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Survey: Iowa’s economy falters during April, as does Midwest economy

News

May 2nd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A monthly survey of supply managers and business leaders in Iowa and eight other states finds the economies in Iowa — and the Midwest — slowed during April. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the regional economy is still in the “healthy” category but dropped from being considered “very strong” in March. Goss says much of the blame goes to supply chain disruptions. “Four out of ten supply managers expect those supply chain disruptions to get worse,” Goss says. “Now, only one to five expect them to get better, and of course that leaves another four out of ten that expect those supply chain disruptions to remain the same.”

The prices consumers are paying for most goods remain high and the survey results indicate things likely won’t be improving anytime soon. “Inflation is still strong. That’s what we’ve seen and that’s what we’re going to continue to see,” Goss says. “The April number’s at 89.7. Again, these indices range from zero-to-100 and 89.7 is quite strong. I will call it excessive inflationary pressures, but it is down from March’s 95.5.”

Long-term interest rates will likely be going up a full percentage point, Goss predicts, which will have far-reaching ripple effects. “Of course, that’s going to slow the housing sector more than what we’re seeing right now,” Goss says. “The housing sector has been going gangbusters. These higher mortgage rates are going to slow that growth in prices and we’re going to see the housing market slow down a bit, but still in a positive range.”

The survey shows Iowa’s Business Conditions Index for April sank to 69.8 from 75.6 in March, again on a zero-to-100 scale. For the nine-state region, the overall index showed a “still healthy” 65.9 for April, down from March’s “very strong” rating of 71.3.

Red Oak man arrested for contempt of court

News

May 2nd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

Police in Red Oak, early this (Monday) afternoon, arrested a man on an active warrant for Contempt of Court. 42-year-old Michael Shane Webster, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 12:30-p.m. and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where he was being held without bond.

Adair County Sheriff’s report for 5/2/22

News

May 2nd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports five arrests took place over the past week. Saturday evening, 49-year-old Robert William Fears, of Fort Collins, Colorado, was arrested at the abandoned/locked Stuart Burger King store, after a door’s window glass was found to be broken, and Fears laying on the floor inside the building. Fears said he went inside to get out of the wind, but denied breaking the glass. He was taken into custody for Criminal Mischief/3rd Degree (Causing $800+ damage), Trespass causing damage, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana-1st offense. He was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $4,000 cash or surety bond.

At around 12:50-a.m., Saturday, 32-year-old Matthew David Swanson, of Orient, was arrested in Orient for OWI/1st offense. His breath-alcohol tested at .190%. Swanson was later released on a $1,000 bond. Friday night, 38-year-old Erich Sean Johnson, of Casey, was arrested in Adair, for Driving While Barred. He was later released on $2,000 bond. Friday evening, 50-year-old Allen John Sample, of Des Moines, was arrested at mile marker 86 of Interstate 80 in Adair County, after an Adair County Deputy initiated a traffic stop. Sample was arrested for OWI/1st offense and later released on a $1,000 bond.

And, on April 25th, 21-year old Madison LM Hayward, of Calais, Maine, was arrested by the Iowa State Patrol, following a traffic stop on a speeding BMW, in which she was a passenger.  The vehicle was stopped on I-80 EB at mile marker 76, for traveling 84 mph in a 70 mph zone. Hayward was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, Poss. of a Controlled Substance/Psilocybin mushrooms, and poss. of drug paraphernalia. She was later released on a $2,300 bond.

Iowa Gold Star Military Museum opens new “League of Wives” temporary Exhibit on May 5th

News

May 2nd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Johnston, Iowa) – The Iowa Gold Star Military Museum invites the public to attend the opening of a traveling exhibit on Thursday May 5, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. “The League of Wives: Vietnam’s POW/MIA Allies and Advocates” exhibit, sponsored by the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas, includes 18 illustrated panels and related artifacts tracing the story of the women who formed The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia. They became the POW and MIAs most fervent advocates, going to extraordinary lengths to facilitate their husbands’ freedom and to account for missing military men by relentlessly lobbying government leaders, conducting a media campaign, holding covert meetings with antiwar activists, attempting negotiations with the North Vietnamese, and encoding messages in letters to their imprisoned husbands. The exhibit will be available for viewing through 31 August 2022.

