DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s unemployment rate declined slightly in September to 3.2 percent, reversing a small increase in the previous month. Iowa Workforce Development reported Friday that the unemployment rate drop came as the number of unemployed residents dropped to 54,600 in September, about 4,500 lower than in August. The August rate was 3.3 percent.

There were 1.63 million Iowa residents with jobs in September, an increase of about 4,500 from August but down 4,400 from a year ago. Iowa’s unemployment rate compares to a national rate of 4.2 percent.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports four people were arrested on separate charges this past week. On Wednesday, Deputies arrested: a 14-year-old male from Atlantic,  on a charge of Delivery of a Controlled Substance. The juvenile was taken to the Juvenile Detention Center and held while awaiting a hearing. And, Shane Dean Jenkins was arrested on a District Court warrant for Failure to Appear. Jenkins was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $5,000 bond.

On Monday, Cass County Deputies arrested 34-year old Zachary Alan Frank,  of Lewis, on charges of felony Domestic Abuse and felony Criminal Mischief in the 2nd Degree. Frank was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $10,000 bond.

And, last Saturday (Oct. 14th), 18-year old Frazier Rodney Antrelle Mack, of Fremont, NE, was arrested in Cass County on charges of Possession of Marijuana 1st Offense and OWI 1st Offense. Mack was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on his own recognizance.

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

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The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert today, is advising local fire chiefs in the County to place your local fire danger signs in the Extreme category, until 7-pm. The request is due to the expected high wind and dry conditions. No open burning is allowed in Shelby County today. Fires that do start will move quickly and be very difficult to contain and control. Seivert advises property owner/tenants to “Have a plan. If a fire occurs and you are in the path. You must move quickly to place of safety.”

Red Oak Police dispatched to the 100 block of E. Market Street in Red Oak this (Friday) morning with regard to an assault, arrested a man on several charges. 25-year old David Richard Nash, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 12:50-a.m., for Interference with Official Acts, Assault on a Peace Officer, and a felony charge of Domestic Abuse Assault/3rd or subsequent offense. Nash was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond.

A woman in Red Oak who was distracted by answering her cell phone Thursday afternoon, was cited for having no insurance – accident related, following  a collision. 55-year old Shelly Shuffler, of Red Oak, was also issued a warning for following too closely, after the 2006 Chrysler Town and Country van she was driving hit the rear of a 2013 Chevy Traverse, registered to Agrivision Equipment Group, and driven by 57-year old Robert Irr, of Creston.

Officials say both vehicles were traveling north on N. Broadway at around 1:10-p.m., when Irr stopped after traffic stopped in front of him. Shuffler didn’t notice the SUV had come to a halt. Damage from the collision amounted to $8,000.  There were no injuries reported.

Two men were arrested in the same area but on separate charges Thursday evening, in Red Oak. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 60-year old Robert Ernest McMartin, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 6:30-p.m. in the 400 block of E. Grimes Street. following a traffic stop. McMartin was charged with Driving While License Suspended, with eight withdrawals in effect. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on slightly more than $566 bond.

About 10-minutes later, also in the 400 block of E. Grimes, 54-year old Joseph Olis Loudermilk of Red Oak, was arrested by Red Oak Police with assistance from Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies. Loudermilk was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and charged with Simple Assault. His bond was set at $300.

The board that governs the state’s three public universities has hired from within and devised a way to hike pay for the next executive director of the Board of Regents. By state law, the executive director’s salary is capped at 154-thousand dollars. But Mark Braun has been making 240-thousand dollars a year as the board’s chief operating officer. As the new executive director of the Board of Regents, Braun will get that annual base salary of 154-thousand dollars, plus a 185-thousand dollar “recruitment incentive” will paid out in installments over the next 18 months.

Board of Regents president Michael Richards says other budget cuts have been made and a new chief operating officer will NOT be hired to replace Braun. “We have a proposal that would bring approximately $300,000 of savings to the Board of Regents office,” Richards says. Braun’s new job — and pay plan — starts November 1st. The Board of Regents will ask legislators to change the law so Braun’s base salary can be raised in the future.

Braun is a graduate of the University of Iowa. He was the university’s lobbyist at the state legislature for a decade and also served on former University of Iowa president Sally Mason’s staff. He has been the chief operating officer for the Board of Regents since December of 2015.

(Radio Iowa)

Winnebago Industries has had a big year, financially. The company has been making recreational vehicles in Forest City for nearly six decades. Winnebago’s fourth quarter ended August 26th. Overall revenue was up nearly 73 percent for the QUARTER and operating income for the YEAR was up 90 percent. Michael Happe is Winnebago’s president and C-E-O.

“Our team responded in fiscal 2017with a tremendous year of top and bottom line growth,” Happe says. Revenue from sales of Winnebago motorhomes was down nearly three percent for the year, but the company had significant growth in sales of towable units. “This is a far cry from the days when more than 90 percent of our revenue came solely from motorhomes,” Happe says. “We are better positioned than ever before to drive growth and to compete for market share across the whole of the growing RV spectrum.”

Winnebago’s “Grand Design” towable campers are made in Indiana. According to the R-V Industry Association, sales of recreational vehicles were up 15 percent in the U.S. last year and more than half of those buyers were under the age of 45.

(Radio Iowa)