(Radio Iowa) – Creighton University economist, Ernie Goss, says the economy in Iowa and other Midwest states headed into the new year on a positive note. Goss does a survey of purchase managers, that showed a number above neutral growth for December.  “A little bit stronger than anticipated. The national number which came out this week as well, it was weaker than that, it was in the it was below growth neutral,” Goss says. The Federal Reserve announced it was going to cut interest rates six to seven times in 2024, Goss is skeptical of that.  “I chuckled, because that’s the only reason that would happen is if we moved into a recession. Now, is that the case? Well, our numbers show a softer landing than that,” he says. He says the Fed is expecting inflation to continue to be an issue.

“They’re expecting things to soften a bit, inflation coming down, but still above the target,” he says. “The target is two percentage points, and we’re still above that right now. And now with these recent supply chain disruptions in the Red Sea, and other supply chain disruptions, that’s gonna push tend to push prices up. We’ve already seen oil prices move up a bit.” Goss says the federal government pumped money into the economy to avoid the recession.

“Ninety-five percent of economists expected a recession 2023. Now, why did we not get it? Well, the reason is you can’t have a recession when you have spending at the federal level that we have had in 2023, which we still have,” Goss says. He says the federal government’s putting the money into the economy at the same time the Federal Reserve is cutting the money supply, and that is going to continue.

“I say the federal government is going to put more and more money in there and the likelihood of a recession has been reduced,” he says. “It’s an election year, and politicians don’t get reelected, the probabilities of reelection go down in a recession, certainly.” Goss says Iowa and other Midwest states have so far weathered those economic moves better than other areas of the country.

(Radio Iowa) – Forecasters say the approaching winter storm threatens to bring heavy snowfall to much of Iowa, with wide areas of the state expecting up to a foot of snow, along with strong winds that could make driving very hazardous. Meteorologist Peter Speck, at the National Weather Service office in Davenport, says eastern Iowa may get the worst of this storm. “Snowfall totals from the storm have gone up to about eight to 12 inches,” Speck says, “and we’re expecting the bulk of that from the Quad Cities metro westward into the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City metro, so it’s going to be busy here over the next 24 to 36 hours.” Some forecast models show isolated areas of eastern Iowa may get 14 inches of snow, or more.

A Winter Storm Warning is posted through Tuesday evening for all but a few counties in north-central Iowa. Besides the potentially heavy snow, Speck says those wind gusts will be wicked. “We have winds forecasted to go up to about 40 miles per hour or so, especially beginning tomorrow afternoon,” Speck says. “With that snow and wind together, it’s going to combine to produce very dangerous visibilities, potentially below a quarter mile at times, which can make for very treacherous travel. In addition to that, blowing and drifting snow as well, which could cause additional road impacts.” If there’s any good news about this storm, he says it’s that temperatures will be relatively moderate for the season.

“A lot of these storms traditionally have temperatures in the 20s, and when you combine that with the wind, it can produce wind chills in the teens,” Speck says. “But with this storm here, we’re expecting temperatures generally in the low 30s, and with that wind, it will help lead to temperatures, especially tomorrow afternoon on the backside of the storm, with wind chills dropping into the teens.” Speck says much colder temperatures are likely to move in later in the week, along with the possibility of more snow this coming weekend.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – The Page County Sheriff’s Office has issued a report on arrests and accident that occurred from Dec. 24th to the 29th. Arrests include:

12/24/2023 James Lloyd Bennett (39) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for OWI
12/25/2023 Donna Sue Aldaz-Loya (66) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for public intoxication.
12/26/2023 Jeremy Scott Bywater (40) of Tarkio Missouri. Booked into the Page County Jail for domestic abuse/assault and child endangerment (X2).
12/27/2023 Chad Michael Thomas Cody (37) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for possession of controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
12/27/2023 Christopher Russell Marsh (38) of Macedonia Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail to serve time.
12/27/2023 Jessie Gregory McFarland (47) of Farragut Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for driving while revoked.
12/29/2023 David Calvillo (26) of Farragut Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for possession of controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
12/29/2023 Robin Clark Latham (65) of Omaha Nebraska. Booked into the Page County Jail for violation of probation (X2). Latham was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail by the Page County Sheriff’s Office.
12/29/2023 Andrew Travis Gaunt (35) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for burglary and theft in the second degree.
12/29/2023 Gary Lynn Runyon Jr. (50) of Coin Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for driving while barred a habitual offender. Arrested by the Page County Sheriff’s Office.

