A report issued today (Tuesday) shows nearly a quarter of Iowa employers plan to hire workers in the coming months. The Manpower survey for the third quarter of the year places Iowa’s “net employment outlook” at 19-percent. Manpower spokesperson Kathy Joblinske says business leaders in the state aren’t as optimistic about their hiring intentions as they were earlier this year.

“That is a little softer than the second quarter survey results, when we were at 25-percent, but still strong,” Joblinske says. The new survey shows 24-percent of Iowa employers expect to add workers between July and September. “For the upcoming quarter, job prospects (in Iowa) appear best in construction, non-durable goods manufacturing, transportation and utilities, warehouse and retail trade, and leisure and hospitality services,” Joblinske says. Seventy-percent of the employers surveyed plan to maintain staff levels in the third quarter, while five-percent expect to reduce their payrolls.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Memorial Hospital’s Board of Trustees, Monday, unanimously voted to invite former CEO Pat Markham to step in and serve as the Interim CEO until a permanent leader can be found for the hospital. Markham retired two-years ago, and even though she will have a bit of learning to catch-up on as far as how the hospital has progressed since her departure, the Board felt she was the best qualified to assume the role. The matter of her compensation, should she accept the position, will be discussed and acted on during the Board’s regular meeting on June 22nd.

Markham served the hospital for 29-years. She left in Jan. 2014, and was succeeded by Todd Hudspeth, who was fired last week after he agreed to an Alford Plea with regard to a check forgery case in Buena Vista County. Board President Ned Brown said he has spoken with Markham about coming back, and she tentatively agreed to do so. Quoting Markham, Brown told the Board she “Loves the hospital and will do whatever..” is needed to keep it on track.

CCMH Board of Trustees (Ric Hanson – photo)

The Board had discussed the possibility of having one of the current members of the hospital’s administrative team stepping-up to the plate to take over for a while, and while they had no doubt in the abilities of those individuals to do so, they didn’t want to put that heavy of a load on them.

On a related note, Denise Coder, Chief Human Resources Officer, told the Board she has received seven external applications for the CEO’s position since the position became open. The last time the Board went through the process of hiring a CEO, they went through a “Head hunting” firm. There were hundreds of applications at that time, with the final candidates being narrowed down to four.

The Board was not so hot on the idea of hiring another firm to duplicate the process because of their experience with Hudspeth. Instead, a committee will be appointed to make the final selections for interviews, once the administrative team narrows down the potential field of candidates. They will also seek guidance from the Hospital Association with regard to the best method of recruiting candidates.

The Silver Cord Program is a graduation incentive program to promote volunteerism in the Atlantic Area. Atlantic High School seniors who volunteered a minimum of 200 hours throughout their high school career graduated this year with a silver cord and were eligible for a $500 scholarship provided by the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce. The program encourages volunteer opportunities with all Civic Organizations and benefits the entire community.

Chamber Programs Director Kate Christensen said “The Silver Cord program was started as a way to educate students about the importance of community service. It gives students the opportunity to see firsthand how investing their time can enhance and grow their community.”

Pictured: Ouida Hargens, Atlantic Area Chamber Executive Director; Madison Helvie;
Lori Reid, Atlantic Area Chamber Board President.

The 2016 Silver Cord scholarship recipient is Madison Helvie. Madison volunteered 52 hours over the course of the school year spending time volunteering at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA after school programs and tutoring elementary students. She also volunteers at cheer camp, soccer camp and National Honor Society. The Atlantic High School Senior  said “I’ve always loved volunteering. It’s something that is super easy to do to give back to the community in a positive way.”

Madison will be attending the University of Northern Iowa in the fall to study Nursing. Her goal is to practice nursing in a larger city after graduation before settling down in a smaller community. She hopes to continue volunteering and being active wherever she goes. Chamber Executive Director Ouida Hargens said “We are looking forward to building the relationship between the community and the student body. More students will create a stronger program and have a stronger overall impact on the community.”

If you are interested in learning more about the Silver Cord Program, please visit www.atlanticiowa.com. If you would like to volunteer, please visit www.volunteerspot.com to learn about opportunities in the community or call the Atlantic Area Chamber at 712.243.3017.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad says he wants the board that governs Iowa’s three public universities to consider a compromise pitched by student leaders that would lower some proposed tuition increases. Branstad told reporters Monday that student leaders at the University of Iowa offered a “reasonable compromise” to what has been discussed by the Iowa Board of Regents.

The board is considering a $300 increase for resident undergraduate students at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa after receiving less-than-requested funding from the Iowa Legislature. University of Iowa students recently proposed reducing the increases to $200 for all students on that campus. Branstad has said the board’s proposed tuition increases would be burdensome on students. The regents are scheduled to vote in July on any increases.

A woman from central Iowa was arrested on drug charges last week, after her vehicle broke down near mile marker 91 on Interstate 80, in Adair County. Sheriff’s officials say when a deputy made contact with 39-year old Tina Rebecca Wright, of Newton, he saw in plain view, a pipe used to smoke meth, inside the vehicle.

