The Omaha metro area is losing one of its biggest employers, but it appears the plant in Council Bluffs will remain untouched. ConAgra is moving its corporate headquarters from Omaha to Chicago next summer. The Omaha office now employs about 25-hundred people. About 12-hundred positions, mostly management, will be kept in place and 300 people will be transferred. Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert says that means about one-thousand employees will be out of a job but there are lots of opportunities in town.

“We have a low unemployment rate and we are in a severe labor shortage,” the mayor says. “We have a lot of talent. We still have four Fortune 500 companies in Omaha. Our concentration should be focused on those whose jobs will be eliminated, helping them find comparable jobs in our marketplace.” ConAgra officials say the cuts are difficult but necessary. Mayor Stothert met with ConAgra C-E-O Sean Connolly on Wednesday and asked him direct questions.

“I said, ‘Is there anything that I as mayor, the Chamber of Commerce, the governor could do, if there’s anything in the form of incentives, anything that we could have done differently or that we could do now that would change the direction you’re going,’ and he said, ‘Absolutely, no. This is not about incentives. This is not about we need more money to stay here.'” Stothert says Connolly said the decision was all based on the industry, not the community. She was told the lay-offs will not take place immediately.

“This would take a good year to notify everybody, to notify who was going to be transferred, what roles they would play,” Stothert says. “They said this was a longer process about how they were going to notify employees, where they were going to go and what they were going to be doing.” ConAgra has been headquartered in Omaha since 1922. The company employs about 800 workers at the plant in Council Bluffs, another 100 in Lincoln, Nebraska, and no lay-offs are planned at those locations.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Council Bluffs report an arrest has been made in connection with an incident where a man was robbed of his cigarettes Thursday morning outside a Hy-Vee Store in Council Bluffs. 18-year old Tyler J. Moss, of Council Bluffs, was located Thursday evening by uniformed officers and taken into custody on a charge of Robbery in the 1st degree. Moss was booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail.

The Criminal Investigation Division continues to look into the incident which began with a call to police at around 2:40-a.m., Thursday, from near the Hy-Vee Store at 2323 West Broadway. 22-year old Dakota Casey, of Council Bluffs said as he was leaving the store after purchasing a pack of cigarettes, he was approached by a white male subject who asked for a cigarette. Casey said he would sell the other man (later identified as Moss), a cigarette for 25-cents.

Tyler J. Moss

Moss paid for the cigarette, and as Casey was leaving, he heard Moss demand the entire pack of cigarettes. Casey said Moss produced a knife as he demanded the cigarettes from him. Casey gave the pack to Moss, who, along with other two males he was with, then fled the area on foot.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge says he won’t dismiss a sex abuse charge filed against a convicted sex offender who received 14 percent of the votes in losing a Charles City school board election last month. Fifty-nine-year-old Doug Lindaman has pleaded not guilty to allegations he performed a sex act in 2011 on a 17-year-old without the boy’s consent. Before the election, Lindaman called the charge politically motivated.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A 44-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to allegations he killed two other homeless people in Cedar Rapids in separate crimes earlier this month. Travis Standlee’s attorney submitted a written plea on Tuesday. Standlee is accused of killing 56-year-old Raymond Ursino and 41-year-old Sharon Mead.

WAUKEE, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa school district had to dispatch a second bus and driver to pick up students after the first driver quit midway through her morning route. The incident occurred Tuesday in Waukee. Waukee Community School District spokeswoman Nicole Lawrence says no students were endangered. It’s unclear what made the driver quit so abruptly.

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Deere & Company says it has reached a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers union, which represents 10,000 Deere employees at 12 factories in three states. The farm equipment manufacturer announced the agreement on Thursday. The new contract covers manufacturing employees at facilities in Davenport, Ankeny, Dubuque, Ottumwa and Waterloo.

Police in Council Bluffs arrested a man Thursday on willful injury resulting in serious injury and child endangerment resulting in serious injury, charges. 21-year old Andrew Ross, of Council Bluffs, was taken into custody following an investigation into an incident that took place during the early morning hours of Sept. 20th, when Council Bluffs Medics were dispatched to an apartment at 542 Woodbury Avenue, for a five month old Lyncoln Sadler with labored breathing.

