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Changes in unemployment job process start today

News

January 10th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Workforce Development’s new unemployment process begins today (Monday). I-W-D deputy director, Ryan West, says a new focus on unemployment targets the importance of getting people back into the workforce. “Just a better opportunity to get folks into a career path that maybe they’ve already been in or a different one that they didn’t know they were eligible for,” he says. West says they’ve added 18 new career planners to help people when they file their first unemployment claim so they have direct assistance and guidance right away.

“Everybody’s story is different. You may have somebody who hasn’t been out of a job in 20 years. I may be somebody who has been out of a job a couple of times in the last year. You know, we try to teach each one with dignity and helping them and not having some of that fear — because there’s a lot that goes into it when you are out of work,” West says. The change also requires double what they call “reemployment activities” necessary to maintain unemployment claims.

“Going from two reemployment activities slash work searches per week to four. And we really lay out what those different definitions and opportunities are at our IowaWorforceDevelopment.gov website. You can go to that and it’s going to show you what those are. And we break them down,” according to West. West says they hope to make it faster and easier for people to find jobs. “You know it’s really a job seeker’s opportunity right now. What you may be eligible to qualify and get into career-wise now may not have been the case just 18 months ago based on where we are,” West says. “It’s a different time and we really want to help folks guide a lot quicker into the opportunities so that they don’t sit out there and start to linger and that starts to add up.”

West says there are thousands of jobs available in Iowa despite the low unemployment rate.

Posted in News |

Dsm Police investigation church bomb threat

News

January 10th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa — Police are investigating a bombing threat at a Des Moines church. KCCI reports a crisis line counselor on the east coast called Des Moines police saying they had been in an online conversation with a person who said they had placed multiple devices outside Burns United Methodist Church.The person told the counselor that they were planning to detonate the devices hours later. The pastor of the historically Black church decided to hold services online as a precaution. Des Moines police searched the church and did not find a threat.

Posted in News |

Red Oak woman arrested Sunday night

News

January 10th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

Red Oak Police, late Sunday night, arrested a woman for Driving While Suspended. 32-year-old Sara Ann Billie, of Red Oak, was taken into custody following a traffic stop at around 10:40-p.m. near Highway 34 and 4th Streets, in Red Oak. Billie was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on bond amounting to slightly more than $491.

Posted in News |

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the area: Monday, Jan. 10, 2022

Weather

January 10th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

Today: Partly cloudy. High 28. N @ 10.

Tonight: P/Cldy. Low 15. SE @ 10-15.

Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High 43. SW @ 10-20.

Wednesday: P/Cldy. High 45.

Thursday: Mo. Cldy. High near 40.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 25. Our Low was 5. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 33 and the Low was 25. The Record High on this date was 59 in 1928. The Record Low was -27 in 1982.

Posted in Weather |

(Updated) – Iowa officials say they won’t enforce federal vaccine mandate for large employers

News

January 10th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – State Labor Commissioner Rod Roberts made the announcement in a written statement late Friday. It came shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court heard legal arguments over the requirement that businesses with 100 or more employees ensure workers are vaccinated or regularly tested for Covid.

Roberts said after closely reviewing the federal mandate, the State of Iowa has decided not to adopt it. Governor Reynolds issued a statement late Friday, too, saying the vaccine mandate dictates health care decisions and eliminates personal choice. On Saturday, a top official in the U.S. Labor Department said the Biden Administration fully expects state OSHA officials to enforce the vaccine mandate to protect workers.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the mandate is expected soon, perhaps even this week.

Posted in News |

2022 Iowa legislative session starts TODAY

News

January 10th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The 2022 Iowa legislative session kicks off later this (Monday) morning at the Capitol in Des Moines. Republicans hold the majority of seats in the Iowa House and Senate, giving the G-O-P control of the policy agenda. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has made clear priority number one will be tax cuts, but she won’t reveal her policy proposals until tomorrow (Tuesday) night during the annual “Condition of the State” address.

“But you can look for a bold and historic agenda that includes among other things another round of tax cuts, a comprehensive workforce package and, of course, continued education reform,” Reynolds says. Speaker Pat Grassley, the top Republican in the House, says there are several issues related to parental involvement in education. “You’re seeing continued interest in parents having their voices heard,” Grassley says.

There’s no resolution yet, though, over the governor’s proposal to have the state give parents in a handful of districts state money to send their kids to a private school. The plan failed to advance in 2021 after a few House Republicans along with all the Democrats raised concerns. Grassley says tax conversations are going to be the most significant part of the 2022 session, as the state’s Taxpayer Relief Fund is overflowing. “With a billion dollars of overpayment from Iowa’s taxpayers, I think it’s imperative on the part of the legislature to make sure we’re getting that back in the hands of Iowans,” Grassley says.

