(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s unemployment rate inched up slightly in October to two-point-nine percent. Iowa Workforce Development spokesperson, Jesse Dougherty (Door-uh-tee), says there are positive signs despite the increase. “In large part what we’re seeing is more Iowans are entering the labor force. We had, I think over 22-hundred entering the labor force, and the overall participation rate held steady at 67-point-seven. So it did go up — but we did see some positive indicators there,” Dougherty says. “And also I’ll mention to you on the employer front, we had employers report 45-hundred jobs created, and that’s the seventh straight month that we’ve seen that.”

He says the labor participation rate is one of the strengths of Iowa’s economy.  “Iowa has typically had a higher labor force participation rate than the country and last month, the national labor force participation rate actually declined. But Iowa’s held steady, so that’s important for us,” he says. “We were near 68, 69, 70 percent pre-pandemic.” He says the growth in jobs hit a key mark. “With October’s growth we saw Iowa’s employment level actually surpass the level in March 2020. So in other words — we’ve now replaced all of the 169-thousand jobs lost during the pandemic. Plus, we’re at about 900 above that,” Dougherty says. “So that’s an encouraging sign. Certainly, there are still those that have not returned to the workforce. And that’s been our key focus.”

Dougherty says inflation and other factors still create some headwinds for employers — but he says it’s encouraging to see some strong indicators. “What I mean by that is, leisure and hospitality had another good month they had at a 22-hundred jobs. And actually, that brings leisure and hospitality to the highest level that all time that we’ve seen in Iowa, the sector is currently employing over 147-thousand Iowans,” he says. “That gain was led by accommodations and food services, but we also saw gains and arts, entertainment, recreation, some of that we expect to happen seasonally, but it’s also been a higher number than it’s ever been before.”

He says other areas are also showing positive signs. “Manufacturing, health care and social assistance, retail, and financial activities and construction. All those sectors have gains this past month. And so that, to us, is definitely a positive trend. Certainly, we’re still looking at, you know, ways that we can continue to grow that,” Dougherty says. He says the economy continues to be positive for workers looking for a job, or looking to move up.

(Radio Iowa) – The sale of 73 acres of farmland near Sheldon appears have set the record price for Iowa agland. Mark Zomer of Zomer Company Realty and Auction of Rock Valley handled the sale last Friday. “We had several bidders for the farm and all of them were local farmers,” he says. “The farm sold for $30,000 per acre. I believe that might be a new record for the state of Iowa for agland only.”

A month ago, 53 acres of Plymouth County farm ground between Marcus and Remsen sold for over 26-thousand dollars an acre. Zomer says the parcel he sold in Sioux County on Friday is highly-rated cropland. “An older gentlemen once told me if you could order a farm and have it perfect, this farm would be as perfect as you could get. It had just a little bit of slope to it, so the drainage was excellent and it had very good soil types to it,” Zomer says. “It was what we call an inside parcel of land, so it was land with road on only one side, so it was virtually all tillable except for the road and ditch.”

Zomer says the buyer is adding the 73 acres to a family operation. There’s only so much farm ground for sale and, according to Zomer, that makes the land market very strong.  “I think, long term, people believe land’s a good investment,” Zomer says. “…I realize there can be ups and downs in the land market, but overall…I think people understand that the long-term dividends of owning a farm — receiving rent every year or crop income every year…over the 40 to 50 year history — I think land is proven to be a good investment.” The land that sold for 30-thousand dollars an acre last Friday is located between Sheldon and Boyden.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Thanksgiving is typically the time those at the table loosening their belts to take-in all the goodies, but when it comes to spending, the City of Atlantic is going to be tightening its financial belt. That’s the message City Administrator John Lund essentially conveyed to the Council during their meeting, Wednesday. Lund gave the Council a copy of the Property Tax Report he also gave the City’s Department Heads.

Lund said “It sounds like they’re (The legislature) gonna do more things related to property taxes this year,”and he urged the Council not to wait for their action to happen.

He says “No one likes paying property taxes, but what pays for fire, police, the libraries? Property taxes.

One way to reduce the property tax burden, is through growth: adding more businesses and residents. Lund says the push to establishing more housing units this year in Atlantic is a step in the right direction, but it isn’t easy to accomplish.

It remains to be seen what the Iowa Legislature will do to the property tax system, but it’s clear City Managers in the area are concerned enough to ask their leaders to lobby the legislature not to make any drastic changes, in light of the current economy.

Here is more information on the property tax and how it relates to a city’s financial situation. These documents were prepared by Erin Mullenix, Research Director for the Iowa League of Cities, and made possible courtesy Atlantic City Clerk, Barb Barrick:

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(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who smoke cigarettes are being encouraged to quit — just for today (Thursday). As part of the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout, it’s hoped if smokers can kick the habit for one day, they can make the change permanent. Studies show the average smoker has to try seven times before they quit smoking for good. State health officials say about 17-percent of Iowa adults smoke and 10-percent of high school students.

Anti-smoking advocates are calling for Iowa lawmakers to raise taxes on cigarettes in January. The taxes are now a dollar-36 per pack in Iowa. That’s 45-cents below the national average and four dollars below New York’s taxes. For free help stopping smoking, call the Quitline at 800-QUIT-NOW.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston arrested a man for Failure to Appear in court. 21-year-old Andrew George Mills, of Creston, was arrested at around 10:30-p.m. Wednesday, at his home. He was transported to the Union County Jail and held on a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The cost of the items used to prepare a typical Thanksgiving dinner for ten people is up again this year in the annual survey by the American Farm Bureau. A-F-B economist, Roger Cryan, says they pick 12 items for the survey. “The average in the U-S cost 64-dollars, five cents — which was up about 20 percent from last year. And that was last year was up 14 percent from the year before, so that’s a 36 percent increase in two years,” Cryan says. Cryan says the increased cost will be a burden for many, but farmers have done a good job of providing. “I think it’s worth pointing out that even with these increases, this market basket still works out to about six and a half dollars per person for what is essentially a Thanksgiving feast,” he says.

