(Radio Iowa) – The January labor numbers are in and they show unemployment dropped to three percent in the month compared to three-point-one percent for December. Iowa Workforce Development spokesman Jesse Dougherty says there’s another number that’s more important. “Even more significant to us was that the state surpassed the 68 percent labor force participation rate,” he says. The labor force is the number of people working and those who are actively looking for work. “That number, in particular, that participation rate number is one that the state has a really close eye on, you know, just as significant as the overall unemployment rate, because that’s actually telling us what that labor pool is looking like and where it’s moving,” Dougherty says.

The January numbers are just being released now because the Bureau of Labor Statistics first did its annual review of the previous year’s numbers. “From the previous year, we actually have around 17,000 more Iowans in the labor force than we were a year ago,” he says. Dougherty says the job picture continued to get better as the state recovered from the pandemic. “We actually had around 38,000 — just over 38,000 jobs added within the last year. And that’s also significant because of the labor force participation rising at the same time, meaning that we’re also seeing more Iowans entering the pool,” he says. “That’s good news for employers too, because when they see that number climbing, it means that their talent pool is also getting bigger.”

Dougherty says the growth has been widespread. “And within the job numbers itself –the good news from that front was that there wasn’t one particular industry that was dominating that growth — we saw a lot of different growth within industries. Leisure and hospitality, which has continued to be a large sector has continued to grow,” Dougherty says, “But this past month, we also saw construction, we saw manufacturing, we even saw a couple of industries such as education and health services, that struggled during the pandemic that are starting to pick up more. So that’s also an encouraging sign.”

Dougherty says the labor force participation rate before the pandemic was in the 69 to 70 percent range — so to see it surpass 68 percent is significant.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has finalized its state drought plan. D-N-R hydrology coordinator, Tim Hall, says the plan is a resource for state, county and local use. “We think it’ll give us a better opportunity to stay in front of drought conditions,” Hall says. The Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Iowa Agriculture Department helped develop the plan. Hall says the plan also draws from the longtime U-S Drought Monitor and provides a more localized version of that national program. “The drought plan also provides schedules and structure for having discussions and meetings and providing information to local decision makers during times of drought,” Hall says. “So we think it’s going to be a good tool to both prepare for and respond to drought conditions.”

State climatologist Justin Glisten is one of the primary contributors of Iowa information to the U-S Drought Monitor — and Hall says he’s helped develop the components of this state plan. “For example, in northwest Iowa stream level stream flows are very important for groundwater resources. So we’ve got the ability to look at statistical analysis of streamflow around the state to help us be better prepared for drought conditions,” he says. The plan divides the state into five regions, and will provide information on the drought status in each area. “Right now there are eight counties in northwest Iowa that are in our drought region one that we classify as being in drought watch. So it’s the lowest level of drought situation in the state,” Hall says. “So we do recognize that that corner of the state does still have some drought challenges.”

Hall says they will tweak the state drought plan as needed. “We’re going to spend the next this next year using the drought plan — and I suspect we’re going to learn quite a bit as we put it into practice,” he says. “We anticipate issuing a new version of the drought plan in about a year based on experience we get here in this first year.” You can see the full Iowa Drought Plan at the D-N-R’s website: iowadnr.gov.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests took place last week. Friday afternoon, 27-year-old Matthew Henry Paulsen, of Adair, was arrested on an Adair County Felony warrant for Violation of Probation. He was later released on a $5,000 bond.

And, at around 5-p.m. on March 8th, Greenfield Police arrested 34-year-old Shaun David Shelley, of Greenfield, following a traffic stop. Shelley was charged with OWI/2nd offense, Driving Under Suspension, and Carrying a weapon while intoxicated. Deputies recovered a loaded pistol with a round in the chamber, from between the driver’s and center seats, and a fully load .270 caliber rifle with a scope and a round in the chamber. He was also cited for speeding and Open Container as a driver over the age of 21. Shelley was cited and later released.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Board of Directors of the Atlantic Community School District will meet 6:40-p.m. Wednesday, March 15th, in the Atlantic High School Media Center, for the purpose of sharing Collective Bargaining proposals with the Atlantic Education Association. First up is a presentation an initial proposal from the Atlantic Education Association for the 2023-24 school year, followed by the initial contract proposal for the ’23-’24 school year from the Atlantic Board of Education.

