A state audit has found millions of dollars worth of state grants and loans to businesses that promised to build or expand operations in Iowa have so far yielded a fraction of the jobs that were promised. The audit covered an 11-year period. State officials signed almost a thousand contracts with businesses, awarding nearly 310-MILLION dollars to companies during that time frame.

The businesses promised to create or retain more than 57-thousand jobs in return. The audit found about 80 percent of the promised jobs have not materialized yet. Plus, the audit noted state officials need to do a better job verifying whether businesses are actually creating new jobs. State Auditor Mary Mosiman said “We do recognize that the Iowa Economic Development Authority is continuing to improve its tracking and verification procedures. But it is important that they verify that these jobs — that they are reporting — are actual jobs either being created or retained and are not jobs being shifted within a company, particularly for a large corporation with multiple geographic locations.”

A spokeswoman for the Iowa Economic Development Authority says the audit includes the years of “the great recession” and the administrations of three different governors and six agency directors. The audit released Wednesday is a follow-up to a 2007 audit evaluating state economic incentive programs. Mosiman is recommending that the Iowa Economic Development Authority consult with the legislature to improve the tracking and verification of its grants and loans.

“For purposes of transparency, accountability and to be able to effectively evaluate the program, it is important that they include totals,” Mosiman says, “…and make sure there’s no errors, so that the report matches their database.” For example, the audit raises questions about whether the Iowa Economic Development Authority is getting state grant money back when businesses fail to fulfill job-creation promises.

Fewer than 12-thousand jobs have actually been created or retained by the companies that got state grants and loans from mid-2003 through the middle of 2014. Tina Hoffman of the Iowa Economic Development Authority says “a lot of individual projects have been successes” and others “in the building phase” will account for more jobs. Mosiman says policymakers — not auditors like her — are the ones who’ll decide whether these economic incentive programs are effective.

“I think that’s not something that our office would attempt to gauge whatsoever,” Mosiman says.The spokeswoman for the Iowa Economic Development Authority says her agency is constantly looking for ways to make state incentive programs more effective. And she notes the agency recently has been using state tax credits more often as part of its incentive portfolio.

(Radio Iowa)

Health rankings released by the UnitedHealth Foundation give Iowa an overall rank of 8th when it comes to the health care provided to women, infants and children. The lowest individual ranking put Iowa at 22nd in the country for infant health. The Chief Medical Officer for UnitedHealthcare, Ana Fuentevilla,, says the lower ranking for infant care was due in part ot where the kids are born.

“The study looks at how many infants or babies are born at baby friendly facilities,” Fuentevilla says, ” and for Iowa there’s a low percentage being born in baby friendly facilities.” Information from the foundation says a facility is considered baby friendly if it institutes a ten-step program to successfully teach breastfeeding and passes an evaluation. Only around eight percent of the facilities nationwide are designated baby friendly under that definition according to he foundation.

Iowa’s health care for women ranked 7th, and one of the negatives cited is a high prevalence of excessive drinking in women, especially women who are pregnant. “It can lead to poor outcomes for the baby,” Fuentevilla. Doctor Fuentevilla says it’s an issue the state should focus on. “While women’s health overall is ranking very good at number seven, there’s still opportunity to improve that further by addressing the high prevalence of excessive drinking in women in Iowa.

She says Iowa has a lot of positives, including a low number of unintended pregnancies (#4 in the nation), low neonatal mortality rates (#2 in the nation), and a high rate of high school graduation (#1 in the nation). Fuentevilla says Iowa mirrors other states which show some variation in the three categories. She says having women’s health ranked seventh is great, but says the infant health at 22 is not good, while the children’s health ranking is also high at number five.”So the state overall could focus on what things can we do to improve the overall health of our infants.”

Massachusetts was at the top of the overall rankings, while Mississippi ranked at the bottom.

(Radio Iowa)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke to a cheering crowd of more than a thousand supporters in Council Bluffs Wednesday afternoon, just hours before Thursday’s (today’s) launch of “early” voting in Iowa. “You need to start voting immediately,” Trump said, to cheers. “Don’t forget early voting. You have to knock on doors. You have to pick up that phone.” The crowd joined Trump in reciting his campaign slogan. They cheered when he again promised to “build the wall” along the southern border with Mexico. And they chanted “lock her up” when Trump mentioned Clinton’s email controversy.

