So many times in the past the beginning of January brings a snow storm.  Not in 2021.  That happened at the beginning of February.  We’ll get to that.

Possibly, the biggest announcement came mid-month. January 12 Iowa Wesleyan University and Southeastern Community College Announced Formation of Southeast Iowa Higher Education Alliance. While both institutions will continue to operate separately, this unique partnership between a four-year private liberal arts university and a community college will serve as an innovative model for the future of higher education securing the future of both as well as offering a smooth, affordable academic pathways between IW and SCC, broadening the educational opportunities for students and increasing the talent pipeline for the regional workforce. Through this model, a student could take college-level courses in high school and go on to complete an associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degree all within the SIHEA system.

At about 9:40 the morning of February 4 the Mount Pleasant Fire Department was paged out to a fire at 2818 Kentucky Avenue.  Upon arrival at the Batey Sawmill crews encountered heavy smoke coming from a large structure. Salem and New London Departments were immediately called for manpower and tanker trucks. Crews remained on the scene for four and half hours. Mount Pleasant Fire Chief Drew Schumacher said the fire started when dust and debris caught fire while mechanics were using a cutting torch to cut bolts as they were removing equipment. They tried to put out the fire with several fire extinguishers but the fire spread too quickly. Six firefighters from Salem brought an engine, a tanker, a brush truck and a rescue unit. New London sent five firefighters and one engine.

And now for the snow storm…..at about the same time the fire department was wrapping up at the scene of the saw mill fire Henry County Engineer, Jake Hotchkiss, had to temporarily halt county plow trucks.  Trucks were stopped out on the roads to wait and see if winter storm conditions would improve.  Motorgraders continued to work on the gravel roads so school buses could operate since school let out early. At about 2:30 the plow trucks were back on the roads but Hotchkiss said at that time that he may have to pull them off again. White out conditions were being reported especially north of Mount Pleasant from the Trenton/Mt. Union black top going north. Travel on 218 was reported to be difficult and one lane only with icy conditions. By 3 pm the snow fall had let up but strong winds continued to blow and drift the snow creating poor visibility and treacherous road conditions. There were also reports of jack knifed semis, cars in the ditch and a crash on 218 just north of Mt. Pleasant near 185^th Street. Access Energy cooperative reported several outages across its’ service area. One outage caused KILJ AM to off the air for a time.

The first quarter of 2021 saw the completion of the campaign to convince Henry County voters that Henry County Health Center should enter into a lease agreement with Great River Health Systems. On March 2 a majority of Henry County voters said, “Yes” to the public measure asking if the HCHC Board of Trustees should be authorized to pursue leasing the public hospital facilities and related assets to Great River Health System. This agreement between a public hospital and a private hospital calls for HCHC employees to remain HCHC employees and retain their benefits.

Henry County Jail

In the interest of keeping Henry County residents informed, the Henry County Sheriff’s office has requested KILJ post the daily jail count. During the jail referendum campaign it was publicized that the jail would be able to house additional inmates from surrounding counties and this would generate revenue for Henry County.

Date:   _12-27-2021________

JAIL COUNT

  _23_      Henry County Inmates

  _34_      Out of County Contract Inmates              

 _57_     TOTAL

Study shows wage workers and self-employed fared differently

AMES, Iowa – Employees across the nation saw a significant impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a recent study by an Iowa State University sociologist shows it may have been the self-employed who were hit the hardest.

Samuel Mindes, adjunct assistant professor in rural sociology and sociologist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, tracked Current Population Survey data of nearly 238,000 individuals with findings that show self-employed workers were 2.4 to 4.7 times more likely than wage workers to face a work stoppage caused by the pandemic.

The study found that self-employed immigrants and people of racial and ethnic minorities were more adversely affected, and that women, non-whites and Hispanics were more adversely affected whether self-employed or working for someone else.

Mindes published his findings in an article titled “Self-employment through the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of linked monthly CPS data,” which appeared in a fall edition of the Journal of Business Venturing Insights – an international journal read by entrepreneurship researchers. The study and article were co-written by Paul Lewin, extension specialist with the University of Idaho.

“Prior to the pandemic, I was already studying self-employment and minority employment and as the pandemic worsened, we were starting to see that it was minorities who were being hurt the worst,” said Mindes.

