A fairly upbeat job market is anticipated in Iowa over the final three months of the year, according to a new survey released today (Tuesday). Manpower spokesperson Karen Miller says only four-percent of the employers surveyed in Iowa expect to decrease staffing levels between October and December. “We’ve got 20-percent of the companies we interviewed planning to hire more employees and 75-percent expect to maintain their current staff levels,” Miller said.

Those results are good for a “Net Employment Outlook” of 16-percent for the fourth quarter of 2014. That’s down slightly from 18-percent in the third quarter survey, but it compares very favorably to Q-4 one year ago. “Last year, we had a Net Employment Outlook of 11-percent,” Miller said. Iowa’s job market is looking better the nationwide outlook.

Of the more than 18,000 employers surveyed in the U.S., Manpower found 19-percent expect to add to their workforces, while 7-percent expect a decline in their payrolls between October and December.

(Radio Iowa)

A program that is designed to improve the health care of what are called “underserved” patients has been expanded this year. Iowa Primary Care Association C-E-O, Ted Boesen, says six regions of the state will receive grant money to build local partnerships to connect patients to community resources to overcome barriers in their treatment. “Health care delivery resources are sometimes spent more wisely if some of the determinate of their health — like housing and transportation and understanding their situations better — is more a function of what happens,” Boesen says. He says the local partnerships called “Community Care Coordination” ensure the issues outside the doctor’s office or hospital are taken care of.

“They’ll actually work with the primary care practices that see these patients, kind of connect with them, and then they’ll connect with the social services…that provide the needed care. They’ll be kind of the conduit between the patients, the practices and some of the services available in the community,” Boesen says. The program started last year in Cerro Gordo and Webster County and Boesen says they learned lessons from the first year.

“We really kind of downsized the amount of money each grantee got so we could have implementation opportunities, but we could also have developmental opportunities,” Boesen says. The Iowa Legislature provided more than 900-thousand dollars in funding for the program.

Here is a list of the types of grants the recipients:
Implementation Grants – Implementation initiatives will deploy a Community Care Coordination team to support primary care practices in providing services for their highest need patients by addressing gaps in care, transitions of care, and connection to community resources.
· Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa – to serve Cerro Gordo County -($200,000)
· Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital – to serve Cass, Mills, and Pottawattamie ($150,000)
· Seasons Center – to serve Clay and Sioux counties ($200,000)
· Webster County Health Department – to serve Buena Vista, Calhoun Webster, Hamilton Humboldt, Pocahontas, Sac, and Wright counties ($200,000)

Developmental Grants – Developmental initiatives will assess and develop a plan to provide assistance to local primary care and other health care providers to meet the unique needs of their highest risk patients, establish connections with other community resources, and provide education to their community partners about Community Care Coordination.
· Allen Memorial Hospital to serve Black Hawk County ($50,000)
· Dallas County Nursing Services to serve Dallas County ($88,784)

Learning Collaborative Stipends – Three additional regions were awarded $10,000 stipends to participate in the Care Coordination Learning Collaborative. These three organizations will join the other grantees in a team-based effort to share experiences and best practices to become more patient-focused and efficient.
· Healthy Henry County Community
· YMCA Healthy Living (Des Moines)
· Shenandoah Medical Center

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A high school principal was placed on administrative leave after he was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication at the University of Iowa game.Lee David Griebel, 44, of Adel, was arrested Saturday at Kinnick Stadium at the University of Iowa game against Ball State University. Griebel is the principal at Adel DeSoto Minburn High School in Adel.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governors from five Midwest states joined Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad in meetings with Japanese governors, officials, and company executives for the annual gathering of the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association. The group, founded in 1967, meets yearly to discuss the growth and progress of economic relations of the American Midwest and Japan.

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — An 81-year-old woman in southern Iowa is ending her weekly garage sale after 33 years. Shirley Dennison of Ottumwa has decided to close her garage doors for good, the Ottumwa Courier reported. The Ottumwa resident has hosted weekend garage sales off and on for the past 42 years. She started operating every weekend at her home on the city’s south side when her mother passed away in 1981, leaving her plenty of things to sell, including clothes and other items.

WAUKON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in northeast Iowa identified a motorcycle driver killed in a single-vehicle crash. Allamakee County Sheriff officials say 54-year-old Julia Ann Dohrer was traveling on State Highway 76 near Waukon on Sunday when her motorcycle entered a ditch and rolled over.

The Atlantic School Board Monday night held nominations and a vote on who would run the meetings during the 2014-2015 school year. Current Board President Kristy Pellett and Vice President Phil Hascall were re-elected for the one-year term. Mary Beth Fast was also re-elected Board Secretary, and Olivia Newberg was elected Board Treasurer. The Board decided to leave the dates and times of the meetings the same as the past year.

In his report to the Board, Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein said “The Scary Guy” was warmly received at the various schools within the County, and his visit went well. Amstein thanked the Cass County Child Abuse Prevention Council for helping to bring him to the County to speak about preventing hate, violence and prejudice in our daily lives.

Amstein said also the district is making progress in trying to offer a Plumbing Class at the High School during the second semester. He said Bob Camblin with Camblin Mechanical in Atlantic, has been gracious in donating the services of Randy Watts, Vice President and General Manager at Camblin’s, who also teaches the class for Camblin Employees. Watts will be instructing students registered in the course at AHS.

Upon registration and completion of the course, students will have their first year apprenticeship for plumbing completed and will also have their OSHA Safety Certificate. He said their is also a possibility of the course being offered for a second year as well, so it can be attended by Juniors and Seniors.

In other  business, the Board approved the FFA Trip to Louisville, KY this Fall, and the 2016 Spanish Club’s trip to Costa Rica. Both groups raise their own funds to send students to their respective destinations.