Iowa State University’s president says enrollment at the Ames school has been growing at a “record pace” and that’s why he’s on a hiring spree. Last year, I-S-U president Steven Leath approved hiring 105 new faculty members. “We’re going to do 130 this year,” Leath says. “I think we’re the only university in the country that’s hiring that many faculty in the two-year period.”

According to the American Institutes for Research. Iowa State is the only university in the country to have reduced administrative costs while increasing the number of faculty hired over the past eight years. That trend started with former I-S-U president Gregory Geoffrey and continued with Leath when he took over as I-S-U’s president nearly three years ago.

“This is really about making sure we can teach the students,” Leath says. “And it’s also about doing research in some critical areas and so these are very targeted recruitments.” Nearly 70 percent of all I-S-U classes have fewer than 20 students and to accommodate both record enrollment and more faculty, Leath ordered some administrative offices that had been on the central campus to move off campus.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) Foundation has won a 75-thousand dollar grant from the Walmart Foundation to promote career opportunities for low-income women. I-W-D spokesperson, Kerry Koonce, the grant will be used to establish the “Women’s Occupational Matching and Networking (WOMaN) Project” to help women find jobs in non-traditional occupations. “Particularly in the construction and advanced manufacturing area, and so we are going to be working with our customers in our food assistance and our promise jobs programs to really be targeting these individuals and getting them trained and ready to go into these careers,” Koonce says.

Koonce says they picked the two areas of focus based on their potential. “Well they are the two areas where there is demand and growth. They are two areas that women traditionally are much lower in the employment ranks in,” Koonce says. “But they are very high-paying jobs and very self-sustaining. And a lot of these individuals are single parents with young children at home, so strong middle-income wages with good benefits are really important for these families.” She says the program will have a couple of benefits. “You are getting people off of any kind of public assistance, and their life is better, they’re self-sustaining, they are contributing to their own families,” Koonce says.

A recent study compiled by Iowa Workforce Development found the hourly wages of women were 25 percent less than men, and salaried women earn 19-point-four percent less. The study found a primary reason for this disparity in wages was select female-dominated career fields that pay less, along with male-dominated occupations that tend to pay more. Koonce says they are working with partners, such as the Master Builders of Iowa.

“We’ve targeted four areas across the state where we can have the highest impact, and that is: Waterloo, Ottumwa, Davenport and Des Moines,” Koonce says. “And that is based on the ratio of individuals who qualify within this low-income program. And also where there is the need and the opportunity for the growth in these nontraditional occupations.” Koonce says they will get in touch with those already in the two state programs she mentioned. “But we will also be opening it to other people who may qualify, but they are not completely on the assistance program. And we will be kicking it off at the end of January,” Koonce explains.

Koonce says grants like this to the I-W-D foundation allow them to run the program without state dollars. “It’s an area that we’ve begun targeting more heavily within the last couple of years. There’s a lot of programs out there that we can use, and we want to be sure that we are providing all of the resources available to our customers.” Koonce says the non-profit status of the I-W-D Foundation allows them to go after such grants.

(Radio Iowa)

One person escaped serious injury when the vehicle they were driving went out of control and rolled over in Audubon County, Tuesday night. Sheriff Todd Johnson reports 41-year old Tricia Kay Deist, of Audubon, was traveling east on 190th Street at around 6:30-p.m., when her 2003 Dodge went out of control due to the road conditions. The vehicle entered the east ditch near the intersection with Kingbird Avenue, and rolled over before coming to rest on its top. The damage was estimated at $3,500.

Deist refused medical treatment at the scene. There were no citations issued.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County arrested a Red Oak man late Tuesday night, on drug charges. 56-year old Charles James Netherton, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 10:12-p.m. on four felony counts of Delivery of Methamphetamine. The arrest stems from a narcotics investigation.

Netherton was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $50,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

Officials with the Iowa Finance Authority and Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources have announced 22 Iowa cities will benefit from a combined total of more than $27.2-million in low-cost water quality loans, through the State Revolving Fund (SRF). SRF’s are a low-cost financing option available for Iowa cities and municipalities for water quality initiatives. Planning and Design Loans are zero-percent loans that assist with the first-phase of project expenses.

In the KJAN listening area, the City of Massena received a $230,000 Clean Water Construction (CWC) project loan from the SRF, and the Lenox Municipal Utilities received a $452,000 loan for a Drinking Water Construction (DWC) project. Elsewhere, Kiron, in Crawford County, received a CWC loan $1.478-million, and the City of Halbur, in Carroll County, received a $506,000 CWC loan from the State.