MONDAY, NOV. 4, 2019  |  IN THIS ISSUE 
 
 
Members of Local 110 of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, representing workers at Cedar Rapids' General Mills plant, expect to strike as early as this week after contract negotiations ended Friday, reports KCRG. Workers are seeking pay increases, and to keep health care and retirement benefits and certain portions of overtime and premium pay. The bargaining unit of about 520 workers voted to join the union in January, and took another vote in October clearing the way for a strike, reports the Press-Citizen.  
Forevergreen interchange, road open in NL 
 
Traffic began flowing freely on all ramps of the new I-380 Forevergreen Road interchange Friday, and  Forevergreen itself is now open all the way to Highway 965, reports the Gazette. The completion of the interchange will provide a detour route for traffic during upcoming phases of I-80/380 interchange construction a couple of miles south, reports CBS2/ FOX 28.  
 
Other big changes are in the works going north, as well. The DOT is hosting a public information meeting Wednesday to discuss proposed improvements, including widening I-380 to six lanes, from Forevergreen Road to Highway 30 in Cedar Rapids.  
 
President Donald Trump on Friday named Iowa as a possible site for a mid-November signing of a partial trade agreement with China's president, Xi Jinping, reports the Des Moines Register. A letter from Sen. Chuck Grassley supporting the Iowa signing noted the state's farmers have struggled during the trade war and "deserve recognition for their sacrifice." The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Friday that U.S. and China negotiators had reached "consensus on principles."

The countries have been racing to finalize a phase one agreement in hopes of averting tariffs on Chinese imports such as laptops, toys and electronics, set to kick in Dec. 15. The process has been delayed by wrangling over a timetable of Chinese purchases of U.S. farm products, reports Reuters. 

McDonald's has fired CEO Steve Easterbrook because of his consensual relationship with an employee, adding one more challenge for the fast food giant as it races to keep up with its competitors. Mr. Easterbrook resigned from the company's board as well. He wrote in an email to employees on Sunday that he had violated company policy on personal conduct, terming his action "a mistake," the Wall Street Journal reports. Moving quickly to replace Mr. Easterbrook, the board named U.S. operations head Chris Kempczinski as president and CEO, reports Fox Business. Mr. Kempczinski, who has previous experience at PepsiCo, Kraft and Procter & Gamble, has been with McDonald's since 2015.

Krispy Kreme has squelched an enterprising Minnesota college student who had been driving to Iowa every weekend to buy hundreds of the company's doughnuts to sell to customers in the Twin Cities, reports the Chicago Tribune. Less than a week after the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on Jayson Gonzalez' doughnut runs to Clive, he received a phone call from Krispy Kreme's Nebraska office telling him to stop. Mr. Gonzalez, aka "The Donut Guy," would have made his 20th run to Iowa on Saturday for treats he resold for as much as $20 per dozen in a state that's been a Krispy Kreme desert for the past 11 years, reports KOMO News. Mr. Gonzalez was philosophical as he broke the news to his Facebook followers: "Life happens, and it could be a sign that something else is meant to be," he wrote.
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Waze users are reporting heavy traffic on southbound I-380 past Swisher and westbound I-80 headed into Iowa City, drive with care. See the DOT's interactive road conditions map here. 
 
Links as of 7 a.m.