(Atlantic, Iowa)  – Cass Health in Atlantic reports Grace McAfee has been hired as the new Community Wellness Coordinator for Cass County. She began her role on Monday, January 15th. McAfee’s primary focus area will be promoting and communicating wellness initiatives for individuals and groups around Cass County. She will collaborate closely with other local groups focused on community health and wellness.

The Cass County Wellness Coordinator position is housed out of Cass Health but is uniquely funded by Cass County Extension, Cass Health, Cass County Board of Supervisors, and the Nishna Valley Family YMCA. Grace will spend her first few months meeting with local organizations to see where she can be of assistance.

Beth Olsen, Director of Cass County Public Health states, “Grace will be a huge asset to our community as we tackle the biggest needs in Cass County, as identified on our 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment.” Olsen noted that the top needs from the public survey included mental health, childcare, housing, older adult services and support, physical fitness and outdoor recreation, healthy food access and awareness, and substance misuse and addiction.

Grace is a Cass County Native who grew up just outside of Wiota. After high school, she attended Iowa State University to obtain her degree in Agriculture and Life Sciences Education. Following graduation, Grace and her husband, Tyler McAfee, moved back to the area and now live on an acreage just outside of Anita with their son. Previously, Grace taught at CAM Community School District for three years.

McAfee said “I am excited to collaborate with local groups and provide them support to further improve health and wellness opportunities across Cass County,” and noted that the role is truly designed to focus on connection and expanding opportunities for all residents.

The wellness coordinator role was created to maintain and expand collaboration with key community partners, including those in education, healthcare, social services, mental health, local and state government, extension, public health, and economic development, developing and implementing sustainable strategies to address high-priority community health issues.

If you have an upcoming meeting or event that you would like Grace to attend, she can be reached at (712) 250-8170 or mcage@casshealth.org.

(West Des Moines, Iowa)  – Low inventory and high interest rates proved to be the driving forces in a slower-than-typical Iowa housing market in 2023. Nearly every metric tracked by the Iowa Association of REALTORS® (IAR) saw a decline this year. These issues weren’t unique to Iowa, however, they mimicked the housing market nationwide, as buyers and sellers took their time jumping into the market. IAR President Shaner Magalhães said “The past year saw a number of challenges for the housing market across the country, and Iowa wasn’t immune. But we’ve also seen glimmers of progress in the market. Just this month, inventory increased, a sign that 2024 will prove to be a bit more robust in the Iowa housing market.”

Home sales in Iowa declined 15.2% this year with 32,441 homes sold, compared to the 38,266 sold in 2022.  Similarly pending sales were down 13.9% with 33,159 homes recorded, compared to the 38,504 pending in 2022.  As for inventory, there were several months in 2023 that saw declines in active listings, including the typically robust summer market months. In all new listings declined 9.1% with 39,218 homes listed, compared to the 43,133 of 2022.  Days on the market increased throughout the year. In 2023, homes averaged 40 days on the market, a 25% increase from the 32 day average of 2022.  Home prices also grew in 2023. The median sales price of a home increased 6.8% last year coming to $220,000 compared to the $206,000 of the year prior.

December Housing Stats

The December housing stats mirrored much of the year, with a few swinging spots, including long-awaited boosts to inventory.  Sales in December fell 4.2% with 2,308 homes sold, compared to the 2,409 sold last year. Conversely, pending sales jumped 2% to 1,766 homes sold, a slight improvement on the 1,731 sold in December 2022.  New listings saw a refreshing boost of 11% with 1,814 homes on the market, compared to the 1,634 of December 2022. Days on the market continued to increase, this time 10.5% to 42 days, compared to the 38 of last year. Median sales price also jumped 13.2% to $215,000 versus the $190,000 of one year ago.

Statewide Market Report for December

View the Detailed PDF Report on Statewide Statistics

Housing Market Reports by Iowa County

View Reports on Single-Family homes

View Reports on Townhouse-Condo homes

January 19, 2024 (DES MOINES, IA) – Today (On Friday), the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) Board approved innovation funding in support of six startups. The companies are located in Ames, Cedar Falls, Des Moines, Fairfield, Iowa City and North Liberty.

