(Radio Iowa) – Libertarian candidates for three Iowa congressional seats who’ve been removed from the ballot vow to run write-in campaigns if the state’s highest court rules against them. In late August, a state panel ruled the Libertarian Party did not follow state law when it held county conventions on January 15th, the same day as the party’s caucuses. The Iowa Supreme Court’s justices heard legal arguments in the case this (Tuesday) morning.

Marco Battaglia of Des Moines is the candidate Libertarians nominated to run in Iowa’s third congressional district. Battaglia told reporters he took the time to make sure he did things the right way and the Republican Party’s challenge of his candidacy is unfair. “If they use lawfare to take me off the ballot, I will stay in until the end of the race regardless,” Battaglia says. “I plan to do that no matter what happened today or yesterday or tomorrow.” Charles Aldrich of Clarion, the Libertarian candidate in the fourth congressional district, is striking a hopeful tone about today’s (Tuesday’s) legal arguments.

“The justices had a lot of questions for both sides,” Aldrich told reporters, “so they were paying attention.”Alan Ostergren  is the attorney who represented the Republicans who challenged the Libertarian congressional candidates. Ostergren told the justices the Libertarian Party failed to follow the procedural steps for its county conventions. “They’re like an insurance policy for the elections process. They’re so that elections officials, when they have to make decisions on a quick timetable, know that there is regularity in the process,” Ostergren said. “…If the court says: ‘Well, we’re not going to enforce that ’cause, gosh it seems harsh,’ then there is no logical stopping place.”

Jennifer DeKoch, a lawyer representing one of the Libertarians kicked off the fall ballot, told the justices a ruling against her client would lead to similar challenges of other candidates. “The fundamental question before this court is does the failure to wait 181 minutes after caucus to begin convention justify kicking Libertarian candidates off the ballot and violating Iowa voters’ constitutional rights to political opportunity?” she asked rhetorically.

The Iowa Supreme Court’s chief justice indicated the court will issue its decision before tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11:59 p.m. That is the deadline Iowa’s secretary of state has established for certifying the ballots in the first, third and fourth congressional districts — and getting those ballots printed on time.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports three recent arrests:

23-year-old Chase Jonathan Ives, of Bellevue, NE, was arrested last Friday (Sept. 6th) on a Mills County warrant for Violation of Probation. Ives was taken into custody at the Sarpy County, NE Jail. His bond was set at $5,000.

35-year-old Christopher Lee Petersen, of Glenwood, was arrested early Sunday morning, for OWI/1st offense, two counts Possession of Controlled Substance, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $3,300.

And, 37-year-old Reynaldo Domingo Rivera, of Bellevue, NE, was arrested Monday at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for Willful Injury. His bond was set at $10,000.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A woman was arrested on a warrant at around Noon today (Tuesday) in Red Oak. The Red Oak Police Department reports 32-year-old Maura Elizabeth Jones, of Red Oak, was taken into custody on a Montgomery County warrant for Impersonating a Public Official, an aggravated misdemeanor. Jones was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Transportation Commission today (Tuesday) discussed an expansion of a long-time economic development program to help communities hit by disasters. The D-O-T’s Deb Arp says the RISE program was created during the economic downturn in the 1980’s. “Iowa’s economy needed revitalization at that time, and through more diversification and more support for development in non metropolitan areas, and that became a driving force through some of the legislative achievements through that period. And in 1985 rise was one of those,” Arp says. RISE stands for Rebuild Iowa’s Sound Economy, and provides funding to extend roadways for potential new businesses or to help businesses which promise to create new jobs.

Arp says the Business Relocation and Job Retention program would meet the guidelines of RISE. “We feel that the impacts of this program and on revitalizing a community could be similar, and looked at similar as the University Research Park category,” she says, “where we may not have specific job commitments, we don’t have a specific company we are assisting, but we are approaching that level of impact, economic development wise, in a depressed area, that it’s worthy of a higher level of support.”
Arp says it would not be used to rebuild flooded roads — but would help businesses relocate to stay viable.

“A community should be in a county covered by a proclamation of disaster emergency by the governor and also a presidential disaster declaration,” Arp says. “There must be flooded businesses. In this case, we’re talking about a flood. Flooded businesses requesting permanent relocation outside of the Flood Hazard Area.” Arp says the applications would have to go through a scoring process to determine they met the guidelines.

“Documentation of business interest in relocation and the economic distress of the community would be required to be submitted with the application. Roadways are located outside of the flood hazard area, and rise participation would be held to 70 percent of eligible project costs,” she says. The D-O-T staff will now put together the language to create the program and bring it back to the Transportation Commission for a vote to approve it. Arp says Rock Valley is one community that could use the program if it is approved.

