The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is planning construction updates at Saylorville Lake. It has received nearly 70 percent of the $3.672 million needed to renovate the Neal Smith Trail. It also has received funding to repair 2008 flood damage and will focus on rebuilding Northwest 78th Avenue and the emergency spillway, rebuilding the marina boat ramp and upgrading the pumping capacity at the Barrier Dam pump station. For updates on projects, go to www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/saylorville. The Corps of Engineers also announced that due to a decline in its operations and maintenance budget, it will make several changes this summer, including shortening the recreation season and reducing some service contracts.

The Iowa Business Council has elected its leadership for 2009. Melvin R. Haught, president and CEO of Pella Corp., will serve as chair; Thomas L. Aller, president of Alliant Energy Corp.-Interstate Power & Light Co., is vice chair; and John K. Sorensen, president of the Iowa Bankers Association, remains as treasurer. Iowa Business Council members include the top executives of 19 of Iowa’s largest employers, the three state university presidents, and the head of Iowa’s largest banking association.

“Ethics in a Down Economy” is the subject of a panel discussion at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, at Drake University. The university’s chapter of Students in Free Enterprise is sponsoring the event, which is free and open to the public, at the Olmsted Center’s Parents Hall, 2875 University Ave. Panelists are Mike McCoy, executive vice president and head of consumer credit cards, Wells Fargo & Co.; Matt Whitaker, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa; Phil Hodgin, principal and CEO, RDG Planning & Design; and Joel Worsfold, financial consultant, Wells Fargo Investments LLC. A reception precedes the event at 6 p.m. in the Parents Hall foyer. For more information, call 271-3818 or e-mail deb.bishop@drake.edu.

Dr. Dale Andres has been appointed senior vice president of medical affairs at Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines, a position he has held on an interim basis since April. Andres joined the hospital in 2005 after serving for 16 years as chief of pathology at Mercy Medical Center – North Iowa in Mason City.

Dubuque-based Flexsteel Industries Inc. reported a 20 percent drop in net sales and a 24-cent-per-share decline in net income for the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with the same period a year earlier. Net income for the quarter was $300,000 or 4 cents per share, compared with $1.9 million or 28 cents per share a year ago. Flexsteel recorded pre-tax charges of approximately $500,000, or 5 cents per share after tax, related to facility consolidation. Excluding these charges, net income for the current quarter was $600,000 or 9 cents per share.