DES MOINES – The Iowa Finance Authority today announced the availability of new economic and housing data and forecasts. The information is available on the Iowa Profile, a centralized and interactive collection of demographic, economic and housing data. The Profile was commissioned by the Iowa Finance Authority and developed by Western Economic Services, LLC. Iowa Finance Authority Executive Director Debi Durham, says “The Iowa Profile will help to facilitate informed discussion about housing demand at both the local and statewide level. This invaluable resource will also enhance planning capacity and will provide an additional tool to assist local governments in their ongoing housing needs assessments at no cost to them.”

The Iowa Profile provides interactive and downloadable data on a statewide and county-level basis as well as for Iowa’s largest 28 cities, Councils of Government and Local Housing Trust Fund regions and offers the ability to create fully customizable regions.

Statewide Report Highlights:

• The state’s homeownership rate was 68.9 percent in 2018, which ranks Iowa 20^th in the nation and is higher than the national average of 64.4 percent. This rate has followed national trends and has declined since 2000 when it peaked at 75.2 percent.
• The most common housing problem for Iowans is being housing cost-burdened, with 23.4 percent of Iowa households falling into this category by having housing costs exceed 30 percent of their income. Renters were the most likely to be cost burdened, with 40 percent of renters in 2017 experiencing cost burdens.
• Overall Iowa households are projected to reach 1,381,133 by 2050, of which 165,041 are expected to have incomes between 0 and 30 percent of the Median Family Income.
• According to the 2017 survey of rental properties, which covered 80,592 units across the state, the statewide vacancy rate was five percent. The most common rent was between $500-$750.

The Iowa Profile is available at IowaFinanceAuthority.gov or directly at: Westernes.com/Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) — While there’s much buzz about the Farmers’ Almanac forecast which predicts Iowa’s winter ahead will be colder and snowier than normal, not everyone is convinced. Meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff, in the National Weather Service’s Johnston office, says for starters, there’s no solid indication that temperatures will be exceptionally frigid. “We’re looking at, for the state of Iowa, equal chances for above- or below-normal temperatures,” Hagenhoff says. “Right now, there’s no real signal that says either way, so it’s looking like we may have an average winter, as far as our temperatures go.”

While the Farmers’ Almanac predicts heavy snow for Iowa and the region, especially in late January, Hagenhoff says National Weather Service forecast models don’t show anything significant ahead. “There is a slight signal that we may see a little more precipitation than normal but again, that’s a really slight signal, nothing really firm with that,” Hagenhoff says. “Long-term forecasts can be tough because they’re so far in advance and there are so many large-scale patterns that can influence it.”

While the National Weather Service uses a series of computer models for its long-range forecasts, the Farmers’ Almanac relies on a formula created in 1818 based on things like tides, sunspots and the position of the planets. Still, Almanac officials say they’re accurate 80 to 85-percent of the time.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office has issued a report detailing 16 arrests. On Tuesday, 32-year old Danielle Jean Frazier, of Glenwood, was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault, and False report to a Public Entity. 18-year old Mariah Marie Pierson, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail on a Mills County warrant for Probation Violation. And, 29-year old Austin David Lundy, of Glenwood, was arrested at the Douglas County, Nebraska Jail, also on a warrant for Violation of Probation.

On Monday, 41-year old James Allen Stanley, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Mills County Jail, on an Assault charge. 34-year old Kenneth Ray Jewett, of Omaha, was arrested at the Pott. County Jail on a warrant for OWI/1st offense. Sunday, Mills County Deputies arrested 27-year old Erin Elaine Parsley, of Sioux City, (IA) for Driving While Revoked, and on a Woodbury County warrant for OWI/1st offense, and Assault. 48-year old Eric John Neater, of Lincoln, NE., was arrested Sunday for Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Fraudulent use of Registration, Operating a non-registered vehicle, Failure to provide proof of insurance, and for having no valid driver’s license.

Also arrested Sunday, was 29-year old Nicholas James Bonacci, of Omaha, on two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. 37-year old Kathy Kayleen Zimmerman, of Carter Lake, was arrested at the same scene, for Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. And, 24-year old Harold Arthur Hart, of Shenandoah, was arrested on a warrant for Theft in the 5th Degree.

Last Saturday, 34-year old Brenton Charles Gordon, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for Criminal Mischief in the 2nd Degree. 48-year old Robert Hugh Lacoco, of Fairfield, was arrested on a Jefferson County warrant for two counts of Probation Violation. 40-year old Clarissa Elizabeth Woodbury, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension. And, 33-year old Joshua John Bilek, of Omaha, was arrested for OWI/1st offense and Failure to maintain control.