In some cases, contrary to the overall trend, self-employed workers actually fared better. Self-employed workers with incorporated businesses, which have some legal and financial advantages, were generally more protected than informal entities. Also, in some industries, like agriculture, food service and accommodation services, self-employed workers fared better than wage workers.

“This pattern is not necessarily unexpected,” said Mindes. “In these industries, wage workers would be the first to lose their employment during an economic crisis. Self-employers may endure the impact and preserve their own employment, running their business at a lower capacity.”

Mindes continues to track employment data and demographics as new threats from COVID-19 continue across the globe. He said the results illustrate the disparity among self-employed and wage workers, and the way marginalized workers have been impacted the most.

“This sort of shows us the initial impact and disparity, where self-employers fared much worse,” he said. “That initial hit hasn’t balanced out between the employment sectors, and there are businesses that have never recovered and probably never will.”

Mindes is hopeful his study will be useful to others researching self-employment and wage work as a result of the pandemic. He said even for those workers who remained employed during the pandemic, employment alone does not necessarily reflect the disruptions and challenges they faced.

Study highlights

• Self-employers were hit harder by the COVID-19 pandemic and recovered more slowly.
• The pandemic’s impact on self-employers was less severe in hard-hit industries.
• Household composition had unequal effects across self-employed and wage sectors.
• Minorities face higher odds of pandemic-related inability to work overall.
• Different effects of additional human capital for self-employed and wage workers.

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The 122^nd annual Christmas Bird Count, coordinated by the Audubon Society, is being held between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5. This year, an estimated 80,000 volunteers will participate across the United States and in up to 20 countries in the western hemisphere.

The counts are conducted in specific circles, 15 miles in radius, where volunteers count every bird sighted or heard within the circle during a 24-hour period. Iowa has 39 of these circles, primarily along the border rivers and in the larger cities, and each circle usually has a minimum of 10 volunteers and a count coordinator who helps to organize the volunteers, collects the data, tabulates the counts and submits it to the Audubon Society. Existing survey circles and contacts for volunteers, are available online at https://audubon.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=ac275eeb01434cedb1c5dcd0fd3fc7b4

The data goes to a national database managed by the Audubon Society that provides a long-term view of the history and trends in bird populations and movements. It is used to periodically update population trends by area or subset and is made available to the public on Audubon’s website www.audubon.org. Count data is also used to produce long term trend reports like The State of the Birds 2019 at https://www.stateofthebirds.org/2019/

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The DNR Parks, Forests and Preserves Bureau has openings for recreational aides and seasonal patrol officers for the summer 2022 season across the state park system.

Jobs duties will include assisting park staff in patrolling the park, helping visitors, registering campers, and maintaining the park through duties such as mowing, trimming, cleaning, trail work and facility repairs. Interested applicants should have skills in general maintenance, ability to work on a team or with minimal supervision, and have strong customer relations skills.

For more details and how to apply, visit www.iowadnr.gov/Employment

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November saw a rise in activity with increases in Iowa home sales, new listings, pending sales and home prices according to the Housing Trends by the Iowa Association of REALTORS® (IAR).

Home sales were up 4 percent over a year ago and up 25.6 percent from the pre-pandemic numbers of November 2019. 4,054 homes sold in November 2021.

The media sales price rose 7.1 percent from a year ago. The median price for November 2021 came in at $192,700 compared to $180,000 in November of last year.

Pending sales in November bumped up slightly from last year at 2.1 percent while 24 percent higher than 2019.

New listings on the market in November were up 7.3 percent over November 2020. 3,594 properties were put on the market in November.

Iowa homes sold much quicker in November compared to the same period the last 2 years. The average days on market was 34 days in November 2021 in comparison to 49 days in November 2020 and 58 days in 2019.

The year-to-date sales total through November is 44,944 properties which equates to a 5.4 percent increase from this time period last year.

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On December 23 at about 8 pm the Mt. Pleasant Police Department was dispatched to a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of East Washington and South Walnut Street. A van operated by Jens Erp of Bloomfield was traveling north on South Walnut Street. Erp failed to obey the red light for northbound traffic on South Walnut Street and continued through intersection of East Washington Street without stopping. Erp’s van was struck by another van operated by Jonathan Brown of Batavia that was westbound on East Washington Street. Both vehicles were considered a total loss. Three occupants in the Erp vehicle were transported by the Henry County ambulance crew for possible minor injuries. As a result of this investigation, Jens Erp was cited for failure to obey traffic control device.