Great Plains Lookahead Digest
AP News Digest – Great Plains
To see stories that have already moved, please visit AP Newsroom. For text, photos, video, live and audio plans beyond the next 24 hours, please visit Coverage Plan.
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IOWA – NEW AND DEVELOPING – NEWS
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US–IOWA-BOOK BAN
Iowa law banning school library books that depict sex acts on hold again after a new federal ruling
SUMMARY: A federal judge says Iowa for now cannot continue to enforce part of its book ban law. The decision Tuesday gives major publishers that sued the state their latest temporary reprieve. The new decision from U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher once again temporarily blocks a part of the law that bars school libraries from carrying books that depict sex acts. The law was first approved by Iowa’s Republican-led Legislature and GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2023. However, the book ban was temporarily blocked by Locher previously before it became enforceable. That decision was overturned in August.
WORDS: 505 – MOVED: 03/25/2025 6:27 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:f9538cfddf239810323f48a7004e4dc4&mediaType=text
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US–TRUMP-EDUCATION-STATES
GOP-led states push for control of school aid as Trump promises a smaller federal role in education
SUMMARY: Governors in several Republican-led states are pressing the Trump administration to cut the strings attached to their federal education aid, a goal conservatives have long dreamed of that now appears within reach as President Donald Trump moves to dismantle the Education Department. Iowa put itself forward as a test case this month when it asked the Education Department to combine 10 funding sources into a single grant. Oklahoma submitted a similar request Tuesday. As many as a dozen other GOP-led states are planning to submit their own requests, said Jim Blew, a former Education Department official from Trump’s first term.
WORDS: 1243 – MOVED: 03/25/2025 3:54 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:8290df0a19b3274d8cbf29ae77d81f8a&mediaType=text
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KANSAS – UPCOMING – NEWS
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US AIRCRAFT DOWN
DESCRIPTION: NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy is scheduled to testify Wednesday at an oversight hearing of the U.S. House Appropriations. The agency recently recommended a ban on some helicopter flights at an airport near Washington, D.C., saying the current setup “poses an intolerable risk” after a January collision between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people. . . Story on merits.
UPCOMING: By 03/26/2025 2:00 p.m. CDT, Video, Photo, Text, LiveVideo
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KANSAS – NEW AND DEVELOPING – NEWS
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US-XGR — VOTING RIGHTS-KANSAS
Kansas has among the shortest windows for voting by mail in the US. It will get shorter next year
SUMMARY: Kansas is shrinking what already was among the nation’s shortest windows for voting by mail. The Republican-supermajority Legislature on Tuesday overrode Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill eliminating the extra three days voters have after Election Day to return their mail ballots, starting in 2026. GOP lawmakers argued that problems with the U.S. Postal Service’s handling of ballots required the move. But critics called it voter suppression. Kansas election officials must wait until 20 days before an election to send voters mail ballots, and even with the three-day grace period, only Iowa and Colorado had shorter mail balloting periods. Now, only Kansas and Iowa will be at 20 days.
WORDS: 746 – MOVED: 03/25/2025 6:38 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:055b070d97c159ad5c1859686fba394f&mediaType=text
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US–TRUMP-EDUCATION-STATES
GOP-led states push for control of school aid as Trump promises a smaller federal role in education
SUMMARY: Governors in several Republican-led states are pressing the Trump administration to cut the strings attached to their federal education aid, a goal conservatives have long dreamed of that now appears within reach as President Donald Trump moves to dismantle the Education Department. Iowa put itself forward as a test case this month when it asked the Education Department to combine 10 funding sources into a single grant. Oklahoma submitted a similar request Tuesday. As many as a dozen other GOP-led states are planning to submit their own requests, said Jim Blew, a former Education Department official from Trump’s first term.
WORDS: 1243 – MOVED: 03/25/2025 3:54 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:8290df0a19b3274d8cbf29ae77d81f8a&mediaType=text
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MINNESOTA – UPCOMING – NEWS
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US SENATOR ARRESTED-MINNESOTA
DESCRIPTION: Attorneys will argue at a pretrial hearing Wednesday over whether a former Minnesota state senator state senator who’s charged with soliciting a minor should remain jailed over allegations that he tried to obstruct the FBI’s investigation from jail. By Steve Karnowski. On merits from 10:15 a.m. hearing.
UPCOMING: By 03/26/2025 1:00 p.m. CDT, Photo, Text
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MINNESOTA – UPCOMING – SPORTS
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FBN–VIKINGS-FREE AGENCY
DESCRIPTION: EAGAN, Minn. — Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah discusses the team’s aggressive path through free agency that resulted in overhauls for the offensive and defensive lines and banks on several players bouncing back from injuries that cut short their 2024 seasons with other clubs. By Pro Football Writer Dave Campbell. 500 words, photos.
