Your Ames Voice

Thursday, May 21, 2026

May 21, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

Happy Thursday!

I recently started watching The Last of Us and realized I'm a wimp when it comes to any sort of thriller, horror or adjacent genre. After just the first episode, I wasn’t able to sleep for most of the night. I was really thinking about what I would do in a zombie apocalypse — and honestly, I don’t think I’d last long.

Hopefully the apocalypse doesn’t happen in my lifetime — I think one pandemic is more than enough. 😀

On to the news! Today's top story has everything you need to know about Ames' new Resource Recovery and Recycling Center, including the history, the factors that’ve forced changes and the latest city council decisions, such as applying for a loan to pay for the new facility.

Elsewhere, Schainker Plaza will not open until the splash pad passes a state inspection and all construction problems are fixed. The Little Cyclones soccer teams also had a win and a draw at home recently. In Community Voices, we travel northeast of Ames to Wakefield Woods.

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Thank you for your continued support,

Amber Mohmand, News Editor
[email protected]

Top Story

Opened in 1975, Ames’ current waste plant helped make the city one of the first communities in the nation to adopt waste-to-energy technology. | Photo by Fiona Winn

From incineration to recovery: Ames transitions toward recycling

by Fiona Winn and Jack McClellan | Staff Reporters | Published on May 20, 2026

Ames is facing a tight deadline to completely change its half-century waste-to-energy program and city officials must make decisions quickly.

The city is in the process of shifting toward a recycling-centered approach to solid waste management. A new resource recovery and recycling center (R3C) will replace the current waste management facility.

Once finished, it will process solid waste, recyclable materials and yard waste, providing a modern and environmentally friendly system for managing the city’s waste.

The center, which will be located on the east side on Freel Drive, is expected to be completed in July 2027. The city’s current dump site in Boone County is running out of space, and Ames can only use it through June 2027.

Here’s how Ames reached this point — and what comes next for the city’s waste system.

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City of Ames

City Council

Schainker Plaza opening delayed again

by Bill Monroe | Staff Reporter

Ames residents will have to wait a little longer to splash around the new downtown plaza.

Civic Calendar

Tue: Mary Greeley Medical Center Board of Trustees, noon, Atrium, Mary Greeley

Tue: Board of Supervisors, 10 a.m., Administration Building (Nevada)

Tue: Ames City Council, 6 p.m., Council Chambers, Ames City Hall

Wed: Homelessness Action Plan Community Update, 1 p.m., Ames Public Library Auditorium

Wed: Neighborhood Connections Road Trip, 4 p.m., Moore Memorial Park

Wed: Zoning Board of Adjustment, 6 p.m., Council Chambers, Ames City Hall

Thu: Ames Human Relations Commission, 5:30 p.m., Room 235, Ames City Hall

Thu: Civil Service Commission, 8:15 a.m., Council Chambers, Ames City Hall

Iowa State University

Graduation

Photos: ISU students celebrate graduation milestone

by Jared Larson | Staff Reporter

Across five commencement ceremonies held May 14 to 16, a total of 4,121 undergraduate students, 528 master’s students, 128 Ph.D. candidates and 155 veterinary medicine candidates received degrees from Iowa State University.

Sports

Girls Soccer

Photos: Westort’s hat trick leads Ames to senior night win

by Davin Bakerink | Staff Reporter

The Little Cyclones rolled past Des Moines North on senior night, powered by a hat trick from Natalie Westort in Tuesday’s match at Ames High School.

Community Voices

Story County Conservation

The Outside Story: Wakefield Woods

by Jim Colbert | Contributor

Just northeast of Ames at the intersection of North Dayton Avenue and County Highway E29 — 2480 East 190th Street — is a small, 7.4-acre piece of Story County Conservation property that has more to offer than you might expect.