Last Friday, 34-year old Jessica Jo Clymer, of Council Bluffs, was arrested in Mills County for Driving Under Suspension. And, 40-year old Kerri Anne Thomas, of Glenwood, was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) — A Mason City man is in jail after authorities allegedly find more than a pound of methamphetamine in a storage unit. The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Department says they executed a search warrant based on an ongoing investigation at two storage lockers at 630 6th Southwest in Mason City. Authorities allegedly found more than a pound of suspected meth with a street value of more than $20,000, as well as a large sum of money. 59-year-old Mark Hobbs was charged with possession of meth with the intent to deliver and failure to affix a drug tax stamp.

He’s currently being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail on $20,000 bond. Hobbs was arrested in April for allegedly stealing Ritchie Valens memorabilia during the Winter Dance Party in Clear Lake.

FAIRFIELD, Iowa (AP) — A former police officer accused of stealing painkillers from a southeastern Iowa veterinary clinic has been given five years of probation. Jefferson County District Court records say 31-year-old Ryan Mills was fined $1,000 and given a deferred judgment at his sentencing Friday. Under deferred judgments, convictions can to be removed from court records if the convicted fulfill their probation terms. Mills had pleaded guilty to burglary.

A criminal complaint says Mills was caught stealing 57 tablets of Tramadol from The Veterinary Clinic in Fairfield before business hours on Jan. 1. Later he admitted entering the clinic on several occasions to steal the opioids from a medicine cabinet. Tramadol is a controlled narcotic used to treat moderate to severe pain and is highly addictive.

Mills was a police officer in Fairfield.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a virus has killed hundreds of deer in south-central Iowa. The Iowa Natural Resources Department says the outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease is concentrated in and near Warren County. The disease is spread by female midges that feed on the dead animals. The disease causes high fever in deer. The cell membranes in their hearts, lungs and diaphragms weaken and burst. The department says the disease kills animals every year but not usually at the rate of this outbreak.

The disease outbreak remains active until rain disperses the deer, wind disperses the midges or a heavy frost kills them. Experts say epizootic hemorrhagic disease has not been shown to affect people.

(Radio Iowa) — The new edition of the Farmers’ Almanac predicts a freezing, frosty winter is ahead for Iowa and the rest of the Midwest. Sandi Duncan, the publication’s managing editor, says they’re calling for above-normal snowfall and below-normal temperatures.Duncan says, “We’re calling this winter a ‘polarcoaster’ winter because we think there’s going to be quite a few thrills and chills up and down the thermometer this winter.”

The Almanac is forecasting what it calls a “memorable” storm that will produce “hefty snows” for the region between January 20th and 23rd, followed by bitter cold as low as 40-below zero. “We’re looking at the coldest outbreak of the season to be at the end of January and the beginning of February,” Duncan says. “Overall, in your region we’re calling for a frigid and snowy winter.”  This past spring was lousy for many farmers in the region, with prolonged cold, wet weather and widespread flooding. The Almanac is predicting essentially a repeat for next spring. “We do see a very slow start to spring once again with chilly, wet conditions hanging on into April,” Duncan says. “The good news is, we also have a summer forecast, and we see scorching temperatures with not the greatest but near-normal precipitation. Hopefully, things will even out a little bit as summer continues to take hold in 2020.”

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service often put little stock in forecasts more than a few weeks out, but Duncan notes the Farmers’ Almanac has been predicting the weather for -longer- than the National Weather Service. The Almanac’s forecasts extend out from six to 16 months and they’re based on a formula established two centuries ago. “It was set on a bunch of rules that we’ve altered slightly but we still consider a lot of the rules that our founding editor in 1818, we still follow them,” Duncan says. “They are rules that talk about sunspot activity, tidal action, the Moon, the position of the planets. They apply them to different weather conditions and they’ve been doing a pretty good job for us.”

She says those who follow the publication’s long-range outlooks say they’re 80-to-85-percent accurate.

(Radio Iowa) — Former Governor Terry Branstad championed statewide standards that overrode local attempts to restrict where livestock confinements may be built, but his successor says she will NOT propose statewide standards for placement of wind turbines. The Madison County Board of Supervisors will hold a September 10th public hearing about a county-wide moratorium on construction of wind turbines.  “This is a local decision, so that’s exactly what they should be doing.”

Governor Kim Reynolds says permits for wind turbine towers are issued by local, not state officials. “This is something that local governments will be deciding,” Reynolds says. “They’re the ones that grant them and can make the decision not to.”

The Madison County Board of Health claims wind turbines can cause nausea and headaches for people who live in nearby homes. Wind industry officials say there are no scientific studies that make those conclusions. Reynolds says Madison County officials have the authority to follow through on rules barring wind turbines from within a mile-and-a-half of a home. “Right now, the way that it’s set up, it’s a local decision,” Reynolds says, “so that’s the current procedures, the statute that they’re operating under.”

After five Iowa counties passed local ordinances raising the minimum wage locally, Governor Terry Branstad signed a state law overriding those local decisions. Branstad also touted statewide curriculum standards for Iowa’s public schools.