OSKALOOSA — The city of Oskaloosa is holding their special election tomorrow to fill a seat on the city council that has been vacant since the end of January.
The Oskaloosa City Council voted to hold a special election to fill the vacancy for the Fourth Ward City Council seat after former councilmember Steve Burnett announced his resignation. This special election will be held on April 2nd, 2024. The polling location will be the old YMCA at 414 North 3rd Street.
OTTUMWA — An Ottumwa man was arrested last week as the result of a sex abuse investigation that lasted approximately one month.
On March 1, 2024, the Ottumwa Police Department initiated a Sex Abuse investigation after a juvenile victim reported being assaulted over an extended period of time.
On March 28, 2024, at approximately 3:30 p.m., the suspect in the case was arrested where he was living at 125 Joseph, in Ottumwa. The suspect is identified as Michael Alan Sherwood, age 39, of Ottumwa. Sherwood was charged with the following offenses:
Sherwood is currently being held without bond in the Wapello County Jail.
PETALUMA (AP) — Egg prices are at near-historic highs in many parts of the world as the spring holidays approach, reflecting a market scrambled by disease, high demand and growing costs for farmers.
It’s the second year in a row consumers have faced sticker shock ahead of Easter and Passover, both occasions in which eggs play prominent roles.
While global prices are lower than they were at this time last year, they remain elevated, said Nan-Dirk Mulder, a senior global specialist with Dutch financial firm RaboBank’s RaboResearch Food and Agribusiness division. Mulder doesn’t expect them to return to 2021 levels.
In the United States, the average price of a dozen eggs was $2.99 in February, down from $4.21 last year, according to government data. Still, that’s significantly more than the $1.59 cents per dozen consumers were paying in February 2021.
In Europe, egg prices are 10% to 15% lower than last year but still about double what they were in 2021, Mulder said.
One major culprit is avian flu. Outbreaks of the deadly respiratory disease were reported in Europe, Africa and Asia in 2020 and spread to North America in 2021. In 2022 alone, more than 131 million poultry worldwide died or were culled on affected farms, according to the World Health Organization.
Outbreaks are continuing. In December, the U.S. confirmed cases in 45 commercial flocks and 33 backyard flocks, affecting 11.4 million birds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In South Africa, egg prices soared after 40% of laying hens were killed late last year due to the respiratory disease, Mulder said. A tray of six eggs cost 25.48 South African rand ($1.34) last month, up 21% from February 2023.
Even when avian flu dissipates, it can take a long time for the egg market to settle. It takes a farm three to six months to replenish a flock, so during that time, egg supplies are lower and prices rise, said Emily Metz, president of the American Egg Board, a marketing organization.
If farms restock with too many chickens, it can drive prices down. That’s what happened in the U.S. last summer when egg prices plunged to $2 per dozen.
“It’s supply and demand searching out. You have to have a profitable price,” David Anderson, a professor and extension economist for livestock and food marketing at Texas A&M University, said.
And profits can be hard for farmers to come by during periods of inflation. Chicken feed represents up to 70% of a farmer’s costs, and feed prices doubled between 2020 and 2022, Mulder said. Weather, COVID-related disruptions and the war in Ukraine – which drove up the price of wheat and other crops — were all contributors.
In Nigeria, the cost of a crate of eggs has doubled since the beginning of the year due to weakened currency, the removal of fuel subsidies and high costs for farmers.
Teslimat Abimbola, who runs a poultry farm in the southern city of Ibadan, said 25 kilograms of feed that cost 2,500 Nigerian naira ($1.78) in 2020 now costs 13,000 naira ($9.23). Abimbola has lost some customers as a result of price increases.
“Many farms have been forced to shut down due to the high costs of rearing chickens,” Abimbola said.
The government of Lagos State, Nigeria’s biggest economic center, has implemented a subsidy program to help consumers deal with the increased costs of eggs.
Elsewhere, government regulations play a part in lifting egg prices. Multiple states, including California and Massachusetts, have passed cage bans for egg-laying hens since 2018; this year, bans are set to take effect in Washington, Oregon and Michigan.
Converting to cage-free facilities is a big investment for farmers, and consumers may not always realize that’s a factor in the higher prices they see at the grocery store, Metz said. She anticipates such conversion costs will eventually fall as more farms make the changeover.
Price peaks are inevitably followed by price drops, and egg prices will eventually settle into more normal patterns. In the short term, the holiday demand that picks up every Easter will ease heading into summer, Anderson said. Meanwhile, improving biosecurity measures should help blunt the impact of avian flu, he said.
Lyncoya Ilion, who teaches cooking classes and runs a catering business called Catered by Coya in Brown Deer, Wisconsin, says she’s noticed egg prices inching back up over the last two to three months but hopes she won’t have to pass her costs onto clients.
“I haven’t had to increase prices yet because I’m anticipating that the egg prices will decrease again soon,” Ilion said.
That’s a good bet. In the U.S., egg prices are expected to decrease around 2.8% this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That won’t put them back to pre-COVID levels, but it should give some relief.
