IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa is cutting four staff positions as part of a restructuring of an office that serves communities across the state.
The university announced Thursday that its six-year-old Office of Outreach and Engagement would be closed next fall, and its services and mission will be transferred to colleges throughout the university. UI spokeswoman Jeneane Beck says the move has “eliminated the need for four staff positions” and their employment will be ended when their contacts expire.

Among other programs, the office has housed the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities, in which students and faculty members partner with cities and towns to complete economic development, planning and other projects. Beck says that program will be transferred to the Graduate College next fall. She says the move should not affect ongoing projects in Keokuk, which is the program’s main partner this school year.

The Cass County Auditor’s Office reminds residents that the LAST DAY to pre-register to vote in the Auditor’s Office for the 2019 City/School Elections, is Friday, Oct. 25th.  The Auditor’s office will be open from 8 AM thru 5 PM.

PROOF OF IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED BEFORE CASTING A REGULAR BALLOT:

Pre-registered voters are required to provide an approved form of identification at the polling place before receiving and casting a regular ballot.  Voters who are not pre-registered – such as voters registering to vote on election day – and voters changing precincts must also provide proof of residence. A voter who is unable to provide an approved form of identification (or prove residence if required) may:
1) have the voter’s identity/residence attested to by another registered voter in the precinct,
2) prove identity and residence using Election Day Registration documents, or
3) cast a provisional ballot and provide proof of identity/residence at the county auditor’s office after Election Day.
Election Day Registrant attesters must provide an approved form of identification.

ABSENTEE BALLOTS / EARLY VOTING:

AT THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY AUDITOR: Registered voters may vote at the office of the Cass County Auditor.  Last day to vote in the office of the Cass County Auditor is November 4, 2019.
Auditor’s office will be open from 8 AM thru 5 PM. A voter may register and vote absentee / early vote on the same day.

The address for the Cass County Auditor / Election Commissioner is:

CASS COUNTY AUDITOR, COURTHOUSE 5 W 7TH ST, ATLANTIC IA 50022 (Phone:712-243-4570;   Email: auditor@casscoia.us)

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Congressman Steve King was among the 30 House Republicans who staged a sort of sit-in in a capital meeting room where impeachment hearings are being held. King says it is “unimaginable” that anyone would hold secret impeachment hearings and he described the process as “the greatest atrocity” he’s seen in his 17 years in congress. King says he and his G-O-P colleagues raised a “significant ruckus” and stormed into the secure room.

King says he’s standing with President Trump and will continue to push back against secret impeachment hearings. Democrats say they are abiding by rules established in 2015 by Republicans when they were in the majority. King was NOT one of the House Republicans who entered the room with their cell phones, a security breach which prompted a security sweep after the group left.

(Radio Iowa) — The wife of a missing Webster City man says he’s been found dead. Thirty-eight-year-old Jay Dee Wynkoop was reported missing on Sunday afternoon and his car was found outside a Webster City convenience store. Danielle Wynkoop posted on her Facebook page late Wednesday that her husband “went home to Jesus.” She offered no details, but said, “Thank you for allowing us to grieve this terrible loss,” and added, it was Jay’s wish that no online fundraisers be made in his name. Married in 2015, the couple had 11 children, ranging in age from five to 19.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports an Audubon County man was arrested on a felony, and other charges Wednesday night, following a traffic stop in Avoca. 41-year old Anthony Joseph Miller, of Kimballton, was taken into custody at around 11:30-p.m., on a felony charge of OWI/3rd or subsequent offense, and an aggravated misdemeanor charge of Driving While Barred/Habitual Offender. He was being held in the Pott. County Jail on a total of $7,000 bond.

And, 24-year old Robert Fredrickson Durham, an inmate at the Pott. County Jail, was charged Wednesday afternoon with Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree, for destruction/damage or vandalism of property valued at $300 to $750. Authorities say Durham broke the sprinkler head in his isolation cell. Corrections staff explained they to redirect Durham from tampering with the sprinkler all day long, Wednesday, until just before 2-p.m., when his efforts were successful.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A hospital association spokesman has been fired after criticizing Gov. Kim Reynolds’ handling of Medicaid privatization. The Des Moines Register reports that Thomas “Scott” McIntyre was dismissed from his post as vice president of communications for the Iowa Hospital Association after his personal, nonpublic Facebook post in March. He said at a Sept. 30 state unemployment hearing that his post was satirical and intentionally over the top in what he described as “Donald Trump language.”

He says the post rubbed a “small but powerful group” of the association’s members the wrong way. Critics of the privatization say it’s cut services for disabled Iowans and hasn’t delivered millions of dollars in payments and reimbursements to health care providers. The records say McIntyre won his unemployment appeal.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Members of a Mason City veterans group will dedicate monuments depicting male and female soldiers. The Globe Gazette reports the monuments will be dedicated Saturday at the All Vets Center. They have been added to a display that includes a Howitzer and flagpole. The monuments were obtained and repaired after a fundraising effort that included rummage sales and dances. One statue shows a female soldier who carries her helmet and has an M-4 rifle slung over her shoulder. The other shows an infantryman from the Vietnam War.