w/ Ric Hanson

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RED OAK, Iowa (AP) – A Republican candidate for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat is launching her campaign with a six-city tour.  State Sen. Joni Ernst announced last week she would seek the GOP nomination for the Senate seat held for decades by Democrat Tom Harkin, who decided not to seek re-election.

The 43-year-old Ernst will start her initial campaign trip Wednesday morning at the Montgomery County Courthouse, in her hometown of Red Oak. She’ll continue with stops Wednesday and Thursday in Waukee, Council Bluffs, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City and Davenport.

Other Republicans seeking the nomination include former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker, Sioux City talk show host Sam Clovis, attorney Paul Lunde and David Young, a former aide to Sen. Chuck Grassley. On the Democratic side U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley is his party’s only candidate.

Sheriff’s officials in Adams County report an Atlantic man was arrested Monday night on a drug charge. 22-year old Joshua D. Peters was charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, following a traffic stop on Highway 148 at around 10:40-p.m., Monday. During the stop, the Adams County K-9 was deployed and alerted to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle.

Peters, who was a passenger in the vehicle, was found to be in possession of drug paraphernalia. He was brought to the Adams County Jail in Corning, and later posted a $300 bond.

Two people were injured Monday afternoon during a crash on the southwest side of Shenandoah. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the drivers of the vehicles, 61-year old Marthelia Janeen Harper, of Westboro, MO, and 50-year old Teresa Lynn Isenhower-Moyer, of Essex, were transported to the hospital. Harper, who was not wearing a seat belt, was flown by Mercy 1 helicopter to Creighton University Hospital in Omaha. Isenhower-Moyer was belted-in to her vehicle. She was taken by ambulance to the Shenandoah Hospital.

The crash happened at around 3-p.m.at the intersection of Highways 2 and 59. Officials say a 1996 Mazda MX-6 driven by Harper was traveling south on Highway 59, while a 2003 Nissan Maxima driven by Isenhower-Moyer was traveling north on Highway 59.  The Mazda turned left at the intersection to proceed east on Highway 2, when it was hit by the Nissan on the right front side.  The impact caused the Mazda to spin counter-clockwise before coming to rest on the northbound lane of Highway 59. The Nissan came to rest in the northeast ditch.

The Patrol says charges are pending completion of an investigation into the accident.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

A University of Northern Iowa political science professor has analyzed voter registration data and ranked the most-Republican and most-Democratic counties in Iowa. Christopher Larimer says his research shows why Mitt Romney’s campaign was so focused on eastern rather than western Iowa. “There was a lot mentioned this last presidential cycle about: ‘Why on earth would Mitt Romney visit the eastern part of the state, go to Dubuque or Clinton County…or why is Paul Ryan in Black Hawk County?'” Larimer says. “Well, the answer, obviously, is vote share. I mean, they are going to get 6,000 or 7,000 votes out of Sioux County or you know, 10,000-12,000 out of those northwest counties, but that’s not going to matter much. They need to start pulling those no-party voters who are living in the eastern, more populated parts of the state.”

Larimer looked at records since the year 2000 and found the most 10 more-Republican counties in Iowa are primarily in the western half of the state — in “very rural areas.” “They obviously go strongly toward the Republican ticket, but they make up a very small percentage of the total number of votes going to presidential candidates,” Larimer says. “The difference with Democrats — yes, these are strong Democratic counties, but they don’t differ as much from the other 89 counties as the top 10 Republican counties did, but their vote share is much higher. You’re talking about usually 31 percent of the vote share for the Democratic candidate coming from these top 10 Democratic counties.”

Larimer also identified the counties which had the highest percentage of independent or “no-party” voters and those were in eastern Iowa. “Eight of the top 10 no-party counties had a majority vote share, that is more than 50 percent, going for President Obama,” Larimer says. “That is very similar to the top 10 Democratic counties so, again, these no-party counties tended to be located where you have strong Democratic counties and they tend to vote like the top 10 Democratic counties.” The counties with the highest percentage of independent voters were Floyd, Bremer, Buchanan, Delaware, Benton, Iowa Cedar and Clinton Counties. Obama won a higher percentage of the vote in each of those counties in 2012 than he did in 2008.

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors, Monday, tabled further discussion and action on a proposal to make Sunnyside Park tobacco free.

