(Iowa News Service) – A new report from the American Federation of Labor shows the pay gap between C-E-Os and their workers continues to widen. Iowa has among the biggest disparities in the nation. The A-F-L’s report shows companies’ production costs were down 3-percent in 2023, but consumer prices were up 3-percent. Iowa Federation of Labor President Charlie Wishman says company C-E-O profits are up 6-percent, even as more families struggle to keep up with a rising cost of living. Wishman says the gap between the C-E-O and an average worker at a Casey’s General Store in Iowa is among the highest in the nation.

Wishman says the Casey’s C-E-O-to-employee wage gap has grown from about 40 to 1 in the 1980s. Casey’s says it reviews its salary and bonus structure yearly to be sure they are competitive. Nationwide, the report says it would take more than five career lifetimes for a worker to earn what the average C-E-O is paid in one year.

The A-F-L report lists several examples of huge corporate profit increases, including a 66-percent hike in the former Starbucks C-E-O’s pay. Securities and Exchange Commission documents show Laxman Narasimhan’s compensation jumped from 8-point-8 million dollars in 2022 to 14-point-6 million in 2023. Wishman says for the average Iowan, numbers like these are hard to stomach.

In the Starbucks example, the A-F-L report shows the cost of a medium coffee at the chain has risen by 20-percent in some locations, and the company has doubled the number of points required to qualify for rewards despite its overall production costs going down.

(Radio Iowa) – The Board of Regents approved today (Tuesday) U-I Healthcare’s plans to buy Mission Cancer and Blood’s more than 20 community clinics across Iowa. During a special meeting, U-I Vice President of Medical Affairs Denise Jamieson told the board the deal will help improve access to treatment.

“Cancer rates in Iowa are the second highest in the nation, and they’re rising. And in the midst of this cancer crisis, access to cancer care across the state is insufficient to meet the needs of Iowans, and this is particularly true in rural Iowa,” Jamieson says. She says they thoroughly review the operation before moving ahead with the purchase proposal.

“Mission, Cancer and Blood is a thriving, financially sound medical group that provides access to cutting-edge cancer care, and they really excel at patient-centered care by building lifelong relationships with patients and providing personalized care,” she says. U-I Healthcare will pay 280 million dollars to purchase Mission’s assets. Jamieson says there are several positives to the purchase.

“It improves access to clinical care for patients in Iowa. Second, it expands access to community-based clinical research trials. Third, it improves access to innovative clinical therapies,” she says. Jamieson says the acquisition also gives them more opportunities for training medical students and is expected to be a draw for doctors.

“We believe that it will increase the likelihood that cancer physicians stay in Iowa to practice,” she says. Mission is headquartered in Des Moines and have facilities in central and western Iowa, which includes Ankeny, Pella, Oskaloosa, Fort Dodge, and Grinnell.

(Cedar Rapids, Iowa) – Members and spouses of Pymosa Lodge No 271 in Atlantic recently joined with Masons around Iowa at the 180^th Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Iowa in Cedar Rapids.

The annual communication is held at various venues around the state each year to vote on policy and by-law changes, election of officers and award ceremonies. This year Pymosa Lodge was awarded one of the Lodge of the Year awards for their continued support of Masonry in Iowa. Pymosa Lodge received its Charter at the Annual Communication on June 8, 1870 and have had continuous membership for 154 years.

Locally the Lodge holds two major fund raisers during the year; The St Patrick’s Day Stew Feed and the Scholarship Can Collection. The proceeds from these fund-raising activities goes to provide Scholarships for Atlantic and CAM Students. We also support the Atlantic Fire Department, the Atlantic Police department, the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce and Atlantic Rising to name few of the programs that donate time and money to.

Elections were held for the Grand Lodge officers who will represent the Masons across the state of Iowa this year. Elected to hold the office of Senior Grand Warden for the 2024-2025 term is Right Worshipful Brother Donnie Drennan.

Donnie Drennan (Center/right) – photo submitted

Worshipful Brother John Bricker, of Drennan Insurance, is the vice-chairman of the Lodge Service committee for the Grand Lodge. His duties include traveling the state promoting masonry and providing Masonic education to the local lodges and coordinating meetings of the Grand master and the Grand Secretary.

Those attending from Pymosa Lodge were: Mike Blevins, Worshipful Master, Donnie Drennan (Arlene) Secretary and John Bricker (Nikki) Marshal.

(Radio Iowa) – Tomorrow (Wednesday) will mark the third annual Shop Iowa Day, where some 750 small businesses in the state offer pre-holiday discounts on more than 8,000 thousand unique Iowa products through a single website.

Cherie Edilson is the CEO of Member Marketplace, which is managing the ShopIowa.com platform for the Iowa Economic Development Authority. She calls this an online celebration of Iowa’s small businesses.

“It is a sale through the ShopIowa.com platform where you can explore businesses from all 99 counties,” Edilson says. “We have boutique retailers. We’ve got food-based businesses, games, home decor, just tons of products from businesses right here in Iowa that are eager to get eyes on their businesses and get new sales ahead of the holiday shopping season.”

While the event coincides with one of the Amazon Prime Day sales, Edilson hopes Iowans will consider keeping it local instead by supporting their neighbors across town or across the state. Plus, there are day-long deals.

“We have a sale happening, 30% off sitewide, to be able to buy products from all corners of the state, add them to the cart with one checkout and buy and shop local Iowa businesses online,” Edilson says. “Several businesses are also putting their products on sale, so they’re doing additional discounts in addition to what Shop Iowa is offering for the day.”

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, around 67 cents of every dollar spent locally stays in the community, helping to strengthen local economies. About half of the merchants featured on ShopIowa.com also have brick-and-mortar stores in Iowa, and Edilson is sure they’d appreciate you shopping in-person as well.

“That’s part of the requirements from IEDA. They need to either be a retail business in Iowa or a handmade-in-Iowa small business,” Edilson says. “So you can discover businesses in your community that you’ve never been to before and go in and shop them in-person and discover what’s that business that you’ve driven by several times? And now you can discover their shop online and it gives you a reason to go in store next time as well.”

There’s also a place on the site where you can sign up for a chance at a $500 shopping spree.

(Radio Iowa) – The 14th annual climate statement from dozens of Iowa scientists suggests it’s never been easier for individuals to help reduce carbon emissions. Drake University Environmental Science professor David Courard-Hauri  is part of the Iowa Climate Educators group. “This year we wanted to address the question that we get asked more than any other, which is: ‘What can I do about climate change?'” he said.

The report from nearly 200 climate scientists at 32 Iowa colleges and universities cites rapidly improving technology that reduces carbon emissions as well as tax breaks for electric vehicles, solar power systems and more efficient appliances. “We want to be clear that the solution is bigger than individual action and we need leaders at all levels to enact policies if we want to avert even greater disasters than we’ve seen all around us this year,” Courard-Hauri said.

Emma Stapleton Thornell of the University of Iowa’s Department of Internal Medicine researches how exposure to air pollution impacts the lungs. She’s part of a campus-wide initiative to recognize teams of students, faculty and staff who come up with solutions to reduce the impact the climate has on human health.

“It’s been a great way to feel like you’re actually doing something about climate change,” she says, “and because of the scope of the problem that’s been delineated, you know, any step is a good one and an important first step.”

The group’s report notes 2023 was the hottest year since global temperatures measurements began and Iowa’s past winter was the second warmest in 152 years of record keeping and June brought historic flooding to areas of the state.