(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass EMS along with Atlantic Fire and Rescue were dispatched early this (Thursday) afternoon, to the scene of a single-vehicle accident, southwest of Atlantic. The incident occurred just north of Lansing Road on Highway 6. The page went out at 12:46-p.m.  According to scanner traffic from Cass County Communications, two elderly people were said to be in the vehicle, one with lacerations to their face. The vehicle was reportedly in the east ditch.

Additional details are currently not available.

(Radio Iowa) – A trade group that represents the oil industry is calling on Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and seven other governors to drop their push to get gas with 15% ethanol available in the Midwest all year long. Patrick Kelly is with the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, which used to be known as the National Petroleum Association. He says fewer than five percent of U.S. gas stations are able to sell E15 today. “Retail stations must ensure that all of their underground infrastructure including tanks, seals, pumps, vapor and liquid lines are all compatible with E15,” he says.

Making those adjustments will be expensive for gas stations, according to Kelly. Susan Grissom, the group’s vice president, says some oil refineries would face costs, too, if E15 is to be sold in the Midwest all year. “They would need to make capital investments at a cost of $50-75 million per facility,” she says. “Such projects typically take two years to complete and that’s if permitting goes smoothly.”

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and a bipartisan group of governors have asked the EPA to grant a waiver, so E15 can be sold through the summer months in eight Midwestern states.
Reynolds and the other governors said E15 is a lower cost alternative for consumers and keeping gasoline with a higher blend of ethanol on available year round would address some potential fuel shortages caused by the war in Ukraine.

(Radio Iowa) – A pilot program that will study the effect of providing a monthly basic income on reducing poverty will make its first payments next month to a group of central Iowa residents. The project called UpLift will give 110 people in Polk, Dallas and Warren counties 500 dollars each month for the next two years. Project coordinator Michael Berger says there are no restrictions on how the money can be used as financial emergencies are unpredictable. “So that’s why our approach to it and our perspective is, okay, if you give people the money to meet their needs and then let them determine how best to meet those needs, what is the result and outcomes of that approach?,” Berger says.

Des Moines University is leading the study, and their public health chair, Rachelle Reimer says they will be conducting surveys every six months with participants and will also follow a control group of residents who don’t receive the money. “These community members are living in very complex systems and it’s hard to isolate the impact of one thing, and so the only way we can really know for certain the impact of this unrestricted basic income is to compare it with another group of similar individuals,” Reimer says.

The UpLift participants were randomly selected from six-thousand applicants for the program. Payments begin going out on May 15th. The funding for the program comes from federal pandemic relief money, as well as local private and nonprofit foundations.

(West Des Moines, Iowa) –  The Iowa housing market took small steps in the positive direction in March. Officials with the Iowa Association of Realtors (IAR) say while listings and sales continue to fall below metrics from last year, they are consistently climbing month-to-month in 2023, showcasing the strength of the early spring market across the state. Krista Clark, IAR president, said “Each metric in Iowa’s housing market for March showed an improvement upon the previous month, proving our optimism in the spring market was well warranted. Although interest rates have continued to tick up, putting pressure on sales prices, we expect homeowners to see the thawing of the Iowa market as a sign to list their homes, creating a more balanced market in terms of inventory.”

Sales and listings for single-family homes in Iowa once again saw a decrease in March compared to the prior year. However, the measures provide a slight upswing in month-over-month housing markets, bringing promise that later spring and summer months will see a plentiful housing market.   March saw 3,410 new single-family listings, the Iowa market saw a decrease of 14.9% compared to the same month in 2022 when 4,009 homes listed. Those figures are a stark contrast to the month-over-month progress, as Iowa’s market saw a 47.6% increase from February’s 2,310 homes sold.

The story was the same year-over-year for Iowa’s home sales. Sales dropped 15.7% in March with just 2,543 homes sold compared to the 3,017 sold in March 2022. Again, the monthly stats are a stark contrast, as home sales increased 54.4% from those sold last month. Year-to-date, closed sales of single-family homes remained down 22%, with 5,891 sales closed compared to the 7,588 during the same three month period of time in 2022. The pending sales of 2,892 homes represents a 17.5% decrease year-over-year, but a 32% increase from the 2,175 homes sold last month.

The days on the market remained the same month-over-month at 52 days in March, but represented an increase from the 42 days homes remained on the market in March of last year. Median sales prices increased 5% year-over-year to $210,000.

The sales and listing of townhomes and condos in Iowa continue to follow the trajectory of single-family homes with nearly all markets continuing to represent decreases year-over-year.  New listings decreased 11.5% with 587 properties listed, compared to the 665 on the market one year ago. February’s market also represents a decrease of 6.7% month-over-month. Much like single-family homes, March’s listing of townhomes and condos represented an increase – 36% – compared to last month’s 430 listed properties.

The 367 townhomes and condos that sold in March represent a 17.9% decline compared to those sold one year ago. The sales did represent an increase when monthly stats are explored, with about 123 more homes sold since February 2023.  While pending sales of townhomes and condos had remained mostly the same year-over-year in recent months, they took a bit of a dive in March. The 427 pending sales for the month represent a 24.4% decrease year-over-year. The opposite was true for monthly statistics, with 24.1% more pending sales taking place since February.

Days on the market increased significantly for townhomes and condos. On average, the properties were listed for 62 days, an increase of 24% compared to the 50 days on market last year. Median sales price once again increased, this time by 9.1% year-over-year to an average of $240,000. The information used to create the IAR March Housing Trends Report was current as of April 17. The information is subject to change due to the dynamic nature of the IAR’s housing statistics system, which is based on data from the local participating MLS (multiple listing service) systems.

(Radio Iowa) – The budget for the governor’s office is getting a half a million dollar boost under a bill Senate Republicans have approved. A spokesman for Governor Reynolds says it pulls Iowa closer to the office budgets for governors in states like Utah that have similar populations. Democrats in the Senate objected and asked Republican Senator Tim Kraayenbrink of Fort Dodge — chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee — what the money was for.

“We asked the same question of the governor,” Kraayenbrink said, “but I’m not positive what the answer was coming out of that.” Senator Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines, asked Kraayenbrink if the money would be used to provide bonuses or raise the salaries for the governor’s staff. “Do you believe that might be what that money will be used for?” Petersen asked. Kraayenbrink responded: “I’m pretty sure that is not what this is for.”

After Senators debated the bill, a spokesman for Governor Reynolds said the 500-thousand dollars will help recruit and retain the talent necessary to support the significant work Iowans expect the Governor to lead.