Parks & Rec Board

The decision followed comments by several individuals in favor of the idea, and a nearly equal number of persons opposed to it. The Board will instead gather more, one-on-one input and take a close look at Iowa’s law on the Smoke Free Air Act, as suggested by Councilman Chris Jimerson, the Council’s liaison to the Board. They’ll take the matter up again during their next meeting on August 19th.

Among those who spoke in favor of the proposal, was Karla Akers, Tobacco Prevention  Coordinator for Cass County Public Health. Akers presented a petition with 109 signatures of mostly local residents who supported the proposal. Also speaking during the meeting was Atlantic resident Denise Coder, with Cass County Public Health, Atlantic resident Carol Schuler, and Kiwanis President Laura Bacon.  Schuler said during a recent weekend camping excursion with friends at the park, the atmosphere was nice, but she and some kids they spent a good deal of their time picking up litter. Schuler said they picked up upwards of 60 cigarette butts. She said having the tobacco free policy would help keep the park clean and serve as role model for children, in saying smoking is not good for you. Laura Bacon said the Kiwanis Club is also in favor of the proposal because of health concerns and keeping the park clean.

Dennis Byrne

Speaking out against the proposal, was Dennis Bryne, of Atlantic, who said he does not smoke, but feels making the park tobacco free would be infringing on the rights of those who do. Byrne said he agrees there are certain areas where smoking should be prohibited, such as the shelter house and other areas where people congregate, but not for the whole park.

David Anderson, of Atlantic, is a smoker who uses the park frequently, as well as his son, who along with his friends, plays frisbee golf there. He agreed there should be designated smoking areas, but they should not make the whole park tobacco free.

David Anderson

Atlantic resident and Cass County Board Chair Mark Wedemeyer told the Parks and Rec Board they would be overstepping there duties if they went to the extreme of making the park tobacco free.

He said as long as tobacco products are legal, it should be permitted in certain areas, and restricted in others, such as the skateboard park. He also questioned how such a policy would be enforced, and if there was to be any enforcement, it should have to do with littering, not using tobacco products per se.

Frank Saddlemire, of Atlantic, had no problem with establishing boundaries for smoking. He too, questioned how a whole park policy could be effectively regulated, when other offenses such as speeding and littering go unpunished. Nancy Gibson, of Atlantic, said she understands the rights of smokers, because she grew up with them in her home, but she said it’s important to impress upon young people the dangers of smoking and to protect them from it, even in an outdoor environment.

Karla Akers

Karla Akers said the idea for a tobacco free park came from middle school aged youth. She said they felt it should be tobacco free because of the amount of litter, second hand smoke, and the risk to the environment.

Councilman Chris Jimerson said there are already public areas in the park, where smoking is prohibited by law, such as in the bleachers at the ball diamonds, a concert at the bandshell, and other such sites where mass numbers of people congregate.

A Wisconsin man was injured when the vehicle he was driving went off the road and rolled into the ditch this (Monday) afternoon, in Cass County. The Iowa State Patrol says 29-year old Christopher Block, of Madison, WI, was wearing his seatbelt, and did not require transport to the hospital following the crash on Interstate 80, at around 12:25-p.m.

Officials say the 2003 Nissan Murano Block was driving was traveling west on I-80 near the Elk Horn exit, when Block fell asleep at the wheel. The SUV drifted toward the left shoulder, and when it hit the rumble strips, caused Block to wake up. He over-corrected, sending the vehicle off the road to the right. The SUV rolled into the north ditch facing south and came to rest on its right side.

The Atlantic Police Department report a local couple were arrested Friday on theft charges. Officials say 34-year old Jennifer Lower and 38-year old Russell Lower, both of Atlantic, were arrested on a Cass County Warrant charging them with Theft in the 5th degree.

On Saturday, officers with the A-PD arrested 36-year old Juan Diaz, of Winchester, CA, on a charge of Theft by Deception. And on Sunday, 24-year old John Chamberlin, of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication.

Each of the suspects were transported to Cass County Jail and booked in. In other news, the A-PD says no injuries were reported following an accident this (Monday) morning. Officials say Derrick Wolfe, of Atlantic,  was traveling through Wal-Mart parking lot around 9-a.m., when his vehicle hit a pole. Damage to the pole was $250. Wolfe’s vehicle sustained an estimated $6,000 damage.