A survey of business managers in Iowa and eight other states shows the economic picture improving, gradually, in both the Hawkeye State and the Midwest region. Creighton University Economics Professor Ernie Goss says while the situation is getting better, the advances are very slow. “The overall index for the month was up again, for the second consecutive month, but it’s up at 50.6 from 50.5,” Goss says. “We’re just ever so slightly above 50. It wasn’t a good report but it was better than the previous months.”

The scale goes from 0 to 100 with a score of 50 being growth neutral. In the past year, Goss says the state has lost 17-hundred manufacturing jobs. Recent surveys show Iowa’s manufacturing sector is gaining jobs, but at a snail’s pace. “All in all, it was a pretty good report but the jobs index, unfortunately, was not good,” Goss says. “We’re still shedding jobs in manufacturing, particularly anything to do with energy, as you well know that.”

That energy sector includes ethanol production, an industry where Iowa is the nation’s top producer. Due to the prolonged low gasoline prices, managers of some ethanol plants are trimming back on production and personnel. As colleges across the region will soon be sending a new crop of graduates into the working world, Goss says one part of the survey focused specifically on pay for recent grads.

“We asked about salaries for a new worker with a bachelor’s degree and it came in at $47,800,” Goss says. “That may not sound like a lot for a person fresh out of college but it’s up 5% from this time last year when we asked the same question.”

In the past year, the region’s manufacturing sector has lost nearly 2%, or roughly 23,000 manufacturing jobs. Goss projects the broader economy to continue to add jobs but at a slow pace.

(Radio Iowa)

An ember from a torch used to cut steel beams was the apparent causing of a fire that ignited several bales of hay Tuesday afternoon, just north of downtown Atlantic. According to Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon, firefighters were called to 101 Chestnut Street ata round 2:30-p.m. Crews brought the fire under control before the flames could spread to nearby county-owned storage buildings.

The still smoldering bales were brought from the scene to the compost pile a short while later. Crews left the original scene at around 3:20-p.m. and proceeded to the compost pile to soak the bales with more water in an effort to prevent a rekindling of the fire.

No injuries were reported.

Photo’s courtesy Mike Kennon, Cass County EMC

Police have made an arrest in connection with a fire that gutted a restaurant in Greene County. The fire was reported just after midnight on January 27 at the Pizza Ranch in Jefferson. A couple of weeks later, investigators announced they determined that the fire had been intentionally set. Now, the restaurant’s owner, 53-year-old Robert Schultz Jr., is facing charges of arson, criminal mischief, and insurance fraud.

(Radio Iowa)

The annual report from the state Ombudsman shows complaints and questions increased by seven percent in 2015. Acting Ombudsman Kristie Hirschman complied the report. “We’ve been consistently increasing our complaints the last few years — not by a lot — but consistently a little bit every year without an increase in staff,” Hirschman says. “The complaints that we receive that we agree to investigate do seem to be more complex.” The Ombudsmans’ office doesn’t look into every complaint or call they get.

“The primary reason that we use to decline a complaint is if there is an available grievance or appeal process that they haven’t taken advantage of, because it is only fair to give the agency the opportunity to resolve the complaint before we get involved,” Hirschman says. On the other end of the spectrum, Hirschman says they sometimes step in because of the circumstances.

“There’s some complaint that just because they are so egregious on face value, we jump in whether there’s a grievance process available or not,” Hirschman explains. “There’s several…that come to mind that we’ve highlighted in our annual report. One of those being the inmate who was shackled in the shower.” The Ombudsmans’ office recommended the jail install a lockable gate on the shower to deal with high risk inmates instead of keeping them in shackles. The office agreed to look into more than 44-hundred complaints last year, and the majority of those dealt with the prisons or jails.

Hirschman says the Iowa Legislature’s intent through the years has been to have the Ombudsmans’ office focus on corrections complaints so inmates at the state and local level have a place to go with their complaints. She says state law makes the letters to the Ombudsman from prisoners confidential, and they cannot be read by the jail or prison staff. Complaints about county government were second on the list this year.

“In the past actually, the Department of Human Services has consistently been our second highest level of complaints — you know somebody took their kids, they are not taking action against an abuse situation or a child support problem, or they are not getting their food stamps — but this year, county complaints were higher,” Hirschman says. The annual report shows 69 percent of the cases accepted by the officer turned out to be unsubstantiated. Hirschman says many times there was not intentional wrongdoing by local governments, there were factors that cause them to mishandle some issues.

“Lack of resources, lack of planning, lack of understanding of different situations or interpretations in the code. There’s new rules passed every year and I’m sure it is difficult for everybody to stay on top of those, even if it is their job, especially in smaller communities,” Hirschman says. Hirschman says her office works with the people involved in these situations to come to a solution.

Hirschman was appointed the acting Ombudsman with the retirement of Ruth Cooperrider. She has applied for the job and says the state is in the process of filling the position permanently, and that decision will likely come after the legislative session. For more information on the annual report, go to: www.legis.iowa.gov/Ombudsman.

(Radio Iowa)