(Radio Iowa/KJAN) With less than two weeks until the polls close on Election Day, the pace of EARLY voting in Iowa is way ahead previous records. More than 827-thousand Iowans asked for an absentee ballot so they could vote early either in-person at their county auditor’s office or by mail. The Iowa Secretary of State’s website shows nearly 571-thousand Iowans have already voted. Fifty-three percent of them are Democrats, 30 percent are Republicans and the remaining 16 percent are registered as “no party” or independent voters.

The latest voter REGISTRATION data shows there are about 13-thousand more registered Republicans than Democrats in Iowa. For the past few decades, independent voters had been the largest voting block in Iowa, but they’ve been surpassed this year by voters aligning with the two major parties. The Cass County Auditor’s Office, Tuesday, reported they still have 639 ballots that were mailed out that need to be returned. Remember the postage is already paid, you can drop it in the mail or you can walk them into Auditor’s office.

Officials say also, Saturday October 24th is the last day to request a ballot be mailed to you. The Cass County Auditor’s Office is open this Saturday October 24th from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for you to come in and vote. They said also “We have broken our 2016 record and currently have over 3000 ballots!!”

Officials with the Harlan Police Department report just two arrests over the past week. On Sunday, 41-year-old Jason Robin Conway Emery, of Shelby, was arrested following the execution of a search warrant. Emery was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with Theft 4th. And, on Oct. 14th, 52-year-old Brian Alan Sorensen, of Harlan, was arrested on an active warrant. Sorensen was transported to the Shelby County Jail.

Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber, Tuesday, released the District’s latest COVID-19 data. In his statement, Barber said “We continue to see positive cases and quarantined individuals, yet we have not experienced a breakout in any of our buildings.  Our absenteeism rate for students not quarantined is around 1% daily, which is really good.  We serve our quarantined students remotely, as each student has a device and internet is available to ensure that all have access.  Our staff continues to work hard at using the technology tools to enhance these experiences.”

He said also, “As a school district, we were fortunate to make it nearly four weeks before we were notified of a positive case requiring our nursing staff and Cass County to identify close contacts and quarantine those identified.  Since then we have had staff and students who have tested positive that required us to inform those affected that they must quarantine.  I realize that quarantine presents a lot of difficulties for parents, students, and staff and it is amazing to me how cooperative and understanding many have been when they receive a call from the school and/or Cass County Health.  Our data shows that this practice has been successful in preventing spreading within the school.”

“From day one,” Barber says, “we have gathered both school and county data to help us make decisions or modifications as we hold health and safety our top priority.  Starting on September 24, the week following our first case, we have kept data on the number of positive cases in the district as well as the number of students and staff quarantined.  These data points have been recorded each week at the same time to help make decisions.”

The Superintendent says “As new information becomes available to us in regards to COVID-19, we revisit and reassess how we can enhance the mitigation strategies that we have in place to help overcome the negative consequences associated with COVID-19 and maintain a high level of safety and health while our students are in our care.”

(The above information, Barber says, will be updated to the public each month to protect confidentiality of students and staff.)

Red Oak Police report two men were arrested on separate charges, Tuesday night. At around 7:30-p.m., 50-year old Kevin Wayne Watkins, of Red Oak, was arrested on a warrant for possession of a controlled substance/2nd offense. Watkins was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond. And, at around 10:50-p.m., 42-year old Matthew Larry Eichelberger, of Elliott, was arrested following a traffic stop in Red Oak. Eichelberger was charged with Driving Under Suspension, and was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on slightly more than $566 bond.