(Atlantic) – Incumbent Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, spoke to a crowd inside the Atlantic Community Center, Friday evening. During the event, she said with regard to the current election cycle, the mood is different than in the past, the nation is facing “some significant challenges, some significant changes.” Ernst, who likes to ride her motorcycle, compared the race between her and her opponent, as  “A choice between two different roads.” Her opponent is Democrat Theresa Greenfield.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) speaks at the Cass County Community Center 9-18-20 (Ric Hanson/photo)

Ernst said “On the road to the right [the road she chooses] we have freedom, prosperity, and opportunity. But on the left, there is a very, very different path. It is a path that my opponent is choosing to take. And that path is paved with government takeover of health care, it’s paved with radical environmental ideas that would fundamentally change the way we do agriculture in the State of Iowa, and wipe out thousands of manufacturing jobs.”

Ernst said also, the road to her opponent is taking, is filled with people who want to roll back our Second Amendment Rights, and those who are promoting extreme abortionist ideas. “These are the ideas that are supported by my opponent.” She said Greenfield has not been seen anywhere in Iowa, whereas Ernst has visited all 99 counties on one and a half tours. Ernst likened Greenfield to the popular character in the “Where is Waldo?” puzzle books, by saying “Where is Theresa Greenfield? She’s in the basement, hidin’ with Biden folks, and she’s going to stay in her basement, because she does not want people to know where she stands on the issues.”

She said Greenfield has not visited almost half of Iowa’s counties in the 15 months she’s been campaigning. Ernst said she’s willing to meet with constituents and represent them in Washington. Toward the end of her speech, Ernst learned about the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She “I am so sorry. I may not have agreed with her politically, but God Rest Her. She was an incredible woman.”

Ernst said President Trump has a list of persons who have may pick from for nomination. She doesn’t know who he may choose, but that person will have to be confirmed by the U-S Senate.

(Radio Iowa) – Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says Iowa’s economy appears to be bouncing back better from the pandemic compared to other parts of the country, but it’s not close to a full recovery. “If you look at it, we’re still probably in Iowa five or six percent below pre-Covid level employment numbers,” Goss says. “…It’s real easy to say negatives are getting less negative.” Goss made his comments today (Friday) during taping of the “Iowa Press” program that airs tonight (Friday) on Iowa P-B-S.

Goss suggested to moderator David Yepsen that more Iowans are unemployed than the unemployment RATE suggests. “I would say it’s undervalued. In other words, there are more unemployed than that one would suggest,” Goss said. Yepsen asked: “So what do you think? How bad is unemployment?” Goss replied: “It’s bad…particularly in leisure and hospitality.” Goss suggests it’s more likely eight to nine percent of Iowans are unemployed, compared to the August unemployment rate of six percent that state officials announced today (Friday).

(Radio Iowa) – President Trump has announced another round of federal assistance to farmers who continue to see prices for commodities dip due to the pandemic. Iowa State University ag economist Chad Hart says the spending was authorized by the so-called CARES Act that passed congress this spring. “This has been telegraphed for some time,” Hart says. “It’s about $13-14 billion dollars of support here…to help producers that are still suffering from price losses from earlier.” Producers of livestock, dairy and eggs as well as so-called fish farms are eligible to apply for these new payments. Farmers who raise corn, cotton, beans, wheat and specialty crops like fruits and nuts are eligible, too.

In August, the U-S-D-A estimated federal payments would account for 36 percent of farm income this year and these payments will push that share even higher. A recent report shows that in general, southern farmers are getting bigger checks from the U-S-D-A than Midwestern farmers. Hart says that’s because the payments are based on the Farm Bill.  “When you look back at previous Farm Bill packages, they tended to be more tilted to southern crops as well,” Hart says, “and so when we piggyback on previous programs, they tend to line up the same way.”

Hart made his comments this (Friday) morning during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight (Friday) on Iowa P-B-S.

The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is assisting authorities in southeast Iowa’s Appanoose County, following an Officer-Involved shooting. Authorities say late Thursday evening, a law enforcement pursuit that began in Marion County, entered Monroe County and then into Appanoose County. During the pursuit in Appanoose County, an Appanoose County Deputy Sheriff discharged his service weapons at the suspect vehicle.

The suspect was taken into custody. Neither the suspect nor the Deputy were injured during the incident. No names were released early this (Friday) afternoon, and additional details will be made available as the investigation continues.

