By RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A state agency revoked the professional license of the leader of Iowa’s largest school district on Monday, days after federal agents arrested him on accusations that he was living and working in the country illegally.

The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners said in a letter to Des Moines public schools Superintendent Ian Roberts that he was ineligible to hold a license because “you no longer possess legal presence in the United States.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Roberts on Friday, saying that he was subject to a final removal order that a judge issued in May 2024. Roberts is a native of Guyana who entered the United States on a student visa in 1999, according to ICE. He’s being held at an Iowa jail.

ICE said that Roberts fled after a traffic stop in Des Moines, and that he was apprehended with the assistance of the Iowa State Patrol. The agency said that Roberts, 54, had possessed a loaded handgun in his district-issued vehicle, a hunting knife and $3,000 cash when arrested.

Des Moines school officials said they had known nothing about Roberts being in the country illegally, and that he had signed a form verifying his eligibility to work when he was hired in 2023.

The district said Roberts had been identified as a candidate for the job by a search firm and that a “comprehensive background check” was completed as part of the process. The state board that granted Roberts a license to serve as superintendent said that process included background checks by the state police and FBI.

His arrest shocked a district where he was known as a frequent presence at community events and a champion of students during his two-year tenure. Roberts had been in education for the last two decades, and had served as a superintendent in Pennsylvania before his hiring in Iowa.

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The Des Moines school board put Roberts on paid administrative leave during a brief special meeting Saturday. The board said it would hold another meeting Monday afternoon to consider changing Roberts’ leave status to unpaid, citing the revocation of his license.

“New information and confirmed facts will continue to inform our decisions as we develop a path forward,” said Jackie Norris, chair of the Des Moines Public Schools Board. “Two things can be true at the same time — Dr. Roberts was an effective and well-respected leader and there are serious questions related to his citizenship and ability to legally perform his duties as superintendent.”

ICE said that it had asked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate how Roberts obtained a handgun. People in the country illegally are ineligible to possess firearms. Roberts had a history of gun ownership, however, and had been cited in 2021 in Pennsylvania and fined $100 for storing a loaded hunting rifle in his vehicle.

ICE has said that Roberts also had a separate, pending weapons charge dating to February 2020, but has not provided further details about the incident.

The Wild had a day off from training camp on Monday but did a little business, placing center Ben Jones and defensemen Matt Kiersted and Benjamin Gleason on waivers. If they clear, they’re expected to report to Des Moines for the Iowa Wild camp.

The training camp roster is down to 39.

The Wild have two more exhibition games, Tuesday versus Winnipeg and Friday a Chicago, before attention is turned to the season opener Oct. 9 at St. Louis.

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By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday it will open 13 million acres of federal lands for coal mining and provide $625 million to recommission or modernize coal-fired power plants as President Donald Trump continues his efforts to reverse the year-long decline in the U.S. coal industry.

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Actions by the Energy and Interior departments and the Environmental Protection Agency follow executive orders Trump issued in April to revive coal, a reliable but polluting energy source that’s long been shrinking amid environmental regulations and competition from cheaper natural gas.

Environmental groups denounced announcement, which come as the Trump administration has clamped down on renewable energy, including freezing permits for offshore wind projects, ending clean energy tax credits and blocking wind and solar projects on federal lands.

Under Trump’s orders, the Energy Department has required fossil-fueled power plants in Michigan and Pennsylvania to keep operating past their retirement dates to meet rising U.S. power demand amid growth in data centers, artificial intelligence and electric cars. The latest announcement would allow those efforts to expand as a precaution against possible electricity shortfalls.

Trump also has directed federal agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining and prioritize coal leasing on U.S. lands. A sweeping tax bill approved by Republicans and signed by Trump reduces royalty rates for coal mining from 12.5% to 7%, a significant decrease that officials said will help ensure U.S. coal producers can compete in global markets.

‘Mine baby, mine’

The new law also mandates increased availability for coal mining on federal lands and streamlines federal reviews of coal leases.

“Everybody likes to say, ‘drill baby, drill.’ I know that President Trump has another initiative for us, which is ‘mine baby, mine,’” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said at a news conference Monday at Interior headquarters. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Energy Undersecretary Wells Griffith also spoke at the event. All three agencies signed orders boosting coal.

“By reducing the royalty rate for coal, increasing coal acres available for leasing and unlocking critical minerals from mine waste, we are strengthening our economy, protecting national security and ensuring that communities from Montana to Alabama benefit from good-paying jobs,” Burgum said.

Zeldin called coal a reliable energy source that has supported American communities and economic growth for generations.

“Americans are suffering because the past administration attempted to apply heavy-handed regulations to coal and other forms of energy it deemed unfavorable,” he said.

Trump has clamped down on renewable energy

Environmental groups said Trump was wasting federal tax dollars by handing them to owners of the oldest, most expensive and dirtiest source of electricity.

“Subsidizing coal means propping up dirty, uncompetitive plants from last century – and saddling families with their high costs and pollution, said Ted Kelly, clean energy director for the Environmental Defense Fund. “We need modern, affordable clean energy solutions to power a modern economy, but the Trump administration wants to drag us back to a 1950s electric grid.”

Solar, wind and battery storage are the cheapest and fastest ways to bring new power to the grid, Kelly and other advocates said. “It makes no sense to cut off your best, most affordable options while doubling down on the most expensive ones,” Kelly said.

The EPA said Monday it will open a 60-day public comment period on potential changes to a regional haze rule that has helped reduce pollution-fueled haze hanging over national parks, wilderness areas and tribal reservations. Zeldin announced in March that the haze rule would be among dozens of landmark environmental regulations that he plans to roll back or eliminate, including a 2009 finding that climate change harms human health and the environment.

Coal production has dropped steeply

Burgum, who also chairs Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council, said the actions announced Monday, along with the tax law and previous presidential and secretarial orders, will ensure “abundant, affordable energy while reducing reliance on foreign sources of coal and minerals.”

The Republican president has long promised to boost what he calls “beautiful” coal to fire power plants and for other uses, but the industry has been in decline for decades.

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Coal once provided more than half of U.S. electricity production, but its share dropped to about 15% in 2024, down from about 45% as recently as 2010. Natural gas provides about 43% of U.S. electricity, with the remainder from nuclear energy and renewables such as wind, solar and hydropower.

Energy experts say any bump for coal under Trump is likely to be temporary because natural gas is cheaper, and there’s a durable market for renewable energy such as wind and solar power no matter who holds the White House.

Associated Press writer Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin contributed to this story.

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Violence surrounding youth-led anti-government protests in the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar over the past several days has killed at least 22 people, the United Nations’ human rights office said Monday.

The U.N. agency blamed a “violent response” by security forces for some of the deaths in the unrest that started Thursday over water and power cuts.

More than 100 people have been injured in the protests that have mirrored the Gen Z-led anti-government demonstrations seen recently in Nepal and Kenya.

Protesters and bystanders were killed by security forces in Madagascar, but some of the deaths also came in violence and looting by gangs not associated with the protesters, the U.N. rights office said in a statement.

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