Ames’ Rise Energy is commercializing a modular system that can deploy technology for industrial processors to generate value converting their existing biomass feedstocks into renewable fuels, chemicals and products. The modules provide a convenient solution for utilizing biomass to create upgradeable liquids, which can be used in production of sustainable aviation fuels, renewable fuels, asphalt binders and other products, and biochar, which is used to sequester carbon. The company was awarded a $50,000 Proof of Commercial Relevance (POCR) loan for IP development and evaluation, market and competitive analysis, market planning and entry activities, and key personnel.

Based in Cedar Falls, PicklePlay is a digital platform that offers a comprehensive pickleball resource. The software can help users easily find pickleball courts and events, engage with players and groups, and organize their play schedule. The company was awarded a $50,000 POCR loan for IP development and evaluation, market planning and entry activities and key personnel.

Tumbleweed in Des Moines is a technology platform that supports end-of-life and post-loss planning. Their software provides individuals, families, executors and trustees with an affordable and time-efficient solution that helps users navigate the intricacies of end-of-life planning or following a death. The company was awarded a $50,000 POCR loan for IP development and evaluation, market and competitive analysis, proof of concept work, product refinement, market planning and entry activities, key personnel, and equipment.

MedTech startup Spanton Board, Inc., located in Fairfield, created the first, patent-pending, power-driven spine board to effectively safeguard athletes following a serious injury. Eventually, Spanton Board plans to expand from the pro sports market to military and emergency medical services. The product operates like a conveyer belt and enables the transfer of individuals to a backboard, significantly reducing movement compared to a traditional board. The company was awarded a $100,000 Demonstration Fund loan for product refinement, market planning and entry activities, and key personnel.

Iowa City-based Inseer, Inc. leverages a proprietary AI computer vision system to enhance workplace safety, improve ergonomics and boost productivity in manufacturing environments. Through a short video that captures and analyzes movement data, employees can quickly receive risk assessment solutions and objectively offer any safety corrections. The company was awarded a $250,000 Innovation Acceleration Launch Fund loan for IP development and evaluation.

UpStream, headquartered in North Liberty, launched technology to facilitate remote source water monitoring. The platform, the Outfall SmartCell, is a fully automated system able to withstand all environments for uninterrupted 24/7 communication and data delivery for water quality detection. The company was awarded a $50,000 POCR loan for IP development and evaluation, proof of concept work and product refinement.

Award recommendations for these funds are made by the Technology Commercialization Committee to the IEDA Board for approval.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds says her push to overhaul Area Education Agencies is designed to address a bloated bureaucracy and 20 years of lagging test scores among Iowa students with disabilities. Reynolds says Iowa is a small state and does not need nine A-E-As. “We did a study in 2011. That’s the danger of a study. The study gets done. It recommended at that time, I think, going down from nine to five.”

Reynolds originally proposed having Iowa’s nine A-E-As focus solely on special education services for disabled students, but she’s adjusting her plan to retain other services like a media lending library and curriculum outlines for teachers. Reynolds says her goal is to have the Iowa Department of Education develop a list of approved A-E-A services schools may choose to use. “There’s no consistency between the nine AEAs, so they can talk about school districts wanting to utilize their services, but not all of them offer those services,” Reynolds says. “It’s very hit and miss.”

Reynolds has not proposed closing or consolidating A-E-As, but she has asked legislators to hire dozens more staff in the Iowa Department of Education to oversee the 34-hundred people who work in Area Education Agencies around the state. “Right now we have nine AEA districts, nine chiefs and they were making on an average when you look at their total compensation package about $310,000 each,” Reynolds says. “We don’t need nine. We’re a small state.”

Reynolds says her realignment will let local school districts choose whether to continue using A-E-A services, hire their own staff, or find a private vendor with the combination of state, federal and local property taxes that under current law automatically funneled to the A-E-As.  “Iowa students with disabilities ranked 30th or below in nine out of 12 assessments over the last five years and over the last 20 years students with disabilities have been on an average under-performing compared to kids across the country — students with disabilities,” Reynolds says. “And so it’s time that we do something to the system that can improve the scores and accountability and help these children.”

Reynolds made her comments during taping of the “Iowa Press” program that will be broadcast tonight (Friday) on Iowa P-B-S.

