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Workforce Development says unemployment benefits extended

November 29, 2008 By

The Iowa Department of Workforce Development is busy trying to notify Iowans that might be eligible for extended unemployment benefits. President Bush signed a seven week extension into law last week. I.W.D. spokesperson Kerry Koonce says the extension is welcome relief as the state’s economy begins to soften.

"We are seeing some slow down in some industries," Koonce said. "We have had two months of job losses, although the state still added over 5,700 jobs over the year. We are starting to see some job cutting in the durable good and heavy manufacturing areas, so these benefits are important for those individuals."

Iowa’s unemployment rate stands at 4.4%, up from 3.8% one year ago. Koonce says the benefits extension will help a lot of people. "It’s really necessary when you’re looking at the national economy as a whole that’s had some downturn and we have some more people unemployed than usual and this provides them with an economic safety net that is really needed, especially this time of year," Koonce said.

Iowans currently receiving unemployment benefits will automatically be eligible for the seven week extension. Meanwhile, Iowans that had exhausted their previous benefits should contact their local I.W.D. office to file a new claim. Koonce says the maximum benefit for an unemployed person with no dependents is $361 a week with two dependents it’s $389 a week. 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Elk Horn and Kimballton celebrate Christmas

November 29, 2008 By

The Danish Villages of Elk Horn and Kimballton in western Iowa are holding their weekend-long Christmas celebration. Both communities are decked out for the 30th anniversary of Julefest, which includes all the events typically found during a Danish Christmas.

Lisa Riggs, manager of the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, says they look forward to welcoming visitors to the neighboring communities for the big event, which offers several new features this year. She says the Outlook Study Club is having an exhibit of Christmas Treasures featuring decorated Christmas trees, nativity scenes, table settings and a collection of Santas on Main Street in Elk Horn.

Also new new this year are carriage rides. Riggs says there will also be an original Boutique and Quilt Show called "A Prairie Christmas," at the Kimballton Town Hall, in conjunction with the Danish Windmill, as well as in Elk Horn.

There will be more than 20 locations offering one-of-a kind gifts and lots of traditional Danish food and drinks, including those found at the Danish Immigrant Museum and Danish Windmill in Elk Horn. Riggs says the museum will serve Danish Julestue, cookies, glögg, and æbleskiver, while the historic Danish Windmill built in 1848 and brought to Elk Horn from Denmark piece-by-piece, will serve glögg and Danish cheese to visitors and have an old fashioned Julemarket.

There’ll be a public gathering with the singing of Christmas carols on Main Street in Elk Horn, a pancake supper takes place Saturday evening followed by the annual Christmas concert, and there’ll be a Danish Luncheon and Bake Sale in Kimballton, on Sunday. The Danish Villages are located off Interstate 80, turn north, at Exit 54.

Brochures with a map of local merchants and activities are available at businesses in both communities. For more information, call the Danish Windmill at 800-451-7960.

 

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment

Iowa on pace to reduce traffic fatals

November 29, 2008 By

Law enforcement officers are hoping there will be fewer traffic fatalities in Iowa this year compared to 2007. Last year, 440 people were killed in crashes on Iowa roads. Randy Hunefeld with the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau says so far there have been nearly 350 traffic fatalities in 2008. "As of last week, I believe we were down about 25 fatalities from the previous year," Hunefeld said. "So, we are looking better but that’s still way too many."

The decline in traffic fatals can be attributed, in part, to fewer people driving. Many Iowans canceled travel plans during this summer’s run of record high gas prices. Hunefeld also credits increased seat belt usage. He says a survey conducted this year indicated 92.9-percent of Iowans were wearing a seat belt, up from 91.4-percent in 2007.

Hunefeld says most traffic crashes in Iowa could be avoided if more drivers would pay attention to the road, rather than their cell phones or i-pods. "We’re finding out that distracted drivers are involved in quite a few accidents," Hunefeld said. "They’re either texting, talking on the cell phones, eating, putting on makeup…you name it and drivers are out there doing it."

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Iowa livestock industry "dodged a bullet"

November 29, 2008 By

An expert on Iowa agriculture says this summer’s flooding took a toll on Iowa’s livestock industry, but not in the way many may imagine. Harold Hommes, chief of the Iowa Department of Agriculture’s marketing bureau, says it wasn’t the high water, but the high grain prices that caused the most problems.

