OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new report says a May survey of business supply managers suggests economic growth will slow over the next three to six months in nine Midwest and Plains states.
The report issued Monday says the Mid-America Business Conditions Index dropped to 54.3 last month from 55.9 in April. The figure was 58.2 in March. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says tariffs and flooding have harmed several states.

The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth. A score below that suggests decline. The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

(Radio Iowa) — The city of Cedar Rapids turned its traffic cameras back along with a switch in the calendar to June. City public safety spokesman, Greg Beulow says drivers will get a grace period to adjust. “During the month of June the police department will only issue warnings to individuals, ” Beulow says. “We want to make it very clear that the traffic cameras are back on. They’re activate at locations on Interstate 380 at the dangerous S-curve. And they are also located at five other dangerous locations throughout the city of Cedar Rapids.”

Beulow ways there are signs up that indicate the speed cameras are coming up and their locations are all listed on the city website.”There’s nothing to hide, we want people to be aware that they are activated and that warnings are going to be issued. The main goal is to reduce speed so that people obey the speed limit,” Beulow says. “The number of crashes and the number of serious crashes that involve injuries has decreased. The other big one is the number of fatalities,” according to Beulow.”We’ve only had one fatal crash while the cameras have been operating — as opposed to seven before the cameras were operating.”

Beulow says there were a lot of comments when the information about the cameras being turned back on went up on social media. “We hear it really from both sides. Some really support it — they think that when the cameras are on the motoring public is safer. The statistics that we have support that. There are some that don’t agree with the cameras at all,” he says.

He says some people believe they should be able to talk to the officer in person when they get a ticket. Others says it is a big money grab as the cameras bring in millions of dollars for the city. Beulow says they have addressed the money concern. He says any money generated from the cameras will go toward hiring ten police officers and an administrative person to manage the automated traffic system and the municipal infraction process.

The cameras were turned off during a court challenge against them. The city won that court battle and decided to turn the cameras back on.

(Radio Iowa) — SEVENTEEN Democratic presidential candidates will be in Iowa — at the same time, in the same place — this coming Sunday. Former Vice President and perceived front-runner Joe Biden will NOT be at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Hall of Fame Dinner in Cedar Rapids June 9th, but most of the competitors for the party’s 2020 presidential nomination will be.

The Iowa Caucuses are eight months from today (Monday, June 3rd).

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

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — All students in the Council Bluffs school district will receive free meals beginning this fall. Lisa Stewart, director of nutrition services for the district, told the board of education this week that the entire school district now qualifies for Community Eligibility Provision, a federal program that allows students to eat free breakfast and lunch.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nearly all the Democratic presidential hopefuls have yet to hire staff or spend money in the nation’s biggest state, California, which also offers the largest number of delegates. Most of the attention is being focused on the four states that vote first for a party nominee _ Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. A Los Angeles-based strategist, Michael Trujillo, says in the wake of the state party’s convention that California will end up being pretty wide open in the primary race.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 26-year-old man died after collapsing near the end of a race in Des Moines. Des Moines fire officials say the man collapsed Saturday during the EMC DAM to DSM race after apparently suffering a cardiac arrest. The man’s name has not been released. A total of 3,464 runners finished the race which starts at Saylorville Dam and ends in downtown Des Moines.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 13-year-old boy has drowned in a large pond in north Des Moines. Police say Van Cin Lian of Des Moines went into the pond Saturday afternoon with two other boys. At some point he went underwater and didn’t resurface. Dive teams from several agencies responded and used a drone in an attempt to find the boy. Divers recovered his body about 6 p.m.