“Hillary Clinton is an insider fighting for her donors and her insiders, mostly fighting for herself,” Trump said. “I am an outsider fighting for you. We’re fighting together.” Trump briefly mentioned Monday night’s debate. He pointed to online polls taken afterwards. Trump argued the “corrupt corporate media” is ignoring his “landslide” victory in the event by focusing instead on a C-N-N poll.

“Then I have to sit back and you have to sit back and hear how those polls don’t mean anything, but when they poll 300 people, that means a lot, right? And so we won every single online poll — hundreds and hundreds of thousand voters — and then you sit back and you hear how she did so well in the debate. I don’t think she did well in the debate at all,” Trump said, with supportive catcalls from the audience. Trump called Clinton “unserious”, “petty” and “a globalist.”

“I’m not running to be president of the world. I’m running to be president of the United States and we’re going to protect your interests,” Trump said, to some of the loudest cheers of the afternoon. And Trump again questioned Clinton’s stamina and the days she to raise money, prepare for the debate and recover from pneumonia.

“Then she can’t even make it to her car. Isn’t it tough?” Trump asked, getting laughter from the crowd. “All those day offs. Right? Boom. Did you ever see her chart? She won’t be campaigning today…I’m campaigning and I’m saying: ‘What’s going on?’ Now in all fairness, she’s spending all of that Wall Street money on commercials, whereas I’m doing it the old-fashioned way, right? So you have six weeks to make every dream you’ve dreamed for your country come true.”

On Wednesday, the Trump campaign released a list of Christian conservatives in Iowa who are backing him. Steve Scheffler, the president of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, is also a member of the Republican National Committee who cast his vote for Trump at the G-O-P’s national convention in July. He often calls Clinton “pathological.”   “My personal view of Hillary Clinton is she is a borderline evil person,” Scheffler said. “She is a pathological liar.” Scheffler told about 600 members of his group this past weekend that if Richard Nixon were alive today, he’d be owed “an apology” and “nominated for sainthood” because Clinton’s transgressions are worse.

Hillary Clinton talked with officials from Cedar Rapids by phone on Wednesday, saying her “heart goes out to the families and businesses” affected by this week’s flooding and Clinton promised as president she’d work with Cedar Rapids leaders to erect new flood protection barriers along the Cedar River corridor. Clinton is due to headline a midday rally in downtown Des Moines to mark today’s (Thursday’s) start of early voting in Iowa. Democrat Tom Miller, Iowa’s attorney general, went to Council Bluffs Wednesday to declare’s Trump’s “temperament” unfit for the presidency.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:20 a.m. CDT

NEVADA, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa State University student is expected to be sentenced Thursday for sexually assaulting an unconscious female student after a party. A plea agreement calls for 21-year-old Patrick Whetstone to avoid prison but be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years. The case has roiled Iowa State and led to a federal investigation of the school.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa State University airplane was out of state far longer than the school has acknowledged after it was damaged by President Steven Leath last year. A record obtained by The Associated Press shows the plane didn’t fly back to Iowa until 10 weeks after Leath’s rough landing at the Bloomington, Illinois airport. A university spokesman said this week the plane was stored in Illinois for three to four weeks after the July 14, 2015 incident. But the record shows it didn’t return to Iowa until Sept. 23, when it was flown to Pella for repairs. The school says repairs and storage cost $13,691. Leath made a $15,000 donation to cover those costs and vowed to stop flying university aircraft. The accident came as Leath returned from an 11-day vacation.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An elaborate system of temporary floodwalls is so far protecting thousands of homes and businesses in Cedar Rapids from major flooding. Iowa’s second-largest city says its hastily erected 9.8-mile system of barriers and earthen berms is largely holding back the Cedar River. The river crested Tuesday at its second-highest level on record. It’s expected to be back below flood stage Sunday.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say the Cedar River is slowly receding from its crest in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a new forecast says the water level will drop below flood stage sooner than expected. A city spokeswoman says the city’s temporary flood protection system is holding the water at bay Wednesday. The swollen river is expected to be back under flood stage Sunday, a day earlier than previously forecast.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Miles of hastily erected barriers were remarkably effective in preventing the surging Cedar River from pouring into Cedar Rapids, Iowa’s second-largest city, but officials said the sand-filled containers wouldn’t work in every flooding situation. Officials warned the city may not always have enough time to build a makeshift wall, which took around-the-clock work. Cedar Rapids leaders still support construction of a $500 million system of flood barriers.