(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says it’s shameful for Democrats to criticize Trump’s pick to lead the U-S Attorney’s office in Washington, D.C. Grassley and 49 other Republican senators voted to confirm former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to the post this weekend. “You may hear my Democrat colleagues criticize Ms. Pirro for some of her colorful remarks during her time as a TV personality,” Grassley says. “…She has a larger-than-life personality, but she has decades of distinguished record as a prosecutor and judge.”

Grassley says Pirro was a trailblazer in the legal profession. “She spent 27 years prosecuting criminals and another three as a judge,” Grassley says. “In those three decades Ms. Pirro gained a reputation for fierce advocacy against domestic abuse and crime against children.” Grassley says Pirro set up one of the first sting operations against sexual predators on the internet.

Grassley made his remarks during a speech on the Senate floor. Iowa’s other U-S Senate, Republican Joni Ernst, also voted for Pirro but has not commented on Pirro’s confirmation.

(Radio Iowa) – More than 13-thousand people used a new Iowa website to search for child care in its first nine months of operation. Iowa Child Care Connect lets Iowans search for child care openings specific to their kid’s age, and policymakers can use it to see which parts of the state have a higher need for more child care options. Ryan Page is director of child care at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. She says the website’s succeeding and other states want to replicate it. “There are a lot of states that have a search function, most do, however, they don’t have the near real-time availability,” Page says. “They also don’t have that supply-and-demand data in real time to help navigate policy decision making.”

Paige Smothers is the owner and director of Sprouts Early Learning Academy in Carlisle. She says it’s easy and quick to submit her center’s availability to be displayed on the state website.  “I was surprised that, as a center, I’ve been able to use that information too, like when we were trying to explain some differences in our enrollment numbers,” Smothers says. “It’s just been very, very attainable, very accessible, and very user-friendly, for both the family and the centers.”

Smothers says since the website launched, she’s noticed more families that drive through Carlisle to get to work each day are reaching out to her child care center. The website was built with about five-million dollars in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – A man from Glenwood was arrested Sunday night on a drug-related charge. According to the Glenwood Police Department, 18-year-old Alex Carter Burnison was arrested at around 11:10-p.m. in Glenwood. He was charged with Possession of Marijuana/1st offense. Bond was set at $1,000.

(Audubon, Iowa) – The Audubon County Engineer’s Office reports painting contractors will be working in Audubon County repainting pavement markings on all County pavements County wide over the next week. Expect travel time delays and use caution when approaching/passing painting crews. The project is expected to be completed (Weather permitting), by 6-p.m. Friday, August. 8th.

(Creston, Iowa) –  The first few days of August brought seven arrests in Creston. According to the Creston Police Department, late Friday night, 18-year-old Tanner James Richardson, of Tingley, was arrested at the intersection of Devoe & Spruce. Richardson was charged with Driving While License Denied, Suspended, Cancelled, or Revoked. Richardson was cited and released on a promise to appear.

Three people were arrested during the early morning hours on Saturday morning, in Creston: 38-year-old Christina Marie McDonald, of Creston, was arrested at the intersection of Montgomery & Spruce. McDonald was charged with Driving While License Denied, Suspended, Cancelled, or Revoked. McDonald was cited and released on a promise to appear; 33-year-0ld Alex Shamblin Cole, of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, was arrested at 900 S Sumner St. Cole was charged with Operating While Under the Influence 1st Offense, and Carry Weapon – While Intoxicated (OWI). Cole was transported and held at the Union County Jail; and, 35-year-old Maria Soledad Pantoja, of Afton, was arrested at 800 Laurel St. Pantoja was charged with Interference with Official Acts, and Public Intoxication. Pantoja was transported and held at the Union County Jail.

Just before 3-a.m. Sunday, Creston Police arrested 46-year-old Russell Edward Orr, of Creston, at the intersection of Lucas & Vine. Orr was charged with Operating While Under the Influence 1st Offense. Orr was transported and held at the Union County Jail And, at around 4:15-a.m. Sunday, 43-year-old Angel Jean Davis, of Creston, was arrested at 302 N Pine St. Davis was charged with Public Intoxication. Davis was transported and held at the Union County Jail.

