The Creston Police Department reports 29-year-old Steven Douglas Brinker, of Creston, was arrested Tuesday night. Brinker was taken into custody for Child Endangerment resulting in serious injury. He was transported to the Union County Jail and later released on bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s economy showed clear signs of improvement during February, according to the monthly Creighton University survey, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine pushed the survey’s business confidence index to its lowest level since the survey began in 1994. Creighton economist Ernie Goss says the Midwest economy is “up briskly” but business leaders are still dealing with familiar challenges. “More than four out of ten of the supply managers ranked supply disruptions,” Goss says. “Of course, with what’s going on in Ukraine now, you’d have to double that, I think, with big concerns. More than one-third indicated that finding and hiring qualified workers was their biggest challenge.”

Also, nearly one in five respondents listed “rising input prices” as their top challenge. While employment figures were up for February for the region, Goss says they’re still down about two-percent compared to pre-pandemic levels, dating back to February of 2020. “We asked the supply managers about what they expect in terms of a raise for this year — how much of a change in pay do you expect this year? On average, about 3%,” Goss says. “That’s very, very, I would call it modest or even weak, given what’s going on in terms of the overall demand for labor.”

A big issue for the region and nation remains the droves of people leaving the workforce, according to Goss, and he adds, inflation remains very high. “I don’t expect it to cool anytime soon. The earliest would be Quarter 3 of 2022,” Goss says. “It would depend a lot on what happens in Ukraine. You’ve got the Russian invasion of Ukraine pushing up commodity prices overall and that’s really going to push up inflationary pressures.”

On a zero-to-100 scale with 50 being growth neutral, Goss says Iowa’s Business Conditions Index for February climbed to 60.6 from 56.7 in January. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Goss says Iowa’s nondurable goods manufacturers, including food processors, have expanded at a solid pace, while durable goods producers, including metal manufacturers, have experienced pullbacks in economic activity.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds delivered the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union address last (Tuesday) night, saying Biden had failed the country on both the domestic and foreign fronts.

Reynolds called the withdrawal from Afghanistan disastrous and she suggested the Biden Administration had shown weakness, leading to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Reynolds said America is weak at home as well and she spent the bulk of her 14 minute speech focused on domestic issues. The governor accused Biden and Democrats in congress of not only ignoring, but fueling soaring inflation, Reynolds mentioned working at a Mount Pleasant grocery store four decades ago.

Reynolds suggested Americans have a dim view of Democratic leaders and — in her words — Americans are waiting for the insanity to stop.

Reynolds delivered her speech in downtown Des Moines, with the illuminated Iowa Capitol over her left shoulder. She touted her decision to require that Iowa schools have classes in-person at the start of the 2020-2021 school year.

Reynolds, near the end of her speech, mentioned the tax cuts she had signed into law earlier in the day.

The governor’s criticism of tax cuts for millionaires in California, New York and New Jersey drew an “are you kidding me” from Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls of Coralville on Twitter. Wahls says that’s what the governor’s tax plan does.

Wahls says the Republican governor should have thanked President Biden for the federal pandemic relief being used for a variety of projects, like expanding broadband service.

House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights says during a moment of global crisis, Reynolds should have talked about unity rather than criticize Biden’s foreign policy.

Deidre DeJear is the leading Democratic candidate for governor. DeJear says the speech Reynolds gave shows she’s pursuing extreme policies.

DeJear says the tax plan Reynolds signed puts the interest of the governor’s donors ahead of ordinary Iowans.