Iowa
They’re back: Japanese Beetles
We returned from our three-week sojourn to Alaska to find our property overrun by Japanese Beetles. Dang! Just what I didn’t need, along with everything else that required immediate post-vacation attention: a weedy garden, a tub full of mail, plants to water, bills to pay, laundry to warsh, groceries to buy because there was nothing to eat in the house, Buddy and Stormy to pick up at the vet boarder, phone calls to return, sleep to catch up on, and an Alaska high to come down from. Japanese Beetles pulled me back to reality real quick.
The beetles seem to be a little early this year. I thought they were more of a mid-July nuisance. It must be the weather. And I thought that maybe I had gotten rid of the annual Japanese Beetle infestation by spreading grub control on our yard, since they come up out of the ground near by. Guess not.
I decided this year I would spray them. Last year I set up these Japanese Beetle traps around the property, and they were effective. I must have captured 10 jillion Japanese Beetles, and gave them to a neighbor to feed her chickens. However, I ran into another neighbor who thanked me for keeping the Japanese Beetles away from his property.
He told me that the pheromone the traps use attracts beetles in a 5 mile radius. I didn’t want to do that again. But I hate using insecticide because it also kills the insects you don’t want killed, like butterflies, bees and praying mantises. Then birds eat the dead insects. Hmm. The dilemma. But I had to do something fast. Literally, a major chunk of our vegetation was being destroyed before our eyes: the aronia bushes, grape vines, fruit trees, rose bushes, hydrangeas, even our rhubarb, asparagus, and pin-oak tree. I went for the insecticide.
This year, I have a sprayer that attaches to the rear of the tractor. I use it for spraying weeds and fertilizing the lawn. It’s a lot faster than using a water-hose sprayer that I have to drag all over our yard. The tractor sprayer made short work of the Japanese beetles.
It got me to thinking about locusts. Where are the locusts? This was supposed to be the year of the two different kinds hatching at once. I have seen or heard nary a locust on the Empty Nest farm. I’ve seen a few in past years, but none this year. I know other areas of the state are seeing the swarm (ha, ha) of locusts. Pictures are all over Facebook, I mean, Meta, excuse me. I have fond memories of locusts as a kid.
We lived on a tree-lined street, and the evening air would be filled with the buzzing of locusts. It was a comforting sound, one that I remember going to sleep to, in the days before air conditioning, when we left windows open at night. Some of the locusts would even visit during the night, and be clinging to the screen when I woke in the morning.“Wake up, sleepy head!” I collected their empty shells and stuck them on my finger like a ring.
The field across the road from us has something green and grassy looking growing in it. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what it was. Finally, while getting the mail, I walked over to the field and had a look-see. What in tarnation? I pulled a stem of the plant, laden with bearded heads pointing down. It was something I didn’t recognize. I took it into the house and showed Ginnie.
She has an app on her phone that identifies plants, flowers, shrubs and trees. She held the plant up to her phone. Voila, it’s oats! Gee willickers, I haven’t seen oats since I was a kid. Back in my day, most of the farmers raised oats. There was what we called, “Kennedy Oats.”
It was part of the Soil Bank program (a forerunner of CRP). But oats have taken the back seat to the dual powers of corn and beans. I’m wondering what the farmer is going to do with these oats, sell’m, feed’m or seed’m? Hmm.
Japanese Beetles, locusts and oats. More rain and we’ll all float boats.
Have a good story? Call or text Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526, or email him curtswarm@yahoo.com. Curt is available for public speaking.
The five candidates vying for the Republican Party nomination for governor each went before conservative activists in the Des Moines area Friday night to ask for their support in the upcoming primary election.
The fundraiser for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, an influential evangelical political group, was the first event of the campaign season where all five candidates were present in person.
More than 1,000 people attended the fundraiser at an event center in Clive where Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also looked to unify support for Republicans in the upcoming midterms.
Lucius Pham/Iowa Public Radio
Feenstra and rivals appeal to conservative activists
The candidates took turns answering questions from Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann, who prompted them to share their views on key conservative issues: abortion, eminent domain, school choice and religious freedom.
All five candidates oppose abortion rights. Adam Steen, former director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, said as governor he would push for restrictions beyond the state’s current law — which bans most abortions at about six weeks of pregnancy.
“We have to be pro-life. We have to be life at conception. It’s fundamental,” Steen said. “And I’ll say this right now — with those abortion pills that are being sent into the state of Iowa right now, we have to stop those first and foremost. Get those out of there and ensure that life is protected at conception.”
