(LE MARS)–State races will be decided by voters in Plymouth County and those across the rest of the state today.
Unopposed in their re-election bids in Plymouth County are District 3 supervisor Don Kass of rural Remsen; District 4 supervisor Craig Anderson of rural Merrill; treasurer Linda Dobson; attorney Darin Raymond of Le Mars; and recorder Jolynn Goodchild, all of Le Mars. All are Republicans.
Businessman Jack Guenthner of Le Mars is the candidate for the District 1 supervisor seat. Guenthner is a Republican. Democrats do not have a candidate on the primary election ballot. Incumbent supervisor Gordon Greene of Le Mars is not seeking re-election.
State Representative Chuck Soderberg of Le Mars is unopposed in his primary re-election bid as a Republican candidate. There are no Democratic candidates for District Three in the Iowa House.
Also unopposed are District 53 incumbent Dan Huseman of rural Aurelia and District 4 incumbent Dwayne Alons of Hull.
Democrat Marty Pottebaum, a retired Sioux City Police Officer, and Republican Bill Anderson, who is a member of Congressman Steve King’s staff, are the candidates for the open District 27 Senate Seat held by Ron Wieck. Wieck, a longtime Republican incumbent from Sioux City, isn’t running again. Voters in the eastern part of Plymouth County will have Pottebaum or Anderson on their ballot.
Absentee voting was light in Plymouth County. There are about 17-thousand registered voters in the county. According to deputy auditor Cheri Nitzschke, there were 345 absentee votes.
All Le Mars residents vote at one location–the lower level of the Le Mars Convention Center on 12th Street Southeast. A map of voting precincts and locations is on the Plymouth County website as well as under election information on KLEM Stuff on the KLEM website.
Voting hours today are from 7 am to 9 p.m. Voters need to declare a political party affiliation to cast a ballot by filling in ovals on a paper ballot that’s read electronically. Anyone with questions may call the Plymouth County auditor’s office at 546-6100. Voting information is available on the county website www.co.plymouth.ia.us
The Plymouth County election precincts are as follows:
PRECINCT #1Town of Akron, Portland TownshipAkron Library Conference Room
350 Reed St.
PRECINCT #2Town of Craig, Grant Township, Craig City Hall
Preston Township Main St.
PRECINCT #3Town of Struble, Elgin Township,Le Mars Public Library
America Township 46 1st St. S.W.
PRECINCT #4Town of Brunsville, Washington TownshipBrunsville Legion Club
Johnson Township305 Oak St.
PRECINCT #5Town of Remsen, Town of Oyens, Remsen Library
Fredonia Township, Marion Township 211 Fulton St.
Meadow Township, Remsen Township
PRECINCT #6Town of Westfield, Sioux TownshipWestfield Community Center
Westfield Township 215 Linden St.
PRECINCT #7Town of Merrill, Liberty TownshipMerrill Civic Center
Stanton Township, Plymouth Township 321 4th St.
PRECINCT #8Hancock Township, Perry TownshipPerry Township Hall
C-60
PRECINCT #9Town of Hinton, Hungerford TownshipHinton Community Center
Lincoln Township 205 West Main
PRECINCT #10Town of Kingsley, Union TownshipKingsley Community Center
Elkhorn Township, Henry Township207 E 1st St.
Garfield Township
PRECINCT #11Le Mars Ward #1Le Mars Convention Center
301 12th St. S.E.-lower level
PRECINCT #12Le Mars Ward #2 Le Mars Convention Center.
301 12th St. S.E.-lower level
PRECINCT #13Le Mars Ward #3Le Mars Convention Center 301 12th St. S.E-lower level
*The Le Mars Convention Center is at 301 12th Street SE, Le Mars on the former Westmar Campus, adjacent to the City of Le Mars Fire Station.
(HINTON)–A voter in one Plymouth County precinct says he knows how he’ll fare with four voters.
Republican Bob Vander Plaats, a Sioux City business consultant will be joined by his wife, Darla and his sons, Josh and Hans, when he casts his primary election vote at the Hinton Community Center. Vander Plaats told KLEM News last week that his family members would be voting for him as the primary candidate for Governor.
The candidate will cast his ballot at the voting location for Plymouth County’s Precinct 9 which includes the town of Hinton and southwestern Plymouth County’s Hungerford Township.
According to a media advisory from Eric Woolson of the Vander Plaats campaign, the candidate will be voting at 10 this morning.
