Officials with Rural Community Solutions in Atlantic report a minimal-contact, drive-through voter registration event will be held in Atlantic, from 9-a.m. until Noon one week from this Saturday, in the parking lot of Iowa Western Community College. If you are currently not registered to vote, have never registered to vote, and/or will be 18 years of age on or before Election Day, Nov. 3rd, stop by the Voter registration drive on September 19th.

The completely non-partisan activity is coordinated by four Atlantic women: Kimberlee Spillers, Mary Loe, Jan Lunde, and Ellen Sokolowski.  The group says “We had not heard of anyone holding this type of event, so we decided to make it happen. We are grateful to Iowa Western Community College for giving us permission to use the parking lot. It’s location, visibility, easy access, and ability to be a one-way drive-thru, makes it the perfect place. Plus, being across the street from the very busy ‘Udderly Delicious’ ice cream stand should get some attention!”

Here are event details:
❖ “Register to Vote” signs will be placed on 7th and Walnut Streets to call attention to passing
traffic.
❖ Applicants are asked to drive into the northeast entrance to IWCC off Walnut Street.
❖ You will need your driver’s license or voter PIN number to complete the form.
❖ Masked volunteers will come to your car window and hand you a clipboard with a voter
registration form. You will be given a pen to use, or may use one of your own.
❖ If desired, an applicant may also complete an absentee ballot request form.
❖ Once completed, the registrant will return the form/s, clipboard, and pen to the volunteer.
❖ The applicant drives out through the southeast or south exits.
❖ The clipboards and pens will be wiped after each use and the volunteer will sanitize their hands
before helping the next applicant.

The group says with “National Voter Registration Day September 22nd, [the] event is perfectly placed. We have checked with the Cass County Auditor’s Office to ensure all is being done correctly. All completed forms will be turned into the auditor’s office immediately. We are very excited for this opportunity to help people register to cast their ballot for the candidates of their choosing. Voting is an honor for everyone in our country and we are proud to enable new applicants to take their place as fully registered voters.”

Please note: you will not be able to vote at this event; it is only to register people to vote. Voting ballots will be mailed from the Cass County Auditor’s office October 5th to people who have requested absentee ballots. Voters can stop in the auditor’s office to vote in person, beginning October 5th. For questions about the event, please email Kimberlee Spillers at  kim@ghorizons.com. For general voter registration questions, if you are unable to register September 19, or live outside Atlantic and want to register, please call the Cass County Auditor’s office at 712-243-4570. If you’d like to complete the form/s yourself, go to this link for the Iowa Secretary of State, https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterinformation/voterregistration.html.

When completed, drop off or mail to Cass County Auditor, 5 West 7th Street, Atlantic, Iowa 50022.

(Radio Iowa) – The state is looking for another company to produce medical marijuana products. The manager of the program, Owen Parker, says state law allows for two licenses to produce medical marijuana products. “Iowa Relief was our second manufacturer — but they actually relinquished their license on June 2nd of this year and decided not to renew it for this next licensing period,” Parker says. MedPharm was the first company to acquire a license to manufacture, and Parker says they will continue to supply dispensaries. “Medpharm is currently a vertically integrated manufacturer — meaning they have a manufacturing facility and two dispensaries. And we have had no issues with maintaining supply to patients,” he says.

He says they hope to be able to select a second company in November. He says applicants need to submit a letter of intent to apply by October 9th and then have until October 23rd to work on their applications and submit a fee. Parker says it will take around one month to review applications and they hope to award the license on November 20th. The timeline would have the new medical marijuana business up and running by late next year. “We are hoping that that manufacturer would be up and running by July 21st of 2021,” according to Parker.

Parker is not sure what type of response they may get. He says the first request saw MedPharm as the only applicant and the second round they had six applicants. The medical cannabis program began selling products in Iowa on December 1st of 2018.

(Radio Iowa) – At least 15 of the Pizza Hut restaurants in Iowa have been closed, following the announcement in July that up to 300 locations around the country would be closing. The company that owns 20 percent of Pizza Hut franchises in the United States filed for bankruptcy this summer and announced it planned to sell all its Pizza Hut restaurants. That prompted the company that owns the Pizza Hut brand to strike a restructuring deal.

The majority of the Pizza Hut closures around the country are dine-in restaurants. The company has been emphasizing its carry-out and delivery business in recent years, and the pandemic accelerated that shift. Fifteen Iowa Pizza Hut restaurants linked on the company’s website carry the message that the location “has been permanently closed.”

One of two Pizza Huts in Dubuque has been closed. According to the website, the other Iowa Pizza Huts to close are in Boone, Dyersville, Eldridge, Grundy Center, Independence, Iowa Falls, Le Claire, Manchester, Maquoketa, Newton, Oelwein, Tipton, Urbandale and Vinton.

Stores in Atlantic, Carroll, Council Bluffs, Denison, Glenwood and Harlan remain open. For a list of stores go to https://locations.pizzahut.com/ia and click on the location to check the status.

Voters in the IKM-Manning School District went to the polls Tuesday and failed to approve a $19.2 million bond referendum that would have paid for an addition and upgrade, to create a K-12 center in Manning. Total votes from the combined counties amounted to 1,049-yes. There were 859 No votes (55% in favor to 45% opposed). The bond measure required 60% approval plus 1, in order to pass.

Shelby County Auditor/Elections Commissioner Mark Maxwell reports the voters in Shelby & Audubon Counties defeated the measure by a vote of 367 – No to 114- Yes. According to the latest information, unofficial results from Carroll County show voters approved the measure by a vote of 785-Yes to 71-No. The unofficial results from Crawford County show the measure failed by a vote 0f 421-No to 150-Yes.