(Radio Iowa) – The leaders of the Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience store chain laid out their three-year plan today (Wednesday) in an event for investors. C-E-O Darren Rebelez says their goal is to open 350 new stores in the next three years. He says they want to continue to their focus of putting stores in rural areas and smaller cities. “Roughly 50 percent of our stores were opened in towns of five-thousand people or less,” he says.

The company added 354 stores in the last three years, giving it more than 25-hundred stores. He says their three distribution centers in Ankeny, Missouri and Indiana make it easier for them to add stores. Rebelez says the ability to add more stores is important. “The industry is shifting from primarily selling fuel and tobacco to prioritizing freshly prepared foods and investing in technology to meet the everchanging needs of the consumer,” he says.”Due to this shifting environment, the longstanding fragmented convenience store industry is evolving, as those who are unable or unwilling to invest, are consolidating to those who are.”

Rebelez says Casey’s would like its new stores in the next three years to be a 50-50 mix of new and acquired stores, but is positioned to change that mix if there were favorable acquisitions available. The company has three stores that don’t sell gasoline, including one near Drake University in Des Moines, and Rebelez says they will consider more. “We’re still learning and assessing that. But the intent with with nonfuel stores all along was really to allow us to penetrate certain trade areas where putting a full, full blown convenience store with fuel just wasn’t practical,” Rebelez says.

The company has some 300 of its own line of branded products, and he says they will look at increasing those. “There’s still some some categories where we’re not necessarily convinced that we need a national brand, where we can actually replace the national brand and just have our own,” Rebelez says, “and those are very margin accurative when we do that. We can go into more premium items. So, we’ve kind of taken care of the baseline terms of national brands, but we can upscale some categories with more premium products.”

The company plans to make its thin crust pizza permanent and increase other prepared food offerings as well. Rebelez says Casey’s is the fifth largest pizza chain in the country.

(Radio Iowa) – City officials in Glenwood are exploring the use of tax incentives to spur redevelopment of the Glenwood Resource Center campus. The state run institution that has provided residential care for people with profound disabilities is scheduled to close in 2024. State officials have suggested that Glenwood’s City Council designate the campus as an urban renewal district. It means property taxes in the area that would otherwide go to the city, county and school district COULD be used to finance infrastructure improvements. Laurie Mead Smothers is a member of Glenwood’s City Council.

“That doesn’t commit us to doing anything, it just makes that an urban renewal area for whatever’s to come up there in the future,” she says. The campus covers 380 acres. Mills County Economic Development Director Andrew Rainbolt say one idea is to develop multiple forms of housing on the site, given its proximity to Highway 34 and the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro.

“I think we’ll have some redevelopment of existing buildings. A lot of them were built as residential buildings and so hopefully we can redevelop those into some affordable and potentially some market-rate multi-family (housing),” he says. “Part of the campus is envisioned to be some high end estate housing.” Glenwood Superintendent Devin Embray says the school district hopes to take over the administrative building on the campus and convert it into an innovation center.

“We’re going to put in place Cyber Security, Robotics and Digital Mass Communications and hopefully Firefighter 1 and 2 in that program for the fall of 2024,” Embray says. “However, it sits on a centralized power plants and we would have to move it off the power plant in order to have it independent from the other buildings.”

There’s also an effort to convert other facilities into veterans housing.

(Radio Iowa) – Four people have beaten the odds and won big lottery prizes in Iowa in the last five days. Someone who bought a ticket in Centerville Tuesday won a prize of 25-thousand dollars a year for life in the Lucky For Life game. That win comes after a one million dollar Mega Millions prize was won Friday in Davenport, and there were two wins Saturday — a 400-thousand dollar InstaPlay jackpot in Cascade, and a two million dollar Powerball prize won by a woman in Ottumwa.

The Iowa Lottery’s announcement on the string of winners says it demonstrates the random nature of lottery games.

(Radio Iowa) – An Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council in Winnebago County is recommending a distribution plan for 487-thousand dollars in new revenue. That’s the amount expected to come from the new property tax levy and county income tax Winnebago County voters approved last November. County Supervisor Bill Jensvold objected to having funds go to the county’s largest city, though, and the advisory council’s members quarreled.

Another source of contention was where E-M-Ts and paramedics would be positioned. The Advisory Council eventually came up with a plan to distribute the new funding to the ambulance services in Forest City, Lake Mills and Buffalo Center. It would cover the salaries for three full or part-time E-M-Ts that would work for all three services along with four full-time E-M-Ts for Forest City’s ambulance service. The Winnebago County Board of Supervisors will vote on the plan. A state law enacted a year ago lets county boards of supervisors put local tax referendums on the ballot to support local ambulance services. Voters in Jones, Kossuth, Pocahontas, Osceola and Winnebago Counties approved EMS referendums that were on the 2022 General Election ballot.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A Judge in Cass County (IA) today (Wednesday), sentenced a Massena daycare provider to 50-years in prison, associated with the October 2019 death of a child in her care. Judge Amy Zacharias sentenced 39-year-old Alison Dorsey to 50 years in prison for Murder in the Second Degree. In May, a jury in Pottawattamie County found Dorsey was guilty in the death of 11-week-old Luka Hodges. She was also convicted of Child Endangerment resulting in death.

