The factory in northwest Iowa’s Great Lakes region that produces the popular Indian and Victory lines of motorcycles is now making a new three-wheeled machine called the Slingshot. Chris Doucet, Slingshot’s commercial director at Polaris headquarters in Minneapolis, says the futuristic-looking roadster has two front wheels and one in the back, with an open two-seat cockpit, giving it a sleek appearance. (View the video at http://www.polaris.com/en-us/slingshot )

2015 Polaris Slingshot (Image from Polaris.com)

“You sit in the vehicle, not on the vehicle, compared to motorcycles,” Doucet says. “What most people tend to love about this vehicle is the side-by-side seating so you’re talking, you’re engaged with your partner all the way through the ride. It isn’t front and back like your standard motorcycle where you talk at various stops, you’re engaged with your partner the whole way through the ride.”

Production of the Slingshot is already underway at the 23-acre factory in Spirit Lake. Another Polaris plant is in nearby Milford and combined, they have more than one-thousand employees. Doucet says, “Over the last six months, the ramp-up has led to 300 incremental jobs, some of those directly related to Slingshot, some directly related to the supporting features that go to having us increase businesses down there, welding and painting and those types of things.” While the Polaris factory produces about 60 of the Indian and Victory motorcycles per day, Doucet wouldn’t elaborate on production numbers for the Slingshot.

“We do know how many we’re going to be making, that is proprietary information, but I will tell you we are all in on this investment,” Doucet says. “We’re very excited about it. Since the launch, since we’ve shown it to our dealers, the response has been overwhelming. Consumer demand, dealer response, can’t wait to get it, you’re not building enough of them.” Two models will be offered, ranging from around 20- to 24-thousand dollars. The vehicles should begin arriving in dealerships nationwide later this month.

(Radio Iowa)

A Red  Oak man was arrested early this (Monday) morning on drug charges. Authorities say 20-year old Henrry Abnau Monroy Fuentes was taken into custody at around 12:20-a.m. near the intersection of east Linden and north 4th Streets in Red Oak. Fuentes was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 cash bond.

TABOR, Iowa (AP) — The police chief in the small Iowa town of Tabor has agreed to take on another role by reopening the grocery store. The Council Bluffs Nonpareil reports Tabor residents have had to drive to larger towns for groceries since the Tabor Market and Deli closed.

Tabor Police Chief Mike Wake says he agreed to reopen the store after a group of local investors bought the store from Treynor State Bank. Wake is leasing the store and plans to work with his son, Steven, who lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

Wake says he has never worked in a grocery store, but he plans to hire people with experience in the store. Wake will serve as the store’s manager and the city’s police chief.

Iowa Democrats gathered Saturday night for a fundraiser in downtown Des Moines while at the same time Iowa Republicans gathered in a Des Moines suburb for Republican Governor Terry Branstad’s campaign fundraiser. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie — the big name get for Branstad’s “Birthday Bash” — used most of his 15-minute speech to blast President Obama.  “We’ve now had six years where the world has been adrift because of the lack and failure of American leadership,” Christie said.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar was the keynote speaker at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner. “Chris Christie is actually here to film a movie sequel: ‘The Closed Bridges of Madison County,'” Klobuchar said. Last fall aides to Christie ordered lanes on a heavily traveled bridge to be blocked, causing traffic snarls in a town where the mayor had not endorsed Christie’s bid for reelection.

Christie has said he had no knowledge or involvement in the bridge closure. On Sunday at noon, Iowa Democrats launched a tour designed to hold an event in each of Iowa’s 99 counties within 24 hours. The blitz will conclude with a rally in Davenport at 10 a.m. today (Monday) featuring Vice President Joe Biden. Also on Sunday Republican House Speaker John Boehner campaigned with David Young, the G-O-P candidate in Iowa’s third congressional district.

Boehner plans to campaign with Republican Rod Blum in the first district and Mariannette Miller-Meeks in the second district today (Monday). Senator Chuck Grassley will make eight campaign stops with G-O-P Senate candidate Joni Ernst today (Monday), plus Arizona Senator John McCain and Florida Senator Marco Rubio are due to campaign with Ernst this week as well.

On Wednesday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will headline two campaign rallies in eastern Iowa for Bruce Braley, the Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, then her husband will campaign here for Braley on Saturday.

(Radio Iowa)