The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Wednesday), approved a recommendation from Chief Deputy Sheriff John Westering, for the hiring of two full-time jailers. The Board approved the employment of Maria Agboglo at a starting union scale wage of $14.06/per hour, effective Oct. 15th. The second Jailer hired, effective this past Monday, was Linda Marxen. Since Marxon had worked for the County previously, Westeringg recommended her union scale wage be paid at $14.50 per hour.

In other business, Auditor Dale Sunderman reported there has been a good deal of interest in the upcoming General Election, as demonstrated by the number of Absentee ballots requested and turned in. He said 960 persons have requested ballots, with a little over half having already been returned. Overall he says, it’s going pretty well.

With Monday being a holiday, nearly 60 ballots came into the Auditor’s Office on Tuesday. Sunderman says they’re averaging about 30 and 50 ballots requests per day. The last day to submit an Absentee ballot to the Auditor’s Office, is Nov. 3rd.

Cass Co. Auditor Dale Sunderman demonstrates a new voting machine for the blind/visually impaired.

He demonstrated to the Board the new vote tabulation machines, including one for persons who are blind or visually and/or hearing impaired.

Sunderman says it has an audio ballot. The difference between the new machine and the old AutoMark machine, is that the old style required an 8-by 14 ballot to be fed into it. The new machine generates a heavier, paper receipt similar to what you would get from a grocery store or other business. The receipt is about four-inches wide. Each precinct will have one of the special, touch-screen machines for blind/hearing impaired voters.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say an investigation that led to a search warrant on Sept. 3rd, also resulted in the arrest of a man on theft and weapon charges. 48-year old Thayne Kinnison, of Stanton, was arrested Wednesday (Today) on a warrant for Theft in the 2nd degree/Possession of Stolen Property, and for being a Felon in Possession of an Offensive Weapon. Kinnison was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 cash bond.

Also on Wednesday (today), deputies in Montgomery County arrested 20-year old Travis Brightbill, of Council Bluffs, on a warrant for Probation Violation related to an original narcotic violation offense. Brightbill was being held in the jail on $2,500 bond.

In a follow-up to our story Tuesday about a fatality accident near Avoca, the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office today (Wednesday) identified the victim as 60-year old Garry Johnk, of Atlantic. Sheriff Jeff Danker says the cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy.

Johnk was driving a Ford F-150 pickup on westbound Highway 83 at around 7:35-a.m., Tuesday, when the vehicle left the road and came to rest in a harvest cornfield. Iowa Department of Transportation workers were on location erecting a construction zone sign,  when they saw the pickup pass by. The driver appeared to be slumped over, leaning toward the driver’s door.

Two people were injured during a head-on crash Tuesday afternoon, in Shelby County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 39-year old Amy Malloy, of Walnut, who was not wearing a seat belt, suffered severe injuries and was flown by LifeNet helicopter to the UNMC in Omaha, while the driver of the other vehicle, 31-year old Jason Leinen, of Adel, who was wearing his seat belt, suffered non-life threatening injuries, was transported to Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan by Elk Horn Rescue.

The accident happened at around 12:50-p.m. on 400th Street, about one-quarter of a mile east of Umbrella Road, in Shelby County. Officials say a 2006 Toyota Camry driven by Malloy, was traveling west on the wrong side of 400th Street, at the same time a 2014 Chevy Silverado pickup driven by Leinen, was traveling east.

The vehicles collided at the crest of a hill, causing major damage to both vehicles.

Two people from Atlantic were arrested on drug charges, Tuesday. The Atlantic Police Dept. reports 19-year old Kody Lynn Hansen, of Atlantic,  was arrested on Cass County warrants for two counts of Delivery of Drugs to Minors, and for Delivery of a Controlled Substance. Hansen was booked into the Cass County Jail.

And, 15-year old Spenser Denison, of Atlantic, was arrested on two counts of Delivery of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana. He was later released to his parent.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Authorities in Union County say a Creston man was arrested Tuesday evening at the Union County Jail, on a charge of Attempted Burglary in the 2nd degree. 26-year old Danny Alan Fry was later released from the Jail on $5,000 bond.

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Harlan Police Department is asking for the public’s help in being on the lookout for stolen checks and forgery. The checks are drawn on 1st Whitney Bank and Trust from Atlantic, and are from the account of the former Custom Body and Sound. The checks are signed by a “Mitch Mundorf.”

Authorities say if you see any of these checks, contact the Harlan Police Department at 755-5151.

(KNOD/Harlan)

Last night Republican Governor Terry Branstad and Jack Hatch, the Democratic challenger, met in Sioux City for their third and final televised debate. The hour-long event gave Hatch’s low-budget campaign perhaps its final chance to make an impression with voters and Hatch came out swinging, criticizing Branstad’s priority of cutting property taxes and questioning Branstad’s job creation claims. “We can’t afford four more years of Terry Branstad and his promises kept or broken,” Hatch said. Branstad dismissed what he referred to as Hatch’s “wild accusations.” “And the state of Iowa is on the right track,” Branstad said.

Hatch says it’s time to cut income taxes for middle class Iowans. “You know we’ve done a lot of corporations,” Hatch said. “We haven’t done very much for the people who work for them and that’s going to be my focus in the next four years.” Branstad defended the bill he signed which has begun reducing commercial and industrial property taxes. “And I’ve had people all over Iowa say: ‘Thank you for doing something that was promised for 30 years and you’ve finally delivered,” Bransad said. “The Iowa commercial and industrial property tax is going down.”

Sioux City journalists who moderated the debate also focused attention on an issue important to the host city for last night’s event: completing the expansion of Highway 20 to four lanes. Hatch says Iowans are “expecting to have better roads.” Branstad says it will likely take a combination of things to get this and other projects done, including federal funding and perhaps a shift to charging the state sales tax on gasoline purchases to raise more funds at the state level.

In 2010, Branstad promised that if he was elected he’d create 200-thousand new jobs in Iowa within five years. Last night Branstad was asked how many jobs have been created since he returned to the governor’s office in January of 2011. “I’m proud to say that we’ve been working on this every day since we came into office and in a little over three and a half years, we’ve created 150,900 jobs,” Branstad said. “…We have created more jobs in less than four years than the previous two governors did in 12 years.”

Hatch says that’s “close…to lying.”” He’s created less than 80,000 jobs…Even a fifth grader knows you have to subtract those jobs that were lost,” Hatch said. “And what about those 80,000 jobs that were lost? Are they not important? I’m going to be a governor who focuses on those lost jobs as well.”

Halfway through the debate, the candidates were asked to cite something they admired in their opponent and the two offered “respect” to the other for putting their name on the ballot. Branstad then looked past November 4th. “I think working together is important,” Branstad said. “Once the election’s over, we need to recognize we all are public servants. We need to serve the people of Iowa.”

Hatch says he’d put the “people’s business” first if he’s elected. Hatch is a long-time state legislator from Des Moines who told the audience last night he first came to Iowa to attend college at Drake University, then stayed after graduation. Branstad, who is seeking his sixth term as Iowa’s governor, said in his closing statement that he “grew up poor” on a northern Iowa farm, where he learned to work hard at an early age.

A Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register “Iowa Poll” conducted last week found Branstad holding a 15-point lead over Hatch. The debate was broadcast live on K-T-I-V T-V and K-S-C-J Radio and co-sponsored by the Sioux City Journal and the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce.

(Radio Iowa)