PERRY, Iowa (AP) — Investigators are trying to determine who spray painted the words “report illegals” on a sidewalk near where one Iowa town was holding its annual Latino festival. The Des Moines Register reports that the message was found near the high school in Perry, Iowa, on Sunday along with a stenciled phone number for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Police painted over the message shortly after it was found.

Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn says investigators are reviewing surveillance footage from the school to try and identify who painted the message. Immigration lawyer Tim Farmer says the vandalism is unfortunate. He says it’s important for people to get to know immigrants as human beings.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Business Council released its latest quarterly economic outlook survey Monday, and executive director Georgia Van Gundy, says the results find a lot of optimism. “Our member show that this is the strongest that the economy has been in the ten years that we’ve been doing the survey,” Van Gundy says. The survey was taken before the news of the new Canada and Mexico trade agreement — which she says won’t do anything but help that optimism. “Yeah, definitely I do believe it will be a positive for our members and for the economy in Iowa,” she says.

The survey uses an index for sales, capital spending and employment to gauge the business sentiment of many of the largest businesses in the state. While the optimism is abundant — Van Gundy says the biggest concern remains finding enough qualified employees. She says the I-B-C is doing what it can to try and help the situation and are targeting young people to let them know there are a variety of careers available.

“We’ve pledged 30-thousand internships, externships and apprenticeships so that we get students on site at our locations to help them understand what those jobs look like,” Van Gundy explains. “And then we get teachers spending their time with these businesses helping them understand the coursework and how it applies. So, starting out at an early age developing that pipeline.”

Iowa is now alone in second place in the country for unemployment rate after dropping to two-point-five percent in August. “Which sounds great — but if you want your economy to keep moving and to have growth within businesses — we do have to have the workforce here in order to do it,” according Van Gundy. “Our members a couple of weeks ago met, and some of the challenges they talked about is how do we attract more people to our state and how to retain more people. So we are looking at putting some campaigns together around just the different jobs and careers that are here, and the quality of life.”

She says Iowa has a lot to sell to draw new workers to the state. She says they have a new employee that just recently came back to Iowa to work the I-B-C because they were faced with a long commute and a higher cost of living where they worked. Van Gundy says they also plan to let perspective employees about a lot of unique things Iowa has to offer. She says the first in the nation Iowa Caucuses are something that will heat up after the November elections. “That’s another thing that Iowa’s know for that’s exciting that can attract people back to our state as well,” Van Gundy says.

To see the full I-B-C quarterly survey, go to their website at IowaBusinessCouncil.org.

(Radio Iowa) — Seven projects in Iowa are sharing just over $660,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to tackle the opioid crisis. The Wayne County Hospital in Corydon is using a $150,000 grant to buy an ambulance equipped with features specifically for opioid treatment. Darien Relph is the hospital’s CEO. “Our oldest model that we have is a 2006 model, and as we look at the reliability pieces of having an ambulance respond to the opioid crisis or any other ambulance emergency, it’s really important that we have up-to-date equipment,” Relph says.

In the past year, Relph says they’ve responded to 770 ambulance calls and 22 were solely for drug-related emergencies. Relph says in overdose emergencies, reversal drugs like naloxone need to be managed with care and by skilled hands. “We need to able to get those drugs to a scene and administer them efficiently and that will definitely be helped by having a grant for an ambulance,” Relph says.

Among the other projects receiving federal funds are those located in Cass, Lucas, Monroe, Harrison, and Buena Vista counties. In Cass County, a grant of $17,500 will be used to purchase a police vehicle with equipment for a K-9 officer. The K-9 vehicle will be used to deter the sale and misuse of illegal drugs, including opioids, and as a response vehicle on the scene of mental health or misuse situations. The K-9 vehicle will serve a population of 14,000.

In Harrison County, the City of Pisgah will receive a $41,000 grant to purchase a used ambulance for the volunteer fire department and first responders. The ambulance is equipped with medical supplies, including reversal medication for opioid misuse incidents. About 250 residents will be served.

Overall, the USDA is investing a little more than $10 million in 85 projects in 22 states to support opioid prevention, treatment, and recovery.

(Thanks to Julie Englander, Iowa Public Radio)