The Cass County Memorial Hospital’s Board of Trustees will hold a Special Meeting today at 7:30. The agenda says the Board will enter into a Closed Session per Iowa Code [21.5 (1)(i)]. When they emerge from the Closed Session, the Board may take action on the matter before them.

While it’s not clear what the subject of the closed session may be, over the weekend, it was learned that an attorney retained on behalf of Cass County Health System CEO Todd Hudspeth, Thursday, had entered a written Alford Plea for Hudspeth, with regard to Hudspeth’s felony Forgery charge in Buena Vista County.

Legal experts say an Alford Plea is a guilty plea by a defendant who proclaims he is innocent of the crime, and admits that the prosecution has enough evidence to prove that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It is entered when the accused, together with his attorney, has made the calculated decision to plead guilty because the evidence against him is so strong that it will likely lead to conviction. Typically, it results in a guilty plea of a lesser crime

A jury trial was set to begin in Hudspeth’s case on July 12th, but with his plea, a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) will now take place August 1st, during what’s called a “Plea taking.”

A bicyclist was injured early this (Monday) morning in Council Bluffs, when he was hit by a pickup truck. Council Bluffs Police say 48-year old Mark Holeton, of Council Bluffs, was transported by Council Bluffs Fire and Rescue to Jennie Edmundson Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

The accident happened at around 12:21-a.m., at the intersection of S. 3rd and 16th Avenues. Officials say 26-year old Nicholas Erisman, of Council Bluffs, was driving a 1997 Dodge Dakota northbound on Harry Langdon (S. 3rd Ave.), and as he turned west onto 16th Avenue, he struck Holeton, who was stopped facing east on 16th. Erisman was cited for Improper Turning Movements.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a man has died in the crash of his motorcycle on Interstate 480 in Omaha as he headed toward Iowa. Officers and medics were dispatched around 6:10 p.m. Sunday after the crash was reported near the 8th Street underpass.

Omaha police say the man lost control of his motorcycle after striking a concrete barrier. The impact propelled him over the barrier and onto the ground below. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Omaha police identified him as 29-year-old Mark Adams, who lived in the Omaha suburb of La Vista.

The polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday for Iowa’s Primary Elections. There’s just one statewide primary — for Democratic voters. Four candidates are competing in the Iowa Democratic Party’s Primary for the chance to face Republican Senator Chuck Grassley. Patty Judge of Albia is a former Iowa lieutenant governor and state ag secretary. She entered the race after Grassley’s pivotal role in filling a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court became a flash point. “Washington isn’t working very well,” Judge says, “and Chuck Grassley just isn’t getting the job done.”

Forty-nine-year-old Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids, a state senator, says he provides the “best contrast” against the 82-year-old Grassley. “Iowans are desperately looking for new leaders who can do the job,” Hogg says, “and I’ve done the job for 14 years in the Iowa Legislature.” The Des Moines Register’s recent “Iowa Poll” found Judge leading the race with 42 percent support. Hogg was in second with 25 percent.

Fifteen percent of likely Democratic voters were undecided. The other two candidates in this race ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2010. Bob Krause got six percent in the “Iowa Poll” and Tom Fiegen got five percent. Krause, who is from Fairfield, says the middle class is being “hollowed out” and it’s time for federal action. “I’ve talked that issue ’til it’s blue in the face,” Krause says, “because that’s what I think it’s going to take to win in November.”

Fiegen says he visited each of Iowa’s 99 counties last year and is halfway through visiting each again this year. “I am hearing the pain of Iowans,” Fiegen says, “and for the all the promises of the politicians in DC and Des Moines, that pain is not getting better.” Fiegen is a bankruptcy lawyer from Clarence.

Six years ago about 73-thousand voters cast ballots in the Democratic Primary to pick a foe for Senator Grassley. Turn-out was far greater on the Republican side six years ago. Terry Branstad was seeking a return to the governorship in 2010 and nearly 230-thousand voters participated in the Republican Primary featuring Branstad, Bob Vander Plaats and Rob Roberts.

(Radio Iowa)

There are Primary Elections in three of Iowa’s four congressional districts tomorrow (Tuesday) and one of those races features an incumbent congressman. Steve King, the Republican congressman for Iowa’s fourth district, faces Republican challenger Rick Bertrand, a state senator from Sioux City. Bertrand says King is an ineffective congressman because he “doesn’t work well with people within his own party.” “Likeability is a key in business and it’s a key to being a good legislator,” Bertrand says.

King offers this rebuttal. “Time after time after time I’ve been effective,” King said. “I’ll continue to be effective and just because he wants the seat doesn’t mean that I’m not.” King and Bertrand debated Friday night in a forum co-sponsored by K-S-C-J Radio, K-T-I-V T-V and The Sioux City Journal.

(Radio Iowa)