DES MOINES, Iowa – There are changing trends when it comes to the scourge of methamphetamine in Iowa, but the drug’s dangerous and deadly grip remains tight in communities across the state. Thanks to laws on psuedoephedrine and meth precursor ingredients, there has been a dramatic drop in the number of meth labs in Iowa, but Dale Woolery, associate director with the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, says the amount being smuggled in from Mexico is up – and it’s higher in purity.

“At 14.8 percent we’re at an all-time high in terms of the proportion of Iowans in substance abuse treatment saying meth is their number one drug of choice,” says Woolery.

According to Woolery, some 64,000 grams of meth have been seized by law enforcement this year, the most in nearly a decade. There’s also been a shift from traditional meth labs to what’s called the “one pot” method, where the drug can be made in a pop bottle with relatively common ingredients.

Meth’s powerful hook and devastating impact on users and families is especially stark when one looks at the courts and corrections. Woolery says more than half of Iowa’s drug-related prison admissions last year involved meth. There were also more than 1,300 cases of child abuse stemming from what’s called “drug endangerment.”

“Drug endangerment can be a child that’s in the presence of a meth lab,” he says. “You have all sorts of dangers with toxins, not to mention potential violent acts.”

This week marks Meth Awareness Week in Iowa.

(Iowa News Service)

The Atlantic City Council will meet Wednesday evening beginning at 5:30. During their session at City Hall, the Council will act on passing a Resolution approving the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget for the Atlantic Municipal Utilities. The City traditionally passes the AMU budget without issue, since AMU is accountable to the Utility Board of Trustees. The two principal executives of AMU, Steve Tjepkes and Jennifer Saathoff will be present to answer any questions the Council may have.

The Council will also act on approving the first reading of an Ordinance pertaining to the “Mowing of Properties”. Interim City Administrator John Lund has indicated habitual problems with lawn care have been a burden on the city’s financial and human resources, and the process outlined in the Iowa Code, which the City of Atlantic adopted wastes money on certified letters while allowing the problem to become a greater blight.

Mayor Dave Jones contacted officials with the City of Creston, and learned their Ordinance, which is legal, saves taxpayers’ money and aggressively deals with blighted lawns. The proposed Ordinance was reviewed by the Community Protection Committee on November 12th, 2014 and passed unanimously with the recommendation for approval by the City Council. City Attorney David Wiederstein has found everything to be in order and prepared the Ordinance as presented for the Council’s review and approval.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council will enter into a Closed Session for the purpose of strategizing over the Collective Bargaining process with regard to the Union representing Road and Wastewater employees.The current collective bargaining agreement for those employees is scheduled to expire on June 30th, 2015. Lund says he’s met with Union representatives who have already presented their proposed contract agreement to the City. He’s prepared the City’s response in a proposal is ready for the Union, but needs the Council’s input before it is submitted. Iowa Code allows for the City Council to convene in closed session for strategizing on collective bargaining agreements.

A new survey of the CEOs of 25 of Iowa’s largest businesses shows most are predicting an increase in sales over the first half of 2015. Elliott Smith, executive director of the Iowa Business Council (IBC), says the survey also shows little movement in terms of capital spending and employment. “That’s been the story for most of this year — just good, solid, positive performance,” Smith said. “We’re hoping that’s what the first five or six months of 2015 have in store.”

The IBC survey finds 35-percent of the state’s largest business leaders expect “no change” in employment levels between January and June, while 15-percent forecast cuts to their workforce. “Maybe that’s a little indicative of some of the uncertainties we’re seeing in the agriculture sector right now, with the impact of commodity prices on farms and how that might be rippling into the non-farm segment of the state’s economy,” Smith said.

Only five-percent of the CEOs surveyed anticipate a decline in sales over the coming six months, while 75-percent predict an increase in sales. “When sales either maintain or move up, as it did this particular quarter, that is promising,” Smith said. “When sales are good and steady for a number of quarters, that gives businesses the confidence to invest in more machinery, build more buildings, expand, and hire more people, hopefully.”

The IBC’s overall economic outlook survey index for the fourth quarter of 2014 is 65 — which is the same as the third quarter and up three points (62) from one year ago.

(Radio Iowa)