The session can be viewed through the following YouTube link: https://youtube.com/live/KtsIqrJAoOo?feature=share

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds will soon sign a bill that would ban Iowa doctors from providing gender transition medication or procedures to minors. “Our legislature just passed blocking gender reassignment and puberty blockers, so that’s on its way to my desk, so thank you legislature for getting that done,” Reynolds said. Reynolds made her comments during an event in Davenport on Friday. The bill passed the Iowa House and Senate last week with Republican support.

All Democrats in the legislature and five Republicans in the House voted against it. A Des Moines Register Iowa Poll released this (Monday) morning has found 52 percent of the Iowans surveyed support the legislation.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s capitol city is among the hosts of the opening rounds of the N-C-double-A men’s basketball tournament this week. Catch Des Moines president and C-E-O Greg Edwards says the games Thursday and Saturday will feature eight of the nation’s top teams in college hoops.

This marks the third time Des Moines has hosted the March Madness games, which is a tremendous boost for the area’s restaurants, hotels and parking decks.

Since the tournament’s opening rounds have already been staged at the Iowa Events Center twice before, Edwards says he’s pretty confident they have all of the bugs worked out of the process.

This is the third time Des Moines has hosted the -opening- rounds of the tournament, and Edwards says it’s possible they’ll bid on hosting -regional- rounds in the future.

Could Des Moines host a Final Four? That would be a long shot, Edwards says, at least not until we have an N-F-L team here with an 80-thousand seat stadium. Iowa is sending six teams to the tournaments this year, both the men’s and women’s teams from Drake, Iowa State and Iowa, which is significant for a state our size.

Play opens at 1 P-M on Thursday with Howard versus Kansas, followed by Arkansas versus Illinois at 3:30 P-M, Colgate versus Texas at 6:25 P-M, and Penn State versus Texas A&M at 8:55 P-M.

(Griswold, Iowa) – Officials with the City of Griswold report a public information hearing will be held at the Griswold Community Building on April 11, 2023, from 10-a.m. until 1-p.m., and from 2-until 8-p.m. that same day, with regard to ADA compliant sidewalk improvements planned for existing sidewalks along Highways 92 and 48, in Griswold.

Construction is proposed for the Summer of 2024, and will require temporary easements. There is no cost to the property owner for the proposed improvements.

Information regard the proposed project, including a map, can be seen by viewing information from the Iowa Department of Transportation (found below). If you have any questions, please come to the meeting.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Red Oak Police say no injuries were reported, following a collision Saturday afternoon at the intersection of Highway 48 and Walnut Street. Authorities say the accident happened at around 1:25-p.m., when a 2004 Buick LeSabre was broadsided by a 2012 Nissan Versa. The collision occurred as the Buick, driven by 48-year-old David Fussell, of Red Oak, was driving east from a private parking lot, across Broadway Street. His car was hit by a Nissan traveling north on Broadway, and driven by 33-year-old Keaton Taylor, of Red Oak.

Fussell was cited for Failure to Yield. Damage from the collision amounted to $16,000 altogether. The Nissan was a total loss and was towed from the scene.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report two people were arrested on separate warrants, Saturday, and one person was arrested today (Monday). Authorities say 39-year-old Michael Ryan Meek, of Creston, was arrested at around 4:13-a.m. today (March 13), on a charge of Driving While Suspended. He was cited and released.

A little after 4-p.m. Saturday, Creston Police arrested 54-year-old Lisa Ann Hoffman, of Creston, on a Union County Warrant for Failure To Appear (FTA) on original charges of Domestic Abuse Assault/1st Offense, and Violation of Probation. Hoffman was taken to the Union County Jail and later transferred to the Adams County Jail. Hoffman is being held in Adams County Jail on $5000 cash only bond.

At around 4:45-p.m., Saturday, 38-year-old Eddie Wayne McHardie, of Kansas, was arrested in the 800 block of W. Taylor Street, in Creston. McHardie was arrested on two Union County warrants for: 1)Failure to serve jail time ordered on the original charge of OWI 2^nd an Aggravated Misdemeanor, and 2)FTA for hearing in a Juvenile matter. McHardie was taken to the Union County Jail where he is being held on $5000 cash only bond and has to serve remaining jail time.