Less than two months after a long-term Union County employer announced it would be eliminating 250 jobs in Creston, there’s word another plant is closing. According to the Creston News Advertiser, CHS, Incorporated is closing Jan. 30th, 2018. The plant in Creston processes food ingredients. In a letter to the employees this (Friday) morning said the closure would be permanent. There was no immediate word on how many people were losing their jobs.  According to the CHS, Inc. website, the company is a farmer-owned cooperative, a Fortune 100 company that operates in more than 450 communities in 16 states and Canada.

In October, an Illinois-based company announced production at the Ferrara Candy Company in Creston, would be closing later this month, after more then 30-years in business. It’s 256 workers were offered “Severance and transition assistance.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — New construction activity on the Iowa side of the Missouri River may benefit an eastern Nebraska city. The Omaha World-Herald reports that work will begin Friday on a mixed-use campus in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The River’s Edge development is a part of a spike in construction across the river from Omaha, Nebraska.

Co-developers Noddle Cos. and the Iowa West Foundation expect the riverfront development to attract $170 million in investment along the river’s eastern side. A Noddle Cos. official says River’s Edge could also spark development across the river in Omaha and strengthen ties between businesses and communities on either side of the river.

The Riverfront Revitalization Planning Committee is continuing to plan for ways to improve the riverfront corridor. The group includes representatives from both Omaha and Council Bluffs.

Four civil rights groups in Iowa are asking the Iowa Supreme Court to make traffic stops by police for minor violations that often lead to more serious charges unconstitutional. A-C-L-U of Iowa executive director, Mark Stringer, says they are known as “pretextual stops.” “It could be driving three miles an hour over the speed limit — which isn’t something people are typically pulled over for — a broken taillight,” Stringer says.

Stops are often made if the license plate light on a car or truck is out. Stringer says there is evidence the stops are wrongly targeting certain groups.”We’re concerned about what happens when people are pulled over on a pretext, it tends to lead to disproportionate traffic stops for people of color in particular,” Stringer says.  He says they are telling the Iowa Supreme Court these type of stops drive racial profiling and put people of color at risk of police violence.”We filed an Amicus Brief along with to declare pretextual traffic stops unconstitutional,” Stringer explains.

The groups cites as an example a pretextual stop for a burnt-out license plate light in Cedar Rapids in November 2016 that led to Jerime Mitchell being shot in the neck by the police officer and paralyzed. The group says the dashcam video appears to show a legally lit license plate. Stringer says there is no statewide data kept on pretextual traffic stops, but they have compiled information in some counties. “In Linn County for example, African Americans are 25 percent more likely than white people to be cited rather than warned when stopped for a traffic violation. Scott County data shows that African Americans are more than three times more likely to be stopped for traffic violations than white drivers, and almost twice as likely to be arrested after the stop,” according to Stringer. “So, it’s not only that people of color tend to be stopped more — they tend to be cited and or arrested more.”

The effort to ban these stops comes as a “friend of the court” brief in a case from Waterloo where a black woman was arrested after a stop where the officer said one of two license plate lights was out and because she went through an intersection during a yellow light. The woman argues that video shows the license plate was still legally visible. The data cited in the brief says Waterloo had the worst disparities in the traffic stop data. The information from the Waterloo Police Department show that nearly 38 percent of traffic stops were black drivers, while they make up 15 percent of the population. It also showed black drivers were also substantially more likely to be arrested and searched and substantially less likely to be merely warned than white drivers. The Iowa N-double-A-C-P, the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa, and one-thousand Kids for Iowa joined the A-C-L-U in filing the brief.

(Radio Iowa)

Republican Iowa Senator Tom Shipley, from Nodaway, was in Atlantic Thursday, to join Republican Governor Kim Reynolds and others for a tour of the Whitney building, which is being renovated into living and business spaces. Shipley said “It’s really going to be a first-class facility,” thanks to public and private sector investments. He said “To its credit.. Iowa is very easy to work with,” where tax credits for that type of projects is concerned. “The Federal Government,” conversely he says, is not so user friendly to work with. The Iowa system worked very very well, these tax credits get a lot of attention..they will get a lot of attention throughout the next session.” He says they will continue to be used for that purpose when other means can’t get the job done.

Shipley said there’s been some rumblings out of Washington to get rid of the Historical Tax credits, and something needs to be done to put those funds under State control. He says there would be more dollars for States to work with if the Feds stepped out of the picture, because the administrative costs would be cut. Shipley says during the upcoming session, the Legislature will take a close look at water quality issues. Other matters include the SAVE dollars for school districts in Iowa.

He says they’re also looking at the Senate’s version of the Tax Reform Bill, but that hinges on what action is taken in Washington, D.C. He says the current system is too complex and burdensome. It will also depend on a report due out the middle of this month from the Revenue Estimating Committee.

