(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Wednesday) passed on a voice-vote, a Resolution to fund the County’s seven Fire Departments/Associations, with the exception of Anita (Which has already been granted funds). The money is coming from the first half of the County’s share of the ARPA (COVID-relief) payment from the State of Iowa via the Federal Government. When a formal Resolution is adopted during the Board’s meeting next week, it will provide a total of $75,000 to each department. Supervisors Steve Green made a motion on the distribution of funds…

The plan allows the funds to be paid out of the current Fiscal Year, as well as FY 2023 and 2024. The Board heard an ARPA request from Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies Ben Bartholomew and Kyle Quist, who spoke on behalf of the Sheriff’s Office, Atlantic P-D and County Fire Departments. Bartholomew said their Drone has been used countless times under a multiple circumstances, to aid law enforcement and fire department personnel.

He said they would like to acquire a larger, more well equipped drone to supplement their smaller, easier to carry and launch drones that are kept in an on-duty vehicle. Deputy Quist said Montgomery and Mills Counties are looking to acquire the same or a similar drone. Cass County’s drone, he said would feature several new tools not currently available to the Drone Team.

The men requested funds for the Cass County Drone Program to purchase a new drone with features the current unit doesn’t have. The Board approved the Drone Team request for $29,500. The Cass County Supervisors tabled until next week, an ARPA funds request from the Cass County EMA until more information is obtained with regard to ambulance radios. In other business, the Board acted on passing a Resolution with regard to Courthouse Office Hours. Board Chair Steve Baier reads from a portion of the Resolution…

In the event of a unforeseen circumstances, such as one person getting sick or on vacation in a two-person department, Baier said that single employee is entitled to a lunch break, and a note on the door explaining the temporary closure is acceptable.

The Resolution falls on the heals of last week’s decision by Cass County Treasurer to reschedule the hours of her office due to a shortage of staff due to resignations and a forthcoming retirement.

(Radio Iowa) – Davenport police say an officer fatally shot a man early this (Wednesday) morning during a scuffle. Police were called to a Casey’s on Davenport’s west side shortly before 1 A-M where the clerk said a suspicious man appeared to be tampering with the convenience store’s air conditioner. The officer talked with the man, got his name and learned he had outstanding warrants.

The confrontation became physical, shots were exchanged — and the unidentified man was killed. The officer had non-life-threatening injuries and is now on administrative leave. The Scott County Sheriff’s office and D-C-I will investigate.

(Sioux City, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections report 27-year-old Richard Allan Martinez, who was convicted of Robbery 2nd Degree and other charges in Crawford County, failed to report back to the Sioux City Residential Treatment Facility as required, Tuesday.

Martinez is a white male, 5-feet 7-inches tall. He weighs about 172 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on 12/17/21.  Persons with information on Martinez’s whereabouts should contact local police.

Richard Martinez (IA-DOC photo)

(Glenwood, Iowa) — A citation report filed by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals shows a 30-year-old resident at the Glenwood Resource Center died of dehydration. According to KETV, the report alleges that a “lack of training and communication” led to the man being given lower fluids than were ordered for him several times over a one-month period. The report said the agency fined the Glenwood Resource Center $10,000 in the man’s death.

The report says the man “experienced a hospitalization in November 2021 due to dehydration and acute kidney injury.” The citation reads “Based on interviews and record review, the facility failed to ensure nursing staff provided appropriate training to staff and care to clients to ensure implementation of client health care plans.”

Read the public report here.

In January, the facility was fined for not ensuring adequate staffing and failing to report potential abuse, per the DIA. The facility is scheduled to close in 2024.

(Radio Iowa) – A host of other races have been settled for the General Election ballot. Linn County Auditor Joel Miller is the Democratic Party’s nominee for Secretary of State. Miller will challenge Republican Paul Pate’s bid for a 4th term as the state’s top election official. Miller finished with about 72 percent of the vote. Clinton County Auditor Eric Van Lancken finished with about 28 percent.

A far closer contest between Republicans vying to run against Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand in November. Realtor Todd Halbur finished about two-and-a-half percent ahead of former state legislator Mary Ann Hanusa. It was a margin of about 39-hundred votes when about 96 percent of statewide votes had been tabulated.

None of Iowa’s four U.S. House members had opposition in Tuesday’s Primary and challengers were unopposed in three of the four congressional districts. Here are those fall match-ups: Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa will face Democrat Christina Bohannan of Iowa City. Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion will face Democrat Liz Mathis of Hiawatha and Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull will face Democrat Ryan Melton of Nevada.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senator Chuck Grassley will face retired Navy Admiral Mike Franken in the General Election. Franken won the Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate nomination, finishing 12 points ahead of former Iowa Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer, the early favorite in the race. “We must defeat Chuck Grassley,” Franken said, pausing as his supporters cheered, then adding: “so for too long, he has said: ‘We’re working on that…There’s a committee addressing on that,’ from the NRA, from a host of other things.”

Franken, a northwest Iowa native, had a 36 year career in the Navy, including a stint in leadership at the Pentagon. “My promise to you is that I will reinforce every day a basic precept that I learned (over) many, many years in the military,” Franken said, “and that is caring for those you’ve never met as much as those you know.”