"The really tragic impact was because of the perceived shortness of millions of acres of Iowa farmland, corn and soybean — both — we had record levels of soy meal, soy oil (prices)," Hommes says, "and for the livestock producers at the time to get with that at time of extremely poor hog prices certainly it was extremely devastating to them."

Commodity prices spiked in June and July when there were fears lots of Iowa cropland was too swamped to yield a crop in the fall. "The rumor was we had three-plus million acres taken out of Iowa’s production. We typically do 22 to 24 million acres of corn and soybeans combined, so quick math tells you that’s well over 10 percent. That’s a lot of acres gone, potentially," Hommes says. "As it turns out, we ended up with a million or less."

Luckily, high commodity prices were shortlived so livestock producers should be able to rebound. Hommes estimates about four-thousand hogs died in this past spring’s flooding, but tens of thousands of hogs and other livestock were moved to higher ground. 

"On 24, 48 hours notice, thousands and thousands of stock were moved on very short order. The trucks were moving," Hommes says. "In addition to those livestock trucks, imagine all the grain that had to get moved, so — yea, we dodged a bullet there."

Hommes testified earlier this month before a legislative committee that’s studying the impact of this summer’s flooding on the livestock industry.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Iowa town ponders end of "noon whistle"

November 28, 2008 By

It’s a tradition in many Iowa towns. The "whistle" blows at noon. Oftentimes it’s the town’s tornado siren that marks the start of the noon hour.

Grinnell Mayor Gordon Canfield has been fielding complaints about the noise of Grinnell’s noon-time whistle. "There are people who are sleeping during that time because they work a night shift and children, babies are trying to take naps and so forth and it wakes ‘em up," Canfield says, "and it’s just not the best thing to be using an emergency-sound siren for the noon whistle."

Grinnell’s public safety committee has recommended that the city council vote to end the noon whistle in Grinnell. Mayor Canfield says the custom is a throw-back to earlier times. 

"I think noon whistles came from the old days when they even had factory whistles and told people when they ought to quit for lunch," Canfield says. "…Now, everybody has a watch or a clock."

Grinnell’s noon whistle still sounds daily at straight up 12 o’clock, but the city council will consider ending the tradition.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Human Interest

Change up computer passwords to thwart I-D thieves

November 28, 2008 By

Many Iowans do much of their holiday shopping online instead of in malls, but this season is the busiest time of year for internet fraud and identity thieves. Michael Barrett, information security officer at Omaha-based PayPal, says shopping online can be safe and easy but you need to follow some rules.

First, he says, change up your passwords. Barrett says: "Maybe four or five different passwords and segment them according to risk. You’d use one password for your online banking, another password for your e-mail account, one password for the e-commerce sites and then one password for everything else."

Barrett says mixing up your passwords can make a big difference in keeping your accounts safe. He says, "People tend to pick names of pets or family members thinking, ‘Criminals will never guess my cat’s name is Fluffy.’ Well, actually criminals have dictionaries of common passwords and Fluffy is indeed in there. What we recommend is that people just put a numeric character or special character like an exclamation mark in a funny position in the password." Barrett says that makes it a lot harder for the crooks to come up with your chosen word.

He says if you have had your e-mail account for a while, the spammers likely already have you targeted, which is why you have to be very cautious when exploring junk e-mails. "When you see an e-mail and after you read it, do a mental test on how you are feeling," Barrett says. "If you are feeling really squeamish and you have to act right now, then it’s probably bogus. That’s actually one of the things they are trying to do is engender a sense of urgency because folks like me are out there whacking those websites as fast as we can find them." Barrett says thieves can also access your computer and do all sorts of damage to your accounts. He says it’s vital to keep your anti-virus program current, or it’s like driving with expired insurance.

PayPal is an online payment system owned by eBay, the online auction service, and has more than two-thousand employees in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area.

Filed Under: Business, Crime & Courts, Technology Tagged With: ,

Algona brothers found dead from apparent overdose

November 28, 2008 By

The bodies of two men were found yesterday in a home in northern Iowa — dead of an apparent accidental overdose.

Algona police say alcohol combined with prescription medication is the suspected cause of deaths of two Algona brothers. They’re identified as 37-year-old Ashley Hix and 30-year-old David Hix.

Both were pronounced dead at the home on Thanksgiving morning. Police say foul play is not suspected. Autopsies have been ordered.

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters
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