Governor Reynolds says the long-term goal should be to eliminate the state income tax. House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, a Democrat from Windsor Heights, says COMPLETE elimination of the income tax would forever eliminate about half of the state’s total revenue. “If the income tax is eliminated, millionaires and billionaires would have a $325 million tax cut. I think they’ve had enough tax cuts, so I think it’s time to focus those tax cuts on Iowa’s working and middle class, people who’ve been left out before.”

Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls of Coralville says the state’s flush with cash because of federal pandemic relief. “The idea that we’re going to spend these one-time dollars on a permanent elimination of the income tax doesn’t make sense,” Wahls says. Democrats say some of the state’s billion dollar surplus should be used on other priorities, like shoring up public schools that face teacher shortages. Republicans say there will be money in the general state budget for education. And Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver of Ankeny says the surplus is expected to double to more than two billion dollar by this summer.

“We want to use that to reduce taxes and, again, focus on the individual income tax rate to get that as low and as competitive as we possibly can,” Whitver says. The Senate and House are scheduled to start at 10 a.m. today (Monday). Shortly after convening, Republican Dave Rowley of Spirit Lake will be sworn in as a member of the senate. He won a special election in Senate District 1 in December to replace a Republican senator who resigned and moved to Texas for a job there.

Posted in News |

Iowa wrestling steams past Purdue

Sports

January 9th, 2022 by admin

IOWA CITY, Iowa — A top-five victory by freshman Drake Ayala and string of bonus-point wins sent the top-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team past No. 15 Purdue, 36-4, on Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes scored bonus points in five matches and won nine-of-10 overall to extend their winning streak to 26 straight duals, the longest in the country.

After falling to a top 10 opponent in his Carver-Hawkeye Arena debut on Friday, Ayala responded Sunday with takedowns in the second and third periods, forcing a stall call and piling up more than three minutes of riding time in a 6-1 win over No. 5 Devin Schroder.

“I just kept looking at my coaches and they kept telling me to keep him down, so that’s I what I did,” Ayala said. “I’m learning a lot every day. I’m pretty young, so being in here, it’s a learning experience. It’s fun. I love it.”

UP NEXT

The top-ranked Hawkeyes travel to Evanston, Illinois to face No. 23 Northwestern on Friday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. (CT).

Posted in Sports |

Iowa women pick up road win at Nebraska

Sports

January 9th, 2022 by admin

The Iowa women’s basketball team pick up a road win at Nebraska 95-86 on Sunday afternoon. McKenna Warnock poured in 5 threes in the first half to help the Hawkeyes jump out to the lead.

Warnock finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Caitlin Clark recorded her 16th career double-double with 31 points and 12 assists.

Iowa heads to West Lafayette, Indiana, on Thursday, Jan. 13 to take on the Purdue Boilermakers. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (CT) on B1G+.

Posted in Sports |

CHESTER “Chet” HOLLAND, 93, of Atlantic (Svcs. 1/17/22)

Obituaries

January 9th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

CHESTER “Chet” HOLLAND, 93, of Atlantic, died Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, at the Heritage House in Atlantic. Funeral services for CHET HOLLAND will be at 11-a.m. Monday, Jan. 17th, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Atlantic. In recognition of his time in the U.S. Army, the Atlantic Color Guard will present military honors, at the conclusion of the funeral service at the church. Roland Funeral Service in Atlantic has the arrangements.

Visitation with the family present is from 1-until 3-p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16th, at the funeral home.; Condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com.

Burial is in the Atlantic Cemetery.

CHESTER “Chet” HOLLAND is survived by:

His children: Julie Holland, of Council Bluffs; Karen (Charles) Robb, of Lenexa,KS, & Jon Holland, of Ames.

and 3 grandchildren.

Posted in Obituaries |

Atlantic School Board meeting for Monday (1/10) is cancelled; Regular mtg. on Wed. unchanged

News

January 9th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) –  Last this past week we reported the Atlantic School Board planned to hold a special session to possibly enact a policy with regard to Covid-19 vaccinations for District staff, based on a Federal Mandate. Late this (Sunday) morning, school officials issued a statement canceling the special meeting, following a separate statement Friday night by the Iowa Division of Labor.
(Here is the IDL statement) – “Late on Friday night, the Iowa Division of Labor issued the following statement: 
“As a state plan state, the Iowa Division of Labor is charged with protecting the health and safety of those in the workplace and has the authority to enforce workplace safety and health standards for Iowa businesses.  Iowa doesn’t have a standard requiring the COVID-19 vaccine or testing.  But after closely reviewing the federal OSHA vaccine mandate, Iowa has determined it will not adopt the federal standard.  Iowa had concluded that it is not necessary because Iowa’s existing standards are at least as effective as the federal standard change.”
 
The Atlantic School District says “Because the state of Iowa will not adopt the federal standard mandating vaccines, we will be canceling our special board meeting scheduled tomorrow (Monday) at noon.  We will still hold our regular meeting on Wednesday starting at 5:30pm.”

Posted in News |