Page 35 - Beth Townsend News Today

More than 66,000 job openings are listed through Workforce Development. As businesses start to reach the “light at the end of the tunnel” and fully reopen as COVID-19 wanes and restrictions ease, owners face a major hurdle — hiring the staff they need to “get back to normal.” Pandemic-related un

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports Alabama Montgomery: Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday signed legislation banning so-called vaccine passports, making Alabama the latest state to try to prohibit requiring proof of a COVID-19 vaccination to enter a business, school or event. The legislation by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would prohibit government entities from issuing “vaccine or immunization passports” or other “standardized documentation for the purpose of certifying immunization status.” ...

State agency falsely claimed to have complied with public-records request After taking one month to respond to a request for documents, Iowa Workforce Development recently turned over what it falsely claimed were all of the requested records. (Photo illustration by Clark Kauffman/Iowa Capital Dispatch) After taking one month to respond to a request for public documents, Iowa Workforce Development recently turned over what it falsely claimed were all of the requested records. As part of that...

Fraudsters have created a fake unemployment website to try to steal claimants identities, Iowa Workforce Development warns. According to a Tuesday news release from the agency, the website looks like the states official portal, where workers fill out personal information such as their dates of birth and Social Security numbers when making unemployment claims. The agency says applicants should only apply for benefits at www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov.  The news release says there has been ...

Des Moines Register: Iowa has paid $29 million to $30 million in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the head of th

Iowans on unemployment will lose federal pandemic-related benefits in less than three weeks.

How the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting every state

Federal investigators say organized criminal rings have targeted state workforce agencies since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

GRAYSON Prichard Elementary Students wore pink on Friday to celebrate the life of Vincent (Vinnie) Osborne-Brown. The fourth- and fifth-graders of Prichard stood in reverence alongside Vinnie’s family and friends in the school’s courtyard where a bench to honor Vinnie had been installed. The memorial is a gift from the Home Based Primary Care team from the Huntington Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center. Vinnie’s grandfather, John Brown, is a part of the team and credited co-wor...

Des Moines Register Iowas economy continued to sputter in April, as the state lost jobs for the second time in three months. Nonfarm employment dropped by 5,800 workers from March to April, inching Iowas unemployment rate up to 3.8% from 3.7% in March, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The state still has the 10th-lowest unemployment rate in the country. However, the latest figures show Iowas job growth has lagged the nations for six months. From March...