(UPDATE/Radio Iowa) – The search for a missing northeast Iowa teenager ended not long after it began, Thursday morning. Fayette County sheriff’s officials said 14-year-old Walker Richardson was found, and is safe. They released no other details on where he was located or where he had been.

Authorities said previously, they were searching for the teen who had last been seen Wednesday, around 2:30 p.m. They said Richardson is a highly-functioning autistic. Sheriff’s officials began their search Wednesday afternoon but suspended operations overnight over safety concerns. The search resumed 9:30-a.m. Thursday.

(Radio Iowa) – Authorities have released more details about Wednesday afternoon’s fatal accident in rural Humboldt County, about half a mile east of Bode. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 2019 Dodge Caravan driven by David Eddington Sr. of Bode struck the rear of a Case I-H farm tractor pulling a large round bale trailer. The tractor was driven by Kyle Olson of Bode.

Pamela Eddington of Bode was a passenger in the Dodge Caravan and she was pronounced dead at the scene. David Eddington, Sr. sustained minor injuries, The tractor driver and other passengers in the Caravan were not injured.

(Radio Iowa) – After another year filled with supply chain troubles and global health concerns, the economic outlook for 2022 in Iowa and for the Midwest isn’t rosy, according to Creighton University economist Ernie Goss. “The outlook depends heavily on what happens with the South African strain of COVID-19, the variant there,” Goss says. “Even with that, I’m still expecting slower growth in the first half of 2022. It will slow even more, obviously, if we see that expanding in the U.S.” The monthly Creighton survey of supply managers in Iowa and eight other states in the region is showing strong growth, but it’s bogged down by continued transportation troubles and labor shortages.

“One out of four of the supply managers expect the supply chain delays that we’re currently now experiencing to improve in the first half of 2022,” Goss says. “More than 50-percent of supply chain managers expect these supply chain disruptions, supply chain bottlenecks to get worse.” According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Iowa’s seasonally adjusted manufacturing employment rate was down by fewer than 500 jobs from October to November, or only about two-tenths of one-percent. On the national front, the Gross Domestic Product is booming. “The oddity of it is, we’ve got GDP back to above pre-pandemic levels, but employment? Not there,” Goss says. “We’re still seeing reluctance to return to work. We’ve got a lot of retirements. We’ve got individuals leaving the workforce.”

Ernie Goss

Goss says job gains for Iowa’s nondurable goods producers, including food processors, were more than offset in the past month by losses for the state’s durable goods manufacturers such as metal producers. Also, inflation levels are worsening and keeping prices on a wide range of products high. The region’s wholesale inflation gauge for November hit 92.9 on a zero-to-100 scale. “We’re seeing some of the highest numbers we’ve recorded here at Creighton University since we began the survey more than 25 years ago,” Goss says. “I would say it’s the most consistent upward price pressures we’ve recorded in the last three decades.”

The survey’s overall Business Conditions Index for the Midwest, which also uses a zero-to-100 scale, dropped from 65.2 in October to 60.2 in November. The overall index for Iowa tumbled even further, from 67.8 in October to 59.4 in November.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Thursday, reported the arrest of 35-year-old Daniel John Vornbrock, from Glenwood. He was arrested for Driving while barred, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bond was set at $4,300.

Sheriff’s officials said also, a single-vehicle accident that took place at around 8:45-a.m. Tuesday, resulted in one person being transported to the hospital. Authorities say 63-year-old Mark Blair, of Stanton, was driving a 2007 Mack truck eastbound on Highway 34 eight mile-marker for Glenwood, and approaching the intersection of the off-ramp and 221st Street. When he attempted to turn right (South) onto 221st, the vehicle went out of control and rolled onto its side on 221st, dumping a load of dirt the truck was carrying across the northbound lanes.

Glenwood Fire Department personnel extricated Blair from the truck by mechanical means. He was then flown by helicopter to the hospital. An initial investigation determined there were skid marks about 52-feet long past the stop sign, traversing the corner. Authorities say that indicates the truck did not stop at the stop sign, and was traveling at a speed which, combined with the turn, resulted in the vehicle overturning.