FOREST CITY, Iowa (AP) _ Winnebago Industries Inc. (WGO) on Friday reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $57.4 million. The Forest City, Iowa-based company said it had profit of $1.70 per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to $1.69 per share. The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.03 per share.

The recreational vehicle maker posted revenue of $793.1 million in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $742.2 million. Winnebago shares have increased 12% since the beginning of the year. The stock has risen 24% in the last 12 months.

Red Oak Police, late Thursday night, arrested a man for Domestic Assault/1st offense. 44-year old Jason Richard Berendes, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 11:15-p.m., in the 1000 block of E. Corning Street, in Red Oak. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail, pending an appearance before the Magistrate.

(Radio Iowa) – The president of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry says he’s excited by what he sees in a survey of members on what they expect in the first quarter of the new year. A-B-I President Mike Ralston says the survey results are positive in almost every area. “The manufacturers who responded to the survey expect pretty good things in the first quarter of 2021,” Ralston says. Around half of the 15-hundred member businesses are in manufacturing and they expect increased sales, and employment. Ralston says the expectations are based on two things.”First is that they are trying to keep up with all their inventory issues, because of supply chain issues and other things they haven’t been able to maintain the kind of inventory they would like, so they have to produce more,” according to Ralston. “Second, they just expect orders to be up, they expect business to be up — and so that means that they’ll have a better quarter — so we are looking forward to it.”

More than 90 percent expect sales to increase or stay the same, and less than ten percent expect them to drop. The COVID-19 vaccine is not being delivered — but Ralston says that was an unknown when the businesses took the survey. “When the survey was conducted, clearly the news was that it was likely that vaccine would be coming in the next 30 to 60 days — but that was not known for sure — so that’s just gravy.”  Ralston is especially excited about the capital investment question on the survey. “I think one of the most amazing things that came out of that survey is that almost 70 percent of those responding say that they intend to make a capital expenditure in the first quarter of 2021,” according to Ralston. “Pandemic notwithstanding, that’s a major new piece of equipment, that’s a plant expansion, that’s good for those companies, that’s good for the communities that they are in, it’s great for their employees. That’s a big number — it’s exciting to see that.”

He says it really shows the confidence businesses have. “They don’t make a capital expenditure lightly. That’s something they really believe is going to lead to a stronger business and good things for their company and their community. So that’s a big deal for Iowa,” Ralston says. He says the only negative continues to remain a lack of workers to fill jobs. Ralston says it’s interesting that so many parts of the country have huge numbers of unemployed people and he says they should come to Iowa. “It doesn’t matter how big the company is — where it is located in the state or what they make — they are looking for people. There are great jobs available in Iowa and I am not talking a dozen — we are talking hundreds if not thousands — so I hope people come here,” Ralston says.

The survey found 52 percent of businesses expect the number of employees in their business to grow in the first quarter.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand is sharply criticizing Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds for not calling the Legislature into an emergency session to approve spending to help people suffering from the coronavirus pandemic. Sand, a Democrat, in his annual budget review says Iowa will lose bars, restaurants and possibly hospitals due to economic hardship. He says Reynolds, a Republican, could have called the GOP-run legislature to spend some of the $1 billion the state has accumulated to help. A Reynolds spokesman says Iowa is ranked as the most fiscally responsible and resilient state in the country.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand is sharply criticizing Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds for not calling the Legislature into an emergency session to approve spending to help people suffering from the coronavirus pandemic. Sand, a Democrat, in his annual budget review says Iowa will lose bars, restaurants and possibly hospitals due to economic hardship. He says Reynolds, a Republican, could have called the GOP-run legislature to spend some of the $1 billion the state has accumulated to help. A Reynolds spokesman says Iowa is ranked as the most fiscally responsible and resilient state in the country.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — It’s unclear why Iowa will receive fewer doses of coronavirus vaccine than initially promised by the federal government. But the state is moving ahead with plans to relax restrictions beginning Thursday even while reporting nearly 100 additional deaths. The Iowa Department of Public Health says the state is now expecting 138,300 doses of vaccine by Dec. 27 while earlier estimates were for 172,000 doses. Distributions were also being lowered to other states. The agency says it has known the expected doses were “planning numbers that will continue to change. Iowa reported an additional 97 deaths on Thursday as the state’s death toll increased to 3,451.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ruled that the federal government must pay landowners on the lower Missouri River for flooding damage caused by the Army Corps of Engineers’ efforts to protect endangered species. Judge Nancy Firestone, with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, ruled this week that the Corps caused increased flooding by changing habitat on the river to comply with the Endangered Species Act. She says that violated constitutional protections against taking property without compensation. The ruling affects property owners from Sioux City, Iowa, to St. Louis, although not all landowners will qualify for payments. The ruling doesn’t cover all flood-related damages.

DENISON, Iowa (AP) — The former manager of a northwest Iowa credit union has pleaded not guilty in a nearly $1.5 million embezzlement scheme. Janine Keim is charged with embezzlement and making false statements. She entered her plea Wednesday in federal court in Sioux City. Prosecutors say Keim and at least one other employee at Consumers Credit Union in Denison embezzled $1.48 million between May 2012 and March 2018. She also allegedly filed false reports to conceal the missing money. The business is now called Cobalt Credit Union. The credit union’s former head teller, Brenda Jensen, of Denison, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in October to embezzlement.