DAVENPORT, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports an eastern Iowa man was sentenced on Thursday, January 11, 2024, to 210 months in federal prison for Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography. According to public court documents presented at the time of the plea hearing, 36-year-old Andrew Robert William Comstock, of Clinton, was identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a member of a Kik chat group that was actively sharing child sexual abuse material. In November 2022, FBI agents interviewed Comstock, who admitted to receiving and viewing child sexual abuse material on Kik. Multiple items were seized from Comstock’s person and residence. Pursuant to a search warrant, a tablet was located at Comstock’s residence that contained numerous images of child sexual abuse material and multiple Kik messages regarding the trading of child sexual abuse material to other users.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Comstock is required to serve five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Comstock was also ordered to pay $18,000 in restitution.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the FBI.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc. For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the resources tab.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped slightly in December after four months of slight increases. Iowa Workforce Development director, Beth Townsend, says rate dropped one-tenth of a point to three-point-two percent. “It’s a small change. But I think just people getting back into the workforce, who maybe hadn’t been in before. And also, if you remember, December, weather was actually pretty good,” she says, “so, you know, more people probably worked longer end of the month than we might normally see.” Construction is one industry that saw more work for employees with the better weather.

“I thought the good news that we saw this, in December was that construction added 14-hundred jobs, they’re up three thousand jobs over the year, and manufacturing added 11-hundred jobs in December, and they’re up over 48-hundred jobs in the last 12 months,” she says. “And those are two key industries in Iowa. So the fact that they both added jobs in December and are up from up over the previous year is a very good sign.” The number of people in the workforce did drop by 85-hundred in December.

“Most of them reported that it was a voluntary leave. So it could just be, you know, December holidays, that kind of thing. But the fact that they left voluntarily, and it was not the product of you know, mass layoffs or layoffs across an entire industry is a good indication,” Townsend says. Townsend says there are still some 60-thousand jobs open in the state, and says industries like health care have a lot to offer.

“They’re always probably the number one industry with openings. And so you know, if you’re looking for a good job and a good industry with great pay and benefits healthcare is a really good area to be looking into,” Townsend says. Townsend says Workforce Development can help you assess your skills and help you apply for a job, so you should contact them to take advantage of that help.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Guthrie County, today (Friday), released reports on three accidents that occurred over the past seven-days. Authorities say a semi tractor-trailer accident occurred a little of 6-p.m., Thursday, on Highway 141, just east of Bagley. The 2019 Freightliner driven by 51-year-old Janet Neil, of Corning, was traveling east on 141 when it slid-off the road and into the south ditch, where it rolled onto its right side. Neil was not injured. The front windshield had to be removed because she was stuck inside the cab of the truck. Weather and road conditions were contributing factors in the crash. No citations were issued.

An accident in Guthrie County at around 12:25-p.m., Thursday, resulting in three citations. The Sheriff’s Office says Carroll County Dispatch received a report of an SUV in the ditch in the 1400 block of Highway 141. The 2006 Chevy Tahoe driven by 34-year-old Lucio Pulido, of Carroll, left the road and entered the south ditch before driving through a barbed-wire fence owned by the White Rock Conservancy. When the vehicle came to rest, it became stuck in the snow. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $1,500. Pulido wasn’t hurt.

When a Guthrie County Deputy questioned Pulido about what happened, he said he didn’t know.  The report said when Officers with the Coon Rapids Police Department arrived on the scene, Pulido was asleep or passed-out in the driver’s seat. The Sheriff’s Deputy observed numerous open containers of beer in the vehicle. A subsequent investigation determined Pulido’s breath alcohol content registered .166, or twice the legal limit in Iowa for intoxication. He was charged with Failure to Maintain Control, Open Container (Driver over 21 years of age), Driving while license is under suspension, and Driving Under Suspension while is denied, suspended, cancelled or revoked.

The other accident in Guthrie County happened at around 3:50-p.m. on January 11th. Authorities say it occurred at the intersection of Grand Street and N. 4th Street, in Guthrie Center. The report states a 2005 Chevy Trailblazer SUV driven by 18-year-old Kaleb Kintz, of Guthrie Center, was westbound on Grand Street, and failed to yield as it entered the intersection. The SUV was struck on the passenger side by a 1996 Chevy pickup, driven by 57-year-old Benjamin Henry, of Guthrie Center, as he was traveling south on N. 4th Street. No injuries were reported. Damage to the vehicles amounted to $15,000.

The Sheriff’s Office says the road was partially-to-completely covered in snow and ice, making stopping difficult if proper precautions were not taken. Kintz was issued a citation for Failure to Obey a stop sign and yield the right-of-way.