WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley will hold town meetings in Union County on August 14 and Page County on August 15 as a part of his annual 99 county meetings.

Grassley is in his 39th year of holding meetings in every one of Iowa’s 99 counties. Grassley has held at least one meeting in every county, every year since he was first elected to serve in the U.S. Senate. He takes and answers questions on any subject raised.

These town meetings are open to the public:

• Wednesday, August 14, 2019 – Union County Town Meeting, 3 p.m. – 4 p.m., Afton Community Center, 240 N. Douglas St., Afton
• Thursday, August 15, 2019 – Page County Town Meeting, 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m., Page County Courthouse, 112 E. Main St., Clarinda

The Harlan Police Department reports seven arrests. The following persons were arrested on Monday, August 5th:

• 32-year old Richard Lewis Marshall, of Persia, was arrested following a search warrant.  Marshall was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with invasion of privacy and obstructing prosecution.
• 53-year old Michael Mario Morelli, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for a possible domestic situation.  Morelli was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with domestic abuse assault, assault on a peace officer and interference with official acts.
• 30-year old Jonathan Wayne Sparks, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for an assault.  Sparks was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with assault causing serious injury.

Arrested Saturday, August 3rd was:

• 37-year old Kristina Marie Namanny, of Harlan, for violation of a no contact order.  Namanny was transported to the Shelby County Jail.
• 44-year old Jason Michael Lassen, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for a disturbance.  Lassen was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with public intoxication.

On August 2nd, Harlan Police arrested 47-year old Jamie Dean Anderson, of Harlan, on an active Jasper County warrant.  Anderson was transported to the Shelby County Jail. And, on July 30th, 29-year old Jacob Brady Scheffler, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant.  He was transported to the Shelby County Jail.

WASHINGTON (AP) — At least six Democratic presidential candidates are scheduled to attend a forum in Iowa on Saturday organized by gun control advocates in the wake of two mass shootings that killed 31 people in Texas and Ohio. The forum, sponsored by the groups Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, will be held in Des Moines while many Democratic White House hopefuls are in Iowa to campaign. Already scheduled to attend are Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar, as well as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, former Housing Secretary Julian Castro and Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

Everytown’s president, John Feinblatt, says, “There has never been a more urgent time for 2020 candidates to tell Americans exactly how they will address gun violence.”

The Atlantic Police Department reports four arrests dating back to July 30th. Yesterday (Monday), 25-year old Jessica Mack, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Failure to Appear in court. And, 31-year old Kayla Milam, of Atlantic, was arrested Monday for Theft in the 5th Degree (Shoplifting). Milam was cited and then released at the scene.

On Sunday, 46-year old Sara Korf, of Yuma, Colorado, was arrested for Public Intoxication and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. And, on July 30th, 38-year old David Thomas, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Failure to Appear on a Harassment in the 2nd Degree, charge.

With the exception of Kayla Milam, each of the other subjects were booked into the Cass County Jail.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Tuesday), approved one of two matters to come before them. The Board approved a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) agreement with Schneider Geospatial, for additional, as needed services. The company was already under contract for other GIS services. The Board spent a considerable amount of time discussing proposals from Schneider and Midland GIS Services, before ultimately relying on the wishes of those in the courthouse, who use those services the most, including the County Assessor and Treasurer.

Cass County Board of Supervisors mtg 8-6-19

The Board tabled action on a request for funding, with regard to a road project at Cold Springs State Park, near Lewis. Conservation Director Micah Lee and the Conservation Board requested the 30-year old road inside the park to be asphalted with a two-inch deep overlay, as a tag-on to work planned for the Lewis Road, that Henningsen Construction will be working on. Micah Lee said the project was estimated to cost $109,000. He said after speaking with Cass County Engineer Charles Bechtold, the formal bid process was not needed, but they would get a couple of more quotes.

He said a pre-construction meeting would likely take place by the 14th and the final bid quotes should be in by the 16th. Those numbers would be available for the Board’s meeting on August 20th. Board member John Hartkopf questioned the legality of how bids are obtained, because it may not be classified as “Maintenance.” Instead, it may be “rebuilding.” He said case law shows it should go through a bid-letting process, because it could be challenged in court. Hartkopf said he’s all for using local contractors (Such as Henningsen’s), but he’s also trying to protect the interests of not only the County, but the contractors themselves.

The bottom line, he said is that the project has to be bid, if it’s not maintenance. The discussion then turned to whether or not the road is an “Ancillary” function of the State and not the County. In the end, the Board suggested Lee try and divide-up the project to include just the inside camping area, for now, but to go ahead and get the quotes as planned.If one portion of the project is taken out of the equation, that would drop the cost down to about $93,000, with the idea being to hold-off on the remaining section of road (which is not as bad as the camping area road), to be worked on at a later date.

Board Chair Steve Baier summed-up the Board’s thoughts on the project. He said the consensus is that it is a worthy project, but they want to make sure it’s done above the table and legal.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The attorney for a former Iowa official who sued the state for discrimination and won is seeking $4.1 million for fees and costs. Roxanne Conlin represented Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Chris Godfrey in a case that took seven years to get to trial. A jury last month awarded Godfrey $1.5 million after finding former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and a staffer discriminated against Godfrey in 2011 because he’s gay and retaliated against him by cutting his pay.

Conlin and a team of eight attorneys and several legal assistants worked on the case, which went to the Iowa Supreme Court twice. Branstad’s lawyers haven’t submitted a bill for all fees yet but costs have neared $2 million and are expected to climb as they seek to have the verdict overturned and the case either dismissed or retried.

Iowa taxpayers will pay the judgment and attorney costs once a judge approves the totals.