Iowa Gold Star Museum

Ms. Heath Hardage Lee is the opening event’s guest speaker. Her 2019 book, The League of Wives: The Untold Story of the Women Who Took on the U.S. Government to Bring Their Husbands Home from Vietnam, has been optioned for a feature film. Ms. Lee is also the curator of the exhibit. During her presentation, Ms. Lee will tell the story of these remarkable women drawing on first person interviews, diaries, letters, oral histories and archival government records to tell the story of courage, resilience, and rescue. She will provide a book signing opportunity at the conclusion of the program.

2022 Iowa’s Best Burger 2022 Iowa’s Best Burger Winner announced

News

May 2nd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Ames, Iowa) – Iowa has a new, number one burger. Officials with the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association said today (Monday), The Flying Elbow earned the title of “Iowa’s Best Burger, 2022.” The establishment is tucked in among other businesses on North 13th Street, in Marshalltown. Local business owners support one another by encouraging their customers to stop by a neighboring boutique, restaurant, and/or shop. And it’s clear – Iowa’s Best Burger Contest has not only increased foot traffic at The Flying Elbow, but the adjacent, small businesses. The Flying Elbow, an alternative sports bar, was six years in the making. It did not happen by chance; it is the result of pitfalls and perseverance. Now it’s been named Iowa’s Best Burger.

Garrett Goodman, a Marshalltown native, considers himself a foodie, or “a person with a particular interest in food,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Goodman’s passion for preparing food took off early in life, as he spent the weekends cooking alongside his step-dad, a chef. Similarly, his great-grandfather worked in the restaurant business. With no formal culinary training, Goodman can affirm, “You can learn a lot in the field just by doing.”

“In high school, both of my parents were working all of the time. So I was cooking for the family, helping out with my brother and sister,” Goodman said. “Then I got out of the house, and it turns out none of my roommates could cook. So I was cooking for three dudes all of the time.” Goodman spent the next decade in corporate information technology (IT) then one day decided it was time for a change. While he enjoyed the steady work, he no longer found it fulfilling. Goodman thought, “This isn’t my passion; this isn’t my dream.” His dream was to make people happy. “And the best way to do that is through their stomachs,” he thought. Goodman then entered the restaurant business. Not wanting to get in over his head, he started with a food truck.

“I found a food truck, and spring was coming,” Goodman recalls. “And then we ran into roadblocks.” Goodman’s dad passed away unexpectedly, pushing his opening date back to the fall of 2017. But, it ended up being worth the wait. Goodman’s business, featuring pro-wrestling themed hot dogs, picked up 1,000 Facebook likes and 100 five-star reviews in a matter of months. Business was booming. Goodman thought, “Maybe I have something here.” So he began his search for a brick and mortar, which he would find in December 2017.

The building, located at the corner of State and Center, formerly housed the Corner Tap. After months of renovations, Goodman once again opened for business. Eager customers waited in lines, stretching out the door. Then suddenly, business came to a screeching halt. In July 2018, a tornado swept through Marshalltown, destroying the restaurant. Goodman intended to rebuild. He wrote a business plan, purchased a building site, and worked on financing, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Two years later, Goodman stumbled upon the building The Flying Elbow is now located in, at 229 North 13th Street. The owner of the building, John Hermanson, had purchased the building with the intent of a restaurant with a deck/patio space and a partnership was born. Renovations kicked off in January of 2021 and in September 2021, The Flying Elbow opened its door to the public, serving hot dogs and other food items. The restaurant presents a flair of wrestling memorabilia, including classic merchandise, action figures and vintage wrestling matches. It offers “a little bit of something for everyone.”

“I didn’t want to be a niche establishment for adventurous foodies. I wanted to create a place that everybody could eat at. I’ve always had a little bit of something for everyone,” Goodman said. “(We’re) still doing hot dogs. We’ve added corn dogs and a few different things to the menu: loaded fries and grilled sandwiches.” In late January, Goodman felt compelled to do something “different, new and fun.” He offered the smashburger, a thin beef patty packed with flavor.  “I’ve always wanted to do smashburgers, so I came up with a plan to release a small menu. Within three days, I was smashing burgers,” Goodman said. “In that week, we did the same amount of sales that we did in all of January. We sold out in three days and the buzz started happening.”

Smashburgers found a spot on the regular menu, and have been flying off the grill. Goodman says, “We served 350 pounds of beef in that first week.” The restaurant has continued to serve large quantities of beef, averaging 350 pounds of beef a week. In February, the restaurant’s loyal customers, also referred to as Elbowmaniacs, helped The Flying Elbow secure a spot among the Top 10 restaurants in Iowa’s Best Burger Contest – less than six months after adding smashburgers to its menu.

