Plans are underway for the third annual Southwest Iowa Arts Tour, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, September 17th-18th, 2016. The annual event takes place in communities throughout southwest Iowa, showcasing local artists and galleries. This year, the event has doubled from the inaugural year to 12 communities with over 100 local artists representing diverse media, such as metal work, painting, pottery and jewelry.

Communities hosting stops on the tour include: Council Bluffs, Woodbine, Glenwood, Malvern, Macedonia, Oakland, Avoca, Marne, Shenandoah, Red Oak, Corning and Winterset. The communities of Council Bluffs, Malvern and Red Oak will include multiple gallery and gathering place stops for participants. The self-guided event is free and open to the public and will take place from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday, September 17^th and noon to 4:00 pm on Sunday, September 18^th.

The Southwest Iowa Arts Tour was conceived in 2014 by a group of artists and volunteers, during a meeting at Project Art Church in Malvern. They determined the purpose of the tour would be to showcase and promote area artists.

The Southwest Iowa Art Tour is coordinated by the Southwest Iowa Arts Council’s volunteer Board of Directors with support from Golden Hills RC&D. Funding support for the event has been provided by the Red Oak City Council Hotel/Motel grant, the USDA Rural Community Development Initiative, the Iowa West Foundation and the University of Iowa. The Southwest Iowa Art Tour, hosted by the Southwest Iowa Arts Council, represents a group of artists from throughout the region who collaborate to provide opportunities for the public to view and purchase their work.

For more information, please visit www.swiarttour.com.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County say a Red Oak man was arrested Tuesday night in Council Bluffs, on a drug charge. A Deputy conducting a traffic stop at around 8:30-p.m. on a vehicle with an improper brake light, saw a sandwich bag with a green, leafy substance in plain view, between the passenger seat and center console. The driver of the vehicle, 25-year old Kristopher James Koon, of Red Oak, denied the bag was there. When it was opened, the deputy noticed the distinct smell of marijuana. Koon was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance (3.2 grams) and given a written warning for the brake light infraction.

An Avoca man was arrested Tuesday evening on an OWI charge, after the vehicle he was driving was pulled over for no license plates. 22-year old Jacob Dwayne Jens was taken into custody for OWI/2nd offense. He was also cited for Driving While Suspended, No vehicle registration, and No proof of Insurance.

And, a Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy on routine patrol Tuesday evening, stopped a vehicle after a license plate check revealed the registered owner was wanted on a warrant. The driver and owner of the car, 29-year old Amanda Jeane Guill, of Neola, was taken into custody on a Council Bluffs Police Department warrant for Probation Violation.

The chair of the Iowa State Department of Sociology died Tuesday after suffering a reaction to a wasp sting. The Sociology Department’s website says 54-year-old Chester Britt was stung by a wasp while jogging on August 16th and experienced a severe allergic reaction. He was taken to the Ames hospital for treatment, and was later moved to a hospice where he died.

Britt had been named the chair of the department around one year ago after moving to Ames from his position as dean of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University in Boston.

There will be a memorial service for Britt Saturday at 1 p-m at the United Church of Christ-Congregational in Ames.

(Radio Iowa)

A new report shows tourist attractions and tourism-related businesses were busier than ever last year. Jessica O’Riley, spokesperson for the Iowa Tourism Office, says “This is the second consecutive year we’ve topped $8 billion in tourism-related expenditures.” Low gas prices are getting much of the credit. The annual study is conducted by the U.S. Travel Association. It shows tourism-related expenditures in Iowa in 2015 totaled $8.06 billion.

“State tax receipts topped a record $466.7 million. That’s a 25 percent increase over 2014,” O’Riley said. The large increase in state tax receipts was fueled by a 10 cent per gallon hike in the gas tax that took effect last year. O’Riley noted there are indications more people are making plans to travel to Iowa.

“We saw an increase on traveliowa.com, user sessions set a record at almost 1.3 million, and requests for our travel guide were up almost 20 percent,” O’Riley said. The report indicates tourism in Iowa supported 67,400 jobs, comprising 4.2 percent of total non-farm employment in 2015.

(Radio Iowa)

Precinct workers in Cass County are being trained today (Wednesday), on a new, election management system developed by officials in Cerro Gordo County, and used in more than 50 counties across the State. Ken Kline, Cerro Gordo County Auditor, said the “Precinct Atlas” program was developed after the 2008 Presidential election. That was also when Iowa implemented Election Day Voter Registration. Kline says he saw first hand in his own County how many problems with the myriad of election laws and exceptions can bog down the voter registration process.

The old method of hand-registering and validating each voter takes much longer, and is frustrating when there are long lines of individuals waiting to cast their ballots.

Cerro Gordo County Auditor Ken Kline explains the Precinct Atlas program.

Kline says the software precinct workers will use in Cass County to verify registered voters, provides simple, clear on-screen instructions to check-in and validate each voter. He said the precinct officials love it, and he feels much more confident, as an auditor, that the workers are handling each voter’s situation correctly, as opposed to training them on the all the rules and hoping they implement them correctly. He says also, it doesn’t take a “Computer whiz” to run the program.

Precinct Atlas was re-written last year, to make it even more dynamic and hassle-free for the precinct worker, as they guide the voter step-by step through the registration and verification process. If you have a driver’s license or State issued non-driver photo ID, the process is even faster because your information is obtained by scanning your ID. You simply flip your driver’s license upside down so the bar code on the back can be read by the scanner. The information automatically pop’s-up on the precinct workers’ screen and a form printed out for you to sign.

You can also present your voter registration card you received from your County Auditor. The system will get its first use in Cass County on September 13^th, during the Atlantic Community School District Special Election for the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) and PPEL Income Surcharge, vote.

Residents of Panama and Portsmouth are still without landline 9-1-1 service, after a fiber optic cable was cut late Tuesday night. The message went out to residents in the area at around 11-p.m.  Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert said as of 9:40-a.m. today, 9-1-1 service had not been fully restored.

If you have an emergency in Shelby County and dial 9-1-1 and you do not reach a 9-1-1 center, use your cellphone to dial 911 or call 712-755-2121. As conditions change, officials will update the status of the service.

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson will campaign in Iowa this weekend.
Johnson was a Republican when he ran for governor of New Mexico in 1994. He won two terms there and left office in January of 2003. Johnson ran for president as a Republican in 2011 and made a campaign stop here before the Caucuses, but Johnson wound up switching parties and securing the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination in 2012. He’s the Libertarian Party’s nominee again this year.

According to Johnson’s campaign website, the candidate’s “Iowa Rally” will be held in Des Moines, at the Grand View University Wellness Center on Saturday afternoon. The latest Quinnipiac University Poll in Iowa was released in mid-August. It found Johnson had the support of 12 percent of the likely Iowa voters who were surveyed.

(Radio Iowa)