The leaders of Iowa’s largest businesses are optimistic about the state’s economy in the coming six months. That’s according to Elliott Smith, executive director of the Iowa Business Council, which conducts a quarterly survey of its members. “I think we’re seeing a nice, little bit of optimism expressed by business leaders,” Smith said. “All of our metrics moved forward in a positive way. Sales, capital spending, and employment all improved.”

The survey for the second quarter of 2016 shows 90-percent of the business CEOs expect steady or increased sales over the next six months and 95-percent anticipate steady or increased capital spending levels. All of the numbers improved compared to the I-B-C’s first quarter survey. “We’re glad after last quarter, when numbers dropped a little bit…that was an aberration instead of trend,” Smith said.

Eighty-five-percent of the business leaders expect hiring levels to remain steady or rise over the next six months. Smith says the next survey, three months from now, could be even better if things improve for businesses tied to agriculture. “The one sector that remains challenged, and it’s been that way for a number of quarters now, is the ag sector. We are seeing commodity prices starting to rise ever so slightly and hopefully that trend accelerates a little bit,” Smith said.

The IBC’s Overall Economic Outlook Survey Index for the second quarter rose to 62 — five points ahead of the first quarter (57) but five points behind this time last year (670). The Iowa Business Council is comprised of the top executives of over 20 of the largest businesses in the state, the three Regent university presidents, and the president and CEO of Iowa’s largest banking association.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Supreme Court is instituting a hiring freeze after approving a budget for the Judicial Branch for the new fiscal year that begins July 1st. Court spokesman Steve Davis says the nearly 179 million dollar budget approved for the courts is the same amount as last year, but does not include any money for the more than five million dollars in negotiated salary increases and health insurance costs. Davis says the hiring freeze will take care of some of the deficit.

“That’ll save about three-point-two million of the shortfall and then another 834-thousand savings is expected from keeping judicial vacancies open for about six months. And there will be additionally one-point-four million dollars in savings through reductions in travel, furniture purchases, office supplies and postage,” according to Davis. He says there are some 70 open positions in the court system right now that won’t be filled.

“It won’t be as noticeable as say a court closure day where the clerk’s office is close,” Davis says. “But there will still be less staff, and holding the jobs open won’t stop the work from coming into the courthouse.” Davis says the public will notice the difference.”It could cause delays, and there’ll be juvenile court officers who potentially will have less contact with the juveniles in most need of supervision, and the public will feel it that way,” Davis says. He says this year’s appropriation does not include a pay increase for judges, and says judges and magistrates have received one pay raise since 2008.

(Radio Iowa)

A traffic stop Wednesday afternoon in Page County led to the recovery of property stolen from various locations in Clarinda. The Page County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy stopped a vehicle driven by 25-year old Keith James Land, of Yorktown, at around 1-p.m., in Clarinda. Land was subsequently arrested for driving while barred. He was transported to the Page County Jail, and held on $2,000 bond.

Keith James Land

During the arrest of Land, stolen property was found in the vehicle. The property was from a burglary that occurred in the city of Clarinda, in the last week. The Page County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at Land’s residence 301 Jefferson in Yorktown, during which more stolen property was located and seized.

The Page County Sheriff’s Department worked together with the Clarinda Police Department in solving the crime. More charges are pending against Land. Authorities say anyone with information about the burglary is asked to contact the Clarinda Police Department 712-542-2194 or the Page County Sheriff’s Office at 712-542-5193.

Despite a few hot days and some heavy downpours in parts of Iowa, state climatologist Harry Hillaker says the state overall ended the month of May with both near-normal warmth and rainfall. Hillaker says, “For the statewide average, very close to normal both for temperatures and precipitation, although certainly the last week of the month we were much warmer than usual and also much wetter than usual at the tail end of the month.”

