(Atlantic, Iowa) – After a more than two-hour meeting during which tempers flared at times, the Cass County Board of Supervisor’s, Friday, approved the hiring of Stacey Mueller as new Driver’s License Examiner employee for the Cass County Treasurer’s Office. Mueller has extensive experience in dispatching, both for the Iowa State Patrol and Cass County Sheriff’s Office/Atlantic P-D.

The Supervisors and Treasurer Tracey Marshall butted heads over Marshall having hired an employee (prior to Mueller), allegedly without having the position approved by the Supervisors before the employee was hired. Last week, the Board did approve the hiring of that employee as a Driver’s License Examiner at $18 per hour with full benefits, which is still a lower rate than what was requested by Treasurer Tracey Marshall. Marshall was not happy with how that employee was treated by the Board.

Supervisor Mark O’Brien said any perception of a “toxic environment”the employee referenced, was the Treasurer’s Office itself, as evidenced by Marshal’s alleged attitude toward the Board.

O’Brien said the Board doesn’t try to control what goes on in Marshal’s office. They are trying to get her to comply with what the County’s H-R Attorney says the County needs to do, which is what he said, she hasn’t. Supervisor Steve Green said he believes all the County employees are Probably worth more than we can pay them,” however…

Green and Marshall disagreed over how the position was advertised after the Driver’s License Examiner left, and how quickly the position was filled. In the end, though, the Board agreed to approve the hiring of Stacey Mueller at a rate of $19.00 per hour effective May 6^th, with an increase to $20/hour on June 6^th, and upon full certification as a driver’s license examiner, a wage of $22.25 (her current wage as a dispatcher). Her County benefits will carry over into her new position.

The Board also approved a Proclamation declaring May as Mental Health Month. And, while not on the agenda, the Board held public discussion over the matter of Cass County becoming a Second Amendment Sanctuary. Cary Short, who is opposed to the Sanctuary position, spoke with the Board about the matter during their meeting April 19^th, handed out information with to open and concealed carry laws. He asked if the Board and Sheriff had requested and received a variance stating the courthouse is an open carry site except for the second floor, where the courtroom is located.

Supervisor John Hartkopf asked if Short was aware that an amendment that has passed two general assemblies, will be on the ballot. He said the amendment is “Stricter than the U-S Constitution.” That touched-off verbal sparing between the men.

No other persons offered to speak on the topic, which is expected to come up for discussion again at a later date.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who own boats are being warned that their state registration stickers on the hull will expire this weekend. Nate Carr, an Iowa D-N-R conservation officer, says those three-year stickers are only good through April 30th, which is Saturday. “If you’re planning on being on Iowa public water with a boat, you need to make sure you’re registered,” Carr says. “If you’re looking to go down that road, the place to stop is your local recorder’s office, whether you’re registering a vessel for the first time or renewing the vessel.”

Before you hit the open water, Carr suggests making sure key safety equipment is onboard. “One of the big things is life jackets — and having wearable life jackets for everybody on board,” Carr says. “That’s going to include life jackets that are in serviceable condition, so if they’re torn and ripped up, that’s not going to be good.”

The list of safety equipment also includes a fire extinguisher. National Boat Safety Week is May 21 to 27. Find more tips at www.iowadnr.gov/Things-to-Do/Boatin

The Creston Police Department reports two recent arrests and a vehicle burglary. Authorities say 43-year-old Jennifer Rose Schaecher, of Greenfield, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center around 12:10-a.m. today (Friday). She was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Theft in the 3rd Degree, and Trespass. Schaecher posted a $2,000 bond, and was released.

And, at around 9:20-a.m. Thursday, 27-year-old Marston Shane Randolph, of Alabama, was arrested in Creston for Violation of No Contact Protective Order. He was taken to the Union County Jail and later released on a Promise to Appear in court. Authorities said also, a woman residing in the 900 block of W. Adair Street, in Creston, reported Thursday morning, that someone had stolen keys, gift cards, and a boys baseball bat from her vehicle. The loss was estimated at $500.

The Iowa State Patrol reports two Ringgold County women were injured during an SUV rollover accident Thursday afternoon, in Decatur County. The Patrol says a 1995 Chevy Blazer driven by 50-year-old Debra Sue Percifield and accompanied by 20-year-old Crystal Hughes, both of Mount Ayr, was traveling westbound on Highway 69, west of Davis City, when the SUV drove off the road and onto the right shoulder. Percifield tried to come back onto the road, but she over-corrected and lost control.

The vehicle slid-off the road and entered the left ditch before rolling over and coming to rest on the passenger side. Percifield – who wore a seat belt – was transported by LifeFlight to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. Hughes was transported by a family member in a third-party vehicle, to the Decatur County Hospital. She was not wearing a seat belt. A report the extent of the women’s injuries was not available.

(Radio Iowa) – The snow is finally gone and what’s now being found along many Iowa roadways isn’t pretty. Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Timmons says he’s hearing frequent complaints from residents about garbage dumping in ditches.

“If we are able to figure out who it is, you will be charged,” Sheriff Timmons says. “We’ve also had complaints of people dumping tires out in the ditches. If we’re able to identify who’s doing that, you will be charged criminally, be put in jail, plus a fine and plus landfill fees.” That can be an expensive, embarrassing predicament when there’s a clear, better option to illegal dumping.

