ANKENY, Iowa (AP) – Officials say Iowa’s Transportation Department director has resigned. Department spokeswoman Andrea Henry told Des Moines television station KCCI on Wednesday that department employees have been notified about Paul Trombino III’s resignation. His reason for stepping down has not been announced publicly.

It’s unclear who will run the department after Trombino leaves his post, reportedly on Nov. 28. He was appointed director in May 2011. Before taking the post, Trombino worked 17 years for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

A manufacturing facility in northwest Iowa that currently employs 140 people will shut down by next October. Jim Michels, spokesperson for Eaton Corporation, says employees at the Spencer Eaton Hydraulics Plant were told the news on Wednesday.
“We met with employees to share that the company will be ceasing operations and closing the facility in Spencer by the end of the third quarter 2017,” Michels said.

The plant in Spencer manufactures heavy duty hydraulic pumps and motors. Michels said demand for the company’s products made in Spencer have been dropping. “By the end of September this year, North American Original Equipment, agriculture equipment sales were down almost 16-percent,” Michels said.

He also noted the Spencer facility supplies a lot of products for combines. “And as of the end of September 2016, North American combine sales were down 26.5 percent compared to September 2015 and year-to-date down 20.4 percent,” Michels said.

Everyone working at the plant will be given a 60-day notice prior to the elimination of their job, according to Michels. Those job cuts will begin in the first quarter of next year and continue through September. The Eaton plant in Spencer opened in 1974.

(Radio Iowa)

Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman reports a Special Election pertaining to a $14.5-million Iowa Western Community College Bond Measure, will be held in Atlantic on Dec. 6th. The Public Measure on the ballot asks “Shall the Iowa Western Community College (Merged Area XIII) in the Counties of Adair, Adams, Audubon, Cass, Crawford, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monoa, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie and Shelby, be authorized to remodel, erect, furnish and equip buildings at the main campus and other enrollment locations, contract indebtedness therefor, and issue its school bonds in an amount not exceeding $14,500,000 for that purpose?”

Absentee ballots for the election may be requested by registered voters not going to their assigned voting sites on election day, Dec. 6th, 2016. The polls will be open that day from Noon until 8-p.m. You may also vote prior to election day by paper ballot, either by mail or in-person at the County Auditor’s Office at the Cass County Courthouse.

TO VOTE AN ABSENTEE BALLOT BY MAIL you must file a request for an absentee ballot.

1. Deliver the absentee ballot request by mail or personal carrier to the auditor’s office.  You must use the State prescribed absentee ballot request form.  A request is not valid unless it includes the SIGNATURE of the person requesting the ballot.

Request forms are available at the auditor’s office or on the internet at http://www.sos.iowa.gov

2. When a request is received by the auditor, a ballot will be mailed if the person is an eligible elector.  (A person may register to vote and request a ballot at the same time.  You may send a registration form along with your request for an absentee ballot.)
3. With the ballot you will receive instructions for voting the ballot and for returning it.

ONLY FIVE VOTING CENTERS WILL BE USED FOR THIS ELECTION:

1. The two VOTING CENTERS for the ATLANTIC COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT are:

No. 1:  Voters living in Wards 1, 4 and 5 of the City of Atlantic will vote at Heritage House, 1200 Brook Ridge Circle in Atlantic.

No. 2:  Voters residing in the remainder of the Atlantic Community School District, being those voters residing in Audubon and Pottawattamie counties; Bear Grove, Benton, Brighton, Cass, Franklin, Grove, Pymosa and Washington townships of Cass County; the City of Marne; the City of Wiota; and Wards 2 and 3 of the City of Atlantic will vote at the Atlantic Public Library (507 Poplar), Atlantic, Iowa.

2. The two VOTING CENTERS for the CAM COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT  are:

No. 1- in ANITA:  Voters residing in that portion of the CAM Community School District lying in Adair and Audubon counties; Benton, Franklin, Grant and Lincoln townships of Cass County; the City of Anita; and the City of Wiota will vote at the ANITA COMMUNITY CENTER (805 Main St).

No. 2- in MASSENA:  Voters residing in that portion of the CAM Community School District lying in Adams County; Bear Grove, Edna, Massena, Noble, Union and Victoria townships of Cass County; the City of Cumberland; and the City of Massena will vote at the MASSENA PUBLIC LIBRARY in Massena (122 Main St).

