(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass Health Foundation will host its annual gala on Saturday, March 26, 2022, at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club. Officials say the gala is a fundraiser for the Cass Health Foundation’s 2022 campaign to purchase a mobile telemedicine stroke system. The system will be used to immediately connect a suspected stroke patient with a neurologist.

Dave Chase, Cass Health Foundation Treasurer, said “The mission of the Cass Health Foundation is to support Cass Health. Our project this year helps get important equipment into the hands of providers who are caring for us, our family, and our neighbors.” The theme of this year’s gala is “Wild, Wild West.” Attendees are encouraged to wear western wear like boots, hats, jeans, etc.

The evening includes dinner, dessert auction, and entertainment. Tickets to the event are limited and available through table sponsorships. For more information, please call Dawn Marnin at 712-243-7409 or visit casshealth.org/donors/2022gala to view the details, or pay online.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Montgomery County Auditor Stephanie  Burke reports County officials conducted a post-election audit today (Monday, November 8, 2021), under a law designed to monitor and protect election processes. Burke said the audit was a perfect match to the results recorded on election night.

Iowa law allows the Secretary of State choose, at random, one precinct in each Iowa county to be audited. County auditors must then supervise a hand count of the ballots from that precinct and compare the results to the voting machine count from election night. In Montgomery County, the Secretary of State chose Precinct 7, which votes at the Villisca Community Building. 139 ballots were cast on election night and the results matched perfectly to the hand count done on Monday, November 8, 2021.

Post election audit being conducted in Montgomery County (photo courtesy Stephanie Burke)

“That’s what we like to see,” Burke said, “the hand count shows that our machines are accurately counting the ballots.” “Since our voting machines, as well as our programming and tabulating computers, aren’t hooked up to the internet, hacking the vote is highly unlikely,” she said. “Being able to rely on paper ballots should give us confidence in the integrity of our voting system.”
Four precinct election officials, representing the two major political parties, conducted the count under the supervision of Auditor, Stephanie Burke. As required in the law, the Auditor’s Office notified the county chairs of both of the two major political parties.

Questions about the post-election audit and other election matters may be directed to the Montgomery County Auditor’s office at 712-623-5127.

(Radio Iowa) – A ceremony will be held this (Monday) afternoon at Iowa State University to honor three former students for their military service during World War Two. One of those who will be honored is William Ostlund, of Webster City. His nephew, Chris Ostlund, says the Japanese attack on the U-S base in Hawaii on December 7th of 1941 was the turning point for his uncle. “After Pearl Harbor, he enlisted and decided to go into the submarine service because he knew that was something that was difficult and he thought the challenge would be great.”

Ostlund joined the U.S Navy in February of 1942 and was assigned to a sub, the U-S-S Gudgeon. Many stories have been passed down about Ostlund’s Uncle Bill. “He had aspirations actually to go into politics after World War II and in a sense, he knew that the submarine service would look good on his resume,” Ostlund says, “but of course, he also wanted to serve the country and was very angry at what happened and wanted to go fight the enemy.”

William Ostlund. (ISU photo.)

The Gudgeon and its crew of 81 were lost at sea in 1944 and it was never found, but years later, a Japanese pilot documented sinking an American submarine that April, which was presumed to be it. Ostlund says this ceremony is a wonderful — and somber — time for him and his relatives. “We have family coming from literally all over the country to attend, a whole bunch of Ostlunds,” he says, “so it’s a unique opportunity for all of us to get together and maybe have our own closure as a family, as a group, that never was alive when the memorial service for Uncle Bill took place in 1946.”

The service will also honor Robert A. Berwick of Knoxville who studied chemistry at Iowa State from 1940 to 1943. Berwick joined the U.S. Navy in the fall of 1943 and was killed off the coast of Okinawa in 1945. Donald T. Griswold of Clarinda attended Iowa State from 1936 to 1941 to study agronomy. Griswold joined the U.S. Navy in 1941 and died June 6, 1942 during the battle of Midway. The ceremony is scheduled for 3:15 P-M at the Memorial Union Great Hall. The event is open to the public.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Guthrie County today (Monday), say there were three, non-injury accidents that took place between Thursday and Saturday. At around 6:45-p.m. Saturday, a 2016 Ford F-150 driven by 33-year-old Kate R. Holtz, of Carroll, was traveling west on Highway 141, when the pickup struck a deer. The vehicle sustained an estimated $15,000 damage.