The rest of the top 10 burgers can be found at: Lachele’s Fine Foods in Des Moines; Pally’s Bar and Grill in Clive; The Handlebar in Dallas Center; West Towne Pub in Ames; Arty’s Ice Cream & Grill in Wilton; Cattleman’s Steakhouse in Sac City; Flaming Office Bar and Grill in Toledo; Foodie Garage Eatery in Dubuque, and Victoria Station in Harlan.

US Marshals announce 40 arrested in Waterloo area in April

News

May 2nd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Marshals Service has announced 40 people in Black Hawk County have been arrested over the past four weeks in what the agency calls Operation Washout – Waterloo.
According to a news release from the U-S Marshals Service, the people who’ve been arrested are sex offenders, violent criminals and fugitives facing state, federal and local charges. Twenty-two of the 40 people arrested in Black Hawk County are accused of having connections to organized crime or gangs. The next phase of the operation will involve tracking a handful of fugitives who’ve recently fled the area according to a deputy U.S. Marshal.

Over the past four weeks, the U-S Marshals Service and 10 other law enforcement agencies from the local, state and federal level have been involved in the investigations and arrests in the Waterloo area.

April was cooler than normal, windy

News, Weather

May 2nd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Numbers from state climatologist Justin Glisan confirm spring jackets weren’t always the best option in April.  “We’re about five degrees below average looks like the top 15 coldest April on record in our records go back 150 years,” Glisan says. The state climatologist says he also got a lot of comments about how windy the days were in the just completed month.

“Now April is climatologically the windiest month of the year for Iowa — but really windy conditions — we had you know strings of days in which sustained winds were 20 to 25 miles per hour and gusting up into the 30s,” Glisan says. “So we look at the averages, the climatology of wind speed and direction. We had a significant wind direction out of the northwest but also a secondary southeasterly component to that. And those are driven by wetter days from the northwest and then warmer days from the southeast.”

Those wind conditions help create some stormy weather throughout April. Glisan says the positive from the storms is they brought more precipitation with them. “We look at April last year, we were an inch and a half below average. So relatively dry conditions last April,” according to Glisan. “We were only about four-tenths of an inch below average across the state. And we had pockets in central in north-central Iowa, where we had rainfall departures — positive so surpluses of anywhere from one to two inches.”

The statewide average for precipitation was three-point-two inches. Glisan says the early projections are for May to remain cool and damp. Check out the April weather data for Atlantic in a report on the Weather page at kjan.com (Located under the Community Hub column).

Shelby County Board of Supervisors meeting moved

News

May 2nd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Board of Supervisor’s meeting will be held in the City of Harlan’s Council Chambers, Tuesday, instead of at the courthouse. The meeting time is still 9-a.m.  Among the action items on their agenda is:

  • Appointing Zoning Board Members for Shelby County
  • A Resolution allocating ARPA Funds and declaration of LOST (Local Option Sales Tax) funds.
  • The appointment of a Deputy Sheriff for the 2022 Calendar year.

In other business, the Shelby County Supervisors will receive reports from the County Recorder, Shelby County Chamber of Commerce, and the Secondary Roads report.

Industrial wastewater reaches Boyer River in Denison

Ag/Outdoor, News

May 2nd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

DENISON— The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports a small amount of process wastewater reached the Boyer River in Denison, Sunday afternoon. Alarms rang about 2:45 p.m. at Smithfield Foods when a wastewater processor malfunctioned. Staff immediately closed a nearby storm drain. But an estimated 50 to 100 gallons had already flowed through the storm drain and into the Boyer River.

Smithfield staff continue cleanup efforts. DNR does not recommend recreation in the area until cleanup is complete. DNR will monitor cleanup and consider appropriate enforcement action.

Atlantic man arrested on warrants

News

May 2nd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a deputy took custody Friday of Atlantic man, who was wanted on valid warrants through the State of Iowa. 36-year-old David Michael Theisen was picked-up from Cass County (Iowa) Correction on an Absence from Custody charge, on an original charge of Driving While Barred. He was transported to the Pott. County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond.

A man from Council Bluffs was cited for Violating the Pott. County Burn Ban, Friday evening. 58-year-old Vincent Paul Tangeman told a deputy he thought that with all the rain he had received Thursday night, the burn ban was lifted. If fact, it wasn’t lifted until just this (Monday) morning.

And, an Omaha man being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail, was served with a valid arrest warrant out of Douglas County, Nebraska. The warrant was for being a Fugitive from Justice. 34-year-ol Paul Matthew Hughes was presented with the warrant, and then return to the custody of Pott. County Corrections staff.