(Radio Iowa) – Election Day is now four weeks away, and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says efforts to recruit more poll workers for elections during the pandemic are appearing to pay off. “We’ve had now a couple of counties that have said, ‘I got enough’, you don’t need to send me anymore,” he says. Pate says the idea was to protect some of the older workers and have more people available to help out. He says some counties still face some issues — like having a balance of Democrat and Republican workers. “You get into a county that’s a diehard Republican or diehard Democrat county, now you’ve got to get the other party because we want equal representation. So the auditors really have to hustle hard to make sure that they get that balance, “Pate says.

Pate spoke during a voting machine test with Polk County Elections Director John Chiodo. Polk County has the most residents and Chiodo says the extra poll worker recruiting has helped. “That was one of the nerve-wracking things, especially during COVID is finding people to work — and even now it’s a struggle. I mean, as you all know, businesses are having trouble finding people,” he says. Pate says the general elections coming up are big — but there are other elections throughout the year where they need workers. “You can’t expect the same poll workers to come to every one of these for you. We tried to provide consistency and all the training. So there’s a lot of templates we put out from our office. And what I how I look at it is our Office plays the role of being a coach. The players are right,” according to Pate. Pate says you can help by thinking ahead before election day.

“I encourage you to have a plan. It’s not a complicated process, but have a plan for voting. And it’s as basic as is my voter registration up to date. Maybe I haven’t registered yet. Do I know where my voting precinct is? Do I know what the polling hours are? Am I gonna vote absentee? So there’s some deadlines for that,” Pate says. “I mean, I love our postal folks — but we don’t have overnight delivery. So you don’t want to be pushing your luck and getting those ballots in and not getting counted.” He says if the auditor doesn’t have your ballot on election day it won’t be counted.

You can track your absentee ballot on the Secretary of State’s website.

(Radio Iowa) – Nearly 100 employees are being laid off from a Waterloo factory that makes kitchen and bathroom cabinets. According to K-W-W-L, employees of Omega Cabinets in Waterloo have been notified the factory’s parent company is rebalancing operations and that means layoffs. MasterBrand Cabinets is offering its employees in Waterloo extra money if they agree to transfer to work in another company factory.

MasterBrand’s headquarters is in Indiana. The company makes several different brands of cabinets and employs 14-thousand people at its manufacturing plants and service centers across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

(Radio Iowa) -Comments from key Iowa Republicans make it clear a prominent G-O-P critic of former President Donald Trump faces a tough campaign in Iowa’s 2024 Caucuses if she runs for president. Harriet Hageman, the Republican who defeated Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney in an August Primary, was the keynote speaker at a Polk County G-O-P fundraiser. Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann, the evening’s emcee, called Cheney a poor loser.

“What happened in Wyoming was pure grassroots…and it was versus the D.C. swamp…The grassroots absolutely kicked it out of the ballpark,” Kaufmann said, to cheers. “…It’s really kind of sad to see someone that is part of a team and forgets they’re part of that team if things don’t go their way.” Kaufmann ridiculed those who’ve praised Cheney for her role on the committee investigating Trump’s actions as the U.S. Capitol was being attacked — as well as those who lamented her primary loss.

“And when I heard all of the comments afterwards and the sadness and the wondering and the comparison to Abraham Lincoln — really? Really? We’re not going there, are we?” Kaufmann asked the crowd rhetorically. Former Governor Terry Branstad, appointed by Trump to be U.S. Ambassador to China, says being in Trump’s corner has been a winning formula for Iowa Republicans.

“You know, we went through that in 2016. (In) a lot of other states, Republicans got divided. Not here! Not here,” Branstad said. “We all pulled together. We carried the state for Trump and we picked up a bunch of seats and, you know, he’s continued to do that.” State Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale was the first Iowa elected official to endorse Trump in 2015 and he praised Hageman for defeating Cheney.

“We were watching that night and we are so proud of you,” Zaun said. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for winning that election.” Republicans make up a sizable majority of voters in Wyoming and Hageman is virtually assured of winning Wyoming’s only seat in the U.S. House next month. “We have to be sending people to Washington, D.C. who are not going to be cowed by the people who have been there forever who say: ‘No, this is the way we do it,'” Hageman said.

Hageman will campaign with Iowa Republicans today (Tuesday) in Ottumwa, Cedar Rapids and Bettendorf.

(Granger, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol is investigating a deadly crash that happened on Monday morning in Granger. The Patrol reports a 2010 International semi tractor-trailer and a 1991 Oldsmobile car collided at around 9:10 a.m. on Highway 17 at the intersection with Broadway Street.

The accident happened as the northbound semi was turning west onto Broadway street and failed to yield to the car, which was traveling south on Highway 17. The car crashed into the right side of the semi. Authorities say a passenger in the car, 75-year-old Larry Don Adams, of Boone, Iowa, died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt.

The driver of the car, 43-year-old Adam William Choruzek, and another passenger, 48-year-old Kathy Lynn O’Brien, both of Grand Junction, were injured and flown to hospitals in Des Moines. Only the driver was wearing a seat belt. The driver of the semi, 40-year-old Matthew Edward Olszewski, of Cookeville, TN, was not hurt.