A new report shows it’s getting more expensive to live in Iowa and many families are struggling to earn enough money to cover their basic needs. The Iowa Policy Project’s 2016 “Cost of Living in Iowa” report outlines how much working families need to earn in order to pay for such things as food, housing, utilities, child care, and transportation. IPP research director Peter Brown says a couple areas of basic expenses have increased substantially in recent years. Rent, on average statewide, has risen seven-to-eight percent, while health insurance premiums have skyrocketed.

“Insurance, on the individual market at least, has gone up 17-to-23 percent,” Brown said. “These are actually premiums people are paying right now, in 2016, for health insurance.” Iowa’s current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. The report states the average Iowa family of four would require each parent to earn at least $16.89 an hour to make ends meet.

“The median wage (in Iowa) is a little less than $16 (an hour). That means half of the jobs in this state pay less than that, yet…these families will need to earn $16 to $25 an hour — full-time, year-round — in order to get by,” Brown said.

The report identifies some of the lowest overall costs of living are found in the eastern Iowa metros of Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Davenport, Dubuque, and Cedar Rapids. The highest cost region of the state is in the southeast corner, including the cities of Fort Madison, Burlington, and Mount Pleasant.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce and Megan Roberts State Farm have announced the nominee’s for this year’s Young Professionals of Atlantic (YPA) awards. The awards will be presented during the 3rd Annual Awards Luncheon and Dessert gala, beginning at Noon on April 29^th at the Atlantic Golf and Country Club. The awards are designed to recognize the achievements of young professionals who demonstrate a commitment to excellence and innovation in their profession and within the community.

YPA logo

Award categories and nominees include:  

Newcomer:

Brittany Burmeister, Nishna Valley YMCA

Nick Harris, Brocker, Karns and Karns Insurance

Dr. Kate Hoffman

Dan Mehmen, Principal Financial & Darryl D. Smith Company

Alexis Stensland, Southwest Iowa Planning Council

Business Leader:

Tim Cappel, Cappel’s Ace Hardware

Brad Henningsen, Henningsen Construction

Kevin Wieser, Brown’s Shoe Fit Company

Entrepreneur:

Amanda Graham, Picker’s Parlor

Megan Roberts, Megan Roberts State Farm

Public Servant:

Christina Bateman, Meyer & Gross Real Estate

Ashton Koehlmoos, Nishna Valley YMCA

Kelsey Smith, Iowa Child Care Resource & Referral

Seth Staashelm, Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department

Alexis Stensland, Southwest Iowa Planning Council

Natalie Struecker, Atlantic Public Library

Choice Workplace Award Nominees:

Dance Atlantic

Nishna Valley YMCA

Rolling Hills Bank & Trust

TS Bank

Firefighters from Atlantic were called to a reported vehicle on fire on Interstate 80 this morning. The call about a brake-line fire on a tractor trailer came in at around 6:05-a.m.  The vehicle was located on I-80 eastbound at the 56-mile marker.

A Cass County Deputy arriving on the scene at around 6:15 reported no fire, but the line was smoldering. No injuries have been reported.

The pre-trial conference for a man charged in connection with a May, 2015 fatal crash in Cass County, was rescheduled this week to 10-a.m. April 20th, at the Shelby County Courthouse. The Trial for 50-year old Paul W. Marshall, of Modale, has been reset three times. Online court  records show his trial, which was originally set for Nov. 15, 2015, is now set to take place April 26th in Shelby County.

Marshall faces a charge of Homicide by Vehicle/Operating Under the Influence, for the crash that took place at around 7-a.m. Saturday, May 16th, 2015 on Interstate 80, near the Marne exit. The Iowa State Patrol said Marshall was driving a 2009 Dodge pickup westbound in the eastbound lanes of the Interstate when the truck struck a 2009 Pontiac Vibe, head-on. The crash killed 31-year old Peter John Underwood, of Lincoln, NE., an assistant soccer coach for the University of Nebraska.

Underwood was traveling on a recruiting trip when the crash happened. He died at the scene. University officials said Underwood had just completed his fourth season with the Nebraska women’s soccer program, serving the last two as a full-time coach and the previous two as a volunteer assistant.

Police in Red Oak arrested a man early this (Wednesday) morning for allegedly violating a valid Order of Protection. 25-year old Michael David Jones, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 2-a.m. in the 2400 block of N. 8th Street, in Red Oak. Jones was being held at the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center on a $300 cash bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Documents show the state agency that oversees Iowa’s flagship history museum used infrastructure money designated for building repairs and museum renovation planning to pay some department salaries. Payroll documents obtained by The Associated Press show the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs diverted more than $176,000 from a special infrastructure fund to pay a portion of Director Mary Cownie’s current salary and the salaries of two senior staff. The agency insisted that the move was legal, and it pointed to special appropriations language issued for some of the $3.65 million it received from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. DCA says it exempts normal rules.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A Pella day care provider has been given probation for her role in the death of a 17-month-old-child. A judge sentenced 32-year-old Valerie Wackerly to three years of probation in the death of Amelia Smith. Wackerly pleaded guilty in January to involuntary manslaughter. The judge also ordered Wackerly to pay restitution and to record a public service announcement about the proper use of car seats that will play weekly on a Knoxville radio station.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Sioux City officials say a proposed $20.7 million viaduct to prevent railroad delays in the Hoeven Valley will close at least one train crossing to through traffic. City staff told the City Council that closing three streets to traffic at railroad crossings will force people to use the proposed viaduct. The city is seeking about $14.8 million from the U.S. Department Transportation for the project.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The agency that oversees Iowa’s history museum spent money designated for building repairs and other needs on administrators’ salaries. Payroll documents obtained by The Associated Press show the Department of Cultural Affairs diverted more than $176,000 from a special infrastructure fund to pay a portion of three salaries. It highlights a potential loophole in a law that outlines how infrastructure funding should be allocated.

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)