(Radio Iowa) – After a record-setting fiscal year, Winnebago Industries is off to a good start for Fiscal Year 2022. The Forest City-based outdoor lifestyle products manufacturer saw revenues for the first quarter ending November 27th were a record $1.2 billion, an increase of 46% compared to the same quarter a year ago.

President and CEO Michael Happe credits acquisitions of other companies in recent years to Winnebago’s continued success.“The catalyst continues to be our Grand Design RV brand, which consistently delivers record results and outstanding support for our dealers and in consumers,” Happe says. “Newmar branded diesel motorhome share and Winnebago brand towables growth also contributed nicely.”

More people have been exploring the outdoors since the start of the pandemic, and a recent industry survey says 9.6 million additional households say they are considering purchasing a recreational vehicle in the next five years. Happe says the company should be able to take advantage of that projected demand.

“We fully recognize that not all these potential customers will actually buy a recreational vehicle, but we do agree that future demand will be reasonably sustained at higher historical levels in large part because of consumer interest and participation in the outdoors being at all-time highs,” he says. Happe says the company is now fully reaping the benefits of its 2018 purchase of Chris-Craft boats and this year’s acquisition of the Barletta pontoon boats company. This quarter marks the first time the company is reporting separate figures for the marine segment, with revenues being $79.3 million in the first quarter.

“Our marine segment is performing well and in line with the high expectations we have for Barletta,” Happe says. “The results highlight the strength of the pontoon market and Barletta’s unique offering in strong brand affinity, which has integrated smoothly into our portfolio and delivered on the high growth expectations we anticipated.” Happe says the company has and will continue to be challenged by supply chain issues. “While we anticipate the supply chain constraints and inflation to continue, we have found a good cadence in working closely with our suppliers to mitigate the impact as much as possible,” he says.

Shares of Winnebago Industries stock have climbed over the last calendar year from just under $60 at Christmastime 2020 to $70 at the time of today’s quarterly earnings report release.

(Radio Iowa) – The first female bishop of the 168-year history of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa will be ordained this weekend. Rev. Betsey Monnot will be the 10th bishop of the diocese. “That stained glass ceiling is breaking,” Monnot says. “It is shattering and I want to say that in Iowa, more than half of our congregations are currently led by female clergy, so there’s been a lot of cracks in that stained glass ceiling. and tomorrow it will shatter.”

Monnot was among four female candidates for the post. She was serving a congregation in California when elected Iowa bishop this summer. Rev. Michael Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in America, says her election is part of the church showing society there is room for all. “For everybody equally,” he says, “and when that begins to happen, we’ll have a different world — not just a different church, but a different world.”

Rev. Monnot (Via iowaepiscopal.org.)

More than 400 people are expected to attend the ordination and consecration ceremony for the new Iowa bishop of the Episcopal Church tomorrow. There are five dozen episcopal congregations in Iowa, but the ceremony will be held in the Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, one of the largest churches in the state, to allow for social distancing and other pandemic protocols. The service, which starts at 11 a.m., will also be live-streamed.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Kassidy Arena)

(Radio Iowa) – Dentists are urging Iowa lawmakers to plug an extra 31-and-a-half million dollars in Iowa’s Medicaid budget to cover dental care. Laurie Traetow is executive director of the Iowa Dental Association. She says for the past 20 years, there’s been no change in what the state pays dentists who provide care to Iowans covered by Medicaid.

“Dental Medicaid rates in Iowa now only reimburse between 30 cents to 40 cents for each $1 of care provided,” she says. “Due to the ongoing under-funding of the program, Iowa has seen a decrease in dentists taking on new Medicaid patients, which creates access for the children and adults receiving Medicaid dental benefits. These patients are having to travel outside of their communities to receive services and the wait lists for these services can be very lengthy.”

Traetow says dentists are dealing with financial pressures, like rising supply costs and workforce shortages that push wage expectations higher for the staff in dental offices. “The vast majority of Iowa dentists are small business owners who often provide a certain level of charity care to those in need,” Traetow says. “However, no small business can survive taking a 60-70% loss on the service it provides.” The Iowa Dental Association is suggesting the dental care reimbursement rate for Medicaid patients rise to the level set in a separate government program that helps working parents acquire private health insurance for their children.

“This increase in rates is long overdue and is critical to the overall health of Iowans,” Traetow says. The latest state report indicates more than 800-thousand Iowans are enrolled in the Medicaid program.

DES MOINES – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for Carroll County in response to Dec. 15 severe weather. The governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather.

In addition, the proclamation activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program, for Carroll County. The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food, and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery.

The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Human Services website at https://dhs.iowa.gov/disaster-assistance-programs. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.

The Disaster Case Management Program addresses serious needs related to disaster-related hardship, injury, or adverse conditions. Disaster case managers work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice, and referral to obtain a service or resource. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program; it closes 180 days from the date of the governor’s proclamation.

For information on the Disaster Case Management Program, contact your local community action association or visit www.iowacommunityaction.org.

DES MOINES, Iowa – As the holiday travel season continues, local, state and federal agencies within the Southern District of Iowa are working together to ensure the safety of commercial airline passengers, flight crews and flight attendants.
Federal law prohibits assaults, intimidation and threats of violence that interfere with flight crews and flight attendants, as well as other enumerated criminal acts that occur during flight. Passengers who commit assaults against other passengers are also subject to federal prosecution.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland directed United States Attorneys to prioritize the prosecution of federal crimes occurring on commercial aircraft. To assist in the investigation and prosecution of in-air crimes, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Justice have created an information-sharing protocol, resulting nationally in the referral of numerous incidents by the FAA to the FBI for investigation.

