The Cass County Auditor’s Office has been bombarded with calls pertaining to absentee ballot requests forms. In an attempt to answer those questions through social and other media, the Auditor’s Office has provided a list of frequent Questions and Answers (Q&A), to help lessen the call volume for those particular questions:

1. Q: I have already filled out a Absentee Ballot Request Form, do I need to fill another one out, I keep getting them in the mail?
A: NO, only one Absentee Ballot Request form is necessary and only one will be accepted (you don’t get additional ballots for filling out another form). If you are afraid we didn’t receive your request please go to the Secretary of State’s website and track your request form.
2. Q: How many of these forms will you be sending me?
A: Our office does not send those forms out, it is likely that you
will receive several.
3. Q: Are all of these forms good? Could they be fraudulent?
A: Yes, the forms you are receiving from the different candidates and parties are all acceptable.
4. Q: May I fold the form and put it in an envelope or tape it?
A: Yes you may fold it and you may tape but please use the tape sparingly. Sometimes they are taped together too much and they get torn trying to open them. ONE piece of tape is fine.
5. Q: I don’t have my PIN number, how can I get it?
A: If you have a Driver’s License or State of Iowa issued ID card that is the number you need. The PIN number is for those that do not have a drivers license. If you need your PIN number you will need to call our office and answer some questions and then we can give you that number.
6. Q: Can we drop election materials in the box outside the courthouse?
A: You should mail or hand deliver your election materials to the Auditor’s office.
7. Q: When will we receive our ballots?
A: All ballots will be mailed out October 5, 2020
8. Q: Can we vote in the Auditor’s Office?
A: Yes, the first day to vote in our office is October 5, 2020; last
day to vote is November 2, 2020
9. Q: Do I have to declare a party for this election?
A: No
10. Q: Do I need a voter registration card to vote?
A: Your Driver’s License or State of Iowa ID card is what you will use to vote. If you do not have one of these you will need your PIN card which is issued from our office.                                  11. Q: If I receive an Absentee ballot, but do not fill it out, how do I vote on Election day? Do I bring my ballot along? Or can I deliver it to the Auditor’s office?                                  A: Yes please copy it!! We can’t keep up with the phone calls. If you request an absentee ballot but decide you want to vote on election day you need to take that ballot with you to the polling place and surrender it. After you surrender it they will give you a new ballot to vote at the polls. This can only be done at the polls on Election Day, no one can vote in our office on Election Day.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Cedar Falls has approved a mask mandate, joining with other Iowa cities that have taken similar moves as the state continues to see high numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases. Cedar Falls on Tuesday joined Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City, Mount Vernon, Muscatine and Waterloo in enacting mask requirements. Enforcement of the rules vary but are primarily focused on education, with police in some communities instructed to hand out masks to those not wearing them. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has declined to approve a statewide mask order because she said it would be impossible to enforce. Reynolds has told local jurisdictions that because she hasn’t issued an order, they don’t have the authority to enforce their mask mandates.

(Radio Iowa) – A report by the Iowa Waste Reduction Center finds rural K-12 Iowa schools waste tens of thousands of tons of food and beverages every day. Joe Bolick (BO-lick), director of the center based at the University of Northern Iowa, says their study finds the average student wastes about one-third of a pound of food daily at breakfast and lunch. That works out to about 30-million pounds of waste every year statewide. “We got to those numbers by doing complete waste audits of cafeteria waste,” Bolick says. “We would have the students sort through their organic waste, their recyclables, their actual trash and any liquid waste and then we’d weigh all of those individually and then come out with those.”

The study was based on more than 40 waste audits at rural schools across Iowa during the 2018-19 school year. “We’re looking at about 150,000 pounds of food a day that ends up going to the landfill, estimated on that 0.3 pounds of food per student and the number of students in Iowa,” Bolick says. “That equals millions of pounds a year of food waste that ends up in the landfill that could be diverted other ways.”

The report is being released now, at the start of a new school year, to get everyone to recognize the gigantic amounts of food being chucked in the trash by students daily — and to start enacting change. Coronavirus shook up all factors for the past school year and Bolick predicts there may be shifts in the months ahead. “You’re going to see a lot more prepackaged foods this year with the pandemic,” Bolick says. “When you have prepackaged foods that are uneaten, there’s donation opportunities there that might not otherwise be there. If the package hasn’t been opened, instead of throwing it in the garbage, there’s plenty of food insecure people all across the state that could benefit from that.”

The Iowa Waste Reduction Center is a non-profit organization, part of UNI’s Business and Community Services. See the full report here: https://iwrc.uni.edu/food-waste

Officials with the Atlantic Police Department report six arrests took place from Sept. 1st through the 7th. On Monday (Sept. 7), 27-year old Dylan Russell, of Atlantic, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/2nd offense, Possession of Marijuana/2nd offense, Violation of a No Contact Order, and on a Cass County warrant for Failure to Appear [in court].

On Sunday, 49-year old Christopher Provancha, of Hancock, was arrested for a Controlled Substance Violation. Last Friday, 34-year old Jessica Webb, of Humboldt, was arrested in Atlantic for Theft in the 1st Degree/vehicle-related, and on a Dickinson County warrant for Failure to Appear on a charge of Theft in the 2nd Degree.

