Iowa’s unemployment rate for September dropped to 4.7%, continuing a five-month trend of hiring after the state’s economy was hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Iowa Workforce Development reported yesterday that the unemployment rate was down from 6% in August. The rate has declined every month since April, when unemployment peaked in Iowa. There were an estimated 76,600 unemployed Iowa residents in September. That is nearly 28,000 more than a year ago but down by more than 110,000 from April. Iowa’s unemployment rate was fifth-lowest in the nation. The U.S. unemployment rate in September was 7.9%.
As temperatures get colder, the Cedar Rapids Police are warning residents to be careful after two vehicles were stolen yesterday morning. Police are asking residents to not leave keys in their vehicles, as both were left running with the keys inside to let the cars warm up.
A Waterloo man has been sentenced for shooting another man in the neck earlier this year. 35-year-old Jesse Lax had been charged with attempted murder in the January shooting at an apartment building that injured Charles Tate. On Friday, Lax entered a plea of guilty to a reduced charge of intimidation with a weapon as well as charges of willful injury causing serious injury and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was immediately sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
For the second time in as many months, a huge blade has broken off from its wind turbine in central Iowa. The latest incident happened Thursday near Paton in Greene County. No one was hurt. That follows a similar incident in mid-September, when another blade dropped from a turbine near Adel and crashed into a corn field. Officials say the blades are 177 feet long and weigh 18,000 pounds. Mid-American Energy says that in both cases, the blades were equipped with a specific type of lightning protection system. MidAmerican said such incidents are “extremely rare,” but acknowledged that even one incident is unacceptable.
A lawyer for a national conservative group says it may challenge the outcome of the Nov. 3 elections by arguing that municipalities are improperly using hundreds of millions of dollars in private money. Attorney Erick Kaardal argued in an Iowa court yesterday that local officials have impermissibly accepted grants from the Center for Tech and Civic Life to help pay for staffing, training and equipment. Kaardal represents the Thomas More Society, which is bringing lawsuits seeking to block municipalities in several states from using the grants. But judges have already rejected the group’s arguments in lawsuits in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Iowa’s economic development arm and a closed ethanol plant at Emmetsburg that had promised to produce millions of gallons of ethanol from crop waste have reached a settlement that lets the company off the hook for millions of dollars in tax incentives. The Iowa Economic Development Authority approved a settlement with Poet DSM Advanced Biofuels last week. Poet idled the plant in July and laid off 52 workers this year. Iowa had given the company about $20 million through grants, forgivable loans, sales tax refunds and tax credits on the promise that the plant would retain 35 employees through 2024. The authority will not seek to be repaid those benefits.
Police in suburban Des Moines are investigating after a body was found in a wooded area along a trail in Clive. The body was found Saturday afternoon after a hiker called police. The Clive Police Department says in a news release that the person found dead “had been in that location for a long period of time.” Police say preliminary investigation did not show any signs of foul play. Police are working to identify the body and establish a cause of death.
