By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

Republican Todd Halbur has abandoned his call for a statewide recount of his race against State Auditor Rob Sand and has conceded.

County officials have been conducting the official canvases of votes. According to the Iowa Secretary of State’s website, Sand finishes the race with 2713 more votes than Halbur. Sand is the only Democrat on the statewide ballot to win this year.

A week ago, Halbur said he would ask for a recount because he didn’t feel confident in the unofficial results. On Friday, Halbur said in a statement on Facebook that his campaign “lacks the resources and manpower to conduct a legitimate recount” statewide and Halbur said the Iowa Republican Party and its leadership team “failed to provide any support and resources for a recount” and has “abandoned” his campaign.

Halbur loaned his campaign $10,000 in the last fundraising period and had about $4000 left in the bank in mid-October. Halbur did not receive financial support from the Iowa Republican Party and was not included in the campaign events Governor Kim Reynolds hosted in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

A spokesman for the Iowa Republican Party issued a written statement, saying “hardworking” and “successful” candidates “knock doors, attend events, talk to voters and raise money” and the Iowa GOP looks forward to “defeating Rob Sand in his next election.”

In October, a jury awarded Halbur a $1,000,000 settlement in his lawsuit against the State of Iowa. Halbur was fired as comptroller of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division in 2018. Halbur argued he was fired for determining the state was overcharging restaurants, bars and retailers who have to buy liquor and alcohol from the state’s wholesaling agency. Attorneys for the State of Iowa are exploring an appeal of the jury’s verdict.

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

The latest data indicates about 25% of Iowans have gotten a flu shot.

“It seems to be still a little bit less uptick than we’d like in comparison to years past,” says Dr. Robert Kruse, the state medical director.

During the flu season three years ago, 40% of Iowans got a flu shot. Kruse says cases of influenza and the respiratory illness known as RSV are increasing in Iowa.

“People are interacting more,” Kruse says. “They’re more indoors.”

According to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, just under 60% of Iowa residents are fully vaccinated against COVID. With holiday gatherings ahead, the agency is urging Iowans to get the flu shot and ensure they’re up to date on COVID-19 vaccines.

“Having these vaccines can help lower and reduce your risk for illness and prevent some of those complications,” Kruse says.

State records indicate 33.4% of Carroll County residents got the flu shot by the end of October. That’s the highest flu vaccination rate of any county. More than 71% of Johnson County residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)

The state’s community colleges saw an increase in enrollment this year for the first time since 2010.

The Department of Education’s, Jeremy Varner, says that’s somewhat of a surprise given the state’s low unemployment.
“Community college enrollment is in part counter-cyclical. So we’re pleased to see enrollment growth this fall, particularly given the tight labor market, right, normally, we would expect to see some declines. So Iowa is bucking this historical trend,” Varner says. He says the growth is split among the 15 schools.

“So enrollment is up point-six percent to just over 82,000 students. This growth is not evenly distributed amongst our institutions, seven of our community colleges are up, eight are down this fall. But we are seeing more institutions seeing growth,” he says. Varner says told the Board of Education this is a preliminary report on the fall and it shows the move away from full-time students continues.
“Students are continuing to shift from full-time to part-time. This is a trend that’s been going in our data since at least some time in the mid-1970s. So for a very long time,” Varner says. “Part of that is driven by growth and concurrent enrollment. But this fall, we’re also seeing growth in traditional student enrollment, those students that are in that 18 to 24 range.”

He says they are seeing fewer students who are beyond that 18 to 24 age. “We do have a decline in non-traditional student enrollment this fall, which is expected in a tight economy, but traditional students and concurrent enrollment students are up,” Varner says. “One trend that we are watching that we’re a little nervous about is that immediate enrollment is still down. That’s basically the students who just graduated from high school in May and are showing up in the fall. That number is still down a bit.”

Varner says the highest enrollment comes in one particular area. “Enrollment in career tech programs is up 3.2%. That’s more than other program areas. So students are really looking at those career programs that are going to get them skills, they’re going to help them in the economy,” he says. “That’s more nursing students, business students, these kinds of things are thinking there is that has to be in part driven by growth in our career academies and regional centers.”

Varner says they saw in online enrollment by 4% this fall after having huge surges in online enrollment during the pandemic. He says the number of high school students who enroll in community college classes is up by more than 44% with high school students in that concurrent enrollment making up 45% of the students and nearly 29% of community college credit hours. Varner says he will have more details on the makeup of the community college students in January.

Iowa Lakes Community College had the largest enrollment increase at 8.5%, followed by Southeastern at 6.7%. Northwest Iowa and Des Moines Area Community College each saw a 5.4% increase. Northeast Iowa was up 3.4%, Southwestern was up 2.5%. Iowa Central was up one percent.

Hawkeye Community College lost the most enrollment, dropping by nearly 6%. Western Iowa Tech dropped by 5.5%. Eastern Iowa was down 4.2%, Iowa Valley dropped 1.8%, Kirkwood was down 1.5%, Iowa Western dropped one percent, Indian Hills dropped seven-tenths of a percent, and North Iowa Area dropped one-tenth of a percent.