(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday morning, canvassed the votes from the Tuesday, June 7th Primary Election. And, while some of the vote numbers changed, the end result was the same. (The following, and all other Cass County results can be found here)

Here are the vote canvassed numbers (left) and the unofficial tallies (right) on election night:

Board of Supervisors District 3 – Republican

John P. Hartkopf           231             232

Wendy Richter              254             255            (WINNER)

Write-in 3 Undervotes 15

Board of Supervisors District 2 – Republican

Mark O’Brien                227             229

Write-In 8 Undervotes 41

County Attorney – Republican

Robert J. Engler           451              452

Jay W. Mez                  428              430

Vanessa E. Strazdas     621              625           (WINNER) – Incumbent

Write-In 2 Undervotes 100

County Recorder – Republican

Mary Ward               1,372             1,379

Write-In 8 Undervotes 222

County Treasurer

Tracey J. Marshall   1,188              1,193          (WINNER) – Incumbent

Ashley McDermott 33 N/A

Write-In 43 Undervotes 337

(Radio Iowa) – This is expected to be the hottest day of the year so far, with an Extreme Heat Warning posted for eastern Iowa, and Mother Nature should offer Iowans something of a post-heat treat tonight (Tuesday). Peter Geiger, editor of the Farmer’s Almanac, says June’s Strawberry Supermoon is set to appear in the night sky this evening.

“When it’s a supermoon, it’s maybe 13% bigger than a regular full moon,” Geiger says, “but what’s kind of interesting is that the full moons were named by Native American tribes way, way back maybe 300 years ago and it related to what was going on around them.” According to the Almanac, the name was given because June marks the beginning of summer in North America when the strawberries begin to bloom.

“Strawberry season tends to be very short and it tends to be during the month of June and early July,” Geiger says, “and so the Algonquin tribe is the one that named this particular moon the Strawberry Full Moon.” This will be the first of three “supermoons” to appear over the summer months.

(Thanks to the Minnesota News Network!)

(Radio Iowa/UPDATED) –  Governor Kim Reynolds is directing 100 million dollars in federal pandemic relief to school safety measures.  “Across the country, there’s a sense of
urgency just with the acts of violence that we see taking place every single day,” Reynolds says. The state is buying software to monitor school threats online and will provide an app, website and phone number that lets people anonymously report concerns. And 50-thousand dollars will be distributed for each school building in the state, to cover security measures. Nine people are being hired for a School Safety Bureau being established in the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

“Every family should be able to confidently send their children to school knowing that they will be safe,” Reynold says, “and as the governor of Iowa and a grandmother of school-aged children, I want to assure parents that your childrens’ safety at school is just as important to me.” Reynolds had asked legislators to create an Iowa School Safety Bureau a few years ago and she’s now using federal funds to set it up. Every public school district and private school in Iowa will be offered an emergency radio for every school building, to communicate directly with law enforcement if there’s a security threat. Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens says the goal is to identify concerning behaviors early.

“Unfortunately we live in a time when we can no longer simply assume that our sheltered havens of schools will remain safe,” Bayens says. “Rather, we must be intentional about providing concrete training, tools and assistance so that every school, regardless of its size, can provide the environment needed to feed these hungry minds.” Bayens says his agency will provide active shooter training to anyone who requests it. “The governor’s School Safety Bureau will facilitate training, free of charge, to law enforcement, first responder, schools, houses of worship and civilians,” Bayans says. And 50-thousand dollars will be distributed for each school building in the state, to cover security measures.

None of the 100 million dollars in spending announced today (Tuesday) will be directed to mental health programs. The governor says school safety, though, requires addressing the mental health needs of students and state spending on the mental health system will increase by nearly three-and-a- half million dollars over the next 12 months.  “The debate on guns will continue,” Reynolds said, “but until we consider the lethal weapon in these events is the person who picks up the gun and turns it against another, we risk overlooking other solutions that directly address the cause.” Reynolds cites a recent survey which found 24 percent of Iowa 11th graders had thought about killing themselves in the past year. University of Minnesota research indicates many teenage mass shooters had contemplated suicide and ultimately redirected their self-loathing into hatred of others.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday morning, heard a request from Dave Highfill, with the Atlantic Hawks Remote Control (R/C) Club, with regard to ARPA Funding.

(He explained they need the funds to purchase a mower to mow about three-acres south of Atlantic, where they meet weekly and also teach people how to fly r/c aircraft.)

Dave Highfill (2nd row of pews& on the left) makes ARPA request for the Atlantic Hawks R/C Club

It was thought the funds could come from the General Fund for “Outdoor recreation,” but the Board was of the consensus that the request did not fall under the AARP criteria Supervisor Steve Green…

Supervisor Mark O’Brien also pointed out the current round of ARPA Funds the County received, are already spoken for.

The request was tabled for the time being. In other news, the Supervisors approved by a vote of 3-to 2, a contract for the upcoming Fiscal Year, with Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoege. The vote included a $1,000 increase in the County’s share, for a total of $7,000. The position is a 28E between four organizations; Cass County, ISU Extension, Cass Health and the YMCA. This will be the third year for the Wellness Coordinator’s position.

The Board also passed a Resolution allowing $29,500 in ARPA funds to be used for the Cass County Drone Team, for the purposes previously mentioned. And, they passed a Resolution distributing ARPA funds to the Cass County Fire Departments, with the exception of Anita, which has already received a share of funds. The remaining Fire Departments in the County will receive $25,000 per year for the next three-years, effective July 1st, as requested by the respective Fire Chiefs.

They passed a Resolution setting a Standard Agreement for the disbursement of ARPA Funds, to ensure uniformity and fulfillment of requests follows government rules, especially with regard to fire departments and other such entities. The Supervisors approved continuing with the Zoom meetings, and included the possibility of a phone attendance system like Adair County has. Regardless, the Board agreed they want a way to identify persons who use the dial-in and Zoom system, instead of just being identified as a “guest.”

The Board officially approved the hiring of two people for the Treasurer’s Office, but denied a request to suspend the abatement of taxes (amounting to $495) through a petition Treasurer Tracey J. Marshall had received. Their contention was the petition should have come directly to the Board first, according to Iowa Code. The Board had discussed having General Relief Coordinator Deb Schuler provide the necessary funds to get the petitioner caught-up, but she informed them the law does not allow her to use General Relief funds for the purposes of taxes and the like.