(Radio Iowa) – Children of divorce are less likely to earn a four-year college degree or beyond, according to an Iowa State University study co-authored by I-S-U sociology professor Susan Stewart. “We tracked young adults into their 20s and 30s and we looked at the families that they were from,” Stewart says. “We found that children with divorced parents were about half as likely to complete their college degree and about half as likely to go on to graduate school than children with continuously married parents.”

The study found 27-percent of children with divorced parents had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 50-percent of those with married parents. One of the more likely reasons for the findings, she says, is simply financial. “After divorce, incomes go down and it takes a long time to recover that and sometimes, parents never recover that loss in income,” Stewart says. “They might have saved for college for their children, but then that money might get eaten up when the parents have to pay for the divorce and form a new household.”

The study looked for any differences in outcomes when the child was under 18 versus over 18 at the time of the divorce and found no variation. “Divorce, whether in childhood or young adulthood, has long-lasting effects on childrens’ lives,” Stewart says, “even into their late adulthood.”  With the divorce rate continuing to hover around 50-percent of all marriages, Stewart says the impact on a child’s higher education is undoubtedly being felt in the bigger picture of the workforce. “Getting a college degree has become pretty much a requirement for getting a job and reaching the middle class,” Stewart says. “Increasingly, a graduate degree is important even for relatively low-paying fields like social work and education.”

A federal report predicts jobs requiring a master’s degree are expected to grow by nearly 17-percent between 2016 and 2026. The I-S-U study is being published in the Journal of Family Issues.

(Radio Iowa) — The chief of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, Patrick Hoye, is hoping this holiday weekend is a lot safer for motorists in Iowa than it was in 2017. “Last Labor Day (weekend), we saw 10 traffic fatalities, which was the highest Labor Day count we’ve had since 1995,” Hoye said. “So, coming off of last year, we have some real serious concerns.” Labor Day marks the traditional end of summer and this weekend is typically one of the busiest travel times of the year. According to Hoye, too many motorists get behind the wheel after celebrating the holiday with alcohol. “One of the trends we saw over last Labor Day was that about 40-percent of those fatalities were alcohol related,” Hoye said.

Police in Iowa are taking part in a national campaign that involves an increase in law enforcement officers on roadways through this coming Monday. Among other things, they’ll be looking for impaired drivers, so Hoye is encouraging Iowans to plan ahead. “We always tell people, ‘hey, if you’re going out and you know you’re going to be drinking, have a plan on how you’re going to get home – whether it be a designated driver, Uber, Lyft, or a taxi,'” Hoye said. “Have in mind, before you leave the house, what your plan is to get home safely.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that during the 2016 Labor Day weekend, there were 433 crash fatalities nationwide with 36-percent involving drivers who were drunk.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Police in Creston report 44-year old Cassaundra Marcum, of Creston, was arrested at around 2:25-p.m. Thursday. Marcum was taken into custody following a traffic stop, on charges that include Driving while Suspended, Failure to provide proof of financial liability, and Registration violation. She subsequently bonded out on a $300 bond.

(7-a.m. News)

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Mason City man accused of sexually assaulting two of his caretaker clients has made a plea deal. Cerro Gordo County District Court records say 19-year-old Wasfie Alshara filed written pleas of not guilty Wednesday to two counts of misdemeanor assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. Prosecutors lowered the charges of felony sexual abuse in exchange for Alshara’s pleas.
His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 5.

The court records say Alshara raped one of his dependent adult clients on Nov. 21 and sexually assaulted the other in a group home on June 8. The records also say Alshara worked for an unidentified company that provides caretaking services.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday, that officials with the City of Lorimor reported earlier this week, that sometime after last Friday afternoon (Aug. 24th), someone broke into the city’s maintenance building. Damage to the door was estimated at $200. No items other than some receipts were reported missing as of last report.

(Radio Iowa) — A rural sociologist with Iowa State University is studying the potential impact the new Prestage Farms pork processing plant will have on the nearby town of Eagle Grove when it opens in a few months. I-S-U’s David Peters did surveys in the Wright County community and the surrounding area as the massive 240-million dollar facility is nearing completion. “Demographically speaking, obviously, it’s going to increase the population,” Peters says. “The town of Eagle Grove is likely to become a minority-majority community where roughly half of the population will be Hispanic or of a non-white race, and there will be a lot more children.”

The plant is expected to open, at least in a limited form, before the end of the year or in early 2019. Plans call for hiring nearly one-thousand workers initially, with the potential for a second shift to be added later, which could mean hiring 500 more people. “It will be an economic plus for the community,” Peters says. “It’ll particularly help the poorer residents in Eagle Grove, provide more job opportunities. It’ll increase housing values and increase housing occupancy.” There are ups and downs in every situation but overall, Peters says, the quality of life in Eagle Grove won’t change when the plant opens. “There’s going to be much better quality jobs in Eagle Grove,” Peters says. “Local government services will improve and child care services will improve. On the other hand, local schools will probably become a little bit worse compared to what they (are) now.”

Peters recently presented his report to Eagle Grove residents. He says he heard a lot of comments and concerns from those who attended the meeting, worries about things like population growth and crime. “The majority of questions from the community were really looking at, proactively, what they can do to capitalize on this employment jump and to help newcomers feel more integrated into the community,” he says. Initially, the plant will slaughter 10,000 hogs per day, with half of those hogs coming from Prestage’s own barns.

(Radio Iowa) — A leader in the state’s Latino community says it’s time for leaders in Iowa’s white majority to defend Latinos being targeted by a “disturbing” robocall that cites the murder of Mollie Tibbetts and calls for the deportation of 58 million “brown” immigrants.  Joe Henry of Des Moines, a regional vice president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said “As long as we can get the people to support us, the overall community, we can stop the hate.” He was among a group that gathered outside the statehouse last (Thursday) night. “If we can stop this right now, if people will be speaking up, if good people will do the right thing — from local officials to people at their churches — then we can stop this hateful type of behavior,” Henry said, “but we have to do it now before it gets any bigger.”

Henry says Latinos in Iowa are growing more fearful after a white supremacist group based in Idaho began sending disturbing recorded telephone messages to Iowans this week. Here’s how the call ends:

The message begins by referring to the man accused of murdering Mollie Tibbetts as a “savage intruder” and criticizes members of Tibbetts’ family for saying they do not blame a race of people for her murder. Authorities in Des Moines blocked off a city street after the words “Deport Illegals” were spray painted across both lanes of the road yesterday (Thursday). The graffiti was painted in a neighborhood where many Latinos live. It was wiped away within two hours after it was reported and the City of Des Moines posted this message on its Twitter account: “not in our city.”

MARENGO, Iowa (AP) — A woman has been found guilty of killing a truck driver at an Iowa rest stop along Interstate 80. Iowa County District Court documents say 44-year-old Mariana Lesnic was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder. Authorities say she shot 60-year-old Ernest Kummer four times in the head inside his truck cab on Sept. 6, 2017, at the westbound rest stop near Victor, about 40 miles west of Iowa City. Kummer, who lived in Monroe, was an employee of Fridley, Minnesota-based Copeland Trucking, where he had worked since 2010.

A first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.