Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman reports ballots for the September 13th, 2016 Atlantic Community School District public measure election are now available at the Cass County Auditor’s office. If you are a resident of the Atlantic Community School District and will be unable to go to the voting center on September 13th or you choose to cast your vote early for any reason, you may vote by mail by sending a request for an absentee ballot to the Cass County Auditor’s office. Alternatively, you may stop and vote at the Cass County Auditor’s office in Atlantic, Iowa during office hours: 8 a.m. thru 4:30 p.m., Monday thru Friday.

PUBLIC MEASURE B: ” Shall the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Community School District in the Counties of Cass, Pottawattamie, and Audubon, State of Iowa, be authorized for a period of ten (10) years, to levy and impose a voter approved physical plant and equipment tax not to exceed eighty-five cents (85¢) per one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) of assessed valuation of the taxable property within the school district, and be authorized annually, in combination, as determined by the board, to levy a physical plant and equipment property tax upon all the taxable property within the school district commencing with the levy of property taxes for collection in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2017, and to impose a physical plant and equipment income surtax upon the state individual income tax of each individual income taxpayer resident in the school district on December 31 for each calendar year commencing with the 2017 calendar year, or each year thereafter, (the percent of income surtax not to exceed twenty percent (20%) to be determined by the board each year), to be used for the purposes permitted by Iowa law, it being understood that if this proposition should fail to be approved by the voters, such failure shall not be construed to terminate or restrict authority previously granted by the voters to levy a special tax for any one or more of the purposes permitted by Iowa law?”

The ATLANTIC COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT consists of Cass, Audubon and Pottawattamie counties. The polls will open at 12-NOON and close at 8:00 P.M. Sept. 13th. The election is “AT LARGE,” meaning that all residents of the entire school district may vote for the public measure. If you are not sure where you vote in the SCHOOL ELECTION (which may differ from that of other elections), please call the office of the Cass County Election Commissioner (County Auditor): 243-4570.

NOTE: ONLY TWO VOTING CENTERS WILL BE USED FOR THIS ELECTION: VOTING CENTER 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. VOTING CENTER 2: Voters living 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.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Woodbury County jury has found a Sioux City man guilty of first-degree murder for the shooting death of another man in the northwest Iowa community of Sloan. The jury found 30-year-old Timothy Schroeder guilty Friday for the Jan. 9, 2015, death of 29-year-old Dustin Wilder at Wilder’s home. The verdict came only hours after closing arguments in the case were made.

Prosecutors say Schroeder and his wife met Wilder after midnight the day of Wilder’s death at a Sloan bar. Investigators say Schroeder acknowledged that he and his wife later drove an intoxicated Wilder to his home. Schroeder maintained his innocence, saying he and his wife only helped Wilder find his phone, then left after about 20 minutes.

Sheriff’s deputies in Audubon County arrested an Atlantic man this (Friday) morning on an outstanding Audubon County warrant for a Sex Offender Registry Violation. 57-year old Mark Anthony Martens was taken into custody at around 11-a.m., following an ongoing investigation into Martens’ place of residence.

Martens was brought to the Audubon County Jail, where he was being held on $2,000 bond. The incident remains under investigation. Atlantic Police and the Cass County Sheriff’s Office assisted in conducting the arrest.

Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Ayers is asking the public to pay special attention to the bicyclists going through the county in the next few days toward Glenwood, in advance of RAGBRAI. Ayers says he’s seen many bikes all over the county roads today (Friday).

Police in Council Bluffs say two Bellevue, Nebraska men are in custody in connection with the July 1^st robbery of the Bucky’s Express convenience store, in Council Bluffs. Warrants were issued for 20-year old Kayvon Berry-Smith and 19-year old Kyntral Watkins charging both men with Attempted Murder, Robbery 1st Degree, Assault while Participating in a Felony and Going Armed with Intent.

Authorities say at around 12:35-a.m., July 1^st, two black men entered the Bucky’s Express on Madison Avenue. One of the suspects pointed a black semi- automatic pistol at the clerk and demanded the money from the register. The suspect was handed an undetermined amount of cash. As the suspects exited the store the suspect fired one shot toward the clerk. The suspects then ran from the store.

The suspects were later identified with the assistance of the Bellevue and Lavista, Nebraska Police Departments, and Sarpy County, Nebraska Sheriff’s Office. Kayvon Berry-Smith was arrested in Bellevue, Nebraska by the Metro Area Fugitive Task Force and Bellevue Police Department. Kyntral Watkins is currently incarcerated at the Diagnostic & Evaluation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska on an unrelated charge. Both men are currently awaiting extradition to Iowa.

(A follow-up to the Radio Iowa story posted earlier, about Trump referencing Sarah Root)

A western Iowa Republican who was a delegate at his party’s national convention this week says he knows the Sarah Root story very well. Charles Petterson of Persia says Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the judge in the case “didn’t do their jobs” and ensure the driver was held after he’d been charged.  “That guy had been caught and released several times,” Petterson says. “We don’t need new laws. We need to enforce the ones we’ve got.”

Petterson says it’s time to enforce border security. “People are saying: ‘Enough is enough,'” Petterson says. Petterson was a precinct captain for Ted Cruz on Iowa Caucus night. Now that Donald Trump is the G-O-P’s nominee, Petterson says he and other party volunteers are “going to have to work hard” to reach people who are “adamantly opposed” to Trump. “The goal isn’t to get them to be supporters,” Petterson says. “The goal is to get them to vote.”

Petterson’s focused on warning voters about Hillary Clinton rather than making a positive pitch for Donald Trump. “He’s a draft-dodging coward in my book, disrespects prisoners of war. He belittles people,” Petterson says. “…I’m not an enthusiastic Trump supporter, but I will do what I need to do because we cannot have four more years of Obama.”

(Radio Iowa)

Officials in Emerson have placed the City under a mandatory boil order until further notice, following a malfunction that occurred at the city’s water processing plant. For questions or more information, contact the Emerson City Hall at (712) 824-7866.

A traffic stop in Pottawattamie County Wednesday evening resulted in a man being arrested on a drug charge. The Sheriff’s Office says 21-year old John Gruber, of Missouri Valley, faces charges that include OWI/1^st offense and Possession of a controlled substance/Methamphetamine.

Gruber was pulled over at around 5:20-p.m., Wednesday. According to the report, the told the deputy he didn’t have a license, and the man appeared to be under the influence of meth. Gruber consented to a drug test, which indicated the presence of a Central Nervous Systems (CNS) stimulant. He also allegedly had a plastic bag of meth inside his wallet. Gruber was arrested on the charges and cited for failure to have a valid license.

One person was flown by helicopter to an area hospital following a motorcycle accident early this (Friday) morning, in Pottawattamie County. Sheriff’s officials say a woman passenger on a 2009 Harley Davidson motorcycle lost or released her grip on the driver of the cycle, and fell off. The accident happened at around 2:10-a.m. on Highway 59, just north of Idlewood Road. No names were immediately available. The accident remains under investigation.