There are a few races to watch in Guthrie County during Tuesday’s City Elections. In Bagley, there are five seats open on the City Council, and only four candidates: Deanna Gibson, Jennifer Ingles, Ruth Riley and Jon Shaffer. The fourth will be a Write-In. And, Emily Chapman-Olesen is unopposed in her bid for Mayor. In Bayard, five candidates are running for three seats on the City Council: Tonya Halterman, Kimberly Jorgensen, Christine Kesselring, LeeRoy Wagner, and Tom Warden. Two men are running for Mayor in Bayard: Gary Allen Long, and Brandon Taylor.

In Casey, two Council seats are open, and there are two candidates: Robb Sneller and Stacy Wagner. In Guthrie Center, Dennis Kunkle is running for Mayor. There are three Council seats openings, two of which are for four-year terms, one is to fill a Vacancy for two-years. The Auditor’s Office reports four people have filed to run for election: Chuck Cleveland, Carolyn Masters, Randy Nickel, and Brian Stringer. All four are eligible to the the two-year vacancy. Voters will need to Write-In on the ballot, their third choice for City Council in Guthrie Center.

In Jamaica, LaDonna Kennedy is running for Mayor. Two candidates: Karen Onken and Randall Perkins, are running for three open seats on the Jamaica City Council. A Write-in will fill the third seat. In Menlo, Michael Clarke and David Jacobsen are running for Mayor. Paul Jones and Dorothy Korradi are running for two open Council seats.

In Panora, five people are running for three City Council seats: Tony Barber, Thomas John Flanary, Brian Dorsett, Stan Landon, and Curtis Nepstad Thornberry.  And, in Yale, there are four candidates for three City Council seats: John Chase, Mindy L. Fear, Richard Kipp, and Tim Walker.

Voters will head to the polls for the City Elections in Pottawattamie County, Tuesday. The candidates in each respective City are as follows:

Avoca:

Park Commissioner – Nicholas Hope

Mayor – Aaron C. Long

City Council – William Dea, Derek Knop, Steven Kerr, David McCain

Carson:

Mayor – Timothy Neal Todd

City Council – Tate Brandon, Adam Houser, Donnie Hendricks

Crescent:

City Council – Robert E. Anderson, Elvis Jacobsen

Hancock:

Mayor – Harold Hoffman

City Council – Jayme Fowler, Steve Guyer

City Council (Vacancy) – Jason Best, Donald Ehlers

Macedonia:

Mayor – Gary L. Wax

City Council – Susan Goos, Joshua Keast

McClelland:

Mayor – Mitchell A. Kay

City Council – Dani Baxter, Michael P. Conrad, David Logan, Susan Stenlund, Dan Williams

Minden:

City Council – Jerry Murley, Thomas Schneckloth, Tracy Wohlhuter

Neola:

Mayor – Dawn Marie Goodsell, Lon Ring

City Council – Robb Lockey, Nichole Schneckloth, Edwin Aric Thomsen, Ty Ungrad, Jason Zaborowski

Oakland:

Mayor – Brant Miller

City Council – Pat Newberg, Doug Reed, Debbie Rollins, Joseph Wede

Treynor:

Mayor – Thomas G. Lewis

City Council – Joe Fisher, David Waymire

Underwood:

Mayor – Dennis C. Bardsley

City Council – Zeferina S. Aguilar, Jim Pingel, Julius W. Tiarks, Gary J. Wahle

Walnut:

Mayor – Gene Larsen

City Council – Linda Booth, Kim Canada, Jason Erickson, Michael Gettler, Dennis Hullinger, Dan Shirley

Voters in Montgomery County will head to the polls tomorrow (Tuesday), from 7-a.m. until 8-p.m. Here are the candidates and the positions they are running for:

City of Red Oak:

Mayor – Incumbent William Billings, Jr.

Ward 2 – Incumbent Bill Haufle.

At Large – Tony Wernicke.

City of Elliott: The Mayor’s seat and 3 At Large Council seats are open….no one has filed, so those will be filled by Write-In vote.

City of Stanton: (elect 3 At Large)

Incumbents Eric Paulson, Sheryl Porter and Daniel Allen are running, along with Jessica Sundberg.

City of Coburg: Mayor Cal Myers is unopposed for re-election. NO CANDIDATES filed for 2 At Large City Council seats.

City of Grant:

Mayor – No candidate filed. (Write-in);

City Council At Large (elect 5)

All incumbents have filed – Lyn Sliger, Jeffrey Brown, Michael Bradley Amos, Steve Williams, and Nancy Taylor.

City of Villisca:

Mayor – Incumbent Marilyn Halda;

City Council At Large (elect 1) – Write-In

City Council – To Fill a Vacancy -Incumbent Helen Lowe.

Voters in Villisca will also decide (Public Measure A), if the Villisca Public Library Board of Trustees members should be changed to four resident, and one non-resident member, to be appointed by the Mayor (with approval of the Council), to serve a term of three-years, effective July 1, 2018.

A music teacher in Cedar Falls is in the running for a Grammy. Michelle Droe, who teaches at Lincoln Elementary School, is a semifinalist to receive the 2018 Music Educator Award from the Recording Academy and the Grammy Museum. Droe is among 25 music teachers from across 17 states identified as semifinalists. She was nominated last spring by a Cedar Falls family. Droe was eventually asked to submit a video of herself teaching and explaining how she’s overcome obstacles in her career. “I think I even recorded kids on the last day of school to make that happen,” Droe said, laughing. “So, that was kind of interesting. I just found out a couple of weeks ago that I’m among the 25 semifinalists. It’s pretty exciting.”

The Music Education Award recognizes educators from kindergarten through the college level who have made major contributions to the music education field. Droe says after many years, it’s still a fun job. “I love my job and I work hard at it, so it feels good to have your hard work recognized,” Droe said. “I kind of like to have the focus be more on my kids, so it’s a little uncomfortable in a way. But, I’m really appreciative and excited at the same time.”

Michelle Droe

Droe says 10 finalists for the award will be revealed sometime in December and the ultimate winner will attend the 60th Grammy Awards show in New York on January 28.

(Radio Iowa)

The final listening session for the Leopold Center at Iowa State University is set for next week in northeast Iowa. Center director Mark Rasmussen says a task force put together the listening sessions to chart the future after the Legislature voted to shut down the center, but then Governor Terry Branstad vetoed the portion of the bill that cut the center. Rasmussen says there’s been a lot of input in the sessions. “It’s ranged all across the board in terms of people’s comments, “Rasmussen says, “of course some people want to still critique the past actions and make some comments about that.”

But Rasmussen says the goal now is to see how they can move forward with the cut of its major source of funding. They’ve supplied those at the listening sessions with some questions. He says they are asking what people think the projects and priorities should be and any ideas on funding sources for the future. The center has financed hundreds of ag research projects aimed at reducing soil and farm chemical runoff in its 30 years. Rasmussen says one thing he has learned thus far is that people care about the center. “I’ve been humbled by the amount of support that the center has had during these past six months of these trying circumstances,” Rasmussen says. “It started with all the people who called the governor’s office and encouraging him to not sign this bill in its entirety…and since then we’ve had people show up and give their two cents worth on where the center should go.”

Rasmussen says the task force will use all the information and suggestions it is hearing to come up with recommendations. “Some of the task force members are already starting to summarize and write down things that they’ve heard. And the task force will be preparing a report that goes to the Leopold Advisory Board, plus to me as director of the center, plus to the College of Ag dean,” according to Rasmussen.

The final listening session is scheduled for November 15th on the campus of Northeast Iowa Community College in Calmar. It begins at 5:30.

(Radio Iowa)