Plan Act funding for a pilot incentive program has also helped boost numbers, and the guard plans on continuing community engagement through businesses, media and local leaders.

Osborn said the guard had an 83% retention rate in fiscal year 2024 and has gained over 400 new members since Oct. 1 — the highest rate in over five years.

Drivers taking Interstate 235 on Friday morning will encounter closed lanes and possible delays in Des Moines.

Iowa Department of Transportation crews need to paint the white dashes on the center lane of the roadway. The crew will have assistance from the Iowa State Patrol to close two lanes in each direction.

Where is the Iowa DOT closing lanes on I-235 on Friday?

The inside two lanes of both eastbound and westbound I-235 will close Friday morning between 31st Street and Hull Avenue.

The paint operation will move at approximately 10 mph. The Iowa DOT will have warning messages throughout the work zone.

When will the Iowa DOT close lanes on I-235 on Friday?

The lane closures will occur from 9 a.m. to noon Friday.

Lane painting is usually done at night, the Iowa DOT said in a news release. Due to a combination of needed sunlight and higher temperatures, the work will have to be done during the day.

Kate Kealey is a general assignment reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her at kkealey@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter at @Kkealey17.

The No. 2 team in men’s college basketball beat a top-10 team (a blueblood, at that) Wednesday night. They did it without a single minute played by a former top-100 high school player.

Watching the Iowa State Cyclones’ 74–57 win over the Kansas Jayhawks on Wednesday night, you’d never have guessed the roundabout paths taken to Ames, Iowa, by their top talents. Their leading scorer (Curtis Jones, who Kansas coach Bill Self said looked like a first-team All-American) didn’t have a single Division I or II offer out of high school and wasn’t even ranked a top-150 transfer the year he enrolled at Iowa State. Their frontcourt, which dominated Kansas star Hunter Dickinson, contains players whose careers have taken them to Washington State, Charlotte, Seattle and Saint Mary’s before matriculating in Ames. Their clutch shotmaker? An Ames High School legend largely overlooked by any of the major recruiting services. 

“I think their evaluation [in] recruiting has been tremendous,” Self said postgame. “The pieces fit.” 

A team like this one, a true national title contender, has been slowly building at Iowa State since T.J. Otzelberger inherited a miserable 2–22 team in the spring of 2021. Going dancing (and making a Sweet 16 run at that) on the back of pure defensive grit in Year 1 laid the foundation. Tamin Lipsey, the Ames High product, entered in Year 2 and emerged as a star in Year 3. He got backcourt reinforcements before last season in Jones and Keshon Gilbert, who flanked him on a 29-win Big 12 tournament championship team a year ago. Now, the Cyclones have the frontcourt to match, supercharging an offense that often looked stuck in second gear over Otzelberger’s first three years.

Wednesday wasn’t Iowa State’s most efficient offensive day, beset by seven free throw misses and a shocking nine missed layups. But the difference in weapons from last year’s club? Night and day. That starts with Jones and Gilbert, who’ve made the jump as second-year transfers from effective backcourt mates to Lipsey into legitimate stars. Jones entered the night third in the Big 12 in scoring and should climb further up the list after 25 more points Wednesday, including an electrifying 20 in the first half. Gilbert has upped his scoring, assists and field goal percentage from a year ago, lightening the ballhandling load on Lipsey. They’ve also allowed the Cyclones to get out and run more, which has generated more easy buckets for an offense that needed them a year ago. 

“We have multiple guys that can push the break and get out and run,” Otzelberger said. “It’s really hard defensively because you’ve got to get back and get set because our guards are coming and looking to score.”

But the more pronounced difference from last year’s still-excellent club is the effectiveness with which its bigs can generate offense. That comes from three portal additions from the spring, Joshua Jefferson (Saint Mary’s Gaels), Dishon Jackson (Charlotte 49ers) and Brandton Chatfield (Seattle Redhawks). Jefferson is the lynchpin and perhaps the sport’s most overlooked addition. Even on a night where he left multiple buckets on the board with missed shots at the rim, he still stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. When he catches at the elbows, he’s a threat to drive, knock down the jumper or distribute, and the pressure that puts on defenses is immense. Then there’s Jackson, a more effective post scorer than anyone the Cyclones had in 2023–24, who matched a season-high with 17 points and outplayed a potential All-American in Dickinson. These two pickups, in particular, ranked as the No. 131 and No. 202 portal players in the spring, have completely changed Iowa State’s identity and elevated the Cyclones clearly into the sport’s top tier in the process. 

“If the other team tries to take somebody away, somebody else is going to make the play … We’ve got so many playmakers,” Jones said. “You’ve really got to pick your poison.” 

Combine this added offensive firepower with the same principles that have lifted Iowa State through its past offensive struggles, and you’ve got perhaps college basketball’s most complete team. The defensive execution Wednesday? Superb, limiting Kansas to under 0.8 points per possession and just 11 shots at the rim all night. The hustle plays? Still an Otzelberger special. 

“I bet you they get 75% of the 50-50 balls,” Self quipped. “We tried hard, but there’s a difference between trying hard and competing [against them].” 

Iowa State led for over 35 minutes, rarely even seeming threatened by the traditionally daunting Jayhawks. The Cyclones’ five Big 12 wins have come by an average of 14 points, the lone nail-biter an overtime rally past the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock over the weekend. In all, ISU has won 12 straight, its only setback this season an 83–81 thriller in Maui against the No. 1 Auburn Tigers. Iowa State led by as many as 18 before a furious Auburn rally. The Tigers and the Duke Blue Devils get much of the typical praise as No. 1A and 1B in the national picture, but performances like Wednesday’s show Iowa State clearly belongs in that same conversation. 

Kansas has been the Big 12’s standard-bearer since the league’s existence. Iowa State has now beaten the Jayhawks in Ames in three straight years, each time less surprising than the last. Iowa State may not measure up recruiting rankings-wise with the nation’s elite, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a better program right now in college basketball.