Latest Iowa Headlines
All the headlines from our Iowa Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tyson Foods Halts Work at Large Iowa Pork Plant to Curb Coronavirus Spread
Apr 23 2020 // Tyson Foods Inc. plans to indefinitely suspend operations at its largest pork plant in the United States to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus, the company said on Wednesday. It said the Waterloo, Iowa plant had...
Despite Virus Outbreak, Midwest States Work to Keep Meat Plants Open
Apr 22 2020 // Governors in the Midwest are working to keep large meatpacking plants operating despite coronavirus outbreaks that have sickened hundreds of workers and threaten to disrupt the nation’s supply of pork and beef. In...
Wisconsin Real Estate Company to Pay $75K Fine in Iowa Asbestos Case
Apr 22 2020 // A Milwaukee, Wisconsin, real estate company will pay $75,000 to Iowa for violating several asbestos regulations at one of its former buildings in Newton, the Iowa Attorney General’s office announced. Phoenix...
Iowa Beef Plant Reopens After 177 Workers Test Positive for Virus
Apr 21 2020 // An Iowa beef processing plant that was idled after a coronavirus outbreak resumed production Monday, one day after the state said 177 workers there have tested positive. The Iowa Premium plant in Tama, owned by National...
Tyson Foods: 2 Iowa Pork Plant Employees Dead After Virus Outbreak
Apr 17 2020 // Two employees have died following a coronavirus outbreak that has sickened scores of Tyson Foods workers at a large pork plant in southeastern Iowa, the company said. The deaths of the workers at Tyson plant in Columbus...
Damage to Iowa Ag Industry from Virus Will Be Huge, Economists Say
Apr 16 2020 // A group of agriculture economists said on April 15 the coronavirus pandemic will cause billions of dollars in damage to Iowa’s crop and livestock industries. In a report released from Iowa State University’s...
Massive Iowa Construction Site Fire Fueled by High Winds
Apr 15 2020 // High winds hampered firefighters’ efforts to extinguish a fire at a huge assisted living complex under construction in West Des Moines, Iowa, officials said. The four-alarm fire was reported around 6 p.m. Monday, the...
Iowa Beef Plant Suspends Operations Due to Worker Virus Infections
Apr 15 2020 // A beef processing plant in one of Iowa’s coronavirus hot spots has suspended production after several workers have become infected. National Beef announced that its Iowa Premium plant in Tama will be idled until...
SelectQuote to Hire 150-Plus in West Des Moines, Iowa
Apr 6 2020 // A Kansas-based company intends to hire more than 150 new employees in West Des Moines, Iowa, as the state’s unemployment claims continue to soar from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. SelectQuote said it is...
Business Moves
Apr 6 2020 // East Hub International Limited, Triester, Rossman & Associates Hub International Limited, a global insurance brokerage, has acquired Triester, Rossman & Associates Inc. Located in King of Prussia, Penn., TRA...
Corps Says Some Midwest Levees Damaged in 2019 Still Vulnerable
Apr 2 2020 // With flood concerns already high in the Midwest, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is warning that many levees on the Missouri and Kansas rivers that were damaged during devastating floods last spring remain vulnerable to...
Twister that Damaged Iowa Apartment Building Was EF1
Apr 1 2020 // A tornado that ripped off part of a wall from a northeast Iowa apartment building has been rated an EF1 twister, with peak winds of 107 mph (172.2 kph), officials said. The funnel touched down around 6:30 p.m. Saturday...
Iowa Safety Agency Fines Animal Food Operation $74K
Mar 31 2020 // Iowa’s workplace safety agency wants to fine an eastern Iowa animal food operation for workplace safety violations, saying it has exposed employees to risks that include long falls. The Occupational Safety and Health...
Severe Weather Spawns Tornadoes, ‘100-Year Flood’ in Midwest
Mar 30 2020 // A severe weather system tore through the Midwest over the weekend, bringing damaging high winds, tornadoes and flooding. Authorities say severe weather in Ohio spawned what forecasters are calling a “100-year...
Iowa Battery Manufacturer Cited for Safety Violations, Fined $42K
Mar 25 2020 // A battery manufacturer in eastern Iowa has been fined $42,000 for workplace safety violations, authorities said. The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Exide Technologies, of Manchester, was cited for...
Iowa’s First MainStreet Insurance Acquires 3 New Agencies
Mar 13 2020 // First MainStreet Insurance (FMSI), a Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based affiliate of TrueNorth Companies, has closed on its acquisition of three new agencies. The firm expanded to Western Iowa with the merger of EGR Insurance in...
Iowa’s BrokerTech Ventures Adds 5 New Agency Partners, Names Hatten as COO
Mar 10 2020 // BrokerTech Ventures (BTV), the Des Moines, Iowa-based broker-led investor group and accelerator program, has added five new investor partners/sponsors, including Heffernan Insurance Brokers Inc., The Horton Group, Inc.,...
Ratings Roundup: Midwest Family Insurance Group
Mar 9 2020 // Outlooks for Iowa’s Midwest Family Insurance Group Revised to Positive AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer...
Despite Finding Insurer’s Actions ‘Reprehensible,’ Iowa Court Slashes Payment to Paralyzed Worker
Mar 9 2020 // The Iowa Supreme Court has dramatically reduced the compensation a paralyzed northeast Iowa man received from a jury in a lawsuit against an insurance company even while finding the company’s actions were...
Outlooks Revised to Positive for Iowa’s Midwest Family Insurance Group
Mar 2 2020 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” of Iowa-based Midwest Family Mutual Insurance...