The Iowa House passed a bill Friday that includes a measure requiring medial providers to only dispense abortion-inducing drugs directly to the patient in a health care setting. It is not clear whether the bill has enough support to pass in the state Senate.
Also on Friday, a panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling temporarily blocking the mailing of the abortion pill mifepristone, requiring that it be distributed only in person in medical settings. The ruling is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Lucius Pham/Iowa Public Radio
Businessman Zach Lahn of Belle Plaine said the conservative movement should look beyond abortion. For instance, Lahn said, conservatives should advocate to reverse declines in life expectancy.
“We have to make sure that we are fighting for healthy food, for less medication, for our children, for clean water, for cancer,” said Lahn, who was endorsed by MAHA Action, an advocacy group related to the Make America Healthy Again movement.
Reynolds vetoed a measure that would have put some limits on eminent domain, but the candidates all said they oppose the use of eminent domain for private-sector projects.
Fourth District Rep. Randy Feenstra said he would protect landowners’ property rights.
“The property belongs to the American farmer, the Iowa farmer, belongs to each of us and not anything else,” Feenstra said. “And if somebody wants to run a pipeline, or whatever it might be, then it’s negotiated between the private property owner and the business. And if the private property owner says, ‘no,’ that’s it.”
Former state Rep. Brad Sherman agreed.
“A private company who’s not a common carrier for a product that’s not a public utility should never, ever get to use eminent domain,” Sherman said. “It’s just that simple.”
The GOP candidates for governor are supporters of school choice measures passed in recent years. That includes Iowa’s education savings accounts (ESAs) program, which this year gave around $8,000 in public funding per student to help families pay for tuition at private schools.
Steen called the ESA law “one of the greatest pieces of legislation” passed under Republican control in the Legislature. Current state Rep. Eddie Andrews, R-Johnston, said he would like to see the state expand school choice.
“It didn’t just start with ESAs. I led the push for just regular district-to-district school choice. Then we added public charter school choice,” Andrews said. “I understood that parents need to be in charge of their kids’ education.”
If no candidate wins at least 35% of the primary vote on June 2, the nomination will be decided at a party convention.
Lucius Pham
/
Iowa Public Radio
Reynolds says election will affect GOP achievements
Reynolds told activists at the fundraiser she plans to be on the campaign trail supporting the person chosen as the GOP nominee for governor. She said the results of the election in November will have implications for landmark conservative policies put in place under her leadership.
Reynolds listed what she considers some of Republicans’ greatest accomplishments in the Statehouse in her time as governor, including cuts to income tax rates, a broad state government reorganization and one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the United States.
“I would put our record up against anyone,” Reynolds said. “It’s what’s driven more Iowa voters to register as Republicans. In 2018, Republicans held just a 10,800 voter registration advantage. Today, we have an advantage of over 198,000.”
But Republicans should not take their advantage among active registered voters for granted, Reynolds said. Democrats, she said, are united, well-funded and motivated to win back the governor’s office.
“We have the record. We have the numbers,” Reynolds said. “So the only way that we see a Rob Sand win is if we don’t show up. If we show up, we win.”
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – A house fire displaced one Iowa City resident Thursday afternoon.
The Iowa City Fire Department responded to the 1600 block of Crosby Lane at 4:06 p.m. after a caller reported flames and smoke coming from the front door of the house.
Upon arrival, crews found smoke coming from the roof and doors. Firefighters entered the home and extinguished a fire in the basement, containing it within 10 minutes of arrival.
One resident was displaced. No injuries were reported. Damage is estimated at $50,000.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
The Iowa Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big with rewards ranging from $1,000 to millions. The most an Iowan has ever won from playing the lottery was $343 million in 2018 off the Powerball.
Don’t miss out on the winnings. Here’s a look at Thursday, April 30, 2026, winning numbers for each game:
Winning Pick-3 numbers from April 30 drawing
Midday: 4-8-6
Evening: 9-8-6
Check Pick-3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick-4 numbers from April 30 drawing
Midday: 1-7-7-2
Evening: 9-5-3-2
Check Pick-4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from April 30 drawing
05-19-21-42-55, Bonus: 03
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Iowa Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 3 (Day): 12:20 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 3 (Evening): 10:00 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 4 (Day): 12:20 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 4 (Evening): 10:00 p.m. CT daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Iowa editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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