(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Democratic Party leaders have unanimously approved a plan to hold Caucuses on the same night as Iowa Republicans, but have Iowa Democrats use a mail in card to express their presidential preference. The plan is being presented to the Democratic National Committee, which has already already voted to deny Iowa Democrats the first go at voting in the 2024 presidential campaign. Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart says the new schedule of early voting states is still in flux, however, and the mail-in plan offers new flexibility.

Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann says the mail-in idea is a charade and will do nothing to ensure both parties retain first-in-the-nation status for their Caucuses Governor Reynolds has signed a law that makes it illegal to use a mail-in system for the presidential delegate selection that starts with the Caucuses, but Iowa Democratic Party chair Hart says Democrats are united in conducting the most inclusive Caucuses in history with mail-in participation — no matter what.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Recorder Mary Ward Recorder has announced that she has implemented Cott Systems’ PropertyCheck in a renewed effort to combat property and mortgage fraud. This 24/7 service allows residents to sign up on the Recorder’s Office website: https://www.casscountyia.gov/county-departments/recorders-office/ to receive notifications when official documents are recorded on their property. Residents can activate alerts based on their name. There is no cost to participate.

PropertyCheck works seamlessly in the background of the Recorder’s Office records management software, automatically searching thousands of documents and sending a text or email notification only if a match is found. The County partners with Cott Systems to offer this no-cost solution, adding an additional layer of protection and allowing residents to feel safer in their homes.

Ward explains this is an added service we are excited to bring to the residents of Cass County. “We have had a number of people recently asking about this type of service. The link to sign up is listed below and can also be found on our website along with instructions for signing up. I would encourage you to sign up using multiple names. For example if you go by Mike A Smith, you would want to sign up the following multiple names: Mike A Smith, Michael A Smith, Mike Alan Smith, Michael Alan Smith and your spouses names also. You can choose to be alerted by email or text message.”

County residents can sign up for PropertyCheck alerts at: https://cotthosting.com/iacassExternal/

(Radio Iowa) – A presidential candidate who’s campaigning in Iowa today (Monday) is blasting the rules that could prevent him from being in the first televised debate for G-O-P candidates. Perry Johnson is a Michigan businessman who’s sending his book — Two Cents to Save America — to thousands of likely Iowa Caucus goers.

In 2022, Johnson launched a campaign for governor in Michigan, but Michigan election officials ruled over 94-hundred signatures on his nominating petitions were invalid and he did not have enough signatures left to get his name on the primary ballot. Courts in Michigan and a federal judge denied Johnson’s appeal of that decision. Johnson says the qualifying rules for the first debate among G-O-P presidential candidates in August show Washington hates him.

Johnson has never held elected office. He has written several books and earned his fortune after founding a company that certifies if businesses are meeting industrial quality standards. Johnson launched his presidential campaign this spring, after airing a campaign-style ad in Iowa during the Super Bowl.

Johnson is scheduled to host a lunch in Creston at noon and a happy hour in Atlantic at 4 p.m. today. He has stops in Council Bluffs, Denison and Harlan on Tuesday.

(Anita, Iowa) – Firefighters from Anita, Wiota and Adair responded Sunday, to what was initially described as a couple of hog buildings on fire, about three-miles east of Anita. Anita Assistant Fire Chief Jake Karns describes what they found upon arriving at the scene. 

The blaze occurred at 76748 Fairview Road at around 3:15-p.m.  Karns said the Wiota and Adair Fire Departments assisted with water tankers. Adair also provided an additional pumper truck.

No livestock were lost, and none of the firefighters were injured. Karns said there wasn’t much left of the buildings except for the tin. Authorities had said Sunday, the heat of the fire could be felt from the roadway, and firefighters had to contend with 90 degree weather in their turnout gear.

Crews were on the scene until around 5:30-p.m., Sunday. A cause of the blaze remains undetermined. You can view drone video of scene from the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, as shown below.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports two accidents occurred over the past three days. At around 3:20-p.m. Friday, a 2007 Honda Fit driven by 37-year-old Daniel Buck Busenbarrick, of Creston, was traveling on Highway 34 east, when the vehicle went off the road on a curve and onto the shoulder. Busenbarrick over-corrected, sending the vehicle across the highway and into the west ditch, where it rolled at least once before coming to rest on its wheels. Damage to the car was estimated at $1,500. Busenbarrick was transported to his residence by a Union County Sheriff’s Deputy. No citations were issued.

And, at around 5:50-p.m. Saturday, a 1989 Ford Ranger pickup driven by 75-year-old Dennis Eugene Loury, of Afton, was traveling in reverse out of a parking lot near Division and North Streets in Arispe. His vehicle crossed into northbound traffic and struck an unoccupied 2019 Dodge RAM pickup legally parked on the east side of Division Street. The parked pickup was registered to a woman from Mount Ayr. No injuries were reported. The sheriff’s report said Loury stated he had accelerated too rapidly and was unable to brake in-time.

The Ranger sustained $100 damage. The Dodge pickup sustained $2,500 damage. No citations were issued, but authorities note improper braking, and Loury’s “Inability to effectively operate a motor vehicle (possibly due to his age).”

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa native astronaut Peggy Whitson says she’s ready for her -next- space mission after returning last week from her record-setting fourth trip to the International Space Station. Whitson, who grew up in Beaconsfield, is the only astronaut who’s gone into orbit on an American space shuttle, a Russian Soyuz, and now a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. She says the G-forces from this latest launch were quite impressive. “It was about four-and-a-half Gs during the second stage, as we were accelerating,” Whitson says. “I always thought it was interesting, when you get to 200 kilometers, and then you change your attitude, and just increase the speed, getting up there really fast — 6,000 meters per second, which just is amazing.”

Six-thousand meters per second is over 13-thousand miles per hour. The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying Whitson and three crewmates splashed down off the Florida coast last week following a ten-day mission. While Whitson has spent well over 600 days aboard the space station, she says new equipment and a large crew made navigating inside the orbiting outpost more of a challenge. “You have to find where all the new cable traps are and everything,” Whitson says. “You have to learn some of those things and with that many people aboard, you couldn’t go as fast. Like, when there was only two or three people aboard, it was pretty easy because you could zip around the corners, there was very few odds that would bang into somebody.”

Peggy Whitson in space suit (Axiom photo)

Eleven astronauts and cosmonauts were aboard the station at one time during this Axiom 2 mission. Whitson, who is now a private astronaut, was asked whether she’s ready for her next launch. “Yep, I’m ready, let’s go!” Whitson says, “especially if I can have a crew that’s great as this one.” Private astronaut John Shoffner and two Saudi Arabian astronauts joined Whitson aboard Axiom 2. They conducted more than 20 experiments in space.

With her fourth mission completed, Whitson’s U.S. space endurance record stands at 675 days.