“People really love eggs, and they notice when that price fluctuates,” Metz said. “Our farmers wish it wasn’t such a sharp up and down as well. It makes everything challenging.”
By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)
DNR Hydrologist Tim Hall says the recent snow and rains have helped push back some of the drought conditions in the state.
“The statewide average over the last seven days, three times the normal rainfall for that seven-day period. And for the month of March, we’re ahead of normal. And so those things are all reflected in the U-S Drought Monitor this week,” Hall says.
Northeast Iowa remains the driest area of the state, but the picture is better than last week. “Almost 20% of the state was designated as D-3 extreme drought. And now that’s down to 12%,” he says. Hall says it is good to see the dry weather turnaround in March. “Every month that goes by between March and April in May and June, the monthly precipitation averages go up. So that’s why it’s really critical when we get above normal rainfall in March, because March is a pretty wet month, and even more so for April and even more so for May,” Halls says.
He says the past few years a promising start to spring didn’t pan out. “We’ve seen really encouraging early spring and late winter rainfalls, but then the tap has been shut off. And we’ve missed out on April May and June rainfalls over the past few years,” he says. “So we’re really hoping that this will set a trend that will allow us to see above normal rainfall in April and then May and then June. And that’ll go a long ways toward getting some significant areas of drought wiped off the map here.”
The Drought Monitor shows the areas of the state not reporting any drought have gone from just more than two percent to now just under ten percent.
AMES, Iowa – Farmers who depend on custom work or provide custom services can review rates charged by others across the state in the latest Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey.
The 2024 report was published in the March edition of Ag Decision Maker and includes 130 responses and 2,805 custom rates provided by Iowa farmers, custom operators and farm managers.
Farm tasks in the report include everything from planting to harvest, with cost data that reflect the average, median and range for each task.
The rates in the report are expected to be charged or paid in 2024, and they include fuel and labor (unless otherwise noted). The average price for diesel fuel (highway-retail including taxes) was assumed to be $3.92 per gallon (as projected by the U.S. Energy Information Administration in early February 2024). Rental rates for some machinery items are shown in the last section of the report, along with a worksheet for estimating rental rates for other items.
Ann Johanns, program specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and editor of Ag Decision Maker, said this year’s numbers seem more in line with the current farm economy.
“We’ve seen increases in rates the past two years (3% to 10% and 10% to 15%),” said Johanns. “The steady to slight decline in rates generally seen across the 2024 survey is closer to changes observed prior to the last two years.”
While the projected fuel price increased, production challenges and crop prices seem to have impacted custom rates as well.
Johanns said it’s important for custom operators to know the market for custom farming and to know their costs.
“If the custom operator isn’t covering their costs, they are operating at a loss,” she said. “If they don’t have a good handle on their cost to operate, there are helpful resources on Ag Decision Maker.”
New for 2024 is additional insight into who responded to each operation shown. Of the 2,468 who responded with usable rates: 48% are service providers, 32% are service users, 8% are both service providers and users, and 12% are unknown. The sources of the 69 rates reported for machinery rentals are: 38% machinery owners, 35% machinery renters, 11% machinery owners and renters, and 12% unknown. The sources of the 108 rates reported for wages are: 81% employers, 7% employees, 2% employer and employee, and 9% unknown.
The rate survey is intended only as a guide. Actual custom rates may vary according to availability of machinery in a given area, timeliness, operator skill, field size and shape, crop conditions and the performance characteristics of the machine being used.
“Ultimately, the Custom Rate survey is a starting point in discussions, but any custom rate charged, or paid, should cover the operator’s cost of owning and operating the machinery being used,” said Johanns. “Just using the results of the survey alone might not be the right answer for an individual operation.”
By Sam Parsons
Senator Chuck Grassley visited Oskaloosa High School on Wednesday and held question & answer sessions with juniors and seniors at the high school. The visitation was part of Senator Grassley’s tour of all 99 counties in Iowa.
Senator Grassley fielded questions about how he got his start in politics, what day-to-day life in the Senate is like, and more, including a recent bill that was passed by the House of Representatives related to the social media platform, TikTok. A student asked Senator Grassley why the legislature sought to ban TikTok, a Chinese company, while simultaneously subsidizing electronic tags for cattle from China, and he said that it had to do with the information that the social media company was capable of wielding.
After the sessions, Senator Grassley thanked Oskaloosa High School for hosting the event.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission is investigating TikTok over its data and security practices, a probe that could lead to a settlement or a lawsuit against the company, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The investigation is the latest battle in Washington for the social media company, which is already fighting against a federal bill that could ban the platform in the U.S. if it doesn’t break ties with its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance.
In its investigation, the FTC has been looking into whether TikTok violated a portion of federal law that prohibits “unfair and deceptive” business practices by denying that individuals in China had access to U.S. user data, said the person, who is not authorized to discuss the investigation.
The agency also is scrutinizing the company over potential violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parents’ consent before collecting personal information of children under 13.
