The Cass County Democratic Party will be holding its County Convention on Saturday, March 21st. Fifty Delegates and 39 Alternates were elected by their peers to represent Presidential candidates. The Delegates and Alternates were elected at the Cass County Caucus which was held on February 3rd. The County Convention will be held at the Cass County Court House.

Registration begins at 9 AM with the Convention being called to order at 10 AM. Chairs of the County Convention Committees are Sandra Sothman, Arrangements, Rylea Anderson, Credentials, Bailey Smith, Platform, and Camie McBee, Rules & Nominations.

Four people will be elected to represent Cass County at the District Convention in Committees including Platform, Credentials, Arrangements, and Rules & Nominations. There will also be an election for Affirmative Action Chair. All Alternates are asked to attend the Convention in case of absences by the Delegates. Observers and members of the press are also invited to attend but will not be able to participate.

Breakfast items and refreshments will be provided for a free-will donation.  Six Delegates, along with several Alternates, will move on to the Third District Convention which will be held on April 25th at the Atlantic High School and to the State Convention which will be held in Des Moines on June 13th.

Questions can be directed to Sherry Toelle, Cass County Democratic Party Chair, at 243-4861.

[Council Bluffs] Pottawattamie County Division of Public Health and their partners will be activating a Call Center today (Wednesday, March 11th), for residents with questions relating to COVID-19. The call center will be open from 8:00am to 4:00pm Monday – Friday. Call Center numbers are 712-890-5368 or 712-890-5369.

Outside of the county call center hours, questions can be directed to the United Way’s 2-1-1 Resource Hotline. For more information on Coronavirus visit https://pcema-ia.org/ or visit the IDPH webpage at https://idph.iowa.gov/Emerging-Health-Issues/Novel-Coronavirus.

(Radio Iowa) — Hy-Vee is closing its Urbandale fulfillment center in May – impacting about 360 workers. Company spokesperson Christina Gayman says some fulfillment employees will be transferred to its grocery stores to continue filling online orders there.

“We’ll keep about 60 of those,” Gayman says, “but we know the other 300 will be either looking for other positions within Hy-Vee or will need to find something outside of Hy-Vee.” Hy-Vee will stop filling online orders at its fulfillment sites the week of March 23, but Gayman says workers can help with the transition through May 6.

“On HyVee.com, we have more than 1,200 job openings throughout our eight-state region,” she says. “There is potential for some of those people to find other roles within Hy-Vee…If there are employees who do not want to remain with Hy-Vee or we just can’t find the right fit for them, we’re working to help transition them to opportunities outside of Hy-Vee.” The company will also be closing fulfillment centers in Nebraska, Missouri and Minnesota.

“All four facilities will remain Hy-Vee facilities,” she says. “We don’t have details on what they might become in the future, but there will be some transition time.” Gayman is not sure if severance packages are included for those who do not stay.

(Reporting by Missourinet’s Alisa Nelson)

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — A man who was found guilty earlier this year of setting a fire that injured two people at his eastern Iowa home has been sentenced to 50 years in prison. Prosecutors say 45-year-old Shane Heins was sentenced Tuesday in Buchannan County District Court. A jury convicted him in January of arson and two counts of attempted murder.

He’d pleaded guilty before the trial to domestic abuse assault for shoving his stepdaughter. Investigators say Heins set the fire March 2, 2019, in Independence in an effort to kill his wife, Christina Heins, and her uncle, Nick Necker. Both were taken for treatment to University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Tuesday, said there were four arrests over the past week or so. Last Saturday, deputies arrested 39-year-old Grabiel Garcia, of Perry, as a result of a traffic stop along Highway 44 in Shelby County.   Garcia was charged with a simple misdemeanor charge of driving under suspension.  Garcia also had a nationwide parole violation warrant from the State of Iowa, and was being held without bond pending transport, and an appearance before the Department of Corrections Parole and Probation services

On March 4th, 29-year-old Jeffrey Daniel Gamblin was arrested following a traffic stop along East Street, in Shelby. He was charged with driving while license suspended, failure to providing financial liability and operating a non-registered vehicle. Gamblin was transferred to the jail without incident and released a short time later after posting the required $566 cash bond.

March 1st, Shelby County Deputies arrested 30-year-old Nicholas James Erisman, of Council Bluffs, for OWI/2nd offense, possession of controlled substance 2^nd offense, possession of drug paraphernalia, prohibited acts, driving while license suspended, and improper registration plate lamp.  Erisman was transferred to the Shelby County Jail without incident and held under $6,566 cash or surety bond until appearance before magistrate the following morning, and then held under $2000 bond, which was posted a short time later. He was subsequently released from custody.

And, on February 28th, Deputies in Shelby County arrested 32-year-old Tamara Leigh Dryer, of Harlan, following a traffic stop. Dryer was found to have a barred driver’s license and had an active outstanding warrant out of Pottawattamie County.  She was transported to the Shelby County Jail and held under $2000 cash/surety bond for the charges of driving while barred:  Dryer was released the following day after posting both surety bonds in Shelby County.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Health officials say five more residents in eastern Iowa’s Johnson County have tested positive for new coronavirus. Officials said in a news release Tuesday evening that all of the new cases are people who had recently traveled on an Egyptian cruise. The new cases bring the total number of Iowa infections to 13.

The release says 14 other tests have come back negative. Officials announced Iowa’s first COVID-19 cases on Sunday, as three individuals from Johnson County who had been on the cruise tested positive.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Tuesday of a Red Oak man on a New Jersey warrant. At 1:00pm Deputies arrested 32-year-old Brandon Michael Houghtaling of Red Oak on a Fugitive from Justice charge for a valid New Jersey warrant for Probation Violation. Houghtaling was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held pending extradition back to New Jersey.

The Audubon School Board will meet this Wednesday evening in their Boardroom at the Audubon High School. Prior to the start of their regular meeting at 7-p.m., the Board will hold a Work Session at 6:30. On their regular Board meeting agenda, is a Public Hearing with regard to the proposed FY21 School Year Calendar, followed by action later in the session on approving the calendar as presented.

Other action items include approval of: The Canvass of votes from the March 3rd Bond Election; Sanitation bid(s); a Bargaining Agreement with the Audubon Education Association, and approval of a plan to make up Snow Days. The Board will also set the date and time for a Budget Hearing.