The warmest day in Iowa for the month was May 6th when it reached 90 degrees in Cedar Rapids and Hawarden. The lowest temperature was set on May 15th with 27 degrees in Cresco, Decorah and Elkader. While most of eastern Iowa was drier than normal, much of Iowa’s western third got a drenching during May, wrapping up the month much wetter than normal.

“The largest rain totals that I’ve seen, Atlantic in southwest Iowa had 10.75 inches of rain there,” Hillaker says. “That was helped a lot by about 6 inches during the last week of the month, locally very heavy rains.” One of the driest places in the state was the Des Moines area, with just 2.6 inches of rain during May. The forecast for the month of June calls for slightly cooler-than-normal temperatures and near-normal rainfall.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa DNR said Wednesday that a Union County maintenance crew accidentally nicked a hose used to transport manure Tuesday afternoon, while they were mowing. The incident happened in a right-of-way about one-mile north of Thayer. Officials said while the hose was not in use, about 800 to 900 gallons of residual manure leaked from a small hole. An unknown amount of manure reached an unnamed tributary of Four Mile Creek.

Iowa Select representatives reported the spill as they responded, quickly placing small dams in the unnamed creek to collect manure and pumping it out to land apply it. DNR staff checked the unnamed creek Tuesday. Field tests showed low ammonia levels. They found no dead fish.

Wednesday morning, DNR was on site and concluded most of the released manure probably remained in the right of way or on the shoulders of the gravel road. Iowa Select continues to clean up, scraping and gathering manure along the road edges. The DNR will consider appropriate enforcement action.

Police in Red Oak say no injuries were reported following a collision this (Wednesday) morning at the intersection of Valley and N. 1st Streets. Officials say 18-year old Autumn Leibert, of Red Oak, was cited for Failure to Yield to the vehicle on the right, after the 2015 Dodge Dart she was driving hit the left rear side of a 2007 Saturn, driven by 73-year old Carole Ann Golla, of Delhi, NY.

The accident happened as Golla was traveling west on Valley Street at around 8:30-a.m., and Leibert was traveling north on N. 1st Street. After her vehicle hit Golla’s car, the Saturn spun 180 degrees  and came to rest facing east on Valley Street.

Damage from the crash amounted to $8,500.

Expansion in the country’s beef cattle herd is bringing cheaper meat prices to the grocery store. Lower costs for feed and other incentives over the past three years sparked the nation’s beef producers to bring more cattle to market. Iowa State University economist Lee Schulz says lower retail prices arrived a bit quicker than expected.

Schulz says, “What many of us thought would be a much longer, prolonged process to get to this new price level, really occurred in the last 3 months of 2015.” Schulz says a new report from the U-S Department of Agriculture shows ground beef is about 30 cents a pound cheaper now than it was a year ago.

Schulz says, “We’ve seen increases in beef production really started in late 2015 and into 2016, so from the year-over-year standpoint, that increase in production will lead to lower prices.” As the approaching summer heats up, he says other meats that are popular on the grill, like steaks and ribs, should also have lower prices than last year.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following an accident late Tuesday night. At around11:08-p.m., deputies responded to a report of a pickup- versus- cow accident at Independence Road and 570th Street. 18-year old Aaron Thomas Suhr, of Waukee, was driving a 2007 Nissan Frontier pickup southbound on 570th Street, when the vehicle came upon several cows in the roadway, striking one of them. Damage to the pickup was estimated at $5,000.

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

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Sioux City lawyer has pleaded not guilty to a hit-and-run charge. The Sioux City Journal reports 31-year-old Thomas Farrens entered a written plea Tuesday in Woodbury County District Court. Court documents say Farrens didn’t stop after his car struck two pedestrians and sideswiped another vehicle on April 4. His car was found abandoned in Grandview Park.

The pedestrians were taken to a hospital for treatment. Police Sgt. Jeremy McClure says that after Farrens was found at home later that evening, his blood tested out above the legal limit for alcohol. Prosecutors say the use of alcohol is still being investigated.