With the pandemic, the civil unrest, the drought, and then the derecho, some Iowans have been stressed for months. The Iowa State University Extension is offering a program starting next week that’s designed to help us to help each other cope. David Brown, a behavioral health specialist with the I-S-U Extension, explains the goals of the Mental Health First Aid program. “The whole purpose of the program is to teach individuals a little bit more about mental health and signs and symptoms of when someone may be developing a mental health issue,” Brown says. “It teaches you a five-step action plan to help individuals intervene and make sure the person is safe, and actually gets them to the appropriate professional support.”

It’s a comprehensive, four-hour training session which aims to help participants identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. “What we’re trying to do is build a community of people that can take care of each other and make sure we get the right help when the need is needed,” Brown says. “There’s a lot of stress out there right now and we’re certainly hoping that more individuals are willing to step up and learn more about mental health and how to help someone else.”

The Mental Health First Aid training will be offered over the next several weeks via Zoom. The first edition will be held next Thursday (September 24th) and again on October 1st and 15th, November 5th and 19th, and finally on December 10th. “We’ve been offering this program face-to-face since 2018, so we’ve been offering it for a while,” he says, “but the National Council on Behavioral Health has decided to turn this into a virtual program due to the COVID situation.”

The cost is $35. There is a two-hour self-study course which needs to be completed prior to taking the Zoom course. Register at: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/MHFA

(Radio Iowa) – This is “National Truck Driver Appreciation Week” as those who sit behind the wheel of big rigs and small are recognized. The director of the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) Transportation Institute, Dave Pfiffner, says the industry got a lot of attention early on in the pandemic when stores shelves emptied out of toilet paper. “There were shortages of a lot of different things, meats, if you look at foodstuffs and consumable supplies — those seemed to be the areas where there were issues,” Pfiffner says. He says there’s been a shortage of drivers and things are going to get worse. “If you look at the average age of a truck driver out there now — it’s in the mid-50s — so it’s a very grey fleet. A lot of folks looking to retire over the next five to ten years,” according to Pfiffner. “And there’s not as many people coming in on the other end to make up for those loses.”

Pfiffner says those looking to get into the industry can pretty much determine what they want to do. And trucking isn’t all about driving a big rig across the country. “There are jobs available in really every segment of the industry right now,” he says. “Some people think of truck just as you’re over the road, you’re away from home all the time. That’s not actually the case There’s a huge number of jobs out there that are considered local jobs. Everything from delivery to cement mixers to garbage pick up.”

He says you can be trained and ready to go in a couple of months. “In normal times it’s a six-week program, 240 contact hours, so pretty much full-time,” Pfiffner says. “Since the pandemic has hit, we’ve move the classroom portion of our training, which used to be conducted on site, to kind of an instructor-led online format. So, in other words the class meets with the instructor on a daily basis in something similar to a zoom meeting.”

Pfiffner says the average starting salary for DMACC Transportation Institute graduates is 40 to 50-thousand dollars — with the ability to make 60-thousand annually within two years.

CEDAR RAPIDS – The Iowa Department of Corrections reports 53-year old James William George Jr., who was convicted of Robbery 2nd Degree and other crimes in Linn County, failed to report back to the Larry A Nelson Residential Center as required Thursday night.

James W. George, Jr.
(IA DOC photo)

George is a 5-foot 9-inches tall black male, who weighs 207 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on March 26, 2020.

Persons with information on George’s whereabouts should contact local police.

(Radio Iowa) – The state unemployment rate dropped again in August. The rate went from six-point-eight percent in July down to six percent in August and the number of unemployed is now estimated is 91-thousand-500 lower than the Covid-19 peak in April. The state unemployment rate one year ago was more than half of what it is now at two-point-eight percent. A statement from Iowa Workforce Development says August saw the fourth consecutive monthly increase in jobs since April — but the increase is substantially lower than the average number of jobs added over the previous three months.

The statement says slower hiring could be a symptom of colder weather setting in and businesses believing that demand will not return to pre-pandemic levels as quickly as hoped.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A high school teacher in Iowa has been placed on leave for assigning students to “pretend you are a black slave.” The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the assignment for an online freshman class at Liberty High School in Iowa City asked students to write four sentences about what they would do if they were a slave who was freed.

The district says the teacher, whose name was not released, was placed on administrative leave and the assignment was removed. The district called the assignment “inappropriate.”