Foreclosures fell by 7 percent nationwide in November according to mortgage monitor RealtyTrac, which also cautioned that the numbers might be a “lull before another foreclosure storm.” Iowa ranked 38th among the states, with 522 properties in default on loans, target of a foreclosure action or in the possession of banks. That number is up 4.4 percent from October but down 30.2 percent from November 2007. California, Florida and Michigan had the highest foreclosure totals.

Development of a recreation trail from Ankeny to Woodward can proceed after more than 700 people donated in excess of $550,000, the amount needed to trigger a $1.75 million Vision Iowa grant, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation said in a news release. Another $400,000 is needed to complete a half-mile long, 13-story bridge over the Des Moines River valley between Woodward and Madrid. The bridge will be the fifth-longest pedestrian bridge in the world. Fund-raising partners on the project are the cities of Ankeny, Sheldahl, Slater, Madrid and Woodward, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and Boone, Dallas, Polk and Story counties.

A residential building on the Orchard Place campus will be renamed Shiffler House in honor of the family who founded the organization in 1886. The dedication ceremony at 4:30 p.m. today concludes a fund-raising campaign and major renovations to the facility, which provides shelter to 40 children with mental illness. Bryan Shiffler, a Des Moines architect, currently serves on the Orchard Place board; his great-grandmother founded the organization. For more information, contact Nancy Bobo at 287-9610 or nbobo@orchardplace.org.

United Way of Central Iowa’s 2008 campaign surpassed $25 million, raising $25,012,240, an $8,000 increase over 2007 and a record for United Way campaigns in the community.

The Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines has awarded $67,500 in grants to local nonprofit organizations. Recipients are Children & Families of Iowa, $11,500; Family Directions of Iowa, $7,000; Drake University’s Institute for Character Development, $10,000; Iowa Legal Aid, $11,500; Polk County Drug Court Foundation, $2,500; World of Difference, $10,000; and Youth Emergency Services & Shelter, $15,000.

Gannett Co. Inc. expects full-year revenue to be down 8 percent from 2007, and says revenues so far this quarter are down 14 percent from year-ago results, company executives said at a conference Tuesday, the Washington Business Journal reported. Gannett, which publishes The Des Moines Register, said it plans more job cuts in 2009. The Register announced 41 layoffs last week. Revenue will fall to $6.8 billion, down from $7.4 billion last year. Commenting on job cuts, Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore said the company expects its newspaper work force to be down “by the low teens” in 2009, with job cuts in the “mid single digits” at USA Today and layoffs at its broadcast division in the “mid to high single digits.” Those figures refer to percentages, meaning divisional job cuts will range from 5 percent to as much as 15 percent from 2008 levels.

J.E. Dunn Midwest laid off 30 full-time employees in November, about 4 percent of its work force, the Kansas City Star reported. J.E. Dunn Midwest, one of six operations nationwide that make up J.E. Dunn Construction Group, continues to employ 500 to 550 office staff and 800 workers in the field. The division has offices in Des Moines and Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. None of the layoffs were at the Des Moines office, a spokesman told the Business Record.

A North Carolina judge has cleared the way for Wachovia Corp. shareholders to proceed with a vote Dec. 23 on a merger agreement with Wells Fargo & Co. A lawsuit sought to prevent Wells Fargo from voting its shares of Wachovia preferred stock that were obtained in a share exchange agreement and gave Wells Fargo 39.8 percent of the voting power in Wachovia.

Correction: The Iowa Department of Economic Development awarded $40,000 to Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates. The name of the program was incorrectly identified in the Dec. 5 Business Record Daily.