(Radio Iowa) – A new study from the Iowa Pork Producers Association finds the hog industry contributed more than 15-billion dollars to Iowa’s economy last year. Association spokesman Kevin Hall says the study, which is done every four years, identified nearly 52-hundred pig farms statewide. “We provide about one-third of the nation’s pork, and that reinforces our position as the number-one pork producing state in the entire nation,” Hall says. “We are vital to Iowa’s economy, creating more than 120,000 jobs for the state, and it really provides a solid backbone for the state of Iowa’s economy and especially our rural communities.” Among those jobs, the study says 64-thousand are in hog production, 39-thousand are in hog slaughter, and another 16-thousand jobs are in hog processing.

Overall, Hall says the pork industry contributed 15-point-4 billion dollars to Iowa’s economy last year. “When we did the study four years ago, it was $11.9-billion in value-added activities, so almost four-billion more now to the state’s economy in 2024 than it was in 2020,” Hall says, “and it just shows that Iowa pig farmers are vital to the state’s economy.” Next week, a new administration will take over the White House and there’s much discussion about threatened tariffs and the impact on international trade. Hall remains optimistic about the future and the role Iowa pork will play in it.

“We’re going to keep an eye on what’s happening and just keep doing what we’re doing,” Hall says. “Iowa’s pig farmers, they’ve had a rough couple years in terms of their personal economies, but they are still working hard and creating jobs all over the state, 120,000 jobs in the state alone, and they’re just going to keep working hard and producing great pork products.” The study says the top five Iowa counties for hog inventories are: Washington, Sioux, Lyon, Plymouth, and Hardin. Among those, Washington, Sioux and Lyon counties each have more than one-million pigs.

Learn more HERE:
https://www.iowapork.org/producers/resources/fact-sheets

WILLIAMSBURG, Iowa (KCRG) – Kinze Manufacturing, Inc., is laying off 53 employees from its operation in Williamsburg, the company confirmed Wednesday. In the announcement, the company cited ongoing economic challenges in the agricultural sector. The January layoffs, which impact 53 of its 550 employees in Williamsburg, come after nearly 200 employees were laid off there in August 2024.

“Kinze has a fantastic workforce and this was an incredibly difficult decision,” said Susanne Veatch, President of Kinze. “Unfortunately, the continued downturn in the agricultural market necessitated this workforce adjustment.”

Kinze is a global manufacturer of planters, grain carts, and high-speed tillage equipment.

In other unemployment news, more than two dozen people are losing their jobs at a central Iowa company. According to Iowa Warn, IES Communications in Altoona is laying off 28 people. The business is not closing completely. The layoffs are taking effect immediately.

GRIMES, Iowa — Authorities in central Iowa are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found Tuesday morning in the backyard of a residence in Grimes. Polk County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to a home in the 700 block of Dovetail Road for what they described as a suspicious death. Investigators later identified the woman as 46-year-old Hui Chen.

Hui Chen

In a press release, officials said “At this point in the investigation, there is no evidence to support foul play, however, the investigation continues. Investigators are still waiting for the autopsy to be conducted and the results thereof.”

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen is recommending a reduction in the number of private attorneys the state is paying to oversee some court proceedings, like pre-trial hearings. They’re called magistrates and Iowa law requires at least one magistrate per county.

“Magistrates in our state are part-time judicial officers and they are permitted to practice law outside of their judicial responsibilities,” she says. “Their pay is based on an expectation that they will spend about 31% of their time performing magistrate duties.” Christensen says magistrates in just eight counties ARE spending about half of their time on work from the bench and magistrates in 16 other counties are ALMOST spending the required amount of time as a judicial officer. The rest spent most of their time in private practice.

“75 (county magistrates) are far below the target,” she says, “some as low as 4%.” But still being paid to spend 31 percent of their time as a magistrate. Christensen is asking the legislature to repeal the requirement that each county have a magistrate. “The solution we propose is to reduce the number of magistrates required by statute and, when necessary, assign some magistrates to serve multiple counties to ensure that the workloads are property aligned,” she said. “I’m not saying we don’t need magistrates…We absolutely do. They play a critical role in the judiciary. However, we have to ensure that our resources are being used wisely and effectively.”

The justices of the Iowa Supreme Court. Chief Justice Susan Christensen is in the middle of first row. (Iowa Judicial Branch photo)

Christensen says some magistrates and judges have asked her if this will hurt rural county seat communities. The chief justice argues it’s likely to mimic the so-called “Work Share” program for clerks of court, as the workload from larger counties is redistributed to clerks in small counties so court filings are processed as quickly as possible.  “It ensures that every county, no matter its size, remains relevant and engaged in the judicial process,” Christensen says. “I am confident that the modernization of our magistrate system has the potential to be just as successful.”

Representative Brian Lohse of Bondurant is the Republican who leads the House panel that will draft the budget for Iowa’s judicial branch. Lohse says it’s clear magistrates in some areas of the state aren’t being used effectively. “I’m relatively new to this state. Only been here 30 years,” Lohse said, laughing. “There’s a reason that the magistrate system is the way that it is, but times change and at some point we may need to look that as a system that also needs to change with the times.”

The chief justice asked Lohse and other lawmakers to raise pay for judges as well as the private attorneys appointed to represent indigent clients. The legislature has increased funding for indigent defense in each of the past three years, but Chief Justice Christensen says the pay needs to be higher to get more attorneys to take on indigent clients — many of whom are juveniles.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – UPDATEl HE WAS FOUND SAFE IN ALBIA.

Previous story…

Police in Council Bluffs have issued a Missing Person bulletin for a man who was last seen Wednesday, in Adair. Authorities say 86-year-old Dale E. Haven, of Council Bluffs, was last known to be in Adair at around 3:30-p.m., Wednesday. They say it is possible he is confused and has become lost.

