(In an update to our earlier post) – A man from Shenandoah died as the result of a motorcycle accident Sunday night, in Fremont County. According to the  Iowa State Patrol, 40-year-old Ric West-Lytle was traveling east on Highway 2 at around 9:45-p.m., when for reasons unknown, his 2001 Harley Davidson XL200S entered the westbound lane and then went into the north ditch. The motorcycle flipped several times before coming to rest in the ditch. West-Lytle was ejected from the machine during the crash.

His body was transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny. The accident remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – The National Association of Secretaries of State Task Force on Vote Verification has released six recommendations for states on handling post-election audits. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate was on the bipartisan task force and says the “best practices” are similar to what Iowa already does. “We do post-election audits, in fact, I am very proud of the fact we did 99 post-election audits — one in each county,” Pate says. “And the hand count matches exactly what the tabulator said, and I think that speaks to the integrity of our process.

The recommendations include how to handle ballots and being transparent in releasing the results.”It is imperative that the public has total confidence in the process and the results,” Pate says.  He says the public is now demanding more information. “They want to know more than just that you ran a safe election. They want you to share with them what steps are you using,” according to Pate. “The fact that we have bipartisan teams working side-by-side who can observe the process from beginning to end. The fact that the machines are certified in front of other people and tested and retested. Our ballots get hand-counted in the post-election audits.”

Pate says another key recommendation is to get the process set long before the voting starts. “Let’s set the rules for an election well before the election — none of this midstream stuff. That’s when you start creating doubt with the public,” Pate says. “My role as Secretary of State, I am a referee, I don’t get to wear a uniform. If you are at a sporting event don’t change the rules in the middle of the game and go ‘hey you know we are going to rethink that’.”

The task force released its recommendations late last week.

(Radio Iowa) – Union organized Labor Day events in several Iowa cities are being cancelled because of the pandemic. The Hawkeye Area Labor Council has voted to cancel all Labor Day events in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Iowa City, Marshalltown and Mason City. Rick Moyle, executive director of the Hawkeye Area Labor Council, issued a written statement. Moyle said with Covid case numbers sadly rising, the group knows it has a responsibility to do the right thing and does not want to contribute to the spread of what he referred to as “this evil virus.”

According to the Iowa Federation of Labor’s website, the annual Labor Day observances organized by union members also have been cancelled in Clinton, Des Moines and the Quad Cities.

(Updated 4:30-p.m., 8/23) – Candidate filings for City and School Candidates in Cass County began Monday (8/23).  All City candidates will file in the Auditor’s office and all School Candidates will file with the appropriate School Board Secretary.

Two people who had previously announced their plans to run for Mayor in the City of Atlantic, filed papers today.They include 3rd Ward Councilman Pat McCurdy and At Large Councilperson Grace N. Garrett, both of Atlantic.  In addition, 2nd Ward Atlantic Councilperson Kathy Somers filed her nomination papers for Mayor, Monday.

And, Shirley Jensen, of Atlantic, has filed to run for the City of Atlantic’s Park and Recreation Department Board of Directors. Additional candidate filings will be announced throughout the week, as they are made available to KJAN.

Police in Red Oak cited a teen for Failure to Obey a Stop Sign and Yield the Right of Way, following an accident that happened at around 4:50-p.m., Friday. Authorities say the accident happened at the intersection of W. Washington Avenue and N. Broadway, when a 2008 Chevy Impala driven by 16-year-old Cayden Gillespie, of Red Oak, failed to yield as he was traveling westbound across Broadway.

The Impala struck a 2001 Chevy Blazer broadside, at the intersection. The driver of the SUV was identified as 35-year-old Gregory Kyle Frazier Boehne, of Adel. Both vehicles sustained an estimated $6,000 damage, each. No injuries were reported.

One person suffered possible/unknown minor injuries during a collision Saturday afternoon, in Guthrie County. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports the accident happened at the intersection of Chirma Road and Highway 4, at around 2:25-p.m.  Authorities say a 2015 GMC Canyon pickup truck was stopped or stopping northbound on Highway 4, and turning left onto Chirma Road, when his vehicle was struck from behind by a 2013 Ford F-350 pickup. The driver of the GMC, 33-year old Matthew Wilson, of Omaha, was hurt, but was not transported to the hospital.

Officials say skid marks at the scene indicated the driver of the Ford, 22-year-old Riley Barr, of Indianola, appeared a short distance from the impact site. Barr was cited for Failure to Stop in a Safe Distance, and Open Container as a driver. Damage from the collision amounted to $30,000 (15k each vehicle). The Ford was declared a total loss.

A man from southwest Iowa who died during the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7^th, 1941, will be remembered during a Memorial Service on Sept. 25^th. Eli Olsen’s remains were identified from among 429 who were onboard the battleship U.S.S. Oklahoma when it was sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers. Olsen was a 23-year-old Navy Petty Officer 3^rd Class serving on the ship as a storekeeper. He was from Exira. John Henry Tibben, of the Ames area, is his nephew. Tibben – who is 80-years old – was just three-months old when his uncle died, so his memories are sparse.

Tibben says his grandpa and grandma didn’t have any specific idea of what happened to Eli. They had received a telegram saying he was “missing in action.” About three months later they were told Eli had been declared dead.

The remains were removed in 2015, following political pressure from Congress, USS Oklahoma survivors and their families. Olsen’s remains and those of 20 other soldiers and sailors from western Iowa and Nebraska were eventually identified through DNA analysis, at the Defense Department’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency Lab at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Eli Olsen, of Exira. KIA Dec. 7, 1941 on the USS Oklahoma. (Photo via the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)

His identity was confirmed in September, 2017. John Tibben said his mother Ruth Tibben (Eli’s sister) had a hard time dealing with the news Eli’s remains had been identified. He says when she was told Eli was coming back and would be laid to rest in Exira, “she didn’t want anything to do with it,” and that John could take care of it, because “She had dealt with that and gone through it all.”

Ruth Tibben was Eli’s last living sibling. She died in April at the age of 100. Her brother will be buried next to her and near his brother Paul, in the Exira Cemetery. The Memorial Service will be held in the Exira Lutheran Church. John Tibben says bringing his Uncle home after all these years is a “good feeling” for the family, and offers the chance for a family reunion.