(Radio Iowa) – A former southeast Iowa middle school teacher is being sentenced after sending improper messages to a student six years ago. Forty-two-year-old Zachary Barr of Ottumwa will serve a pair of five-year concurrent prison sentences after pleading guilty to enticing a minor and sexual exploitation by a school employee. In 2018, Barr, then a sixth-grade teacher at Evans Middle School, sent illicit messages to a 13-year-old girl. As part of the investigation, officers took control of the girl’s social media accounts. Their conversations with Barr became overtly sexual, prompting his arrest.

In addition to his prison time, Barr will also have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, received a weekly update from County Engineer Karen Albert. She mentioned the Secondary Roads Department has been hauling road rock and did some cold patchwork on certain roads over the past week. She said also, surveyors will be in the area next week (the weeks of Sept. 16^th). Surveying two bridges.

Montgomery County Engineer Karen Albert, 9-10-24

H-34/Nature Avenue to Q Avenue, she said is being widened, and work is progressing on that project before it is completed.

She said also her department continues to meet with FEMA on a bi-weekly basis with regard to damages from the May, 2024 severe storm event that caused damaged to some of the county road infrastructure. FEMA was out last week conducting a site inspection, according to Engineer Albert.

(Radio Iowa) – U-S Senator Chuck Grassley is renewing his criticism of the F-B-I after a new government report finds the agency failed to make promised changes following the nation’s largest-ever sports sex abuse scandal. Former U-S Olympic Gymnastics Doctor Larry Nassar was arrested in 2016 on allegations he sexually assaulted more than 260 girls and young women. Grassley says the F-B-I still hasn’t made key changes in how it investigates child sex abuse reports. “They aren’t giving proper attention to sexual abuse, and they just aren’t doing their job,” Grassley says. “They haven’t improved their technology and their reporting regulations.”

Grassley says a recent audit from the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General finds the F-B-I botched the Nassar investigation, and while the F-B-I committed to making meaningful reforms, hasn’t implemented most of them. “The FBI, going back maybe eight, nine, ten years, when Nassar was abusing these gymnasts, and some of this was reported to the FBI,” Grassley says, “and the Indianapolis office sat on it for months and maybe into a couple years.” Grassley says the audit found the F-B-I has not issued new policy guidelines directing employees to report child sex abuse to the authorities, and hasn’t fixed vulnerabilities that prevented law enforcement from swiftly bringing Nassar to justice. It also found the bureau still heavily relies on the outdated Sentinel system it used during the Nassar investigation, as opposed to the updated Guardian system that pushes alerts for timely reviews.

“But here we are seven, eight, nine years later,” Grassley says, “and we’re finding out that they aren’t following up on the mistakes they made in Indianapolis.” Grassley has sent a letter to the F-B-I’s director, demanding answers on the bureau’s failure to implement necessary changes to improve its practices regarding child sex cases. In 2017, Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison, and in 2018, was sentenced to several more decades in a Michigan state prison.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – On Thursday, September 12, from 4:00-7:00 PM the Cass County Democrats will hold a Grand Opening at their 2024 election headquarters at 704 Walnut St. Suite 2, in Atlantic. The Grand Opening will feature Iowa House Candidate Tripp Narup who is running for the Iowa House in District 18, the seat currently held by Tom Moore. In addition to Narup, Cass County District Five Supervisor Candidate Phyllis Stakey will also be attending the Democrats’ Grand Opening. Stakey is running for the seat currently held by Bernard Pettinger. District Five includes Wiota, Anita, Cumberland, and Massena.

Narup,currently serving on the Villisca City Council, believes the following issues are central to creating opportunity in Southwest Iowa: reproductive rights, public education, highway and road infrastructure, and the state tax code. “Iowans are friendly and sensible people,” he said. “They know it is the time to get back to basics, to get back to doing the job state government is meant to do: educate our kids, maintain our roads and bridges, and protect individual rights. We’ve had enough of political bickering and make-believe culture clash issues. Let’s get back to work.”

Stakey is running for County Supervisor because she believes it is important to manage people’s money well, and she wants to promote and further develop communities in Cass County. Stakey is a lifelong resident of Cass County who worked as a realtor for 23 years and spent 18 years serving on the Cass County Hospital Board of Trustees. Stakey understands how important it is to people that their money be managed well. She has been active in the Cass County Tourism Committee, the Massena Historical Society, the Massena Chamber of Commerce, and the Cass County Board of Review, among other community organizations. Stakey believes all County Supervisors should be actively engaged in supporting and promoting their communities.

Everyone interested in meeting Narup or Stakey is welcome to attend the Cass County Democrats’ Headquarters Grand Opening on September 12, regardless of party affiliation. For more information on the Cass County Democrats or to join the Cass County Democrats email newsletter, contact casscountyiadems@gmail.com or follow the Cass County Democrats on Facebook @CassCountyIADems or on Instagram @CassCountyDemocrats.