Dale is White, about 5-feet 10-inches tall. He was last seen wearing a green and black plaid shirt, and driving a silver 2010 Chrysler Sebring, with Iowa license plate LXZ 893. Dale weighs about 143-pounds, has gray/balding hair, and hazel eyes. He also wears glasses.

The missing vehicle

Council Bluffs Police and Mr. Haven’s family are concerned for his safety. If you have seen him or know where he is you’re asked to call 911.

Dale Haven

Anyone with information about his location can also call the Pottawattamie County Communications Center at 712-328-5737, or the Council Bluffs Criminal Investigation Division, at 712-328-4728.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Xi Beta Phi women’s service organization recently donated over $1600 to the Atlantic School Resource Officer Program. The funds were proceeds from the group’s annual holiday greens sales fundraiser. Sara Nelson presented the donation to Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue. (Photo courtesy of Sara Nelson)

(Radio Iowa) – The leaders of a southwest Iowa school board took action this week to directly address issues with bullying. Shenandoah Superintendent Kerri Nelson says the board voted to promote a current district employee to a new position, what’s being called a “positive support and bullying prevention coordinator” for the 2025-26 school year.

“We have a need to continue to build a positive culture and climate within our school district,” said Nelson, “and also address concerns about bullying and harassment that sometimes occur within the school settings. So, the position is really designed to strengthen our policies and focus on prevention, and teaching students about the consequences.” Nelson says one goal for the new coordinator will be to clarify the definition of bullying to students.

“Sometimes, there’s a little misunderstanding among students as to what their behavior actually constitutes, and what the penalties could be,” she said, “or if the consequences could be because of the behaviors. We would like to ward this off in a positive way, but then also address ongoing behaviors with students that need to be taken care of.” The person taking the job is Christopher Chamberlain, who’s currently listed as an associate. In his new role, Nelson says Chamberlain will also visit classrooms.

“One of our real focuses is to get Mr. Chamberlain in front of students,” said Nelson, “working with them, using solid curriculum, educating our staff, as well, about what is needed. This position will also be responsible for conducting the formal investigations when complaints are filed.”

Funding from the district’s dropout prevention program will cover not only the bullying prevention coordinator, but also the school resource officer.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen (from Harlan) is making another pitch for judges’ pay raises.”Addressing judicial pay should not and it cannot be a rare occurrence,” she says. “It must be part of a regular and ongoing commitment to supporting the judiciary.” Christensen delivered the annual “Condition of the Judiciary” address to legislators this (Wednesday) morning. “We are truly grateful for the legislation passed last session that stabilized our judicial pension (system) and it provided a 5% pay raise,” Christensen said. “That’s the largest cost of living pay raise the judges have gotten in over 16 years.” But Christensen says because salaries for many years were frozen, the pay for district court judges — when adjusted for inflation — is still 16-and-a-half percent below what it was in 2010.

“Even with last year’s 5% increase, our judges and magistrates still earn well below our counterparts in every state we touch. Mationally we rank 41st. right after Oklahoma and and just ahead of Guam,” Christensen says. “Without meaningful change, we risk continuing this race to the bottom.” Christensen is proposing that Iowa mimic what Kansas has done by passing a law that ties pay for Kansas judges to the salaries of federal judges. Christensen proposes that Iowa district court judges’ pay be 75 percent of what a federal district court judge’s salary is, with a four year transition to get to that level. Appellate judges in Iowa would also get raises, under a framework and time frame.

“If judicial salaries remain uncompetitive, we risk attracting a pool of applicants who may not have the qualifications or the proper temperament to serve effectively. This could lead to rulings that are inconsistent or poorly grounded in the law, which ultimately undermines the confidence in our courts,” Christensen said. “While our judiciary is strong today, we cannot afford to let these challenges be tomorrow’s reality.”

Christensen spoke to legislators for about 50 minutes this (Wednesday) morning and covered a variety of other topics, including indigent defense and the state’s magistrate system. She did not address the court system’s computer programming error which led millions in court fees and fines going to the wrong state or local agency for the past five years. A key G-O-P lawmaker says it appears the problem was fixed last month and it will be up to legislators to review the distributions and decide whether to make repayments for errors in previous years.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak report a man from Clarinda was arrested this (Wednesday) morning. 37-year-old Bryce Michael McKinnon was arrested in the 100 block of W. Coolbaugh Street at around 10-a.m. He was taken into custody on a warrant for Violation of Probation. McKinnon was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $10,000 bond.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Auditor’s Office reports they were contacted by the Orient-Mackburg Community School District, to request a Special Election for a Public Measure to reorganize the district by dissolution. The Special Election will be held on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. The request was officially acknowledged and approved by Auditor Mandy Berg, Commissioner of Elections, on January 15, 2025. This election will be only for the O-M CSD within the counties of Adair, Adams, Madison, and Union, to vote for:

Shall the following public measure be adopted?

Public Measure AA:

Summary: To adopt the dissolution of the Orient-Macksburg Community School District as proposed by the dissolution commission appointed by the Board of Directors, with its territory to be divided among the Nodaway Valley Community School District, the Winterset Community School District, and a third area to be designated by the Iowa Department of Education?

Yes
No

Notice: Voters within the school district that reside in Adams and Union county will vote in the Adair county polling location.

Important election dates:

January 20, 2025 – Absentee to be mailed requests can be received

February 12, 2025 – ballots ready – Absentee ballots can be mailed

February 18, 2025 – Pre-registration deadline; Auditor offices must be open until 5

February 18, 2025 – Mailed absentee ballot request deadline; Auditor offices must be open until 5

March 3, 2025 – In-person absentee deadline

March 10th or 11th – 1st canvass – all counties

March 18th – 2nd canvass – Adair only