MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Marshalltown has begun a fundraising campaign to help renovate a 90-year-old community center damaged by a tornado last summer. City Administrator Jessica Kinser said Thursday that city leaders want to raise $1.35 million to supplement insurance money, grants and other funds being amassed for the $3.6 million project.

Renovations at Veterans Memorial Coliseum will include adding a second full-size gymnasium, adding rentable space for meetings and community events, and installing an elevator and restrooms.

Construction on the center started in 1928 with a $125,000 bond approved by Marshalltown voters. It was used as a gym for the high school until 1965 and as training quarters for the Iowa National Guard before World War II.

(Radio Iowa) — A new survey of employers across Iowa offers an optimistic view of the upcoming second quarter for anyone who’s looking for a job. Kathy Joblinske, executive vice president of Central Iowa Manpower, says the results fell slightly in the hiring category, but remain very good overall. “We have a steady job market expected for Iowa for Q2,” Joblinske says. “It’s a little bit sluggish from last year but still, steady hiring intentions.” The agency’s employment outlook survey is billed as the most extensive, forward-looking employment survey of its kind in the country. “For Iowa, 21% of employers that were interviewed plan to hire more employees from April through June,” Joblinske says. “This number is offset by 5% that plan to reduce their payrolls and 73% of employers expect to maintain their current staff levels.”

In order to make comparisons, the net employment outlook is figured by subtracting the five-percent figure of expected firings statewide from the 21-percent of expected hirings. “This yields a net employment outlook of 16% for the state of Iowa,” Joblinske says. “When we compare that to Q1, that’s down slightly, we were at a 20% net employment outlook. Then, compared to Q2 of last year, we had a 24% net employment outlook.”

For the coming quarter, Manpower says job prospects appear best in industries including: construction, transportation & utilities, financial activities, education & health services, leisure & hospitality and government. Payrolls are expected to decrease in durable goods manufacturing, wholesale & retail trade and information. Iowa Workforce Development reported this week, Iowa’s unemployment rate was steady in January at two-point-four percent, where it’s been since October. Iowa is tied with New Hampshire for the lowest unemployment in the nation.

A spokesperson for the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund reports the Fund answered the call of the Nishna Valley Family YMCA again this year, by donating $1,000 to their annual “Partnership with Youth” campaign.  Trevor’s mom Melanie Petty says the Foundation continues to “Feel strongly about the importance of the YMCA in our community.  The YMCA offers a safe environment for our youth along with offering several programs to keep our youth active throughout the year.  The YMCA also offers scholarships to help community members young and old so they can enjoy the facilities!  No amount of donation is too small.  If you are able to help call the YMCA at 243-3934 to donate.”

All of the funds donated by the Trevor Frederickson Memorial fund are raised at the annual TFred Memorial Golf Tournament.  The 11th annual golf tournament will be held on Saturday, August 10th at Nishna Hills Golf Club.  Contact Melanie Petty at 712-249-3696 if you would like to golf, sponsor a team or just sponsor a hole.  All funds raised are donated to things that were important to Trevor.  We look forward to another successful year helping out our community with your help.  The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund is a 501(c) 3 Non Profit Organization.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A lawsuit targeting Iowa’s use of seclusion and restraints at a state home for male juvenile offenders has been granted class-action status. The lawsuit filed in November 2017 by two advocacy groups says the school is failing to provide adequate mental health care to the boys and instead is administering powerful drugs without proper oversight or consent. The lawsuit alleges that the boys at Boys State Training School in Eldora are given medications “as a behavioral management tool” the groups likened to a chemical straitjacket.

The Des Moines Register reports that class-action certification means that, if the lawsuit is successful, required fixes would likely be more holistic in their approach.
State attorneys argued unsuccessfully that allowing the lawsuit to proceed as class-action litigation is overly broad and vague.

(Radio Iowa) — Missouri Valley Mayor Shawn Kelly says around one-thousand of the city’s three-thousand or so residents had to be evacuated Thursday when it looked like a nearby creek and a river might overflow. Several local levees then breached and allowed more water to flood the city. Red Cross representative Gerry Sue Rinella says some people spent the night in the city’s community center, while other have been in and out for food. “They can just sit and share their stories, or debrief with each other and kind of relax a little bit,” Rinella says.

Mayor Kelly says a lot of the residents who weren’t hit by the flooding have been helpful to those who have. “They’ve volunteered to open their doors for displaced people to come stay at their houses and whatever they need,” according to Kelly. “The small community we have is a wonderful community that is helping everyone as best they can.”

It’s unknown how long the evacuation could be in place. About 60 miles north, the City of Hornick told its 200 or so residents to evacuate after a levee broke along the West Fork of the Little Sioux River. A nearby city has set up a shelter for them.

A traffic stop Thursday night in Adams County resulted in two arrests. The Adams County Sheriff’s Department reports Deputies conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for failing to display license plates. Upon further investigation, a passenger in the vehicle provided a false name to deputies. The individual was later identified as Alex Jordan Pfeil, of Rock Port, Missouri. Deputies determined that Pfeil had a warrant for Parole Violation in Missouri.

Alex Pfeil

During the investigation, K9 “Baxo” was deployed and gave a positive alert to the odor of narcotics. Pfeil was placed under arrest for Providing False Identification Information. Another passenger in the vehicle, Courtney Bartles, of Hamburg, Iowa was placed under arrest for Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Providing False Identification Information. Deputies located numerous marijuana pipes, a marijuana grinder, and used hypodermic needles concealed on Bartles’ person.

Courtney Bartles

Police in Red Oak report four arrests occurred Thursday. At around 9:20-p.m., 31-year old Bradley Brent Perdue, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 2400 block of Highway 48, for Driving While Revoked and failure to have SR-22 Insurance. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond. At around 7:50-p.m., 25-year old Joshua Michael Parker, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 1000 block of E. Reed Street, for Violation of a No Contact Order. His bond was set at $300.

38-year old Christopher Michael Lowrance, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 4:05-p.m. Thursday in the 400 block of E. Market Street, for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order. His bond was also set at $300. And, 65-year old Neil Edward Barnhart, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 4-p.m. Thursday, for unauthorized use of a credit card (under $1,000). Police say Barnhart used the victims’ credit card at several places to obtain money for himself. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 cash-only bond.