Eighteen girls will compete for the title of Cass County Fair Queen and seven boys will try for Cass County Fair King during the annual county fair, July 29^th through August 5^th, 2011.

During a recent preliminary judging of all candidates at the Main Street Grill in Atlantic,  each candidate was interviewed by two judges and then participated in a small group discussion. Judging criteria is based on appearance, personality, poise, charm, awareness, leadership, and citizenship within the community, as well as their ability to discuss openly, honestly, and extemporaneously on current youth issues.

Candidates trying for the title of queen include:

Hannah Ankenbauer, Marybeth Anstey, Alyssa Askeland, Michelle Buboltz, Linnea Casey, Taylor Dorsey, Lauren Fast, Cynthia Freund, Andrea Kuffel, Sarah Jo Masker, Melanie Palmer, Maggie Peck, Tess Peck, Diana Perkins, Erin Steele, Amber Stender, Toni Swanson and Kate Lynn Wheatley.

King candidates include:

Robert Nichols, Justin Aupperle, Ryan Aupperle, J.T. Baker, Dylan Christensen, Mark Jacobsen and Ethan Miller.

Contestants were treated to dinner sponsored by the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, Cass County Farm Bureau & Brocker Karns & Karns. Coordinating the event are Superintendent, Deb Schuler, Assistant, Lana Westphalen, and the 2010 Cass County Fair Queen Victoria Frisbie; Princess, Katelyn Blake, and 2010 Fair King, Ethan Wessling, and Prince, Charles Ankenbauer.

Crowning of the 2011 Fair Queen will take place in front of the grandstand on Sunday, July 29^th,  at 8:00 PM.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Rep. Tom Latham raised more than $580,000 for his 2012 reelection campaign in the second quarter of 2011, the first reporting period since Iowa’s redistricting plan was implemented.

According to Latham’s campaign, the nine-term congressman has $1.5 million cash on hand as he moves from his current, north-central Iowa district to a southwest Iowa district where he will challenge incumbent Democratic Rep. Leonard Boswell. The deputy treasurer for Latham’s campaign, Elizabeth Severson, says Latham’s haul is the most his committee has raised in a single quarter.

Boswell hasn’t released his second quarter fundraising numbers. Candidates are required to do so by July 15. Latham is attempting to win a district that is virtually all new terrain, comprised of 16 counties in the southwest and including Des Moines.

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a 74-year-old sex offender has died at the Iowa State Penitentiary medical unit in Fort Madison.

A state news release says Jack Franks was found unresponsive, without a pulse or heartbeat, in his bed at 3:20 a.m. Sunday. The release says that because Franks had signed a do-not-resuscitate order, no attempt to revive him was made.

The release says Franks suffered from several conditions, including coronary artery disease. Franks was serving a 20-year sentence that began in July 2005.

He’d been convicted in Pottawattamie County of four counts of lascivious acts with a child.

The Iowa Department of Economic Development says awards totaling $28.2 million were announced today (Monday), for 86 communities across the state. The Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) awarded the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to support 88 community investment projects. The federally funded grants were awarded for community facilities, infrastructure improvements, and single family owner-occupied housing rehabilitation.

In southwest Iowa, these communities received CDBG funds for sanitary sewer or water distribution system improvements….

Anita – $500,000; Creston – $600,000; Cumberland – $200,000; Essex – $287,00; Fremont & Minden – $300,000; Griswold & Panora – $500,000.

And, these communities received Housing grants to rehabilitate owner-occupied single-family units…

Atlantic – $484,500 for 13 units; Bedford – $241,000 for 6 units; Harlan – $373,000 for 10 units; Mount Ayr -$203,500 for 5 units; Shenandoah – $373,000 for 10 units; & Sidney – $308,000 for 8 units.

CDBG funds will leverage more than $34 million in local funds from Iowa’s communities. The program enables communities to make needed improvements to water and sewer systems, improve housing conditions for low-income homeowners, and develop the best child care facilities for Iowa’s youth.

IDED received 141 applications for these funds, totaling more than $44.2 million in funding requests. The grants are awarded based on the financial need and potential impact of the project, benefit to low- and moderate-income persons, and commitment of local resources to moving the project forward.

The Community Development Block Grant program is federally funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). IDED is responsible for administering the CDBG funds in the non-metropolitan areas of the state.

GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) – A state audit shows that a former accounting clerk at the Glenwood Resource Center took money from clients’ activity accounts to cover her  gambling losses and to help a daughter who was going through a divorce. The audit, released Monday, shows Carol Tibben made 17 unauthorized withdrawals from clients’ accounts totaling nearly $3,400. The audit indicates Tibben repaid $2,500 before she resigned in June 2010.

The center provides services to people with disabilities. The audit says once a client’s request for cash was received and approved, Tibben would write a check for cash from the account and a courier would retrieve the money from the bank and return it to Tibben.

Authorities in Clarinda are asking residents to report any suspicious activities around vehicles in the community, after several break-ins occurred over the weekend. According to Police Chief Keith Brothers, at least six vehicles in the southwest part of the community were entered sometime late Saturday evening and early Sunday morning. The thief or thieves took items ranging from cash and coins, to electronic devices, CD’s, and even two long rifles.

Damage to the vehicles was estimated at $2,000. Brothers says the many of the vehicles were unlocked. In one instance, the culprits entered a vehicle through its trunk. Brothers says residents shouldn’t hesitate to call the Clarinda P-D if they observe suspicious activity around the community.

Anyone with information pertaining to the recent crime spree, should call the Clarinda Police Department at 712-542-2194.

Members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) say they will be in attendance at a public hearing this evening in Adair County, to demand the County’s Board of Supervisors deny a construction permit for what they say is a proposed Cargill backed hog factory farm.

Eric Taylor is seeking a permit to build a 2,480 head feeder operation in Richland Township, south of Fontanelle.  Members of Adair-Madison County Iowa CCI say they, and neighbors of the proposed large Confined Animal Feeding Operation, or CAFO, oppose construction of the factory farm-because of the environmental and economic damage it will cause to their local rural community.

Auditor Mindy Schaefer told KJAN last Friday, that the public hearing is necessary because the number of animals housed there will be over 1,000. The County will use the Master Matrix scoring method to make it’s recommendation to the DNR following the public hearing.

The hearing will last no longer than 90-minutes, with three-minutes allowed per speaker. Sign-up for the hearing begins at 6:30-p.m., in the Courtroom at the Adair County Courthouse. A member of the Board of Supervisors will sign-up speakers on a first-come, first-served basis. Speakers will make their comments in the order they signed-up. Once the meeting begins, no additional speakers will be allowed to sign-up, or speak.

Written comments must be presented to the Board of Supervisors prior to the public hearing at 7-p.m..

Schaefer says only written comments will accompany the Board of Supervisor’s recommendation to the DNR, along with the Master Matrix scoring.