On Sept. 3rd, 31-year old Justin Patton, of Atlantic, was arrested on Cass County warrants for Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd or subsequent offense, Possession of Marijuana/3rd offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. And, there were two arrests on Sept. 1st, in Atlantic: 21-year old Carl Soglin, of Atlantic, was arrested on several warrants out of Kentucky. 36-year old Adam Morris, of Atlantic, was arrested for Interference with Official Acts.

All subjects were booked-into the Cass County Jail. As of the latest report: Soglin, Webb and Russell remain held in the jail.

A Prayer Vigil will be held this (Wednesday) evening in Grant City, MO., for a woman whose abandoned vehicle was found in Ringgold County, Iowa. Melissa Chapman. from Grant City, was last contacted on Sunday, August 23rd. Her vehicle was found in Mount Ayr, with her cell phone found inside the vehicle. Chapman had been set to testify against a man who allegedly beat and threatened to kill her. The Creston (Iowa) Police Department has said Chapman was a long-term Creston resident and has contacts in the area.

She was seen in Mount Ayr, Iowa August 22nd with an unknown man, in a dark colored minivan. A warrant was issued for the man she is to testify against. Authorities say has been captured and (at last reported) remained in jail. He claims to not know where Melissa is. Chapman is described as being 5’3″ with brown hair and brown eyes.

The vigil for her takes place at 7-p.m. on the square, in Grant City. Those with information regarding her disappearance and/or location, are urged to contact the Worth County Sheriff’s Office at 660-564-2222.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A 39-year-old Davenport man charged in the strangulation and beating death of his wife has agreed to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Casey Klemme had been charged with second-degree murder in the July 26, 2019, death of his wife, 39-year-old Tiffany Klemme. An autopsy showed she died after internal injuries to her neck and blows to her head.

On Friday, Casey Klemme accepted a deal in which he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, domestic abuse and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Under the agreement, he will serve 20 years in prison.

In an update to our previous reports, the Atlantic Police Department today (Wednesday), says four persons suffered non-life threatening injuries during a collision between two pickups at 5th and Olive Streets, Tuesday. The accident happened at around 3:52-p.m.  Authorities say a pickup driven by Nicholas Hensley, of Cumberland, was northbound on Olive, and a Chevy S-10 pickup driven by Masen Jordan, of Atlantic, was eastbound on 5th at the stop sign.

Jordan proceeded into the intersection and struck Hensley’s vehicle. Jordan and two teenage passengers in his vehicle were transported to CCMH for treatment of their injuries. Hensley complained of pain, but refused transport to the hospital. Police cited Jordan for failure to Yield. Damage from the collision amounted to about $12,500.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on arrests and incidents dating back to Aug. 21st:

• At around 2:30-a.m. today (Sept. 9th), 22-year old Edward Bourg was arrested for OWI/1st offense, following a report of a vehicle possible stuck in a field in the 15,000 block of Wabash Avenue, in Council Bluffs.
• 27-year old Kellon Joseph Ausdemore was arrested for OWI/1st offense at around 12:54-a.m. Monday, following a traffic stop near Neola.
• Late Sunday night, 37-year old Nicholas James Hook was arrested for OWI/1st offense, after a truck was found in a ditch near 21444 Old Lincoln Highway, in Council Bluffs.
• Sunday evening, 41-year old Michael Aaron Drefs was arrested for OWI/1st offense, following a traffic stop near Underwood.
• Late Saturday night, 24-year old Marques D’Angelo Dixon was arrested for Theft in the 5th Degree, following a traffic stop for speeding on I-29 near Council Bluffs. The Theft charge is with regard to motor vehicle parts or accessories found during the investigation.
• A little after midnight on Sept. 4th, 28-year old Alysha A. Padworny was arrested following a traffic stop in Council Bluffs, on a vehicle with a defective headlight. Padworny was taken into custody for Harassment in the 3rd Degree.
• On Sept. 3rd: 38-year old Amberleah Jean Mendoza was arrested for Driving While Barred/Habitual Offender, following a traffic stop in Council Bluffs; 37-year old Mindy Michelle Watts was arrested at the Pott. County Jail, on an active warrant for Violation of Probation; 47-year old Chad Anthony Martens, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Sept. 3rd at the Pott. County Jail, on a warrant for Eluding a Police Officer. Martens remains in the jail on $25,000 bond associated with the warrant, and other, previous charges; 29-year old Michael Scott Caruso was arrested Sept. 3rd, for OWI/1st offense, following an accident investigation with property damage, near Treynor.
• On Sept. 2nd, 30-year old Cameron Michael Manteufel was arrested in Council Bluffs, for OWI/1st offense.
• On Sept. 1st: a 16-year old male was arrested for Burglary in the 1st Degree w/bodily injury; 53-year old Richard Avon Reams, of Council Bluffs, was served with a warrant at the Pott. County Jail, for Violation of Probation. He remains held without bond in the jail; 24-year old Eric David Rock, of Minden, was arrested in Oakland, for Burglary in the 3rd Degree and Theft in the 3rd Degree, in connection with a theft report taken from the Oakland Country Club. Several stolen golf-related items were located at a nearby residence; Also arrested Sept. 1st, was 29-year old Zachary Daniel Harris. He was served at the Pott. County Jail with two warrants (out of Nebraska & Texas) for being a Fugitive from Justice..
• And, on Aug. 31st, 18-year old James Kenneth Johnson was arrested on a warrant for Burglary in the 1st Degree/with bodily injury. Johnson turned himself-in to authorities and was booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail.