News vans are practically on every street in downtown Des Moines – at least for today. You don’t have to ask any Iowan why. All are well aware of the first-in-the-nation status after more than a year of candidates vying for our attention. Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s Caucus. 

• From the Des Moines Register: Iowa caucus saga reaches final chapter. Everything you need to know about how the candidate pool got here and what happens after the Caucus.
• The Des Moines metro expects a $11.3 million economic impact, WHO TV reports. The Greater Des Moines Partnership and Catch Des Moines leaders have been busy welcoming members of the national media with Des Moines swag.
• Democrats in Iowa are improving their performance in the urban centers that are driving most of the state’s population growth, while the party is simultaneously losing ground in the small towns and rural areas that are either stagnant or losing population, The Atlantic reports.
• The first-in-the-nation status is always under fire. Why Iowa, the Washington Post asks. The somewhat outlandish descriptions of Iowa from the national media are nothing new, of course. And in a humorous take, Todd Dorman writes in the Cedar Rapids Gazette: “Now, Iowans, who is going to point out gaps in our state’s almond milk supply chains, or marvel at all of our ‘unbuilt’ land and our terrifying rural roads? Who will gaze upon our expertly stacked straw bales? Who will praise or pan our breakfast pizzas or write that our great state fair ‘is everything that’s wrong with presidential politics.'”