WATERLOO, Iowa (KCRG) – John Deere Waterloo Operations has announced that effective Sept. 20, 2024, approximately 345 more production employees will be laid off. The company cited a “reduced demand” for the products produced at the facility as a reason behind the layoff, as well as “rising global operational and manufacturing costs.” The decision is Deere’s latest in a string of production layoffs over the past year. This new set of layoffs is in addition to the 190 workers laid off in May and the more than 300 positions the company laid off in April. It also comes as the company shifts production to a newly planned facility in Mexico. John Deere Waterloo Operations currently has about 5,000 total employees with about 3,000 working in production and maintenance jobs.
OSKALOOSA, Iowa (KCRG) – The Oskaloosa Community School District is in mourning after news that Middle School Principal Mark Scholes passed away while on vacation with his family. Officials responded to Ludington State Park on July 9 for a report of a person struggling in the water. Police say several persons entered the water to help the person (later identified as Scholes), but by the time he was reached, he had slipped under the surface. People were able to locate him underwater and pull him to a raft, and then to shore where CPR was started. He was pronounced deceased at Corewell Health Ludington Hospital. In a post on social media, the district said Scholes was a “dedicated educator and leader who made an incredible impact on our students, staff, and community.” The district is offering grief counseling for students on Thursday, July 11, from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Students can go to the Oskaloosa Middle School and leaders will help them from there.
WAVERLY, Iowa (KCRG) – A community is mourning after a principal in the Waverly-Shell Rock school district died on Monday. In a post on social media, the district said elementary principal Suz Smolikhagen had served the district since the beginning of the last school year. The district described her as an integral, valued leader who will be deeply missed. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to Suz’s family and loved ones as well as those on staff who worked most closely with her,” the district wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “Suz touched many, many lives over the course of her career in education.” The Shell Rock Farmer’s Market is offering a chance for people to paint a kindness rock in Smolkhagen’s honor. In a post on social media, the market said people can take their rock and use it to spread kindness and joy across the community. It also said it would be providing the supplies needed.
BLACK HAWK COUNTY, Iowa (KCRG) – One person is dead after a crash in Black Hawk County Tuesday afternoon. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a pickup was going east on Tama Road and did not yield after stopping at a stop sign. It pulled out onto Highway 63, and was struck by a tanker. The tanker then lost control, and tipped on its side. The driver of the tanker died in the crash. The identity of the deceased person has not been released.