A statement from the Des Moines Police Department indicated that officers from the Des Moines Police Department’s Community Outreach and Protective Services Airport Section will be available throughout the holiday season to support and collaborate with federal partners to provide for the safest travel experience for all.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal said “Holiday travel should be accomplished in the same spirit as celebration of the holiday itself. We support our federal, state, city and airport security partners in assuring safety for passengers, flight crews, and flight attendants, in the air and on the ground. In assistance to these partners, and for those crimes that have singular federal jurisdiction, we are committed to hold accountable those who engage in criminal behavior during air travel.”

FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel stated, “The FBI continues to work with the FAA and other partners to combat violence aboard commercial flights and ensure the safety of all passengers. We remain committed to investigating all incidents that meet the threshold of a federal crime and fall within FBI jurisdiction.”

(West Des Moines, Iowa/KCCI) – West Des Moines Police today (Friday) announced five students will be charged in a series of threats made at Stilwell Junior High (in W. Dsm). Since Dec. 10, police have been investigating several social media and spoken threats of possible violence. According to police, two students have been charged with felony terrorism and three more have been charged with first-degree harassment.

In a West Des Moines P-D news release, authorities said “Although these threats were not carried out, the seriousness of the crimes and the disruption of the school and the learning environment were factors taken into account when criminal charges were filed. On Friday specifically, these social media threats quickly caused parents to be concerned which led to an overwhelming amount of phone calls made to the school and parents arriving at the school to remove their children. Accordingly, the School Resource Officer from the West Des Moines Police Department worked directly with staff at Stilwell to investigate these threats as quickly as possible in order to maintain order and the safety of the students and staff.”

Police said the students charged are all under the age of 18, so none of their names will be released.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Public Health released new COVID-19 data Friday. Iowa has surpassed 601,531 total positive tests since the start of the pandemic. Also on Friday, the IDPH reports 9,087 positive COVID-19 tests in the last seven days. This is up from 9,012 positive tests reported on Wednesday. The state’s 14-day positivity rate dropped from 11.3% to 11.1%.

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa decreased from 823 to 810 people. IDPH reports that of all the people hospitalized with COVID-19, 81.1% are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19. In Iowa, there have been 4,461,143 total COVID-19 vaccines administered. 69.8% of Iowans 18 and older are fully vaccinated, and 73.4% of Iowans over the age of 12 have at least one dose of the vaccine. Long-term care facilities recording COVID-19 outbreaks increased from 16 to 19.

On a related note: The Polk County Health Department announced a case of the COVID-19 omicron variant detected in Polk County, Friday. Health officials said the case occurred in a vaccinated individual over the age of 18. The individual has not received a COVID-19 booster shot. The Polk County Health Department states that “the individual has mild symptoms and has not traveled.”

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – A Council Bluffs man was sentenced Tuesday, December 14, in United States District Court, to 15-months in prison for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime. According to court documents, 42-year-old Matthew Michael Loth plead guilty to the methamphetamine and firearm offenses in July of 2021.

Authorities say that on March 4, 2021, Loth was parked at a gas station and law enforcement stopped to talk to him after noticing the car did not have a front license plate. Communications advised the officers Loth had a warrant for his arrest for a violation of supervised release. A trained and certified narcotics-sniffing dog alerted and indicated to the odor of a controlled substance in Loth’s vehicle and police searched the car. A firearm with a loaded magazine and 109 grams of  methamphetamine were located.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Council Bluffs Police Department, Douglas County (Nebraska) Sheriff’s Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Rising and volunteers could be seen out delivering food boxes on Thursday, December 16th in the evening. The organization began collecting donations and nominations in early November and completed another successful program. Atlantic Rising Social Chair, Kelsey Beschorner says “We anticipated to see a continued increase in nominations due to the sustained challenges of COVID-19. We were over-joyed to see the constant support of our community in both donations and volunteers.”

Photos submitted by Kelsey Beschorner

This year, Atlantic Rising was able to provide a holiday meal to over 165 individuals and families all throughout Cass County. The donations received from the community totaled over $5,500, which allowed each box to contain more items and each nomination to be fulfilled. Atlantic Rising also teamed up with the Cass County Creators, a local 4-H group, who helped assemble, pack, and load the vehicles with the Christmas boxes which made the process run smoothly. Beschorner said “Atlantic Rising is proud carry on and continue to grow this tradition of the Christmas Box program, and we are so thankful that we are able to partner with HyVee who makes this big project the success that it is.”

If you are interested in joining Atlantic Rising and finding out what they are involved in throughout the year, you can contact Kelsey at 712-243-3017 or kelsey@atlanticiowa.com. The membership application can also be found at www.atlanticiowa.com.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The second jury trial an Anita woman facing 1st Degree Murder and Child Endangerment resulting in Death, charges, has been continued. A hearing in the case of Iowa vs. Alison Dorsey is scheduled for March 22nd at 10-a.m., with trial set for 9:30-a.m. June 20^th , instead of the previously announced date of Jan. 31, 2022. It’s not clear if the trial will be held once again in Atlantic. A motion requesting a change of venue was filed by Cass County Attorney Vanessa Strazdus on Nov. 11th.

Dorsey’s first trial ending in a mistrial on Nov. 4th, after the jury deadlocked and failed to reach a verdict. The trial was in connection with the death of an infant that was in her care, in October of 2019.