Franken got 55% of the vote in Tuesday’s Primary. He spoke to supporters in Des Moines after the race was called. “My promise to you is that I will support Social Security for all of us, make sure it’s vibrant. I will give Medicare to all those who want it,” Franken says. “My job is to make education, the type that I received, available to everybody in the state and renew the basic Iowa precept where we came to this state and we graduated from this state better than anyone else in the nation.”

Finkenauer finished with 40% of the vote. Finkenauer told supporters in Cedar Rapids last night that she had called Franken to congratulate him. “And for winning tonight in a way that I know is going to bring together Iowans to do what needs to get done in 2022, which is defeating Senator Chuck Grassley,” Finkenauer said, to cheers at an event in Cedar Rapids. Finkenauer served one term in the U.S. House, but lost her bid for reelection in 2020. Finkenauer told supporters she’ll “never stop fighting” for Iowa. “We are going to do everything we can for these Iowa Democrats in 2022 because our state and our democracy depends on it,” she said at the conclusion of her speech..

Glenn Hurst, the third candidate in the race, finished with about five percent of the vote and he has offered his “full support” to Franken’s bid to defeat Grassley. Grassley, who is seeking an 8th term, cruised to victory in his G-O-P contest against Sioux City attorney Jim Carlin. Grassley won his primary with 73.5% of the vote compared to Carlin’s 26.5%. It was the first time Grassley had faced a primary since 1980 — the year he was first elected to the U.S. Senate.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds endorsed a handful of G-O-P Primary candidates for Iowa House seats — all were running against House Republicans who opposed her state scholarships for 10,000 students — and the governor’s picks won on Tuesday.

Reynolds helped defeat the Republican chairman of the House Education Committee and the Republican who led House debate for her E-15 bill and tax cut plan. Reynolds said her party is unified and ready for the General Election.

“For heaven’s sakes, the state convention is Saturday and we will be ready to go, to rally the troops, to have the team defined,” Reynolds said early Tuesday morning.

It appears none of the five GOP candidates running for a House seat in the Newton area reached the 35% mark — the threshold required to win the party’s nomination. That means a nominating convention will be held to select the GOP candidate for the General Election.

(Radio Iowa) – State Senator Zach Nunn of Bondurant won the Republican nomination in Iowa’s third congressional district and will face Democratic Congressman Cindy Axne in the General Election. “We’ve got a strong mandate,” Nunn said. “It was almost a 70% win in a three-way race and we feel very strongly that Iowans are ready to change the course and direction for country and that starts with being successful right here in Iowa.”

Nunn, a U.S. Air Force Veteran, is currently a member of the Iowa National Guard. He also has served in the legislature, winning two terms in the Iowa House. He’s current a state senator. “We have had, I think, a very good track record three times now of turning blue districts red by double digits,” Nunn said. “because we want to listen to everyone and we want to come up with pragmatic solutions that really serve our community first.”

Axne is seeking a third term in the U.S. House representing a newly-composed third congressional district, covering 21 counties. The district is competitive and will be crucial as both political parties seek to win a majority of seats in the U.S. House this November. “All eyes in the country are going to be focused on Iowa in a midterm election,” Nunn said. “This has got to be one of the top races in the country to be able to win back a majority that puts Republicans in a place where they can hold the Biden Administration accountable.”

The chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says Nunn has proven he is “out of touch with Iowa values” by supporting an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest or saving the mother’s life. Nunn won the GOP Primary with about 66% of the vote. Nicole Hasso, who works in the financial sector, was a distant second with 20%. Gary Leffler, a construction consultant, got about 15%. Axne was unopposed in Tuesday’s Primary and none of Iowa’s three other U.S. House members had opposition. Democratic challengers were unopposed in three of the four congressional districts.

Here are the other fall congressional match-ups in Iowa: Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa will face Democrat Christina Bohannan of Iowa City. Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion will face Democrat Liz Mathis of Hiawatha and Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull will face Democrat Ryan Melton of Nevada.

(Radio Iowa) – The Associated Press and other media organizations, Tuesday night, declared Chuck Grassley the winner of the G-O-P’s nomination as he seeks an eighth term in the U.S. Senate. Grassley released a video message after the race was called. “Thank you to all of you who supported my renomination so we could to turn around the bad policies of this administration,” Grassley said.

Jim Carlin, a Republican state senator from Sioux City, had challenged Grassley in Tuesday’s primary, the first time Grassley has faced a primary opponent since winning a seat in the senate in 1980. Grassley was in Washington, D.C. Tuesday night. In an audio recording released by the Grassley campaign, the 88-year-old senator celebrated his victory, but asked Republicans to unite behind the party’s General Election ticket.

“Quite a victory. I love serving the people of Iowa,” Grassley said. “Now that the primary’s over, I want everybody to unite so we can have a big victory in November. A big victory in Iowa contributes to Republicans taking over control of the United States Senate and House of Representatives.”

Grassley suggests the 2022 election will be a referendum on President Biden. “Just think of what I hear at my 99 county meetings – the Q&As with my constituents – they’re upset about inflation, gasoline prices, the border crisis,” Grassley said. “…So, we work hard between now and November the 8th and by doing that, we will save America from the bad policies of the socialistic endeavors of the progressive left.”

Grassley will face retired Navy Admiral Mike Franken in the November General Election.