A new pork processing plant going online in northwest Iowa is relying heavily on robotics and automation is becoming more common in all sorts of Iowa businesses. Ryan Osborn, president of Junior Achievement of Central Iowa, notes how some fast food restaurants now direct patrons to place their orders using touch pads instead of talking to a real person.

“Domino’s is going to be having cars that drive themselves to deliver your pizza,” Osborn says. “I think you’re just going to continue to see a ripple effect as the technology becomes available and consumers are going to have to get comfortable adapting to that.”

A new survey by Junior Achievement finds 77-percent of parents are concerned about their children’s ability to have a successful job or career as adults due to global competition and automation. The same percentage of teens surveyed had similar concerns. Many entry-level jobs we know today won’t be around in the next decade, Osborn says, and many of the jobs of tomorrow haven’t even been conceived of yet.

Osborn says, “When we think of education in preparing our next generation, the good-paying jobs that will be available for them, we’ll really have to think, what skills are they going to need and how can they be a value to the workforce and make sure we’re educating our young people in a way that sets them up for success.”

It’s vital to encourage young people to explore post-secondary education, whether it’s at a university, community college, or a technical or trade school. Osborn says having some level of technical training is critical as a high school diploma or G-E-D just won’t be enough for many jobs.

“Automation can continue to increase, but that’s just going to put more emphasis on the soft skills that only human beings can bring to the table, such as critical thinking, collaboration, communication with each other,” Osborn says. “Those are skills we certainly try to promote and foster here at Junior Achievement.”

The non-profit J-A of Central Iowa reached nearly 30-thousand students last year through a network of more than two-thousand volunteers in 29 central Iowa counties. Osborn says they focus on the core concepts of promoting financial literacy, instilling work readiness skills and inspiring entrepreneurship.

(Radio Iowa) (More at www.jacentraliowa.org)

A traffic stop at around 1:15-a.m. today (Friday) in Creston, resulted in the arrest of a woman from Clarke County on an OWI charge. Creston Police say 55-year old Tammy Annette Moore, of Murray, was pulled over at the corner of Highway 34 and Pine Street in Creston, and arrested for OWI/3rd offense, as well as for Driving While Barred. Moore was being held in the Ringgold County Jail.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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A possible drowning is under investigation in north-central Iowa.  The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department on Thursday afternoon received a 911 call from Little Wall Lake south of Jewell on the discovery of a body in the lake. When emergency personnel arrived on the scene, they confirmed the subject was deceased.

The body was taken to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny for an autopsy. Hamilton County sheriff Doug Timmons said that no foul play is suspected. The name of the individual has not been released with the incident under investigation.

(Radio Iowa)

A call about a fight in progress just before 8-p.m. Thursday in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of 27-year old Mildred Helenora Douglas, of Red Oak. Douglas was charged with Assault causing bodily injury, Interference with Official Acts, and a felony charge of Criminal Mischief in the 2nd Degree. She was taken into custody following an incident at 111 E. Maple Street in Red Oak.

Douglas was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond pending an initial court appearance.

Police in Red Oak arrested 35-year old William James Bartlett, of Red Oak, at around 11:45-p.m., Thursday. Bartlett was taken into custody in the 100 block of E. Corning Street, in Red Oak, for Failure to comply with the Sex Offender Registry. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $2,000 bond.

An accident in Shelby County Thursday afternoon claimed the life of a woman and resulted in a man being injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened at around 4-pm. at the intersection of Highway 44 and Shelby County road M-16. Officials say the driver of a 2010 Nissan Versa, 58-year old Nancy Louise Madsen, of Persia, died at the scene. 52-year old Ronald Gene DeBoodt, of Shelby, was injured in the crash and transported by Harlan EMS to Myrtue Medical Center, in Harlan.

Officials say DeBoot was traveling southbound in a 2005 Ford Taurus on M16 north of Highway 44, when he failed to stop at the stop sign and collided with Madsen’s vehicle. Both drivers were wearing their seat belts.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:15 a.m. CDT

KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) — The former owner of an Iowa-based boarding school has been arrested on sex and child abuse charges. Former Midwest Academy owner Benjamin Trane was booked Thursday at the Lee County Jail in Montrose. The sheriff’s office says he’s charged with third-degree sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and child endangerment. He is expected to appear in court Friday. Investigators raided the school’s Keokuk campus in January 2016 to investigate complaints students faced physical, mental and sexual abuse.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a police chase has led to a crash near downtown Mason City that killed two people. Officials report the crash happened just before 1 p.m. Thursday. The Iowa State Patrol says the incident began as a traffic stop that led to the short chase. Patrol Sgt. Dana Knutson says the vehicle lost control, hit a tree and rolled, killing both occupants.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has added new staff to her gubernatorial campaign. The Kim Reynolds for Iowa Committee announced Thursday that Pat Garrett has been named communications director. Madi Homes will serve as deputy finance director. Six field directors have also been added. Reynolds’ campaign says staffers will work out of an Urbandale location that’s been used by other Republicans.

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) — A state agency says the longest dock in a city in northern Iowa may need to be shortened, raising concerns about a lack of dock space. The Globe Gazette reports that the Department of Natural Resources says the dock at Sunset Bay Marina in Clear Lake could be cut down from its current length of almost 500 feet to less than 300 feet in order to comply with a 2008 state regulation on private docks.

Five players have been kicked off the Creston-Orient Macksburg football team after a photo surfaced on social media showing the Creston teens with white hoods over their heads, standing by a burning cross. One teen was waving a confederate flag. Another had a gun. Drake University law professor Mark Kende says as offensive as the photo may be, the school could be over-reaching with its disciplinary action.

“Those kinds of hateful speeches are, because of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, actually considered to be protected speech,” Kende says. Kende says, as he understands it, the students were not on school property and they were not targeting a specific person.

In this screen shot image taken from Twitter, five men wearing white hoods wave a Confederate flag next to a burning cross. The principal of Creston Community High School in southern Iowa says the school has disciplined several students who appeared in the photo, which circulated on social media, after officials became aware of it on Wednesday morning, Sept. 6, 2017. (Twitter via AP)

The school has an anti-bullying policy that includes “internet-based communications” and the photo was shared on social media. Professor Kende acknowledges school’s punishment may be justified if the teenagers violated behavior guidelines for students, plus many schools require students in extra-curricular activities to follow codes of conduct.

“But, certainly, there’s a problem in terms of free speech with regard to the discipline that would have to be resolved,” Kende says. “It may be that this is something that these students can, in fact, under some code of conduct be subjected to. But, it’s not clear. What is clear is what they did, under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, would be a form of freedom of expression, so that’s the problem for the school district.” The Creston News Advertiser has reported the five boys were kicked-off the football team.

“The coach is sort of no different, in some ways, than the school district or the board or whoever makes the decision…and potentially, could be viewed as infringing on their speech rights,” Kende says. The school’s principal told W-H-O Television the photo is reminiscent of a “dark past” of “bigotry and hatred” that “does not represent the culture” of the Creston community.

(Radio Iowa)

(Update 5-a.m., 9/8) — MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have released the names of two people killed when their vehicle crashed during a police chase in Mason City. The Iowa State Patrol identified the driver as Jerrick Rinnels and his passenger as Jessica Herker. Both lived in Mason City.

The patrol says the incident began a little before 1 p.m. Thursday as a traffic stop that led to the short chase. Patrol Sgt. Dana Knutson says the vehicle went out of hit a tree and rolled.