Prosecutors say Dorsey shook Luka, resulting in his death. Dorsey’s defense team had claimed the injuries happened before Luka was in Dorsey’s care, but medical experts debunked that in their testimony in the trial. The trial in Council Bluffs was the second for Dorsey. Her first trial in Atlantic ended with a hung jury in 2021.

Dorsey must serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 35 years, with credit for time served. She must also pay $150,000 in restitution. Dorsey will be incarcerated at Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville, Iowa.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A lightning strike a little after 7-a.m. today (Wednesday), in Atlantic, caused a power outage for about 650 residents on the south side of town. AMU Comptroller Jennifer Saathoff told KJAN News lightning struck a power pole near 22nd and Olive Streets, causing the outage and setting the pole on fire.

Power was restored to most customers between 8:15-and 8:30-a.m., a little later for other customers.

DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Business Council (IBC) has released its second-quarter Economic Outlook Survey (EOS) for 2023. The report measures member expectations for sales, capital spending and employment for the next six months. If the index measures above 50, sentiment is positive. The second-quarter survey’s overall economic outlook index is 64.17, an increase of 4.45 from the 2023 first-quarter report. The survey’s findings indicate a strong confidence in Iowa’s economy and represent a significant increase in optimism across all areas measured by the IBC compared to the previous quarter’s results. Specifically, sales expectations among IBC members increased by 3.47 to a value of 68.75. Capital spending expectations increased by 4.31 to 61.25 and employment expectations increased by 5.56 to a value of 62.50.

Concerns relating to workforce attraction and retention remain the number one concern with 90% of surveyed IBC executives listing it as a primary business challenge. An unfavorable business climate tied specifically to supply chain challenges was the second primary concern cited by 55% of IBC executives. The cost of products and services continues to round out the top three business challenges with 50% of IBC members reporting inflation as a core concern.

From a workforce perspective, 80% of IBC executives surveyed report that it is somewhat to very difficult to hire employees compared to 94% from the first-quarter survey. Phil Jasper, President of Mission Systems for Collins Aerospace and Chair of the Iowa Business Council, said “IBC members remain confident in Iowa’s economic position. Despite a narrative of an impending downturn in the national economy, Iowa business leaders are optimistic about the future here in Iowa.” IBC President Joe Murphy said “These results show a continued resiliency among IBC companies and the state of Iowa as a whole. Iowa business leaders remain agile and skilled in their ability to plan for potential future disruptions while continuing to put forward pro-growth strategies throughout our state.”

The Economic Outlook Survey has been completed by IBC members on a quarterly basis since 2004. The report provides insight regarding the projected trends for the state of Iowa, which can be used for business and economic planning. The reported trends have a state-wide impact, especially when considering that IBC companies have a presence in all 99 counties

(WASHINGTON, D-C June 28, 2023) – U-S Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will travel to Des Moines, Thursday (June 29), where he is expected to announce a major investment by USDA to expand meat and poultry processing capacity in Iowa and across the country. The investment is intended to increase competition, support producer income, strengthen the food supply chain, and create jobs and economic opportunities in rural areas.

Secretary Vilsack will also highlight other efforts under the Biden-Harris Administration to build more, new and better markets and strengthen farm and food businesses. The announcement reflects the goals of the President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to rebuild our economy from the middle-out and the bottom-up and create transformative new economic opportunities for families and businesses.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A reminder to citizens of Atlantic: Fireworks are allowed within the City Limits from 6- until 11-p.m., from Friday (June 30) through Tuesday, July 4^th. The City Council set those dates and times during their meeting June 7^th. The City said also, citizens should be aware of that only individuals 18 and older may purchase fireworks. Furthermore, persons under the age of 18 may only set-off fireworks under the DIRECT SUPERVISION of an Adult. Other rules include:

• It is illegal to set-off fireworks if you are intoxicated or impaired.
• Only shoot fireworks on your OWN property, or where permission has been given.
• NO Fireworks may be discharged within 300-feet of public school buildings, Assisted Living Facilities, or Hospital.
• You are liable for fireworks in your possession and those discharged by you.
• Do not alter, remove or handle powder from fireworks. Never disassemble fireworks
• Use fireworks according to directions, and NEVER point them at humans or animals.

Violating fireworks laws will result in costly fines, starting at $250.

The 2023 City-sponsored fireworks display contract was awarded to last year’s vendor, “Wild Wayne’s.” The company will fire-off their display at dusk/dark on July 4^th, at the Well Fields next to the Atlantic Sports Complex, across from the KJAN Studios.

In addition, on the 4^th of July, the Atlantic Rotary will hold their Flight Breakfast at the Atlantic Airport. The menu features all you can eat pancakes by The Pancake Man, sausage and drinks, for just $8. Fly-In Pilots eat for free! Proceeds support Atlantic Rotary Service Projects. The Flight breakfast takes place from 7-until 11-a.m., Tuesday.

The City of Atlantic’s Police, Fire and EMS personnel want you to have fun, and celebrate the Independence holiday responsibly and safely.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak report a man was arrested Tuesday night on a Montgomery County warrant. 18-year-old Kaiden Dale Jarvis Schooling, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 900 block of N. 6th Street, at around 9:07-p.m. He was wanted on a warrant for Failure to Appear (in Court). Schooling was also charged with Disorderly Conduct (A simple misdemeanor). He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.