Accidents in Page County, include:

12/22/2023 Highway #2 and A ave. Nicole Lynn Glassinger was driving east on Highway #2. Just east of A ave. Glassinger left the roadway and entered the ditch. Glassinger continued east through a field and came to rest against a tree. Glassinger was transported to the Shenandoah Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. The Page County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Shenandoah Fire Department, Shenandoah EMS and the Shenandoah Police Department.

12/26/2023 1200 block of B ave. Keaton William Anderson was traveling south on B ave. In the 1200 block Anderson lost control on the snow covered roadway. Anderson’s vehicle rolled into the south ditch. No injuries were reported.

(Creston, Iowa) – A Creston resident reported to Police Saturday evening, that someone had stolen their snowblower. The Cub Cadet snowblower was taken sometime after Dec. 26th, from a residence in the 300 block of W. Adams Street in Creston. The loss was estimated at $800.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department say a Creston man reported a hit-and-run incident. Jason Lohoff told Creston Police he was traveling southbound on Cherry Street at around 7:35-pm., Saturday, when his 2015 Ford F-350 pickup was side-swiped by what he though was a red truck, as the unknown driver was heading northbound on Cherry. Lohoff’s pickup sustained about $1,400 damage when his driver’s side-view mirror was shattered. The other vehicle was not located.

A funeral has been scheduled for Thursday for the sixth grader who was killed in a shooting at Perry High School last week. Eleven year old Ahmir Jolliff is described as a vibrant soul with an infectious smile in the obituary prepared by his family. His funeral will be held at the Catholic Church in Perry and the Christian Church across the street will offer seating to any overflow crowd. Investigators say Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger placed himself in harm’s way so his students could escape. In a Facebook post, Marburger’s daughter said her father was in stable condition, but faces more surgeries after surviving multiple gunshots. The suspected shooter was a 17-year-old student at Perry High School who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

(Radio Iowa) – Former President Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis say they’re counting on hundreds of precinct level volunteers to spur turn-out in the Iowa Caucuses NEXT Monday, despite frigid temperatures in the forecast. Trump told a crowd in Newton this weekend that next Monday’s forecast of a deep chill was good news for his campaign. “My people will walk on glass. They don’t care,” Trump said, to cheers and applause. A few hours later in Ankeny, DeSantis joked about how cold it was going to be next Monday night. “You all are still going to turn out, though, right? It doesn’t matter — o.k.,” DeSantis said as the crowd cheered.

Dean Grossnickle of Gilbert was in the crowd applauding. He’s a precinct captain for DeSantis. The role isn’t just about Caucus Night. It’s about recruiting people now who’ll caucus for DeSantis next week. “Talking to my neighbors, talking to my ‘friend’ list, the people that I have influence with,” Grossnickle said. Gary Leffler of West Des Moines who was a congressional candidate two years ago, is a 2024 Iowa Caucus Captain for Trump. He says it’s pretty straightforward stuff, like contacting potential Caucus-goers. “Call my list. Get my people there like I’m supposed to do in my precinct. Show up. Be positive. Be enthusiastic,” Leffler says. Explaining what will happen inside a caucus is part of it, too.

“The Iowa GOP has done a good job of refining it, making it fairly simple,” Leffler says. “I think my biggest concern right now is January 15 is supposed to be 10 degrees.” Leffler was wearing one of the white baseball caps the Trump campaign is giving its Caucus Captains. Chris McAninch of Grimes had one on, too, as he waited in line to see Trump in Newton. McAninch says part of the role is being the Trump campaign’s official observer of the hand count of ballots at his precinct. “Watch and regulate the caucus,” McAninch says, adding he doesn’t expect to see problems: “I expect to see a lot of Trump ballots.”

Joyce Schmidt, the pastor of St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Bode, is a precinct captain for DeSantis. It all started in June, when someone from a political action committee backing DeSantis knocked on her door. A few weeks after that Schmidt hosted a dozen people in her home in Bode for a private meeting with DeSantis. In mid-December, Schmidt gave the opening prayer at a DeSantis campaign event in Fort Dodge. “I try to do as much as I can, but I have to be careful being a pastor. I can’t push a whole lot, but they know where I stand and I think the majority of the people in my church are Republicans and I think I’ve converted them from Trump to DeSantis,” she says, laughing. “I guess we’ll find out.” DeSantis says candidates who haven’t organized down to the precinct level “always under-perform” on Caucus night.

