The new United States/Mexico/Canada agreement is now two months old, and according to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, the agreement was especially important for the state’s ag industry. The governor spoke at a virtual panel discussion yesterday with trade representatives of all three countries; it was sponsored by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.
A new survey of business leaders released yesterday shows economic improvement in Iowa and eight other Midwest and Plains states. That includes improvements in employment and economic outlook amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak and the devastation from a rare wind storm earlier in the month. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the survey’s employment index moved above growth neutral 50 for the first time since January, coming in at 54.8 for August, compared with 48.5 in July. The overall index for the region improved to 60 in August from July’s 57.4.
A webinar to be presented this afternoon by ISU Extension will help farmers determine the best options for their acres of corn that suffered severe damage in the derecho three weeks ago. One of the presenters is ISU Extension cropping systems specialist Mark Licht. Registration for the seminar is free, but required by going to the ISU extension web page.
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Police investigated a shooting in Cedar Rapids yesterday midday on J Street Southwest. Officials say a man was shot at Cedar Valley Townhomes shortly before noon. Police say the man was found at the Kwik Shop on J Street Southwest and was sent to the hospital with serious injuries. The incident appears to be targeted. No arrests have been made and there is not an update on the victim’s condition.
Farmers whose corn was flattened by the derecho face additional issues in recovering a crop from the field, according to Iowa State agronomy professor Mark Licht. Licht spoke with KXEL’s Tim Harwood about a webinar to be held this afternoon on crop recovery. Hear the full conversation at kxel-dot-com, and register for the free webinar at the ISU extension web page.
According to new information from the city of Cedar Rapids, crews are working diligently to have tree debris removed. But there’s so much of it, city leaders say it may be up to a month before every street is reached for the first time. City crews, Iowa DOT workers and contracted companies are working on removal. The update came in a city Facebook post yesterday morning.
One of the leaders of the Des Moines Black Lives Matter group work up in the Johnson County Jail yesterday morning after University of Iowa Police arrested him following two incidents the night before. 24-year-old Matthew Bruce faces nine charges of assault on a peace officer with intent of injury and one charge of interference with official acts. The first incident happened around 8:30 p.m. at the University of Iowa president’s residence, while the second was just after 11:30 p.m. at the University of Iowa Pentacrest. Criminal complaints show during protests, he pointed a laser beam light into the eyes of multiple officers, causing injuries of which they needed medical treatment. Officers approached him and asked him to stop, but he ran away…he was captured a few minutes later.
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We are now two months in to the new United States/Mexico/Canada trade agreement, a priority of the Trump Administration that replaced the old North America Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA…and according to Gov. Kim Reynolds, the change was definitely for the better from Iowa’s standpoint. Reynolds made the comments as part of a virtual panel discussion yesterday afternoon sponsored by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry and featuring trade representatives of all three countries.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is actively recruiting workers for polling sites in all 99 counties for the November general election…many regular poll workers are not assisting this year due to pandemic fears. So the state needs approximately 10,000 workers across all sites. Iowans will be paid for their work and they must be 17-years-old or older to qualify…for more information, go to sos.iowa.gov.
The state’s COVD-19 dashboard shows Bremer County with a high COVID-19 positivity rate, and that could impact the eight independent public school districts in the county. The benchmark for fully transitioning to online learning under state guidelines is a two-week positivity rate of 15%. Bremer County’s positivity rate is 15.5% as of yesterday. Public school districts operating within Bremer County can now request waivers from the state to transition fully online if they reach the 10% absenteeism.
