Deere layoffs, a Jan. 6 lawsuit and a new-old bookstore

From the Mississippi to the Missouri, we will keep you in the know about all the Iowa happenings from the past seven days.

As the Iowa 2025 legislative session kicks off next week, there is no shortage of political news.

Here’s what to know about politics, business, culture and sports across the state this week.

Iowa Republican lawmakers say they’re not done finding ways to lower property taxes across the state.

Republican leadership in the House and Senate said they expect to further limit property tax collections by cities, counties, school districts and other entities during the upcoming legislative session.

Statehouse Republicans said rising property tax costs were a recurring concern brought up by voters ahead of the November 2024 general election. But lawmakers have yet to present a specific plan or proposals to the public.

Lawmakers reconvene Jan. 13 for the 2025 session.

Tom Barton from the Cedar Rapids Gazette has more here on the fate of property taxes ahead of the upcoming Iowa legislative session.

A Sioux City man who served prison time for entering the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington, D.C., is joining hundreds of others in a planned class-action lawsuit seeking $50 billion in damages from the federal government.

The lawsuit is seeking compensation for Jan. 6 defendants who, organizers say, were harmed by a “weaponized” justice system that oversaw the wrongful incarceration of hundreds of Donald Trump supporters protesting the 2020 election results and his loss to Joe Biden.

“I want a pardon, and I want (to be) compensated. I went to Leavenworth for picking up glass,” said Ken Rader, of Sioux City.

The Sioux City Journal’s Nick Hytrek has the full story here.

Deere & Co. will lay off another 75 employees at its Ottumwa Works in February. Workers were notified Monday of the layoffs, which take effect Feb. 7.

Monday was also the first day out of a job for 112 workers at John Deere Waterloo Works after layoffs were announced in December.

Beginning with a March announcement, Deere & Co. has staged a series of layoffs that have idled thousands of employees. Factoring in a layoff announced in October 2023, Deere has let go more than 3,100 workers companywide.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier has the full breakdown here.

The Source Book Store in downtown Davenport will continue its legacy in the Quad-Cities after a book-loving couple purchased it.

Former owner Dan Pekios tried to sell the store his family has owned since 1939 in 2020. That attempt was on contract, but the deal fell through, and Pekios came out of retirement to save the store in 2024.

But now, James Zbornik, 41, and Anne Brown, 44, own the store outright.

“I think there is a tremendous future in bookselling, used bookselling especially, because I think in the age of high technology, AI this and computer that and everything’s online and so on and so forth, I think people crave the tangible and the published word, the printed word is tangible,” Zbornik said.

Quad-City Times reporter Thomas Geyer has the full story here.

There are a number of themes in artist Oria Simonini’s new mural on the First Avenue trail, but family, culture and tradition are at the center of it all.

Spanning the backside of the Grass Wagon event space on 29th Street, Simonini’s “Inheritance” is one of two new murals that have gone up along the trail thanks to a partnership between the Iowa West Foundation and the City of Council Bluffs.

Upon being selected for the job, Simonini worked with First Avenue Ambassador Turner Morgan and Grass Wagon owners Travis Taylor and Barb Gomez-Taylor to come up with an idea for the mural.

The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil’s Joe Shearer has more on the mural here.

Iowa men’s basketball bounced back and overcame a 15-point deficit to beat Nebraska 97-87 in overtime on Tuesday night.

Payton Sandfort scored all of his 30 points in the second half and overtime to power the Hawkeyes (11-4, 2-2 Big Ten) come-from-behind win over the Huskers (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten).

“It was just getting back to being myself,” Sandfort said. “At halftime, I was pretty upset. I went in and acted like I was going to the bathroom. I just went back and read some Bible verses, read some notes to myself. Once I saw one go in, (I) just felt like myself again and I was kind of at peace.”

Sports reporter Ethan Petrik has the full rundown of the game here.

The “Caitlin Clark effect” has had a huge impact on nationwide viewership and attendance at Iowa basketball and WNBA games.

Last season’s NCAA championship game between the Hawkeyes and South Carolina was the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history, with 18.7 million viewers. Clark’s popularity translated to the pro ranks. Indiana played in front of sold-out arenas every game, with some teams — like the Washington Mystics and Los Angeles Sparks — moving their games against the Fever to larger venues.

However, in the Quad-Cities, high school girls basketball coaches are struggling to capture that enthusiasm.

The Quad-City Times has the full story here.

Over the last few weeks, Iowans celebrated the start of the new year and also mourned the loss of former President Jimmy Carter, who died at the age of 100 last month.

People from across the state remembered the 39th president from his multiple visits across Iowa, including time spent in the state during the caucuses.

Although he went on to be president, Carter came in second in the caucuses, garnering 27.6% while running a grassroots campaign.

This week, Quad-City Times reporter Sarah Watson spoke to Amy Chamberlin, whose parents volunteered for Carter’s campaign in the state and drove the former president across Iowa.

“We started to pack up the lunches and stuff. Next thing I know there’s some guy standing at my elbow asking, ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ I turn around and it’s Jimmy Carter,” Amy Chamberlin said. “… He didn’t look around or ask why aren’t these done yet. He stood with us elbow-to-elbow helping us pack lunches for the press guys on the plane. It had a huge impact on me.”

Read Iowans’ memories of Carter from Mason City, Muscatine, the Quad-Cities and Sioux City below.