Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say Green Valley State Park near Creston, will be closed to the general public Nov. 17-18, for the ninth annual special park deer hunt. The hunt will allow 25 hunters to harvest up to 50 antlerless deer using only muzzleloaders. Hunters have already registered and will receive two antlerless tags each redeemable only during the special hunt at the designated areas and specified dates. Additional DNR staff will be on hand to patrol the park boundaries. Green Valley will re-open to the public on Nov. 19.

Alan Carr, park ranger for Green Valley State Park says “The hunt helps keep the deer population in the park under control. Hunters must attend a special safety meeting before the hunt where we explain the reason for the hunt, discuss the rules and show them the park boundaries.  We hope to harvest as close to 50 female deer as we can and do it in a safe and efficient manner.”  Carr said the hunt has been a great deer management tool for state parks.

“People want to see deer when they come to park, but we need to maintain a balance in the deer herd,” Carr said.  “Research shows that if you stop these hunts completely, the deer population tends to go back up rather quickly so the hunt will probably remain an annual event. The depredation biologist sets number of deer targeted for removal each year that is based on the population survey.”

The average harvest for the two day hunt has been just over 40 deer each year.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A spokesman for the Iowa secretary of state’s office says about 670,000 people voted early, but roughly 68,000 absentee ballots requested by voters hadn’t been turned in by Monday night.  Spokesman Chad Olsen says the number of absentee ballots not submitted sounds like a big number, but the percentage not returned is typical of past elections.    Olsen calls it “nothing new.”

He says Iowa was setting a record for early voting, with up to 45 percent of people voting outside the normal polling place. People with absentee ballots could mail them up until Monday. Such ballots won’t be counted if mailed today, but they can drop off ballots off in person.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – The county auditor says a few voters in Pottawattamie County on Iowa’s western border are upset about being late for work after problems at voting precincts.  Marilyn Jo Drake says glitches happened Tuesday morning at about 10 of the 40 precincts, causing a wait in at least two locations. Drake says delays of 15 to 20 minutes caused “a little bit of anger in a couple of precincts.

She blamed the problem on identification labels that allow voters to confirm their information without having to handprint it on rosters. Some of the labels got put into the wrong “port” of the voting machines.  Drake says “we had some workers panic” but fixed the problem as quickly as they could.  The problem didn’t affect counting of ballots.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Department has released a report on recent arrests. Officials said today (Tuesday), 52-year old Lori Lynne McCord, of Glenwood, was arrested at around 2:45-a.m. Tuesday in Glenwood, on a charge of OWI/1st Offense. Her bond was set at $1,000.

On Monday, deputies in Mills County arrested 50-year old Mark Edward Fisher, of Glenwood, on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held without bond, in the Mills County Jail. Last Saturday, 49-year old Brenda Lee Russell, of Glenwood, was arrested at around 2:30-a.m., on an OWI/1st Offense charge.

And, on Friday, 20-year old Kyle Edwin Sharp, of Bellevue, NE, and 20-year old Drake Edward Krcmarik, of Omaha, were each arrested on Possession of a Controlled Substance charges, following a traffic stop n Highway 34, at around 5:35-p.m.  Sharp, Krcmarik and Russell were being held in the Mills County Jail on $1,000 bond each.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The Fremont County Sheriff’s office reports the arrest of a Shenandoah man on drug and burglary charges. Officials say Fremont County deputies, along with officers from the Shenandoah Police Department executed a search warrant Monday at 111 North Center Street in Shenandoah. As a result of the search, and after receiving information from an investigation that began over the weekend, officers arrested 18-year old Quentin Dumler, of Shenandoah.

Dumler faces Burglary in the 3rd degree and possession of drug paraphernalia charges. The charges are the result of an investigation into a burglary that occurred on Saturday at Skateland in Shenandoah. Dumler was being held in the Fremont County jail on $5,000 bond.

Voters in Iowa have a couple of different ways to find out where they can cast their ballots. The first is to contact your County Auditor’s Office. The second, is to go to the Iowa Secretary of State’s website. Enter your zip code, and the site will take you to a page that will tell you where to vote.

The Secretary of State’s website is: http://sos.iowa.gov/ Look for the “Find my Polling Place” button under the banner “General Election Results”.

Here is the direct link:  https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterreg/pollingplace/search.aspx

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This is Election Day across Iowa and the rest of the Country. In southwest Iowa, there are some contested local races, but a majority of the focus will of course, be on the Presidential and Congressional elections. The polls are open from 7-a.m. until 9-p.m. The results will be broadcast live on KJAN and posted on the web on KJAN when the final, unofficial tallies are released. All votes will remain unofficial until canvassed in each county.

In Cass County, three Republicans running for re-election to the Board of Supervisors (Duane McFadden, Chuck Rieken and Frank Waters) are unopposed. Republicans Darby McLaren (Sheriff) and Auditor Dale Sunderman, are also unopposed. Voters in the Benton, Edna, Union and Victoria Townships in Cass County, will have a public measure to vote on. If approved, the measure would allow the Board of Supervisors to appoint township trustees and clerks as the terms of incumbent township officers expire. In addition, four people: Chase Wheatley, Curt Behrends, Clarke Gerlock and Norbert Ray Wilson, are running for three seats on the Soil and Water Conservation District Board.

In Adams County, Democrat Merlin Dixson and Republican Jerry Peckham are vying for a seat on the Board of Supervisors in District 2, while three people are in the running for the County Auditor’s job, including: Democrat Kevin Wynn, Republican Becky Bissell, and Kerry Mullen, who was nominated by petition.

In Adair County, four people are looking to fill three seats on the County Agricultural Extension Council, including Jessica Christensen, Karen Schulties, Matt Mensing, and Tiffany Johnson. Ray Sorensen the 2^nd is unopposed in his bid to fill a vacant seat on the Greenfield City Council.

In Audubon County, four men are running for two open seats on the Board of Supervisors. They include Republicans Duane Deist and Todd Nelson, and Democrats Jerry Carter and Kent Grabill. In addition, Republican incumbent Sheriff Todd Johnson faces a challenge from Democrat Blake Asberry. Audubon County Auditor Lisa Frederiksen is unopposed, as is Debbie Campbell, who is running Treasurer, to fill a vacancy term that will expire on Dec. 31^st, 2014.

In Guthrie County, there are two contested county races on the ballot, both for supervisor. In the north end of Guthrie County, District 1 incumbent Jerry Caraher (D) is challenged by James Carroll (R). In the southeast corner of the county in District 5, challenger David Guisinger (D) hopes to unseat incumbent Mike Dickson (R). Running unopposed in other county races are two incumbents: Auditor Jerri Christman (R) and Sheriff Marty Arganbright (D). Due to redistricting, Guthrie County residents are no longer represented by long time Congressman Steve King (R), who is running against Christie Vilsack (D) for the newly created District 4 congressional seat. Instead, voters will choose between two incumbent congressmen for the newly created District 3 seat: Tom Latham (R) and Leonard Boswell (D).