(KCRG) Moline, Il. — Reports show John Deere CEO John May sold $72,473 company stocks a few days before the strike began. Earlier this week, more than 10,000 John Deere workers went on strike after negotiations between United Auto Workers and John Deere failed.

The majority of union workers rejected a contract that would have delivered 5% raises to some workers and 6% raises to others. According to documents acquired by KCRG, the Security and Exchange Commission reported on Tuesday that May began selling stocks in March 2021. But the SEC requires the documents to be filed within two business days after the transaction.

KCRG reports the John Deere stock decreased by 6.3% in the last month and 3% in the last five days. John Deere has not responded to KCRG’s request for comment.

(KCCI/Des Moines, Iowa) – Three people were injured during a shooting incident early this (Sunday) morning, in downtown Des Moines. According to Des Moines Police, the shooting happened around 2 a.m. at 3rd Street and Court Avenue. Three people were shot and taken to the hospital. One person was shot in the abdomen, another in the shoulder. A third person, shot in the elbow, was also dropped off at the hospital. None of the injuries were life threatening, according to Police.

The incident was at least the fifth shooting in the area this year.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of a Red Oak woman early Saturday morning. At approximately 2:23 a.m. Deputies conducted a traffic stop at 200th Street and Boxelder Avenue. After investigation the driver, 32-year-old Brynn Elizabeth Darby of Red Oak, for OWI 1st Offense. Darby was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.

(Webster City, Iowa) – A man from Wright County died during a single-vehicle accident Friday morning, in Hamilton County. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident happened around 8:40 am on 190th Street, north of Webster City. 29-year-old Jose Rodriguez Martinez, of Belmond, was driving on the gravel road when he apparently lost control. The 2010 Dodge Avenger he was driving went into the ditch and hit a cement culvert abutment west of the intersection with White Fox Road. The car remained wedged between the abutment and ditch slope.

The State Patrol says Martinez – who was wearing a seat belt – was thrown from his vehicle. The crash remained under investigation. The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Webster City Fire Department, and Van Diest Ambulance assisted at the scene.

(Des Moines) Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Friday, extended a proclamation relating to the weight limits and transportation of grain. The proclamation that continues through November 14, 2021, allows vehicles transporting corn, soybeans, hay, straw, silage and stover to be overweight (not exceeding 90,000 pounds gross weight), without a permit – for the duration of the proclamation.

It applies to loads transported on all highways within Iowa (excluding the interstate system) and those which do not exceed a maximum of 90,000 pounds gross weight, do not exceed the maximum axle weight limit determined under the non-primary highway maximum gross weight table in Iowa Code by more than 12.5 percent, do not exceed the legal maximum axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds, and comply with posted limits on roads and bridges.

(KCCI) [Seymour, Iowa] — A Southern Iowa dog breeder under investigation wants to give up the 189 dogs in his possession. KCCI reports that request was filed in a federal court motion Friday afternoon shows. Daniel Gingerich amassed 120 violations of the Animal Welfare Act since March, according to USDA records. USDA investigators visited his Seymour, Iowa facilities 18 times total. USDA records show investigators found emaciated and dead dogs and that Gingerich repeatedly failed to provide adequate nutrition, potable water and veterinary care for his dogs which resulted in “unnecessary suffering and death.”

Photos obtained by KCCI show the condition dogs were forced to live, and sometimes die in. The federal motion filed Friday by the United States Department of Justice says Gingerich wants to give up all dogs in his possession and “be relieved of further responsibilities for the care, control and management of all dogs under his care.” If approved by the court, the animals will go to The Love Pet Project, a 501(c)-3 organization based in Zionsville, Indiana, court records show. A team of 15 groomers, five veterinarians, a cardiologist and more are ready to come to Seymour to step in. The group specializes in helping animals in situations like this. The group is aware of the pending litigation and says it will provide the court any necessary information and will allow the USDA and the state to oversee the transfer of animals, records show. The motion says the transfer of animals can start 24 to 48 hours after the court grants the move and can be finished within seven days.

USDA found violations at Gingerich’s property as early as March, but waited until Sept. 7 to suspend his license temporarily. Further, the Department of Justice has filed a federal civil suit against Gingerich.

