More than a quarter of a billion dollars in personal income taxes made it into state coffers last month. A record number of Iowans in the workforce paid 6-point-4 percent more than Iowans paid last July.
Analysts say Iowa’s economy appears poised for a contraction. The Iowa Leading Indicators Index dipped 4-tenths of a percent in June to 107-point-6 percent, the sixth decline in a row, according to the Department of Revenue. A decline in agriculture economy is blamed for the decrease.
Home prices are up in greater Des Moines. CoreLogic says they rose 3-point-9 percent over the past year, although they inched up just under a percent in the last month.
Historic Valley Junction plays host August 27th and 28th to the Iowa Downtown Summit. The summit will include multiple seminars focusing on downtown revitalization. More than 100 communities from around the state will be represented at the summit.
A draft of the Iowa Statewide Transportation Improvement program gets public scrutiny on August 20th in Ames. IDOT will have a public meeting at its headquarters to gather comments on the plans, which list projects in line to get federal funds.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the governor honored leaders making a difference for the environment at yesterday’s Environmental Excellence Award ceremony. The DNR’s Chuck Gipp says he’d like to see more Iowans participate in practicing environmentally-friendly practices.
Iowa’s Board of Regents meets today to discuss a proposal that would hike tuition this spring at all three state universities. Officials say the 3 percent increase would offset the rise in cost-of-living expenses.
If you want to learn how to build a drone and fly it safely, DMACC is offering help. The Ankeny campus will host a special class later this month to teach people how to fly and build a drone on their own…it’s a non-credit class, so you don’t have to be a student to attend.
The University of Iowa’s field of candidates for the president’s post has been whittled down to nine. In a closed-door meeting, the search committee went through the qualifications of the 46 applicants to select the finalists. A choice is expected next month.
Pleasant Hill residents tonight get to meet their candidates for police chief. The five finalists will be at a forum at Doanes Park Youth Center, starting at 6 PM. They can take a survey after the forum to give their impressions on the candidates.
For the third time in a row, a proposal for a new 17-million dollar jail in Dallas County did not get enough votes to pass in a referendum. Just under 52 percent of voters yesterday were in favor of the new facility in Adel. The referendum needed 60 percent to pass.
Polk city residents turned down a new 11-million dollar recreation area on what would have been donated land. The project would have included an aquatic center, 13 soccer fields and six baseball diamonds.
Knoxville Raceway is losing its general manager. Brian Stickell is resigning after a decade on the job in protest of the delay of a proposed 7-million dollar expansion at the facility. Fair board members have decided to wait til the end of the fiscal year to approve the project.