Wright admitted to the deputy there was also meth inside her vehicle. The drug was found under the front, passenger seat. Wright was brought to the Adair County Jail, charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was later released on a $1,000 cash bond.

The sheriff’s office said also, 48-year-old Jack Howard Davis, of Orient, was arrested June 7^th, on a warrant for violation of parole. His bond was set at $5,000.

Cass County Secondary Road crews spent a few hours Sunday afternoon repairing a portion of a County road near the Atlantic Airport. Pictures from the scene showed a large section of G-30/Highland Road, buckled upward, creating a steep, 6-to 8-inch incline and similar sharp drop-off on the other side. The pavement blow-up happened near the curve around the airport, or about one and a half miles west of Atlantic.

Cass County Engineer Charles Marker said pavement blow-ups, caused by “Thermal Expansion,” can happen without warning this time of year. He said “As temperatures rise, most material expands. That includes concrete. Steel and concrete and almost every material we know, gets longer as the temperature goes up. That’s thermal expansion. In concrete, as we saw in the concrete road…where normal saw joints have worn or cracks appear…and there isn’t enough room in those to expand, and it has no where to go except out of alignment, which means ‘up.’”

Photos courtesy Jessica Tye Shroyer

That type of expansion can create something more than just a “speed bump.” Marker says a motorist either saw the situation unfold or came upon the ramped-up portion of pavement, and flagged down other motorists so they wouldn’t hit the obstruction. That same person also notified the County. Marker said he was notified about the road problem at around 3-p.m. Crews were quickly dispatched to remove the damaged section of concrete and replace it temporarily with rock filler.

He said they tear out the old sections and replace it with gravel or crushed limestone. The road will remain that way until this fall, when the temperatures cool enough to allow the concrete to be replaced. Marker says the road was installed sometime around the year 2000, and has seen no problems since then, until Sunday.

Officials with the Union County Emergency Management Agency reported to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, Friday, that sometime during the last month, someone entered the Union County Emergency Management bus parked at 1701 Commerce Road. The person or persons responsible for the crime took a Motorola CB radio with an estimated value of $500. Anyone with information about the crime should contact the Union County Sheriff’s Office.

Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today (Monday) announced the creation of a Chronic Absenteeism Advisory Council to address chronic absenteeism in Iowa schools.  Plans to create the Chronic Absenteeism Advisory Council were announced at the 2016 Future Ready Iowa Summit, which began a statewide conversation about how to close the skills gap, one of the biggest challenges Iowa faces. Among those appointed to the Council, was Martha Bruckner, Superintendent of the Council Bluffs Community School District.

Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10 percent or more of schools days for any reason, excused or unexcused.  In Iowa, that means at least 18 days of school a year, or nearly a month.  Chronically absent students are more than one and a half times less likely to be proficient in reading by the end of third grade according to analysis by the Child and Family Policy Center.  In Iowa, nearly 25 percent of students did not read proficiently by the end of third grade in 2014-2015.  Those numbers reflect the skills gap that could potentially be keeping students from graduating from high school ready for college or career training.

The Council will meet once a month starting in August and make final recommendations to the Administration in November.  The Council includes many educators, school board representatives, non-profit and business leaders as well as state legislators.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Residents in the northwest Iowa town that calls itself the Popcorn Capital of the World plan to cook up a massive popcorn ball later this week to reclaim the title of world’s largest popcorn ball. Shirley Phillips, executive director of Western Iowa Tourism, says Sac City has already set the world’s record three previous times, most recently with a five-thousand pound popcorn ball in 2009.

“The Indiana State Fair built a popcorn ball last year during their fair at 6,500 pounds,” Phillips says. “That certainly surpassed our 5,000-pound record. This year, we’re going to attempt to make an 8-to-10,000-pound and I can tell you, the reason there’s a gap in there is because when we get so aggressive at building a popcorn ball, sometimes we don’t stop when we should.”

It’s anticipated the new record-setting popcorn ball will be 10 to 12 feet tall. A larger building is being constructed in Sac City just to house it, Phillips says, and a small army is being assembled to create the enormous sphere of popcorn on Saturday. “Last time, it took us 12 and a half hours and it took 253 volunteers,” Phillips says. “We’ll take all of the volunteer help we can get that wants to punch and pack popcorn that day.”

The final weight will be verified by an Iowa Department of Transportation scale but she notes, before it comes to that, it’ll be a complicated process to create to world’s largest popcorn ball. “The Noble Popcorn plant here in Sac City makes and sells flavored popcorn and they have these huge cookers that’ll cook 60- to 65-pound batches at a time,” Phillips says. “What they do is mix up the sugar and the syrup — it has to be an edible recipe — to make the flavored popcorn and then it dumps out onto a conveyor belt which we grab in big buckets and we start punching and packing into a popcorn ball shape.”

Sac City first created the world’s largest popcorn ball in 1995, weighing 2,225 pounds. That record was later beaten and another record-setter was created in 2004, tipping the scale at 3,100 pounds. Again, someone built a bigger one and Sac City created its most recent 5,000-pound popcorn boulder in 2004. Phillips says popcorn was introduced to growers in Sac County in 1885.

(Radio Iowa)