Andrew Ross

The child was transported by ambulance to Mercy Hospital, where it was discovered she had a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain. Lyncoln was then transferred to Children’s Medical Center in Omaha, where she remains in serious, but stable condition.

The investigation determined the girl was in the sole custody of Andrew Ross when she sustained her injuries. Ross was the boyfriend of Lyncoln’s mother at the time of the incident. Lyncoln remains hospitalized at the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Ne.

Ross was arrested without incident and was being being held at Pottawattamie County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Two legal experts are recommending the court records of Iowa’s convicted juveniles be confidential and unavailable to the public. Jerry Foxhoven, the executive director of the Neal & Bea Smith Legal Clinic, and Mike Sorci, head of the Youth Law Center in Des Moines, met Wednesday with a state task force studying justice policy reform. The group is expected to make recommendations within the next month on reforms in a variety of areas, including juvenile court records.

The Des Moines Register reports that the men said confidential juvenile court records would help young people who have completed probation turn their lives around. Both of them recommended changing state law so juvenile court records remain confidential unless a judge orders them to be public.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says an Atlantic man was arrested this (Thursday) morning on drug charges. 32-year old Bryan Matthew Kirby faces charges that include Possession of A Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Kirby was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was subsequently charged with felony Possession of Contraband in Jail. Kirby remains at the Cass County Jail on $6,300 bond.

Also arrested today (Thursday) in Cass County, was 37-year old Robert Lee Atkinson, of Massena, who was taken into custody on a Sheriff’s Office warrant for Driving While Barred, and Eluding. Atkinson was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains on $2,000 bond.

And on Wednesday, 23-year old Carly Jean Seddon, of Atlantic, was arrested by Cass County deputies on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for Assault Causing Injury. Seddon was taken to the Cass County Jail where she was released later that day on $1000 bond.

All Iowa Department of Transportation driver’s license stations and county treasurer’s driver’s license issuance sites, will be closed Thursday, Oct. 8, for employee training. The stations will resume operations Friday, Oct. 9, at 8:30 a.m.

Victims of domestic violence anywhere in Iowa have a new outlet for help anytime of the day. Sara Eastman is director of the Iowa Domestic Violence Helpline, which opened today (Thursday).  “We are anticipating about 60,000 calls a year,” Eastman said. The helpline is believed to be the only one of its kind in the country. Most of the agencies around the state that help survivors of domestic violence have a local crisis line, but at certain times of the day, those calls may go unanswered.

“All the individual programs within the state are able to roll their phones to our helpline whenever needed,” Eastman said. “So, whether that be after hours, on the weekends, during staff development or training days, whenever they need that relief,” Eastman said. Calls to the helpline are free. The call center is located in Sioux Center and is funded by a grant awarded by the Iowa Attorney General’s office.

“We currently have a staff of 15 and we have at least two people on per shift. We will fluctuate that as we see a need, as the number gets out there a bit more, we will adjust our staffing accordingly,” Eastman said. The number is 1-800-770-1650. The staff members are trained to handle everything from crisis situations to counseling. According to Eastman, the statewide helpline could be especially beneficial to victims living in rural areas — as they may be hesitant to call their local program out of fear the person on the other end of the line will recognize them.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucus is still months away. However, for Cass County 7th through 12th grade students, a mock caucus will occur on November 19, 2015. Both political parties are partnering with the Iowa Secretary of State and the schools so that students can get a realistic caucus experience that will cover all aspects of the caucus process.

Students in the CAM and Atlantic School Districts can obtain and complete caucus registration forms at their schools. Students from the Griswold Community Schools can pick up from and return registration forms to Griswold City Hall, Griswold Public Library, the Griswold American’s newspaper office, Lewis Community Library, or Lewis City Hall. Registration forms need to be submitted by October 29th. Students can also sign up the night of the caucus but early registration is recommended.

Youth should present themselves at the Atlantic Middle School (Auditorium entrance) at 4:30 p.m. The caucus itself will begin at 5:30 p.m., following dinner which will be provided on location. Parents and teachers are welcome to attend as observers. Young adults who are no longer in high school may also attend the caucus as observers.

Presidential campaign aides have been invited to the emceed event, and campaign materials will be available. For additional information, contact David Wiederstein, Republican Party Chair, at 712-249-8417, or Sherry Toelle, Democratic Party Chair, at 712-243-4861. The project is also on Facebook: Iowa Youth Caucus—Cass County.