Senator Chuck Grassley’s regional director based in Council Bluffs, Donna Barry, will be holding open office hours in Audubon, Harrison, Crawford, Carroll, Shelby, Pottawattamie, Cass, Adams, Montgomery, Monona, Mills, Fremont and Taylor counties on Sept. 28, 29 and 30, and Oct. 4 and 5. The office hours provide an opportunity for Iowans to obtain casework assistance or to express views.

Barry’s schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016

1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.: Audubon County, Exira City Hall

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016

9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m.: Harrison County, Dunlap City Hall

11:00 a.m.–Noon: Crawford County, Manilla City Hall

1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.: Carroll County, Manning City Hall

3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.: Shelby County, Irwin City Hall

Friday, Sept. 30, 2016

8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m.: Pottawattamie County, Carson City Hall

10:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.: Cass County, Griswold City Hall

1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.: Adams County, Corning City Hall, Council Chambers

3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.: Montgomery County, Villisca City Hall

Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016

4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.: Monona County, Mapleton Public Library

Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016

8:00 am.-9:00 am.: Mills County, Malvern City Hall

10:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.: Fremont County, Tabor Library

4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.: Taylor County, New Market City Hall

Grassley’s offices in Iowa regularly help constituents contact federal agencies to sort through problems with Social Security payments, military service matters, immigration cases and other issues. His state offices are located in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Sioux City and Waterloo.

Dale Sunderman, Cass County Auditor, reports absentee voting is available for the November 8 GENERAL ELECTION. The first day to vote an absentee ballot in the Cass County Auditor’s office is Thursday, September 29, 2016 and the last day to vote in the auditor’s office is Monday, November 7, 2016.

ABSENTEE BALLOTS: Any eligible voter who so chooses may vote a ballot before November 8 (called ABSENTEE BALLOT). The ballot may be applied for by mail or may be voted at the office of the County Auditor on any day the office is open up through November 7th.

IF VOTING AT THE COUNTY AUDITOR’S OFFICE: beginning September 29th, the absentee voter may come to the CASS COUNTY COURTHOUSE during the regular office hours of 8 AM and 4:30 PM, Monday thru Friday, up through the day before the election and cast a ballot. In addition to regular office hours, the office of Cass County Auditor will be open Saturday, October 29, 2016 from 8 AM to 5 PM and
Saturday, November 5, 2016 from 9 AM to 5 PM.

IF VOTING BY MAIL: A written request may be mailed or hand delivered to the County Auditor’s office. (Absentee request forms are available at the auditor’s office and on the Secretary of State’s web site: sos.state.ia.us). A ballot along with instructions on how to complete the ballot will be mailed to the requester. For the ballot to be counted the completed ballot then must be returned either by personal carrier to the office of County Auditor before close of polls on November 8 or returned by mail postmarked no later than November 7. Deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail is 5 PM on Friday, November 4. All BALLOTS ARE TO BE RETURNED whether they are voted or not voted. A postage paid return envelope is provided with each absentee ballot mailed out.

VOTER REGISTRATION: In order to vote in Iowa a person must be registered in the person’s current county of residence, under the person’s current name, and at the person’s current address. Registration forms are available at the county auditor’s office, many State of Iowa service offices and on the Secretary of State’s web site: sos.iowa.gov.   The county election commissioner recommends that persons not currently registered or who have moved since last registering and are planning to vote in the November GENERAL ELECTION, pre-register in the office of the County Auditor as soon as possible. You may register or re-register and vote absentee on the same day. Last day to pre-register in the office of the County Auditor is Saturday, November 5th, 2016.

Reminder: You may also update your registration when you update your address for your driver’s license. Since your Iowa driver’s license is often used as official identification, it is important that the data shown is accurate. Iowa law requires residents to notify the Department of Transportation within 30 days of an address change. An easy method for changing your address is to visit an Iowa driver’s license station – in Cass County that station is in the Cass County Treasurer’s office, Courthouse, Atlantic, Iowa.

The address for the Cass County Auditor / Election Commissioner is:
CASS COUNTY AUDITOR, COURTHOUSE, 5 W 7TH ST, ATLANTIC, IOWA 50022
(Phone:712-243-4570; Email: auditor@casscoia.us)

United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, Kevin E. VanderSchel, announced on Friday, that 39-year old Omar Rosales-Ixta, of Carter Lake,  was sentenced by United States District Court Senior Judge James E. Gritzner to 168 months (14-years) in prison, for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Rosales-Ixta’s term of imprisonment is to be followed by five years of supervised release. Rosales-Ixta entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on May 26th, 2016.