Cryan says general price inflation is part of the reason for the increase. “Inflation has been running at a rate of about seven to nine percent this fall, year over year. That’s about a third of the increase in the food basket and inflation is a serious issue that’s that we’ve been attempting to address general price inflation. It robs consumers and farmers of their buying power,” according to Cryan. He says increased production costs, supply chain issues, and other factors also contributed to the increase. The cost of the 16-pound turkey was up 21 percent from last year to around 29 dollars. Cryan says that’s an average, and you may be able to find some cheaper birds as we get closer to the holiday.

“Since we’ve done the survey, the number of stores that are featuring turkeys in their circulars at discounted prices,” Cryan says. “Those discounts will probably grow. Even though it’s been it’s been a tighter market. And even though there’s been some challenges in the turkey supply chain production is only down about two percent this year at this point compared to last year.” Cryan says the amount farmers make has not increased despite the retail price increase for the products. “The U-S-D-A has put out numbers on a regular basis that show pretty consistently for the last several years that farmers receive about eight percent of the retail price of food purchased for consumption at home,” he says.

Among some of the other items in the survey: the 14-ounce bag of cube stuffing mix is up 69 percent from last year, and frozen pie crusts and whipping cream are up 26 percent. A pound of frozen peas is up 23 percent, dinner rolls are up 22 percent. The can of pumpkin pie mix is up 18 percent, and the gallon of whole milk is up 16 percent. The 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries went against the trend — as it was down about 14 percent.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Food Pantry will be CLOSED on Thanksgiving Day, November 24. Officials say the drive-through distribution that week will be on WEDNESDAY, NOV. 23, 12:30 PM. Please note also, that Atlantic Food Pantry is now at 704 W. 7th Street, and not their old location on W. 4th Street.

Additional details on the Atlantic Food Pantry:

• Food Referrals are not needed.
• There is a pick-up limit of 3 households per vehicle.
• Pantry phone: (712) 243-5019 (9-11 AM Mon. and Thurs. only)
• Address: 704 W. 7th St., Atlantic, IA 50022
• Distribution Hours: Thurs., 12:30 – 3 pm (or until all food sacks are distributed).

Distribution Directions: Drive-through pantry. For safety reasons, there will be no access to the Pantry from 7th Street (Highway 6) during Thursday afternoon food distributions. Pantry Client vehicles will approach the Pantry from the East on 6th Street, turning South on Palm Street, then West on the access road directly in front of the Pantry to receive food. Cars will then exit north on the alley next to the Pantry. Traffic markers will guide the cars before and during food distribution.)

Donations: mail checks to “Atlantic Food Pantry” (P.O. Box 285, Atlantic, IA 50022)

(Radio Iowa) – Four children are dead after a house fire in Mason City on Wednesday morning. The Mason City Fire Department says they were called shortly after 5:00 AM to 509 North Washington for the report of a fully involved house fire. Two people, 55-year-old John Mcluer and 11-year-old Ravan Mcluer, were able to escape the house before firefighters arrived. They were taken to the hospital to be treated for burn-related injuries with their conditions not being known at this time. An immediate search of the structure by firefighters found four victims who were later transported to the hospital where they were pronounced dead.

The victims are three-year-old Phenix Mcluer, six-year-old Drako Mcluer, 10-year-old Odin Mcluer, and 12-year-old John Mcluer. Their cause of death is under investigation by the medical examiner’s office. Two firefighters also suffered minor injuries from battling the fire. The fire is currently under investigation by Mason City Fire and Police Department personnel as well as the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst has moved up one rung on the Senate G-O-P leadership ladder, to the number four position.  “I am very excited to be moving forward now with this new team,” Ernst said. Ernst’s colleagues have elected her chair of the Republican Policy Committee, after what have been described as tense meetings of Senate Republicans this week. Ernst is promising to foster collaboration.

“We heard a lot about that over the past several days,” Ernst said, “so we want to make sure that all of our voices are heard and their ideas are presented fairly.” Senate Republicans reelected Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell as their minority leader. However, after disappointing G-O-P results last week, McConnell faced opposition for the first time since 2007. Ernst will be developing the G-O-P’s message for 2024.

“As we move, of course, into the next election cycle, I know the American people will hear our message,” Ernst said, “and it will resonate with them.” Ernst remains the top-ranking woman among G-O-P leadership. She’s been vice chair of the Senate Republican Conference for the past four years.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s U.S. Senators have split their votes on legislation that would protect marriage rights for same-sex and interracial couples. The bill would grant federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley voted against allowing the Senate to consider the bill. Grassley says he opposes the bill on religious liberty grounds, but also believes it’s unnecessary. Senator Joni Ernst was among a dozen Republicans who voted to let the bill advance. It’s likely the U.S. Senate will approve the bill in the next two weeks.

The U.S. House passed a similar bill after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that opinions on same-sex marriage and the right to contraception were based on the same legal grounds as Roe v Wade — the 1973 abortion decision the court overturned this summer.