Vander Plaats has scheduled what the campaign calls his election night celebration to begin at 7:30 at the Embassy Suites in Des Moines.
This is the Plymouth County resident’s third attempt at winning the state’s top executive office. The other Republican candidates are Representative Rod Roberts of Carroll and former Governor Terry Branstad.
Iowa voters today decide which of the three will face off with incumbent Chet Culver in November.
(LE MARS)–A state decision that’s affecting Plymouth County residents and their county government will be discussed at a meeting of the board of supervisors today.
The regional Department of Human Services director and the department’s supervisor will meet with supervisors at 11 this morning for discussion and possible action. As part of a budget cutting move, the state agency shaved hours of service at the downtown Le Mars office the state agency rents from the county.
A letter to engage Williams and Company for the next county audit will be considered at 9:30 this morning. The board gets a weekly update from engineer Tom Rohe at 10:30.
At ten today the board closes the meeting to the public to discuss strategy with legal counsel in threatened or pending legal action.
Agenda:
9:30 AMJim Henrich, Plymouth County Board Chairman
1.Call meeting to order
2.Approve this agenda (Action)
3.Approval of prior Board meeting minutes (Action)
4.Approval of claims and payroll (Signatures)
5. Committee Reports (Discussion)
6. Old Business
A. Review new fire alarm system bill for approval for the Pride Group, RCF (Action)
7. New Business
A. Sign engagement letter with Williams & Co. for FY 09-10 audit (Action)
B. Open and review mail/correspondence (Discussion)
C. Open public forum (Informational)
10:00 AMCLOSED SESSION – 21.5 (c)
10:30AMTom Rohe, Plymouth County Engineer
(Action Items)
1.Permit-Southern Sioux Rural Water-Sec 3/10 Fredonia Twp
2.Bargen Asphalt-Joint Sealing on C-38
Questions/Discussion of the Secondary Road Department
(Informational Items)
Update on construction projects
11:00 AMJim Thompson, DHS Supervisor and Tom Bouska – Regional DHS director – Discuss DHS
transition (Discussion and possible action)
(LE MARS)–The number of arrests in a nearly four-month investigation of illegal drug sales in and around Plymouth County is now six.
The latest charges in an ongoing investigation by the Plymouth County Sheriff’s office, Le Mars and Hinton Police were announced in a written press release Monday.
Those now charged are 19-year-olds Beau Orlando Gries and Michael Phillip Gengler, 17-year-old Bryan Ray Needs and 15-year-old Bradley Jerome Stinton, all of Le Mars. Additional charges were filed against 19-year-olds Casey Ryan Hanson and Jesse Andrew Wielenga, who were the first to be charged last week.
Gries is charged with delivery of meth and simulated marijuana as well as two charges of delivery of prescription medication. Gengler is charged with conspiracy to deliver marijuana and using a person under age 18 in drug trade.
Needs is charged with delivery of marijuana and Stinton is charged with conspiracy to deliver marijuana. Needs and Stinton were taken to juvenile detention in Cherokee.
Hanson, formerly of Smithland, has a new charge of delivery of a Schedule three controlled substance and Wielenga, formerly of Sheldon, now has four additional charges of delivery–two each of a Schedule 1 controlled substance and delivery of prescription drugs.
After their arrests, Gries, Gengler, Hanson and Wielenga were held in the Plymouth County Jail.
(LE MARS)–New houses are pushing non-farm construction activity past farm buildings in the latest report on construction in rural Plymouth County
Zoning administrator Alan Lucken’s May report lists 22 permits for construction estimated at one-point-four-million dollars.
There were nine permits for non-farm construction totalling 825-thousand dollars. The total included three houses and three house additions.
On farms, there were permits for one new house and one house and garage addition.
The farm construction total for 13 permits was just under 600-thousand dollars. Machine sheds, livestock and grain buildings were the other main categories of farm permits.
(LE MARS)–Fresh produce, baked goods and home canned items are featured in downtown Le Mars starting June 23rd.
The Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee sponsors the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings and Wednesday afternoons. The market is at the Olson Cultural Event Center.
The Agriculture Committee invites all vendors and customers to join them each Saturday morning and Wednesday afternoon through the growing season. The market continues through October as long as produce is available.
There will be local vendors who are certified to accept WIC, senior citizen and food stamp vouchers.
(LE MARS)–Plymouth County June jurors will need to report for jury duty today, Tuesday, June 8, 2010. Jurors are asked to check in at the Plymouth County Clerk of Court’s office, third floor of the Plymouth County Courthouse at noon.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The polls open today in Iowa for hotly contested primaries that will frame November general election campaigns.