Rosales-Ixta’s co-defendant, 34-year old Michael Leroy Poore, of Logan, was sentenced by Senior Judge James E. Gritzner to 78 months (6 1/2-years) in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine to be followed by four years of supervised release. Poore entered a guilty plea to the charge on April 29, 2016.

The pleas of guilty and sentencings were the result of an investigation into methamphetamine distribution by the defendants between July and November of 2015. During that time, the defendants distributed over two kilograms of methamphetamine, which was obtained in Omaha and transported to Pottawattamie County where it was sold.

Co-defendant Broc Todd Waltermeyer is scheduled for sentencing on November 2nd, 2016. The investigation was conducted by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force, Omaha Police Department, and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge has sentenced a Sioux City man to life in prison for the shooting death of a man in the western Iowa city of Sloan. The Sioux City Journal reports Timothy Schroeder was sentenced Friday to the life term after a jury found him guilty in July of first-degree murder in the January 2015 death of 29-year-old Dustin Wilder in his Sloan home.

Schroeder’s wife, Amanda Schroeder, had testified the couple gave Wilder a ride home from a bar in the early morning. She was in another room when she heard a gunshot from the kitchen. She looked into the kitchen and saw Wilder on the floor and her husband holding a handgun.

A dog sitter found Wilder unconscious hours later. Authorities declared him dead at the scene.

A new Quinnipiac University poll finds Donald Trump leading Hillary Clinton in Iowa. Trump also had the backing of 86 percent of Iowa Republicans surveyed.Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann says Trump is “solidifying” his support among Republicans who backed other candidates in the Caucuses. “The enthusiasm that I’m seeing out there is at a level that I did not see, quite frankly, with McCain or with Mitt Romney,” Kaufmann says. Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, calls Iowa a “battleground state.”

“Iowa could absolutely be the state that gets Hillary over the 270 mark (in the Electoral College),” Mook said. “…We run thousands of scenarios each night here on the campaign to look at where states stack up and Iowa continues to be right at the heart of those pivotal states.” The Clinton campaign is identifying occasional voters, mapping out if they live close enough to the county auditor’s office or a “satellite voting” location to cast their ballot in person — but before November 8th.

“Targeting different voters to make sure that we’re offering them the easiest way to go vote,” Mook says. Kaufmann says 2014 was a “transformational year” for the G-O-P, as the party stopped resisting and began an “early voting” push. We are doing everything we did then, then probably hundreds of thousands of dollars more,” Kaufmann says.

Early voting begins NEXT week in Iowa, on Thursday, September 29th.

(Radio Iowa)

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer today (Friday), issued a report on arrests and incident investigations that took place over the past week. Palmer says on September 17th, his deputies arrested 39-year old Zachary Lynn Sherlock, of Burlington Jct.,MO., on a Missouri warrant for Child Support / Paternity.  Sherlock was arrested in Shambaugh following a traffic stop on a vehicle in which Sherlock was a passenger.  He was held in the Page County Jail awaiting extradition proceedings to Missouri.

On September 18th, 27-year old Joseph Cody Foster, of New Market, turned himself into the Page County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant for Driving while Suspended.  Foster posted the bond and was released prior to being booked into jail.  He was “out” on bond pending further court proceedings.

On September 17th, Deputies from the Page County Sheriff’s office began an investigation of a stolen 1995 Blue / Red Polaris 2 x 4 ATV & a Stihl MS 261Pro chainsaw with a case from 1961 220^th Street.  The ATV and chainsaw were recovered this past Thursday.

On September 18th, a Braddyville woman, reported that she was missing her Discover credit card and approximately $2600 worth of charges had been made on the account.  The dates of the charges are from August 12, 2016 through September 15, 2016.

And, on September 20th, Page County Deputies took a report a rural resident pertaining to vandalism. Sometime between September 13th and September 20th, an unknown person(s) threw a rock through the window of a travel trailer that was parked at the man’s residence.  No other damage was found and there was no entry into the travel trailer. Damage to the window was estimated at $100.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Thursday, of a Union County woman on a drug charge. 35-year old Ann Marie Luther, of Creston, was arrested for Possession of Methamphetamine 1^st Offense. Luther was taken to the Cass County Jail and was released later that day on $1,000 bond.

And there were two arrests Wednesday, in Cass County. 33-year old Randi Irene Shafer, of Atlantic, was taken into custody after she turned herself in at the Cass County Jail on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. Shafer remains held at the Cass County Jail on $5,000 bond. 44-year old Jesse Lee Simmons, of Atlantic, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of Driving While Barred. Simmons was brought to the Cass County Jail and was released on $2,000 bond the following day.