(Montezuma, Iowa) – Officials with the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office, late Friday, confirmed human remains found Sept. 30th north of Montezuma, belong to a 10-year old male missing May 27th. Xavior Harrelson had been reported missing by a family friend. He was last seen riding a bike in Montzeuma, where he lived with his mother.

On Sept. 9, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation received a tip that led them to search Fox Forest County Recreation Area. Authorities located his remains about 3 miles north of Montezuma. The cause of death has not been released at this time. Xavior went missing only days before his eleventh birthday.

(Radio Iowa) – The state panel which estimates the amount of money the state will take in now has the final numbers for the state fiscal year completed in June. Holly Lyons of the Legislative Services Agency is one of three members of the Revenue Estimating Conference. “As of two weeks ago, the fiscal year 2021 books are closed and revenue came in much higher than the March R-E-C estimate. Like most states, we missed it big — but of course, it is better to be on the high side than the low side. In both dollar and percentage terms — fiscal 2021 exceeded any year since at least the fiscal year 2001,” Lyons says. She details some of the numbers.

“General fund net revenue for the year increased 870 million and 11 percent when compared to the fiscal year 20 level. And exceeded the R-E-C estimate by 737-point-one million — or nine percent,” Lyons says. She says federal money helped the economy that had dropped during the pandemic in the previous year. “This growth reflected positive consumer confidence in the form of pent up demand for goods and services, an improving economy, and massive federal assistance in the form of stimulus payments, child tax credits, extended unemployment benefits, and the paycheck protection program,” according to Lyons.

Lyons says the state is facing a lot of “headwinds” in the new fiscal year, including inflation, interest rates, and the worker shortage. “The question is what happens as the impact of that stimulus money fades. Wage and salary income looks fine now — despite the reduction in employment — but come late spring and summer next year, Iowans as a whole may not have as much money to spend as they did the previous year,” Lyons says.

The other two members of the panel issued the same cautions as the state continues through the new fiscal year.

(Radio Iowa) – This weekend’s Iowa Latino Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held virtually for the first time. The Iowa Commission of Latino Affairs moved the event online after concerns were raised about COVID-19. Sonia Reyes, executive officer of the commission’s Office of Latino Affairs, says there are benefits to broadcasting the ceremony, even though people won’t be able to connect in person. “Everyone is going to be able to have access to the link and anyone will be able to attend regardless of where they are in the world, because we have inductees that have relatives all over the world,” Reyes says. “So I think that is something that we are gaining.”

Reyes says she hopes the easy access to the event will attract more viewers, so they can see how Latinos are making a positive impact in Iowa communities. “I think that when you move something to virtual, you don’t have that camaraderie of having to meet people in person,” she says, “and the Latino community, we are so affectionate, so to give the hug, the kiss on the cheek, so we lose a lot of that.”

The ceremony is scheduled for 6 P-M Saturday on the Iowa Department of Human Rights’ Facebook page. The three inductees and three award winners will be invited back to next year’s ceremony, which is expected to be in-person. The Iowa Commission of Latino Affairs established the Latino Hall of Fame in 2017.

(Radio Iowa) – October is recognized as “Pork Month” and Iowa Pork Producers Association executive director Pat McGonegle points to the economic study they commissioned to show the impact of the pork industry on the state. “We do it with a third party so it kind of pulls some of the bias out of it…one of the key things that we found in it is the Iowa pork industry — both direct and indirect impact — equates to about 140-thousand jobs in the state of Iowa,” McGonegle says.

McGonegle says the direct and indirect economic impact is estimated at six BILLION dollars. And he says the pork industry provides a market for Iowa grain. “We’ll consume about 24 percent of the corn that’s produced in the state and about 22 or 23 percent of the soybeans that are produced are consumed on pig farms,” he says. Consumption of pork products has steadily increased during the past few decades, and according to McGonegle, one bright spot lies with the export of U-S pork products. He says Iowa exports about 26 percent of the hogs produced to 100 countries. “And it’s everything from pork chops to pig’s feet and everything in-between. And so, all of those things add value, not just to the producer — but to the entire network that it takes to bring pork products to consumers.”

McGonegle says whether the pork industry continues to expand within the state will depend on input costs, such as higher grain prices, and higher costs for building materials.