Good morning Ames! If you had to get a new pet and name it after the last thing you ordered online, how unhinged would the name be? Mine would be mouthwash. Or TheraBreath if we’re getting specific.

In today’s scoop:

Lets get started.

— Chance

Your Blue Recycling Cart Is Coming

After months of coverage, planning, and city council meetings, the Ames curbside recycling program is officially becoming real. Blue carts started arriving Monday, June 1, and delivery runs through June 12.

The 96-gallon wheeled carts will show up based on your collection zone — Monday routes first, then sequentially through the rest of the city. Once yours arrives, actual recycling pickup starts the week of July 1 on an every-other-week schedule. The $7.75 monthly fee will show up on your city utility bill.

What goes in the blue cart: glass containers, mixed paper, cardboard, metal cans, and plastic containers with screw-top lids. Everything loose, no bags. The guidelines are stamped right on the cart lid so you don't have to memorize anything. (more)

Ames Is Tackling Homelessness

The approach isn't what you might expect. The city's Homelessness Outreach and Support Team, known as HOST, isn't focused on removal or enforcement. It's focused on relationships. Julie Saxton, the mental health advocate with the Ames Police Department, put it simply: they're just getting to know people.

Every Friday, the HOST team goes through every name in their registry of unhoused individuals to make sure each person is getting the personalized support they need. No one falls through the cracks on a technicality. It's a remarkably human approach to a problem that often gets reduced to policy debates and statistics.

The three-year plan is built on expanding emergency shelter capacity, creating a task force, and building the kind of community infrastructure that helps people find stable ground. Year one suggests the foundation is solid. (more)

Ames Is Growing

The Ames Regional Economic Alliance brought $581 million in new capital investments into the region in 2025, along with $33 million in outside funding. To put that in perspective — that's BioMADE's $40 million biomanufacturing facility at ISU, a brand new Danfoss childcare center, a 300,000 square foot JT Logistics warehouse east of Ames, and the $1.2 billion Daisy Brand dairy plant in nearby Boone all landing in a single year.

The Alliance also made 73 visits to existing local businesses, traveled to trade shows in San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Chicago to market the Ames area, and launched a new platform called Live Work Play in Ames that drew over 227,000 Facebook views in its first year.

The Ames City Council is expected to vote on renewing its contract with the Alliance in June. Based on 2025's results, it's a pretty easy yes.

The Ames Airport Is Getting a $27 Million Makeover

Great news and slightly inconvenient news, packaged together.

The Ames James Herman Banning Municipal Airport's main runway is getting a complete $27 million reconstruction beginning in late 2026. New pavement, lighting, drainage, and taxiway upgrades.

The catch: the runway will be fully closed from April through October 2027. Seven months. The project is significant enough that a temporary closure is unavoidable, but the end result should be a dramatically improved facility. (more)

🎸Severio Mancieri & Bleujack @ Alluvial Brewing - 7-9pm

Grown-Ups Gone Wild @ Reiman Gardens - Adults only for an evening: stroll the gardens, try your hand at some low-key collage crafting, and just exist without any agenda. A relaxing night out surrounded by nature and good company. 5:30 - 7:30pm (info)  

Crafting & Candy for Teens @ Public Library - Parents! Send your teens to the library and let them enjoy craft kits, candy, and zero parental supervision. 2-4pm (info)  

Jana’s Snack Shack & Toasted Cone @ The Parc - Jana's Snack Shack is serving up American comfort food and The Toasted Cone is handling dessert. Dinner and dessert in one stop without having to do the dishes. 6-8pm (info)

Boozy Book Fair @ Alluvial Brewing - Live music from Ben Schrag, a food truck, a DIY annotation bar, and enough books to keep you busy all Summer. It’s free and open to everyone, so grab a craft beer, grab a book, and call it a perfect.  6-9pm (info)  

Ames On The Half Shell: Midnight Radio @ Bandshell Park - Midnight Radio on stage, Nisha's Soul Food and Carlos Quesadillas handling dinner, and a cold drink waiting for you at the beer tent. Five bucks gets you in, and a little extra cash goes a long way for Food at First. 5-8pm (info) 

The Eggroll Ladies @ The Parc - Show up hungry and let the Asian cuisine do the rest. 6-8pm (info)  

🎸Fred Love & The Bakersfield Brawl @ Cornbred - 6pm

Dancenter Dancer Showcase @ Stephens Auditorium - Maureen McGrath's pre-professional youth dancers (ages 6 to 18) are taking the stage alongside alumni now working professionally across the country, and the result is going to be something really special. Free and open to the community! 4pm (info)  

🎸Jason Carter Band @ Alluvial Brewing - 7pm 

Ames Farmers Market - The Dixie Slicks providing live music and Joyful Colorz on site for face painting. Grab your groceries, let the kids get their faces done, and stay a little longer than you planned. 8am - 12:30pm 

Family Story Walk @ Anderson Sculpture Garden - Walk through with Sydney Marshall where you'll be hunting for hidden mathematical concepts woven right into the public sculptures. It's equal parts art tour and brain teaser. All ages welcome - for free. 10-11am (info)

Sunday Music @ Prairie Moon Winery - Vinyl Five playing live from 3-6PM. Grab your people, order a Grapefruit Sangria or a Brandy Cobbler, and settle in. 

Lucky Star Market @ Fareway - Over 40 artists, makers, vintage vendors, and food artisans are taking over theFareway lot. Free admission, live music from Foxpin and Will Z Hatchet, local food trucks, and free tote bags for the first 100 shoppers. 11am - 4pm (info)  

🎸Half Bunch @ London Underground - 7pm

🎸Weary Ramblers @ Roosevelt Park - 7-8:30pm

Thanks for reading this weeks scoop. If you found something useful, please share it with someone who treats the frozen yogurt toppings bar like a competitive sport.

See you next week.