From the Associated Press:
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Alumni and students are protesting Coe College’s treatment of a prominent Black trustee who has resigned after criticizing the school’s recent presidential selection process as lacking in diversity. Darryl Banks, a 1972 graduate who had served on its Board of Trustees for four decades, submitted his resignation last month, weeks after the board named David Hayes as 16th president of Coe, a private liberal arts school in Cedar Rapids. In a resignation letter, Banks described a tense Oct. 1 board meeting in which he said he articulated “diversity and inclusions concerns” about how the presidential search committee operated on behalf of trustees of color, and was called a liar in response.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a married Iowa couple’s deaths were a murder-suicide. The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s office said officers were called on Nov. 7 to investigate a domestic disturbance at a home east of Council Bluffs. They found 83-year-old Bonnie Rankin dead of a gunshot wound. Her husband, 86-year-old Harvey Rankin, was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center for treatment of a gunshot wound. He died Tuesday. Sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Doty said the investigation determined the couple died from a murder-suicide and the investigation has been closed.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — President Joe Biden has announced the appointment of former U.S. Senate candidate Theresa Greenfield to serve in a top agriculture position in Iowa. Greenfield, the Democratic nominee who lost to Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst last November, was named Thursday as Iowa director of rural development. The position is in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She will serve as the chief executive officer of the program that offers loans, grants and loan guarantees to help create jobs and support economic development. In the 2020 election, Ernst beat Greenfield by more than 110,000 votes, giving her a six percentage point margin.
BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) — The new Interstate 74 bridge at Bettendorf is set to open next month, a year late and nearly $75 million over the original bid. The Quad-City Times reports that a public ceremony is set for Dec. 1 to give residents walk-on access to the new bridge that spans the Mississippi River, connecting Iowa to Illinois. Officials say the twin-span bridge will open to traffic in the days after the ceremony. The Iowa-bound portion of the bridge was to have opened by the end of 2020, while the Illinois-bound span was set to open at the end of this year. The Iowa Department of Transportation has also authorized up to $74.5 million in additional construction costs, pushing the price tag to $396 million.
DETROIT (AP) — Deere workers approved a new contract Wednesday that will deliver 10% raises immediately and end a monthlong strike for more than 10,000 employees. The United Auto Workers union members voted 61% in favor of the deal with the tractor maker. It was the third vote on a contract offer. Workers recently rejected an offer that was similar to the one approved Wednesday. This latest proposal made only modest changes to the details of Deere’s internal incentive pay plan. The new contract covers 12 plants in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas where the Moline, Illinois-based company’s iconic John Deere equipment is made. The workers had been on strike since Oct. 14.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new monthly survey of bankers in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states suggests rising economic growth in the region, but confidence in the economy’s future continued to drop. The overall Rural Mainstreet economic index rose in November to 67.7 from October’s 66.1. Any score above 50 suggests growth. The survey’s confidence index, which reflects bank CEO expectations for the economy six months out, sank for the fifth straight month to 48.4 in November. That’s the lowest level since August of last year and down from October’s 51.8. Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.