“There’s been a big increase in that,” Timmons says. “Go to the landfill. A pickup load, I believe it’s right around $10. You can get rid of a whole pickup load of stuff at the landfill and keep Hamilton County looking good.”

To report illegal dumping in Iowa, call 800-NOLITTR. The Keep Iowa Beautiful hotline offers options to report littering and information on how to adopt a roadway, park, river, lake or other public area.

(Radio Iowa) – There will be a change in command at Sioux City’s 185th Air National Guard Refueling Wing. Colonel Mark Muckey, the wing’s commander, has been selected to be the next leader of the Iowa Air National Guard.  “I’ll just tell you it’s a truly unbelievable opportunity and I guess most importantly it is a result of the outstanding performance of the Airmen of the 185th,” he says. “It has truly been my privilege to lead this team over the last three years.”

Colonel Muckey will take over as Adjutant General of the Iowa Air National Guard and will be reassigned to the Guard’s headquarters in Johnston. Colonel Sonya Morrison, an Osceola native, will be his successor in Sioux City as the 185th Refueling Wing’s commander. A change of command ceremony is tentatively scheduled in August.

(Radio Iowa) – The only Democrat in this year’s race for governor has adopted a tool former Iowa Senator Tom Harkin used in his campaigns. Harkin, for example, kicked off his 1992 presidential run in New Hampshire with a “work day” at a factory. This February, Deidre DeJear launched what she calls “Workday Wednesdays.”

“If I’m really going to meet Iowans where they are, I’ve got to connect with them in the communities and spaces in which they reside,” DeJear says. This past week, DeJear served lunch, helped with P-E and read to students in a Storm Lake elementary school.

“We’re hearing challenges related to resources in our education system,” DeJear says. “I mean, they want to keep class size small in this class, so the students can have a meaningful experience.” Last week, DeJear worked on a greenhouse on a farm near Carlisle. In early March, she stocked shelves at a bookstore in Ames. DeJear says wherever she goes, she hears similar stories.

“We want parents to get back to work,” DeJear says. “They’re having to make decisions right now and it’s challenging to find access to child care.” DeJear will be in a different setting tomorrow (Saturday) night. She’s among the candidates scheduled to speak at an Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser in Des Moines.

“We started back in August. That’s when we launched and we had small crowds of people that were joining, but now people are really getting into it and really excited about what can happen in November,” DeJear says. “I mean, I had my first overflow crowd in Audubon County, an incredible experience.” The three Democrats who’re running for the U-S Senate are also scheduled to speak Saturday night at the party fundraiser.

(Radio Iowa) – State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, says U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer’s criticism of a district court judge who ruled against her bid to stay on the June Primary ballot was inappropriate. Finkenauer is one of three Democrats competing to run against Republican Senator Chuck Grassley in November. “That judge did his job,” Sand says. “He worked all weekend to get that ruling issued on a Sunday night in order to give whoever was going to be the losing party a chance to appeal.”

Finkenauer called the judge a Republican who made a partisan decision that made a mockery of our democracy. A few days later, the Iowa Supreme Court overruled the decision that had invalidated three signatures on Finkenauer’s nominating petitions and Finkenauer’s name WILL be on the June Primary ballot. Sand, who is an attorney, says the district court judge Finkenauer criticized is well-respected.

“I’m really proud of Iowa’s court system,” Sand says. “We have one of the country’s crown jewels in a non-partisan judicial nominating system…that sorts out the people who want to go in there and be political, and so what we end up with is a body of judges who do a good job of applying the facts to the law.” Sand discussed the matter during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs Friday night on Iowa P-B-S.

Sand indicated he called Finkenauer to say he found her criticism of Judge Scott Beattie to be inappropriate. “I told her what I thought and, to her credit, she said: ‘Thank you for this. We’re going to step back some of this and tone some of this down,'” Sand says. “Politics is tough. I think sometimes having people that you have a decent relationship who you can call and give a perspective to can be useful and, to her credit, when we had that conversation, she decided that she didn’t want to do that anymore.”

A spokesman for Finkenauer’s campaign has not responded to requests for comment on Sand’s statements.

(Radio Iowa) – It took extra effort to trigger the emergency sirens that warned residents in three northern Iowa towns when a storm system rolled through that produced a tornado that hit nearby Kanawha, earlier this month. Testing in March revealed the sirens in Britt, Crystal Lake and Garner couldn’t be started remotely — and replacement parts hadn’t arrived. Garner Fire Chief Jim Thiele says it meant in the midst of gusty winds and incoming hail and rain and lightning, fire fighters had to get to the boxes on three poles in Garner to turn on the sirens.

“We just assigned fire fighters to do that, groups of two,” he says, “because it took a step ladder to get to them.” The warning sirens — and the ferocity of the storm — prompted about 20 people to take shelter in the Garner City Hall. John Swenson, the chief of the fire department in Britt, faced the same issue with storm sirens that had to be manually triggered.

“We had two different groups of people that went two different ways and opened up the compartments and pushed the buttons,” Swenson says. Swenson’s team didn’t use a ladder, though. The fire chief backed his truck up to the siren pole — so it could be used as the platform to get to the trigger box.

The new remote starters for the sirens in Britt, Garner and Crystal Lake arrived after the storm and have been installed for the next time there’s reason to sound the alarm that a storm is approaching. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado that hit Kanawha on April 12th was on the ground for a mile.