Gasoline prices in some Iowa cities took a big leap last night (Tuesday), in some areas bounding more than a dime a gallon shortly after the polls closed at 9 o’clock. Gail Weinholzer, spokeswoman for Triple-A-Iowa, maintains gas prices have nothing to do with politics and she says Iowa’s overall average has dropped a long ways in the past month. “We’ve seen prices decline from just under four-dollars a gallon to just over three-dollars a gallon,” Weinholzer says. “In many places, they’re seeing relief anywhere from 60 to 80 cents, which is rather significant.”

Iowa’s average price for gas is three-32 a gallon, that’s fallen from three-38 a week ago and down from three-75 a month ago. She says there are essentially three reasons pump prices have been in a free-fall. “We finished the switch-over from the summer to the winter-grade fuel and as a result, prices declined,” Weinholzer says. “Secondly, crude oil is selling significantly below $100 a barrel, which is where it was at in August. Third, we’re past the summer driving season and as a result, demand has slackened off quite a bit.”

Despite the overnight bounce — like in Des Moines, where prices rose 12 to 14 cents a gallon in one swoop — she says gas prices should continue falling in Iowa for another few weeks. “We continue to see a decline and will until Thanksgiving,” Weinholzer says. “We’ll probably plateau around that time and then perhaps drop again a bit before we get to the holiday season.”

Iowa’s current statewide average price for self-serve unleaded is three-32, that’s 14-cents below the national average.

(Radio Iowa)

The Harlan City Council, Tuesday, welcomed a group of Shelby County citizens to discuss the Shelby County DevelopSource and Chamber merger along with the Hotel/Motel tax. During the Council’s regular session, Citizens for Betterment of Shelby County, led by business owners Ruth Ann Grimsley, Teresa Coenen and Judy Schroeder presented the council with a petition signed by current chamber members, non-members and other business owners supporting the merger. Schroeder read the letter to the board, which included comments about the merger.

The letter said the group applauds efforts to combine DevelopSource and Chamber. It said while the two organizations have different short term goals, the long term goal is to grow the county’s economy, and to that end, a pooling of resources and ideas, they said, would result in many positive outcomes on projects that are undertaken. Marty Burchett, another Shelby County business owner and current Chamber board member issued a rebuttal to the council. She said he didn’t think it’s a decision that should be rushed into. Burchett said that’s because DevelopSource has a new person and there are new board members that are not up to speed on the topic. Another reason he said was that “Some of the people that are pushing for this thought it was okay to split it up 10 years ago.”

Shelby County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dawn Cundiff reported that the Hotel/Motel Tax was being used for projects such as signage, vision Iowa and brochures. She also said the tourism committee has been working hard. The discussion then drifted from the merger and hotel/motel tax to discussion about Chamber ambassador visits, dues from members and other topics.  At a previous City Council meeting, it was suggested an audit should be completed on the Hotel/Motel tax. Since that time, an audit has been done and will be reported to the council at the next meeting on Tuesday, November 20^th.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

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Elsewhere in area election results, Cheryl R. Christensen was selected as the Clerk for the Union Township in Cass County. She received 80 votes to challenger Bill Gerlock’ 31. There were mixed results in the County for four Public Measures. Voters in the Benton and Victoria Townships agreed the Cass County Board of Supervisors should appoint township Trustees and Clerks when the incumbents’ terms expire, while Edna and Union Township voters said they wanted those positions to remain on the ballot. Chase Wheatley, Curt Behrends and Clarke Gerlock were nominated to the Soil and Water Conservation Board, and, Atlantic Parks and Rec Department Director Roger Herring had an overwhelming win over Michael J. Collins, to take the Trustee’s position on the County Public Hospital Board, in the Northwest District.

In Montgomery County, Karen Klock, Michael J. Olson, Carroll Freeman, Timothy Kammerer and Bill Drey were elected to serve on the Agricultural Extension Council. In Guthrie County, Bret Hodges, Karen Kennedy, Carol Cain and Barbara Gigar were elected to serve on the County Agricultural Council. Pamela Chance defeated two other challengers for a vacant seat on the Jamaica City Council, and Michael Moore beat Steve Baker for a vacant seat on the Panora City Council.

You can view other results on the Iowa Secretary of State’s website on a County-by-County basis, at sos.iowa.gov.