FTC spokesperson Nicole Drayton and TikTok declined to comment on the investigation, which was first reported by Politico.
The agency is nearing the conclusion of its investigation and could settle with TikTok in the coming weeks. But there’s not a deadline for an agreement, the person said.
If the FTC moves forward with a lawsuit instead, it would have to refer the case to the Justice Department, which would have 45 days to decide whether it wants to file a case on the FTC’s behalf, make changes or send it back to the agency to pursue on its own.
The news comes nearly two years after Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner and Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the committee, urged FTC chair Lina Khan to investigate TikTok, citing a report from Buzzfeed News that said ByteDance employees in China have repeatedly accessed data on U.S. TikTok users.
In late 2022, ByteDance said it fired four employees who accessed data on journalists from Buzzfeed News and The Financial Times while attempting to track down leaks of confidential materials about the company.
Legislation that could determine TikTok’s fate in the U.S. was approved in the House this month. But the bill has already run into roadblocks in the Senate, where there is little unanimity on how to best approach concerns over the social platform.
Lawmakers and intelligence officials have said they worry the platform could be used by the Chinese government to access U.S. user data or influence Americans through its popular algorithm. To date, the U.S. government hasn’t provided public evidence that this has happened.
By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)
Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a bill into law that raises teacher salaries, increases general state spending for schools and overhauls Iowa’s Area Education Agencies.
“Some schools haven’t used some of the AEA services, despite being forced to pay for them,” Reynolds said. “Others have felt that they didn’t receive the quality that they expect.”
The new law puts local districts in control of some funding that currently flows directly to the AEAs and gives state officials more authority to oversee special education. Schools will still be required to use the AEA’s special education consultants, but districts will be able to spend 10 percent of their special education allotment elsewhere, plus districts will have the option of redirecting money that currently pays for other AEA services, like teacher training.
“Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Education has designated Iowa as ‘needs assistance’ to meet the requirements of federal law related to special education,” Reynolds said. “…This legislation intends to resolve these issues.”
Reynolds held a ceremony in her capitol office and was surrounding by Republican legislators and key staff as she signed the bill into law. House Education Committee chairman Skyler Wheeler, a Republican from Hull, helped lead House negotiations with educators, parents and advocates for both large and small schools that resulted in changes to the governor’s original bill.
“We held numerous meetings with everyone and worked with all sides to come to an agreement that is a win for education in our state,” Wheeler said.
Senate Education Committee chairman Ken Rozenboom, a Republican from Oskaloosa, said the fee-for-service model in the new law provides accountability and transparency and gives schools a way to judge the value of AEA services.
“The AEAs have done a tremendous amount of good for many, many years in Iowa and all of us are appreciative of that,” Rozenboom said, “but the world has changed since the AEAs were created in 1974 and reform is needed.”
House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst said the new law is universally unpopular and it will be an issue for voters in November. “Think about the families who have so much uncertainty now as they’re wondering about what will happen to the services in their communities,” Konfrst said. “What will happen to their kids who are getting AEA services? There are so many questions.”
Other elements of the new law will raise beginning teacher pay to $50,000 within two years and veteran teachers must be paid at least $62,000 a year if they’ve been teaching for at least 12 years. Paraeducators are to get raises as well.
OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa Park Campground will open for the 2024 season on Friday, March 29. Camping fees are still only $20 per night for both RVs and tents. Campground hosts this year will be James and Patricia Brown and Doug and Sheila Wright. A new shower house has been constructed in the campground and is open for use. All campsites are first come first served; there are no advance reservations. For more information, please call the campground office at 641-682-1307. Prices and policy are subject to temporary change for special events.
OSKALOOSA — High school seniors living in Mahaska County and attending any high school are eligible to apply now for a Chamber Scholarship sponsored by the Mahaska Chamber & Development Group. Information is available from one’s school counselor or the web at https://www.mahaskachamber.org/resources/scholarships/ where you will find a link to the fillable form. Scholarships are sponsored by area businesses and industries. Last year $25,000 was distributed to 23 students.
The application requests information such as participation in school and community activities, as well as a short essay. Be prepared with a pdf of your transcript. On-line applications and school transcripts are due no later than Saturday, April 1, 2024.
“Businesses and individuals are encouraged to contribute to the scholarship fund as well. Our giving remains constant, but we would encourage more. Students are already asking for the application. It’s important to support our youth and make it easier for them to attend college,” Deb Bruxvoort stated. “Perhaps you can contribute financially to the fund, or perhaps participate in the annual Chamber Golf outing set for Friday, May 10. The golf outing raises additional funds for scholarships.”
The Chamber Scholars program, now in its 28th year, continues to partner with “52577 Scholarship”. Contributions to the program are tax deductible and can be made in any amount. If one chooses to donate $1,000 it will be awarded this year. If one wants to contribute to the perpetual scholarship fund through “52577”, any amount may be donated to be used in future years.
For further information to apply or to contribute to the fund contact the Mahaska Chamber at 641.672.2591 or email dbruxvoort@mahaskachamber.org.
Stay updated, sign up for our newsletter.
