(Atlantic, Iowa) – With the announcement on Wednesday from Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman that he intends to resign from the position effective April 15^th, comes the next step of finding someone to succeed him. He’s served as an elected official for more than 37-years. Cass County Supervisor’s Board Chairman Steve Baier told KJAN News because Sunderman “has served the County so well for so many years, it’s leaving some really big shoes to fill.”

He said Sunderman’s attention to detail is what makes him a good Auditor.

Cass Co. Auditor Dale Sunderman demonstrates a new voting machine for the blind/visually impaired. (File Photo)

Baier says the Supervisors are now tasked with finding someone to work with Sunderman before his last day in office. Applications will be available on the County’s website and Cass County Auditor’s Office.

He says they hope candidates who file an application will be interviewed within about a week’s time, and by mid-March have a person who will become the Auditor, at least until the November election.

Steve Baier said he has known Dale Sunderman most of his life, since the time they were growing up in the Noble Center community.

(Radio Iowa) – A House committee has approved legislation to require Iowans casting an early vote to put their voter I-D number or driver’s license number on the outside of the absentee ballot envelope. It would prohibit Iowa’s secretary of state and county auditors from accepting private donations to help run elections. Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton is one of the bill’s authors. The point of this bill is the banning of outside money for influencing public elections, ensuring that the voter ID loop is closed and we’ve checked off all of those boxes,” Kaufmann says.

The bill also updates the rules for election recounts — like the one in the second congressional district that saw some counties run the ballots through counting machines and others do a recount by hand.  “Bipartisan recount reform, so there’s uniformity across the system for all 99 counties,” Kaufmann says.

Representative Mary Wolfe, a Democrat from Clinton, says making recount procedures the same across all counties makes sense. She’s concerned about the change to require voters to write their driver’s license number or voter I-D number on what’s called the affidavit envelope for their absentee ballot. Wolfe says that needs to be prominently noted and clearly explained. “In order to avoid people completely, inadvertently not seeing that,” Wolfe says, “not realizing what it is, sending their absentee ballot back in and having their ballot not count.”

The bill also would let Iowa political parties post the date and time of caucuses on the party’s public website. Under current law, parties have to publish the date, time and location of precinct caucuses in local newspapers.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports one person was arrested Wednesday: 58-year-old Scott Clarke, of Glenwood, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance. His cash or surety bond was set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – A long-time bus driver for the Newton Community School District was recently fired after failing a drug test. Seventy-six-year-old Peg Esperanza says she was shocked and devastated to learn that CBD oil used for her arthritis had triggered a positive drug test. Esperanza said she started using the product a couple of months ago. She said the treatment has helped her on the job, driving children with special needs to and from school. Esperanza said she was drug tested after a minor accident in a school vehicle and failed the drug test, which came as a complete surprise. Esperanza was told the drug test contained small amounts of THC.

In Iowa, however, it is legal for CBD oil to contain THC. Esperanza said she plans to move from the Newton area because she can no longer afford her apartment. The Newton Community School District has declined comment on the matter.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Information with regard to the City of Atlantic’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget, 10-year Budget Projections and 10-year Capital Improvement Plan were presented to the Atlantic City Council Wednesday night, by City Administrator John Lund. Lund first addressed the financial situation…

The breakdown of income expected, of course includes property taxes.

The bottom-line, he said, is that the Tax Levy of $16.56/$1,000 assessed valuation is unchanged from last year. Other income includes refunds for the ambulance service agreement from the County and the hospital, campground fees. Lund said with regard to Labor Costs, the baseline increases are 2.4%. The Personnel and Finance Committee he said reviewed comparable compensation from cities of similar size.

Lund says as a result of the increases and wage equalizations, the City will need to focus more on revenue in the coming fiscal year. In conclusion, John Lund had some bad and good news….