There were very few locally contested races during Tuesday’s General Election. One of the most watched in this area, was in Audubon County, where Sheriff Todd Johnson, a Republican, was re-elected to office, after defeating his challenger, Democrat Blake Asberry. Unofficial results show Johnson garnered 2,374 votes to Asberry’s 1,080. Another race in Audubon County, was for the Board of Supervisor’s, where four men were running for two open seats on the Board. Republican Todd M. Nelson received the most votes, at 1,817. The unofficial tally shows fellow Republican Duane Deist narrowly defeated Democrat Kent Grabill to take the other seat. Deist had 1,550 votes to Grabill’s 1,542. Those numbers aren’t official, however, and the actual race between the second and third-place finisher may change, because, according to the Auditor’s office, 43-absentee ballots remain in the mail system, and two provisional ballots will need to be examined by the absentee board. The board is set to meet at 10:00 a.m.  Friday to count the ballots that are received between now and November 9^th. They will also verify the post mark meets the cut-off deadline to be eligible for the count. The final results in Audubon County may not be known for nearly a week.

In Shelby County four people ran for two seats on the Board of Supervisors. Two Republicans, newcomers Charles Parkhurst and Steve Kenkel, defeated their Democrat challengers Jerry Hensheid and LaVon Christensen to earn a spot at the table. Kenkel had the most votes, at 4,191. Parkhurst had the second-highest total, at 3,282. Henschied garnered just over 2,000 votes, while Christensen barely cracked 1,780.

And, Iowa State Representative Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, defeated challenger Kasey Friedrichsen, a Democrat, 64-35 percent. Schultz represents the new District 18, which covers all of Shelby County and portions of Harrison and Crawford counties.

In Pottawattamie County, incumbent Republican Supervisor’s Lynne Grobe and Melvyn Houser easily defeated Brian Lund, who was nominated by petition. And, former deputy and acting Pottawattamie County Treasurer Lea Voss, a Republican, held-off a challenge from Democrat Paula Danker, to remain in office. Voss, who was selected as the acting treasurer after the death of long-time Treasurer Judy Miller, beat Danker by 21,608 votes to 17,915.

In Adams County, Democrat Merlin Dixson beat Republican Jerry Peckham, to take a single seat available on the Board of Supervisors in District 2. Also, Republican Becky Bissell defeated Democrat and Nominated By Petition challengers, and will take the title of Treasurer.

In Guthrie County, Democrat Jerome F. Caraher easily captured the one open seat on the Board of Supervisors in District 1, 585 to 454. And, in District 5, Republican Mike Dixson defeated Democratic challenger David Guisinger, 593 to 507.

The results will not be final, until the all the votes are canvassed.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A pair of precincts in Madison County in central Iowa ran out of printed ballots Tuesday night and had to resort to photocopies. County elections deputy Lori Belgarde says two of the county’s nine precincts ran out of ballots. One of the precincts photocopied 23 ballots that voters then cast. Belgarde wasn’t certain how many photocopies the other precinct would need. Belgarde says the county had at least 10 percent more ballots on hand than were cast in 2008, an indication of strong voter turnout.

Chad Olsen, a spokesman for Iowa secretary of state Matt Schultz, says other precincts that included some in West Des Moines and Waukee also ran out of ballots. But Olsen says additional ballots were supplied before the original supply ran dry.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa voters have retained state Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins, who faced opposition because he supported a unanimous 2009 ruling that legalized gay marriage in Iowa. Social conservatives campaigned to oust Wiggins because of the ruling, following their success in removing three of his colleagues two years ago. Liberal groups and the Iowa State Bar Association worked to keep Wiggins on the bench.

The vote on Wiggins’ retention is considered a barometer for the public’s changing views on gay marriage and a flashpoint in the debate over the role of courts in American life. Wiggins joined six colleagues to declare that a state law banning gay marriage violated the equal-protection clause of Iowa’s constitution. The decision made Iowa the first Midwestern state to legalize gay marriage.

* Winner, with all precincts reporting unless otherwise noted….

State Representative District 20 (with 20 out of 21 precincts fully reporting)

Rep. Clel Baudler          8,094 (57.94%)*

Dem. Greg Nepstad      5,850 (41.88%)

State Representative District 21

Rep. Jack Drake            8,299* (winner) (56.88%)

Dem. John Rose           6,273 (42.99%)

State Representative District 18

Rep. Jason Schultz      8,328* (winner) (62.25%)

Dem. Kasey Friedrichsen   4,382 (34.33%)

State Representative District 16

Rep. Mary Ann Hanusa        6,806* (57.47%)

Dem. Heidi Guggisberg-Coners    5,011 (42.31%)

State Representative District 15

Rep. Mark A. Brandenburg        5,405 (52.29%)*

Dem. George Warren Yaple        4,914 (47.54%)

State Senate District 8

Rep. Al Ringgenberg                   10,124 (44.87%)

Dem. Michael E. Gronstal          12,407* (54.99%)*