UPCOMING: By 03/26/2025 4:00 p.m. CDT, Text
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NORTH DAKOTA – UPCOMING – NEWS
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US-FORMER-LEGISLATOR-INDICTED-NORTH-DAKOTA
DESCRIPTION: On merits: A once-powerful former North Dakota lawmaker is scheduled to be sentenced after pleading guilty last year to traveling to Europe with the intent to pay for sex with a minor. Former state senator Ray Holmberg was indicted in 2023. He served from 1976 to 2022 in the North Dakota Senate, where he chaired the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. He resigned in 2022 after his text messages with a man in jail in connection with child sexual abuse material came to light. Holmberg has been in jail since last fall.
UPCOMING: By 03/26/2025 12:01 a.m. CDT, Photo, Text
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OKLAHOMA – UPCOMING – NEWS
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SEWAGE SLUDGE
FORMATS: Video, Photo, Text, DigitalPlans
1. WITH: SEWAGE SLUDGE
2. DESCRIPTION: WELLSTON, Okla. — Opposition to the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer is growing across the country. While the practice has been happening for decades, there are increasing concerns about potential pollution of groundwater from toxic chemicals in wastewater. Now the battle over how to place guardrails on the practice is playing out in legislatures even in red states like Oklahoma. By Joshua A. Bickel and Sean Murphy.
3. UPCOMING: By 03/26/2025 8:30 a.m. CDT
4. WITH: SEWAGE SLUDGE-HOW IT’S MADE
5. DESCRIPTION: What goes down your toilet and drain can often end up on farm fields across the United States. Biosolids, or sewage sludge, are the solid byproducts of the wastewater treatment process. So how does this nutrient-rich residue come about? At most sewage treatment plants, the process starts when wastewater arrives and screens are used to filter out large debris such as toilet paper and trash. By Joshua A. Bickel.
6. UPCOMING: By 03/26/2025 8:30 a.m. CDT
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OKLAHOMA – NEW AND DEVELOPING – NEWS
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US–TRUMP-EDUCATION-STATES
GOP-led states push for control of school aid as Trump promises a smaller federal role in education
SUMMARY: Governors in several Republican-led states are pressing the Trump administration to cut the strings attached to their federal education aid, a goal conservatives have long dreamed of that now appears within reach as President Donald Trump moves to dismantle the Education Department. Iowa put itself forward as a test case this month when it asked the Education Department to combine 10 funding sources into a single grant. Oklahoma submitted a similar request Tuesday. As many as a dozen other GOP-led states are planning to submit their own requests, said Jim Blew, a former Education Department official from Trump’s first term.
WORDS: 1243 – MOVED: 03/25/2025 3:54 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:8290df0a19b3274d8cbf29ae77d81f8a&mediaType=text
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US–MEASLES OUTBREAK-EXPLAINER
Measles cases hit 370 total in Texas and New Mexico. Kansas has an outbreak. Here’s what to know
SUMMARY: Measles outbreaks in West Texas and New Mexico now have 370 cases in total. Two unvaccinated people have died from measles-related causes. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000. Measles cases have been reported in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington.
WORDS: 918 – MOVED: 03/25/2025 2:21 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:d5444b3397ac7c4034e63becc219aa33&mediaType=text
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SOUTH DAKOTA – NEW AND DEVELOPING – NEWS
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US–CONGRESS-REPUBLICANS-JUDGES
Republicans eye actions against the courts and judges as Trump rails against rulings
SUMMARY: Angry over the crush of court rulings against the Trump administration, Republicans in Congress are trying to slap back at the federal judiciary. They have proposals to limit the reach of its rulings, cut funding and even impeach judges. House GOP leaders say all options are under consideration as they rush to rein in judges who are halting President Donald Trump’s actions at a rapid pace. In many cases, the courts are questioning whether the firings of federal workers, freezing of federal funds and shuttering of long-running federal offices are unlawful. Democrats are vowing to protect an independent judiciary.
WORDS: 982 – MOVED: 03/25/2025 4:30 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:1019459fc9517231204b814fd6f36127&mediaType=text
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US–HUNTER BIDEN-BUSINESS PARTNER
President Trump pardons former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer
SUMMARY: President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned a former business partner of Hunter Biden who was convicted of participating in a conspiracy to defraud a Native American tribe. Archer later became a key figure in the congressional inquiry into the Biden family businesses, telling lawmakers behind closed doors that the younger Biden sold the “illusion of access” to his father. Before signing the pardon, Trump said Archer was treated “very unfairly.” Archer was convicted in 2018 in the scheme to defraud the tribe that involved the sale of bonds. His conviction was overturned later that year before the court of appeals in New York reinstated it in 2020.
WORDS: 347 – MOVED: 03/25/2025 3:27 p.m. CDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:5289ca2b9ba6ce7cc4a7dffb0d706088&mediaType=text
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