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Energy

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Marshalltown hit hard by derecho just two years after catastrophic tornado

Top: A rare sight, the Walmart parking lot sits empty in Marshalltown on Tuesday. Middle: Cars line Linn Street in Marshalltown, waiting to pump gas at one of the few open gas stations on Tuesday. A traffic director …

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Mediacom reports widespread service outages, cuts to fiber network

Mediacom reported approximately 340,000 customers were still affected Tuesday by service outages after Monday’s powerful storm. The company identified three major cuts to Mediacom’s fiber network in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Vinton, which will …

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Polk County power service should return by noon Saturday, MidAmerican Energy says

Polk County customers who do not have power restored by late Thursday from MidAmerican Energy should have it restored by noon Saturday, an update posted to the company’s Outage Watch page reports. Johnson and Scott counties, …

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Extent of agriculture damage from storms still unknown

What looked to be a promising year for crops across Iowa is now an entirely different picture. Gov. Kim Reynolds said 10 million crop acres were affected by the storms at a press conference this …

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Widespread power outage continues after Monday’s storm, cleanup begins in Central Iowa

A bright and sunny day is forecast today as Central Iowans face uncertain power and a long cleanup list after Monday’s fast-moving windstorm.

As of 7 a.m., Poweroutage.us reported 77,845 Polk County residents were still without power; …

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As drought deepens, Iowa farmers pray for rain to cut corn losses, add soybean yield

Des Moines Register: Part or all of 13 Iowa counties are in extreme drought territory, a national report indicated Thursday. All together, 23 counties in west-central Iowa, including Polk, Dallas and Madison in metro Des …

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Midland GIS Solutions acquired by SAM Cos.

Midland GIS Solutions, a large full-service geographic information systems firm serving the Midwest, has been acquired by SAM Cos., an Austin, Texas-based provider of geospatial and construction services, the companies announced. Based in Maryville, Mo., Midland has …

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Cheese, yogurt, ice cream: Iowa’s dairy goat industry churns its way to national ranking

Left: Paula Olson, owner of Swede Point Creamery near Madrid, prepares to release a goat from the milking machine. Right: A baby goat, born on July 4, walks around the milking barn at Swede Point …

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Practical Farmers of Iowa to host virtual Next Generation Summit

Practical Farmers of Iowa will host the third Next Generation Summit virtually Aug. 4-7, featuring three workshops designed to connect beginning farmers and landowners. Pre-registration is requested by Monday Aug. 3; event details and more …

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Alliant Energy sets goals for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, no coal by 2040

Cedar Rapids Gazette: Alliant Energy is seeking to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, along with the elimination of coal from its facilities by 2040, the company announced in its corporate responsibility report. It doesn’t necessarily …