He said also, the Sanitary Sewer rates in Atlantic need to be reviewed, and increases will likely be needed to be implemented by July 1, 2023. The last rate increase/adjustment, was in 2013. He said the City will need to utilize some the ARPA (Covid relief) funds to offset ambulance service cost overruns, and a health insurance spike. The ambulance contract will be addressed within the next year, and the health insurance will need to be addressed in the next Union contract, the negotiations for which in the fall of 2023. That includes a possible option to buy down the City’s deductible. Lund said “This is absolutely not the time for any type of deficits showing up, anywhere.”

For now, though, the City’s financial position is “Still pretty strong,” according to Lund, and “We should be able to make some investments that over the long-term will shore up some of these weaknesses, and make the long-term outlook look a lot better.” He commended work being accomplished by the Housing Committee will position the City in a positive way, to turn some of the negative issues around.

A copy of the full report is available for review at City Hall.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol says one woman was killed, another hurt, in a two-vehicle accident on Highway 3 in Humboldt County late Wednesday afternoon.  Reportedly an eastbound 2019 Nissan Kicks SUV operated by 56-year-old Brenda Knight, of Fort Dodge, for unknown reasons crossed the roadway striking a westbound 2006 Hummer HU3 driven by 59-year-old Becky Rice, of Pocahontas. Both drivers were transported to the Humboldt County Memorial Hospital. Knight died of her injuries upon arrival. The accident remains under investigation.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A Red Oak man was arrested late Wednesday night. According to Red Oak Police, 31-year-old Eric Vannausdle was arrested at around 11-p.m. on a valid Montgomery County warrant for Failure to Appear, on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault. Vannausdle was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash-only bond.

CLIVE, Iowa — Officials with the Iowa Lottery announced Wednesday, that an Oklahoma man took a business trip to southwest Iowa, and won a $50,000 lottery prize. Jason Martin, of Mooreland, OK, said “It doesn’t even sound real.” He claimed his prize at the lottery headquarters Tuesday, in Clive. Martin said of his winning, “I don’t know if it’s set in yet. It will, I guess, when I go to the bank.”

The 38-year-old Martin, who works for a shoe retailer headquartered in Shenandoah, won the sixth top prize in the Iowa Lottery’s “Roll The Dice” scratch game. Martin said he and some colleagues stopped at Casey’s in Shenandoah, to buy some lottery tickets. He bought four tickets in the $5 game and checked them on the store’s self-checker.

Jason Martin

As soon as he realized he won, he called a coworker who lives in town and asked to keep the ticket in his safe until he could make the 2-hour trip to central Iowa to claim his prize. “It’ll make a difference for sure,” Martin said. “We’re able to pay some bills and take some monthly obligations away, and that’s what we’re going to do.” Martin said that news of his win traveled fast around Shenandoah. “I’ve had my bald head rubbed like 15 times for luck since,” he said. “Kind of weird, but cool.”

Roll The Dice is a $5 scratch game that features seven top prizes of $50,000 and overall odds of 1 in 3.44.

(Radio Iowa) – The Judiciary Committee in the Iowa House will be issuing subpoenas, seeking notes and other information from the commission that interviewed candidates and nominated two people for a district court judge vacancy. Governor Reynolds threw out the nominations after some commission members complained the judge chairing the panel coached one candidate and lied about another withdrawing.

House Judiciary Committee chairman Steven Holt says legislators have been unable to get notes or email related to the commission’s October 12th meeting from the judicial branch and the subpoenas will require a response within 14 days. “We want to try to get the information that’s available so we can get a bigger picture of what actually took place,” Holt says.

The House committee is also asking the judicial branch if a complaint has been filed against Judge Kurt Stoebe, of Humboldt. He’s the judge accused of manipulating the process for nominating a replacement for a district court judge from Carroll who was appointed to the Iowa Court of Appeals last year. Democrats say lawmakers should wait for a report from the Judicial Qualifications Commission, which they say is likely investigating Stroebe.

The commission’s investigations are confidential, unless a final report calls for sanctions against a judge.