“Caucus is a commitment. You’re talking about mid-January. It’s going to be cold. It’s on a school night. You’re going to be there for a couple of hours,” DeSantis says, “and so identifying those people who are committed to doing it, which we’ve done in the tens of thousands, organizing these areas so that we can bring more people out, that’s just how you win these things.” Trump held four more of his “Commit to Caucus” events in Iowa this weekend. A video about how the Caucuses work is played as the crowd waits for Trump, then Trump singles out the Caucus Captains when he takes the stage.

“This is a special group ’cause you’re going to be out there on the 15th,” Trump said. “…This time we have the best team anyone’s ever assembled for Caucus.” Trump, who finished second in the 2016 Iowa Caucuses, says a massive victory for him next Monday would send a thunderous message about the 2024 campaign.

(Radio Iowa) – The 2024 Iowa legislative session begins later this (Monday) morning, with more tax cuts at the top of the majority party’s agenda. Governor Kim Reynolds will outline her priorities during a speech at the Capitol on Tuesday night. Reynolds has been saying elimination of the state income tax is a long-term goal.  “We’re sitting on a pretty good surplus and we’ve got money there and we’re going to turn it back to Iowans,” Reynolds said in late November. “…We need to be more competitive.” The state income tax is currently scheduled to shrink to one rate — of three-point-nine percent — for income tax payments due in 2027. Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver says expediting that tax cut is likely the first step lawmakers will take in the tax debate.

“And then what comes next will probably be the main conversation of the session,” Whitver says. House Speaker Pat Grassley says as discussion of eliminating the income tax begins, House Republicans will press to ensure the state can meet its spending commitments. “It’s going to be something that’s sustainable,” Grassley says. “Other states that have not passed sustainable tax policy, it’s backfired on them, so from the perspective of House Republicans, we want to get the money in the hands of Iowans, but at the same time making sure it’s a forward thinking vision.” Democrats say Iowans have more immediate concerns that should be addressed by lawmakers, like the lack of child care slots and affordable housing.

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst. “I’m pretty tired of watching Republicans govern by headline,” Konfrst says. “I think it’s time we get down to business and we actually try to see what’s going to make a difference for Iowans.” Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, says it’s time for lawmakers to get serious about investing in a mental health care system for children. “We’ve had a problem for a long time. The pandemic has made it that much worse,” Jochum says. “We have seen more and more children with anxiety issues, behavioral health issues than we ever did before.” Republicans have held both the House, Senate and governorship for the past seven years. Senate Leader Whitver says aside from taxes, they’ve accomplished almost every other top policy item on the G-O-P agenda.

“We’re in a really great spot as a state. I think, frankly, we’re in the strongest position we’ve ever been as a state and so you don’t always need to invent new things to do,” Whitver says. “…We’ve checked off the major things that we want to do and let’s let the economy run like we’ve set it up to run.” House Republicans are calling for tougher penalties for groups caught stealing from retailers — so-called smash and grab episodes — that have taken place in other states. Grassley says House Republicans also plan to review K-through-12 education standards, school discipline policies and teacher pay — and investigate whether out of state staffing agencies are over charging Iowa hospitals and nursing homes.

“I don’t think just because we’ve done a lot of big things, we can now be all of a sudden like, ‘Well, here we are. Let’s take a time out,'” Grassley says. “I think that’s not why Iowans sent us here or will send us back.” The House and Senate are scheduled to convene at 10 a.m.

(Creston, Iowa) – A man from Adair County was transported by private vehicle to the hospital in Creston, following a single-vehicle rollover accident Saturday morning. Authorities say 32-year-old Bryan Dean Schultz, of Greenfield, was driving a 2014 Ford Focus north on Highway 25 at around 12:25-a.m., Saturday, when he lost control of the car. The vehicle left the road and went down a slight embankment before rolling over and landing in a creek bed.

Upon further investigation, it was discovered Schultz suffered injuries as a result of the accident. He was also suspected of OWI, with charges pending blood test result from the lab.

The car, registered to a woman from Greenfield, sustained $15,000 damage.

(St. Charles, Iowa) – A crash involving a cargo truck Sunday night in eastern Madison County claimed the life of a Winterset man. The Iowa State Patrol reports 41-year-old David Blair, of Winterset, was traveling south on Upland Avenue at around 7:50-p.m., Sunday, northwest of St. Charles, when he lost control of the vehicle on a curve near 230th Street, causing the cargo truck to roll over.