Sunday night, Michael Edward Walker, of Creston, was arrested at 207 E Montgomery St. Walker was charged with Disorderly Conduct – Loud Raucous Noise, and Public Intoxication. Walker was transported and held at the Union County Jail.

(Audubon, Iowa) – The Audubon County Roads Department reports a paving project on Lark Avenue, from Highway 44 north to 220th street, is finished, and Lark Ave. is now open to thru traffic. The road was closed May 12th for work on the project.

(Audubon, Iowa) – The Audubon County Road Department reports today (Aug. 4th), that 220th Street from Kingbird to Lark Avenues is once again open to thru traffic. Officials say bridge repairs have been completed. The road had been closed since May 12th.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Mission of Mercy annual free dental clinic is set for next month in Coralville in eastern Iowa. Dr. Kobi Voshell says the event known a I-MOM is what got him started in his career. “In 2008 I went and was interested in dentistry and went and volunteered for the second ever IMOM in Cedar Rapids and I stayed for two days. Held hands while people were getting injections and walked people around from place to place,” he says.”I was like ‘Yes this is what I want to do,’ and a short decade later, I was finally in dental school and learning how to be a dentist and then took my turn at IMOM being the one giving the injections and working on the patients. It was fantastic,” Voshell says. Voshell works in Iowa City and says the free clinic handles of dental care that many people take for granted.

“The shame and fear that comes with dental work, and especially for people that aren’t able to afford it at a pretty regular pace or regular rate really is damning,” he says. “It really sucks. It makes it hard for those people to make it to the dentist when they can, and they’re afraid of the needle, they’re afraid of the dentist, they’re afraid of the pain.” The clinic will be at the Iowa River landing in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Coralville.”We’re planning to see about a thousand patients over the two days of IMOM, that’s September 19th and 20th. We’ll see about a thousand patients and do over one million dollars of free dentistry,” Voshell says.

The clinic is free and on a first-come, first-served basis for the two days.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A single-vehicle accident early Sunday morning in Montgomery County resulted in an arrest. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responded at around 3:50-a.m. to the scene of the accident at 110th Street and State Highway 48. After making contact with the driver of the vehicle – 46-year-old Brianna Nedean Gasper, of Red Oak – and following an investigation, deputies arrested Gasper for OWI/2nd offense. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s economy continues to show signs of stagnation along with the nine-state Midwestern region, according to the monthly survey of supply managers by Creighton University. On the zero-to-100 scale, a score of 50 is considered growth neutral, the midway point between an economy growing or shrinking. Iowa’s Business Conditions Index for July fell below 44 after a score of 48 in June. Creighton economist Ernie Goss says the Midwest as a whole fared a little better.

“It was down below growth neutral and that’s certainly not good, but it’s only slightly below growth neutral,” Goss says. “July’s number was 49.4, and that’s down from June’s 50.7.” According to federal data, Iowa’s manufacturing sector exported six-point-two billion dollars in goods during the first five months of this year, compared to six-point-nine billion for the same period a year ago. Goss says that’s a drop of more than ten-percent. “The manufacturing economy is moving sideways, and there’s little doubt about that,” Goss says. “A lot of it, what you’re seeing with the imports for example, the president’s trade policies, in my judgment, they’re having a negative impact on our surveys.”

Looking ahead six months, the region’s Business Confidence Index fell from a score of 50 in June to below 43 in July. Goss says concerns about tariffs and slowing new orders pushed supply managers’ expectations lower. He says only one in six supply managers expect economic conditions to improve in the next six months. Goss describes himself as “a vocal critic of tariffs, not of President Trump, just of that policy of his.”  “We asked the supply managers about switching from one supplier to another and only 6.7% said they switched from international to domestic,” Goss says, “so the idea of raising tariffs on imports to get the supply managers to buy from alternative domestically is not having an impact, much of an impact.”

The survey shows employment losses for the region for the fourth straight month. He says the Midwest lost nearly 13-thousand jobs during the past year, while the nation lost more than 89-thousand jobs.