On Friday, at around 4:20-p.m., a collision occurred in the A.C./G.C. High School parking lot. Authorities say 17-year-old Keitn D. Kinney, of Guthrie Center, was driving a legally parked 2003 Chevy Silverado pickup, and pulling out of a parking stall, when he turned too short, causing his vehicle to strike the driver’s side bumper/headlight area of a 2002 Ford Ranger. Damage to the Ford was estimated at $2,000. The Chevy sustained about $5,000 damage. No citations were issued.

And, at around 1:25-p.m. Thursday, a 2012 Ford F-650 Super Duty moving van driven by 26-year-old Tyler Scott Stewart, of Indianola, was backing up in the 100 block of N. 6th Street in Guthrie Center, so he could turn west into the 500 block of Main Street. In doing so, Stewart failed to notice a legally parked 2015 Chevy Silverado pickup as it was in the yard at 102 N. 5th Street. The truck backed into the grill of the pickup, causing minor damage to the grill guard, fender and headlight assembly of the Chevy. The cost of the damage was estimated at $1,000. No citations were issued.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports two arrests over the past few days, and two vehicle vandalism incidents. Authorities say at around 5:25-p.m., Sunday, 26-year-old Bridget Ashley Brooks, of Creston, was arrested at her residence. She faces several charges, including: Escape From Custody; Disorderly Conduct; Assault on Persons in Certain Occupations, and Interference with Official Acts. Brooks was transported to Adams County Jail, where she was being held without bond, until seen by judge.

And a little before 7-p.m., Friday, 22-year old Anthony James Parmenter, of Creston, was arrested at his residence for Failure to Appear on a prior warrant. Parmenter was taken to Union County Jail, and later released after posting a $1,000 cash bond.

Two men from Afton reported to Police Friday, that their vehicles had been damaged in Creston. One man told Police his vehicle had been broken into in the 1100 block of Manor Drive, in Creston. He said cash and medication was taken. The loss was estimated loss at $42. Another man reported that his vehicle had been vandalized at 709 E. Fremont St., in Creston. The incident took place sometime between midnight and 7-am., and resulted in the theft of the driver’s side door from a silver 1997 Dodge Ram 2500. The loss was estimated at $400.

(Nodaway, Iowa) – Iowa District 11 Republican Senate Representative Tom Shipley says he’s running for re-election in 2022. Shipley – who is quarantined at home after testing positive for COVID-19 – says he has “a couple, three days left” in quarantine. He said he had some of the symptoms.

He says “He’s hopeful [about his recovery].”

Having the virus hasn’t stopped him from spreading the word about his plans to run for a third-term in office.

If he wins, it would mark the beginning of his third term in office, but it would be in District 9 under the bipartisan redistricting proposal Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law last week. The new maps become effective starting with the 2022 elections.

The 11th District of the Iowa Senate is located in southwestern Iowa, and is currently composed of Adams, Cass, Pottawattamie, and Union Counties.When the new map takes effect next year, Shipley will represent Cass, Montgomery, Adams, Page, Taylor, Ringgold, and about two-thirds of Union Counties. Looking back on what’s taken place in the legislature since he began his second term in office, Shipley says the legalization of industrial hemp production in Iowa is something he’s proud to have played a role in.

Iowa currently has an expanded medical marijuana program for CBD Oil, which is something Shipley also worked on.

Iowa won’t be following other states like Colorado, Washington, and Oregon, in legalizing recreational marijuana, though. Even if it meant it could decrease any future, potential budget deficit.

The latest report from Iowa’s revenue predictors showed the State ended the 2021 fiscal year with a surplus of $1.24 billion, the largest surplus in Iowa’s history. An increase of 11-percent compared to the previous year.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Members of the Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular weekly meeting 9-a.m. Tuesday, in their courthouse Boardroom. The session will begin with a canvass of the Nov. 2, 2021 City/School Election. Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman notes “When a jurisdiction is in more than one county, a second canvass will be conducted in the ‘control’ county on Nov. 15th or 16th, to combine the results with those from other counties.”

The Supervisors are also set to receive the Cass County Library Association’s (CCLA) Annual Report, followed by a report from Cass County Veteran’s Affairs Executive Director Mitch Holmes, covering the quarter ending 9-30-2021.

Afterward, Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken is expected to give his regular weekly Secondary Roads Dept. update. The Board may then act on approving a job classification change for a Secondary Roads employee (from Operator 1 to Operator 3), and, in a separate matter, act on a Resolution providing for the amendment of the Articles of Agreement which formed the Workforce Development Chief Elected Officials (CEO) consortium.

With Ric Hanson.

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The latest area news from News Director Ric Hanson.

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