3. The VOTING CENTER for the GRISWOLD COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT is: 

In GRISWOLD- Griswold Community Building, 601 2nd St, Griswold and all voters of the School District will vote there.

If you have any questions, contact the Cass County Auditor’s Office.

An 11-year old male suffered serious injuries after he was struck by a van Wednesday afternoon while crossing a street, in Council Bluffs. Council Bluffs Police say Blake Smith, of Council Bluffs, was transported by Council Bluffs Fire and Rescue to Nebraska Medicine, after he was hit by a 2004 Ford full-size van at around 3:30-p.m.. The driver of the van was identified as 52-year old Rex Miles, of Council Bluffs.

Police say Miles was traveling west on East Kanesvillle Boulevard in the right lane. Traffic was reported to be stopped in the left, westbound lane, for a red light ahead. Miles and witnesses told police that Blake ran northbound across Kanesville and through the stopped line of vehicles in the left lane, before crossing into Miles’ path.

Miles said he didn’t see Blake until it was too late. He attempted to stop, but his van struck Blake before Miles could stop. The Council Bluffs Police Traffic Unit is conducting an investigation into the crash. At this time, impairment and speed do not appear to be factors in accident.

An unusual accident Wednesday afternoon in Montgomery County resulted in minor injuries to the driver of a pickup. The Sheriff’s Office says at around 1:30-p.m., a 1974 John Deere tractor pulling a grain wagon was traveling south on Highway 48 near 160th Street, when the frame of the wagon failed, causing the left front wheel to break-free. The wheel crossed the center line of the road and hit a northbound 2013 Chevy Silverado pickup. The impact caused the airbags on the pickup to deploy, and resulted in the driver of the truck, 30-year old Luke McPhee, of Gladstone, MO., suffering from minor abrasions to his forearms.

The tractor and wagon are owned by Paul Perkins, of Red Oak. The tractor was driven by 49-year old Stacy Perkins, of Red Oak. Authorities say there were no citations issued.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:58 a.m. CST

DAKOTA CITY, Neb. (AP) – A former city clerk in northwest Iowa has been sentenced in a Nebraska court to probation for trying to set up a sexual encounter with a minor. The Sioux City Journal reports that 61-year-old Douglas Furlich, of Lawton, Iowa, was sentenced Wednesday to three years of intense supervised release. Officials say he interacted online with an undercover officer he thought was a 15-year-old boy and went to meet the boy in a park for sex in June.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Republicans have achieved their longtime goal of taking control of both the state House and Senate. The GOP flipped several Senate seats Tuesday to erase a slim Democratic majority in the chamber. It’s the first time in 20 years the GOP will have control of both chambers and the governor’s office in Iowa, a development that’s expected to alter legislative priorities in January.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Officials say students at several Des Moines-area high schools have staged walkouts to protest Donald Trump’s election victory. The Des Moines school district noted in a news release Wednesday that the majority of the district students are minorities and said the campaign rhetoric raised “concerns and divisions” among the students, their friends and families. The district says it won’t “stand in the way of our students peacefully expressing their concerns.”

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday), heard an annual report from Atlantic Public Library Director Natalie Struecker, on behalf of the six libraries located in Cass County, and a request for Fiscal Year 2018 funding.

Struecker said the libraries are looking at updating some of their community services because the State has updated the standards by which libraries are graded and receive State funding. She said the Atlantic Library already does much of what the State is asking, because it is bigger and has the funding to accomplish many of the goals, but some of the smaller libraries in the County will struggle in some areas, such as adding an online catalogue.

Struecker asked the Board to consider an increase in funding over last year’s increase, in the amount of $2,000 per library, or $24,000 altogether.

The Board will consider how much to contribute when they work on hammering out their County budget in January. During the last Fiscal Year (2017), the Board gave each of the libraries a $600 increase. The prior Fiscal Year they gave an additional $1,000.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office says an Adair County man was arrested this (Wednesday) morning on a Union County warrant for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. 37-year old Michael Ross Waddingham was taken into custody at around 8-a.m. at the Adair/Union County line. He was transported to the Union County Jail and held on $300 bond.

Atlantic Police report the arrest on Tuesday of 38-year old Robert Atkinson, of Anita. Atkinson was taken into custody on an Audubon County warrant for Probation Violation. He was transported to the Audubon County Jail.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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