A new monthly survey of bankers in rural parts of Iowa and nine other Plains and Western states suggests continued economic growth in the region, even as nonfarm jobs in most of those states remained below pre-pandemic levels. The overall Rural Mainstreet economic index dropped to 65.6 in July from June’s 70.0. Any score above 50 suggests growth. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says federal labor statistics show nonfarm jobs across the region came in at 55,000 fewer jobs than before the COVID-19 pandemic began. But three states – Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota – reported nonfarm employment levels above pre-pandemic levels.
It’s confirmed that two dozen tornadoes were seen in Iowa during Wednesday’s severe storms…six were in Benton and Linn Counties. A confirmed EF-0 tornado struck areas of Oelwein. Two EF-1 tornadoes hit Manchester. Officials were still evaluating reports from Waverly, Shell Rock, Denver and Dysart.
A lawyer for an Iowa man arrested in Chicago on July 4th for having guns and ammunition in his hotel room says his client was in the city to propose to his girlfriend, not to launch a mass attack. Jonathan Brayman said Wednesday the baseless accusation against Keegan Casteel by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown spurred sensational media coverage despite the lack of evidence Casteel had ill intent. Authorities say a member of the cleaning staff at the W Hotel told police they observed weapons and ammunition in the room occupied by the 32-year-old Casteel. The room’s 12th floor window had a view of a beach and Navy Pier, a major tourist attraction. You may recall his girlfriend bailed him out of jail…and he proposed there in the jail parking lot.
A prosecutor has rejected claims that the killing of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts could be connected to sex trafficking and other abductions around the rural area where she disappeared in 2018. Assistant attorney general Scott Brown said at a hearing yesterday that a 21-year-old man’s alleged confession that he helped kill Tibbetts after she was kidnapped and held at a house used for sex trafficking is not credible. He says there is “zero” evidence to support the confession and says it’s inconsistent testimony from Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the 27-year-old illegal immigrant worker who was convicted of first-degree murder in connection with Tibbetts’ death. Bahena Rivera testified that two masked men killed Tibbetts but forced him to dispose of her body.
A 29-year-old has been sentenced for the second time to 50 years in prison in the death of his girlfriend in Dubuque. Fontae Buelow was sentenced yesterday for second-degree murder after his girlfriend, 21-year-old Samantha Link of Peosta was found dead of stab wounds at his Dubuque home in March 2017. Buelow was first convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison in 2018. But the Iowa Supreme Court granted him a new trial last year, after an appeals court ruled that records of Link’s mental health struggles should have been included as evidence in the first trial. Defense attorneys argued that Link stabbed herself. The second jury found him guilty, as well.
Officials at the public water system for the city of Des Moines have lifted a call for customers to limit lawn watering by 25% now that drought conditions have eased. Des Moines Water Works lifted that call yesterday after implementing it last month when the flow of its major water source, the Raccoon River, dropped to less than 300 cubic feet per second, compared with the median flow of 4,000 cubic feet per second. Des Moines Water Works’ chief executive officer and general manager Ted Corrigan says recent rains have helped both increase the river’s water level and cut customer demand for lawn watering. The water utility serves 500,000 customers in central Iowa.