Shipley serves District 11, which includes Pottawattamie, most of Cass, Adams, and Union Counties. He was first elected to the Iowa Legislature in 2014, and has announced he is running for his second term in office.

Glenwood Police, Thursday conducted two arrests. 51-year old Sherry Harvey, of Glenwood, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault. She was being held without bond until seen by a magistrate judge. And, 33-year old Jessica Whetsel, of Glenwood, was arrested on a Mills County warrant for Theft. She was being held on a $300 cash only bond

The Iowa Insurance Division issued consent orders with Mutual Med Insurance Services, LLC (Mutual Med), Todd C. Vershaw of Long Grove, Iowa, and Kevin J. Carr of Burlington, Iowa that will return $165,000 to 33 public entities in Iowa.  The investigation centered on public entities that have been associated with the Iowa Governmental Health Care Plan (IGHCP).  Mutual Med, Vershaw, and Carr denied the findings of facts and conclusions of law contained in the consent orders.

The controversy arose from the Iowa Insurance Division’s allegation that, beginning in 2005, Two Rivers Insurance Company, Inc., which was Mutual Med’s subagent, used the actual premium amount from the insurance company and then recalculated a “premium,” which also included additional Two Rivers’ compensation and failed to disclose to the IGHCP members the amount of this added compensation.  Mutual Med took no affirmative steps to ensure that the added compensation was disclosed to the IGHCP members.

Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen said “Mutual Med was responsible for overseeing the activities of their subagent.  Companies cannot turn a blind eye to the acts of those for whom they are responsible and we will continue to hold all parties accountable for their action or inaction. In Iowa, premium is determined by insurance companies and reported to this office.  Any compensation apart from premium, any partial self-funding charges or any other producer or administrator fees or charges must be clearly disclosed so that these amounts and their purpose can be understood by insurance purchasers.”

The $165,000 will be distributed equally among the IGHCP government entities that choose to participate. In addition, the consent orders address other violations of insurance law unrelated to IGHCP.  Vershaw and Carr each had their insurance producer license suspended for 30 days and were assessed a monetary penalty of $7,500 each.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) — A man who was married to a southeast Iowa woman who went missing in 2000 has been arrested and charged with killing her. The Iowa Public Safety Department says 52-year-old Michael Lee Syperda was taken into custody Thursday in the Glenwood Springs area of Colorado. A Henry County grand jury indicted him Wednesday on a charge of first-degree murder.Authorities intend to have him extradited to Iowa. Department agent Ryan Kedley declined to say what led to the arrest after so many years. Elizabeth Syperda was last seen July 16, 2000, in Mount Pleasant. Family and friends think she may have gone walking to meet Michael Syperda, who lived nearby. The two were estranged at the time.

A Pottawattamie County man was arrested Thursday night following an incident in Avoca, involving his girlfriend. Pott. County Sheriff’s officials say 35-year old Andrew Paul Nelson, of Avoca, was arrested for Domestic Assault with Injury. Deputies had been called to his residence after his 28-year old girlfriend reported she had allegedly been assaulted. The woman suffered minor injuries. Deputies arriving on the scene were told the suspect (Nelson) had left. He later called them to discuss the matter, and was placed under arrest at around 10:30-p.m.

And, a Pottawattamie County man told a Deputy who stopped him Thursday morning, that he knew he was going to be arrested. 27-year old Nicholas Paul Gilmore, of Council Bluffs, also asked the Deputy to call his dad as well as his boss. Gilmore, who was also on Probation, was instead allowed to call his dad on his own cell at the scene, before he was taken into custody. The traffic stop occurred just before 10-a.m., after the Deputy, who was traveling in the opposite direct to Gilmore’s vehicle, did a random check of the front license plate. Records show the Gilmore was the registered owner/driver of the car, and that the driver’s license had been barred in the State of Iowa.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 200,000 people enrolled in Iowa’s privatized Medicaid program have been formally switched to new coverage following the abrupt exit of an insurance company. UnitedHealthcare took over coverage Friday for affected patients, after AmeriHealth Caritas effectively withdrew Thursday from Iowa’s health care system for the poor and disabled. AmeriHealth Caritas announced Oct. 31 it would drop coverage because of failed contract negotiations with Iowa over money.

The state has signed new contracts with UnitedHealthcare and another company, Amerigroup. But Amerigroup said it doesn’t have capacity to take new patients, requiring most AmeriHealth Caritas patients to be switched to UnitedHealthcare.

It’s unclear when patients will have choice again. UnitedHealthcare plans to hire about 400 employees to respond to the addition. Iowa’s roughly $4 billion program serves more than 600,000 people.

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

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