Republicans were putting the finishing touches Monday on a three-way fight for the right to oppose Gov. Chet Culver, while three Democrats were vying to challenge Sen. Charles Grassley.
Polling showed former Gov. Terry Branstad leading over businessman Bob Vander Plaats and state Rep. Rod Roberts in the Republican primary for governor, but low-turnout primaries can confound predictions.
In the Democratic Senate primary, Roxanne Conlin is favored over Tom Fiegen and Bob Krause.
Republican primaries in the 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts also were drawing attention.
Polls will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) Jurors have found former kosher slaughterhouse manager Sholom Rubashkin not guilty of all 67 child labor violations he faced.
Jurors reached the verdict Monday in the second day of deliberations after a nearly monthlong trial in Waterloo.
Rubashkin had been charged with 67 counts of child labor violations involving 26 teenagers from Guatemala and Mexico who worked at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville in 2007 and 2008.
Rubashkin will be sentenced June 22 in federal court for separate fraud convictions in connection with bank loans his company received.
Agriprocessors was the site of a May 2008 immigration raid in which 389 workers were arrested.
WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) Attorneys in the murder trial of 15-year-old Edgar Concepcion Jr. have called their final witnesses and are planning their final arguments.
Both the prosecution and the defense rested on Monday afternoon.
Concepcion faces charges of first-degree murder and first-degree sexual abuse in with the death of his 3-year-old cousin, Krystel Banes.
The final testimony came from Krystel’s 9-year-old brother, Banjo Banes, who appeared as a rebuttal witness for the state. He testified about the day Krystel died while Concepcion was baby-sitting for them in Charles City.
The last defense witness, forensic psychologist Antionette Kavanaugh, testified that adolescents are more likely to make false confessions than adults because they are more susceptible to leading questions and pressure. Kavanaugh also testified that lack of sleep can lead to false confessions.
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) Newly disclosed records show that a cosmetic surgeon who previously practiced in three other states was fired last year from Marshalltown Medical and Surgical Center after being accused of poor patient care.
The records pertaining to Dr. Andrew Ribner’s conduct were made public at a state hearing dealing with Ribner’s request for unemployment benefits after he was fired from the Marshalltown hospital last July.
Internal hospital records indicate that nurses and hospital executives had concerns about Ribner’s conduct. He was accused of neglecting his patients and their families, ignoring safety policies and discriminating against patients who relied on Medicaid or other public assistance.
The 63-year-old Ribner, who now practices in New Mexico, did not return calls from The Des Moines Register, and his wife declined comment.
Ribner’s physician’s license is in good standing with the Iowa Board of Medicine.
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) Administrators at the University of Dubuque say they have decided against acquiring Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, Alaska.
University of Dubuque president Jeffrey Bullock sent an e-mail Monday saying it was time to step away from the table.
Officials at both institutions had discussed the possibility of Dubuque buying at least part of the now-shuttered Sheldon Jackson, parcels of which are being sold off to avoid bankruptcy.
When it closed in 2007, Sheldon Jackson was the oldest continuously operating educational institution in Alaska. It was founded by a Presbyterian missionary in 1878 as a training school for Alaska Natives and evolved, over time, into one of Alaska’s few private colleges.
The offer by Dubuque, a fellow Presbyterian school, reportedly centered on Sheldon Jackson’s hatchery, a small corner of the 230-acre campus.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The director of the Iowa Department on Aging has resigned after questions were raised about his role in overseeing the long-term care ombudsman.
Gov. Chet Culver announced Monday that John McCalley resigned and that former legislator Ro Foege would take over the job immediately as the interim director.
McCalley’s resignation came after ombudsman Jeannie Yordi complained that he had limited her ability to freely advocate on state and national issues. The U.S. Administration on Aging has ordered the state agency to ensure the ombudsman can take stands on policies she believes are in the best interest of Iowa seniors.
Yordi says McCalley’s policies prompted her to take early retirement later this month.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has appointed Geoff Greenwood as communications director and public information officer for his office.
Greenwood has been a reporter for KCCI-TV in Des Moines for 22 years.
In announcing the appointment Monday, Miller said Greenwood is an excellent communicator, treats people fairly, and has a reputation for complete integrity.
Greenwood will replace Bob Brammer, who is retiring later this month after 31 years with the Attorney General’s Office.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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