Long Time Le Mars Journalist, Glada Koerselman Passes Away
(Le Mars) — Long-time Le Mars journalist and community activist Glada Koerselman has passed away. Koerselman was 84 at the time of her death on Monday, September 22nd. Koerselman served as the editor of the Le Mars Daily Sentinel for many years. She was also responsible for many community projects, including saving the old Central High School building and converting it to the Plymouth County Historical Museum. Long time friend, Bill Renken reflects upon the many community contributions of Koerselman.
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Renken says for many years he remembers fondly the writings of Glada and the photography by her late husband, Dick, especially for a book they published together about the famous round barn, now located at the Plymouth County fairgrounds.
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Right up to the time of her death, Koerselman was still writing, as she published a newsletter entitled: “The Messenger”.
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Koerselman enjoyed watching Le Mars Community school functions, and would often talk about the original Le Mars Community Bulldog from a former coach and teacher of Le Mars Community. She was honored as the Le Mars Community Distinguished Alumnus this past May. Renken credits Koerselman for saving the Fourth of July celebration and parade.
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And how will Renken remember Koerselman?
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Ireton And Le Mars Fire Department Battle House Fire
(Craig) — Both the Ireton and the Le Mars Fire Departments were called this morning to battle a house fire at Craig. The alarm was sounded at about 5:45 a.m. this morning. No report as of yet as to the extent of damage as a result of that house fire.
Supervisors Will Not Meet This Week
(Le Mars) — Due to a lack of agenda items, the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors will not be meeting today. They are scheduled to meet again next Tuesday.
Storm Lake Police Arrest 23 People In Drug Investigation
(Storm Lake) — Storm Lake Police have arrested 23 people on various drug charges following a nine-month long investigation. The investigation, termed “Operation Smoke Stack” focused on the sale and use of marijuana and methamphetamine in the Storm Lake area. 16 people were charged with felonies and seven face misdemeanor charges. Investigators say they are searching for additional suspects. Those arrested ranged in ages of 53 years old down to 16 years old.
Hatch Pulling Television Ads From Sioux City Market
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The campaign of Democratic candidate for governor Jack Hatch has suspended television ads in two Iowa markets and changed its advertising strategy in two others but denies it’s a sign the campaign is struggling financially.
“We’re just redistributing how we’re doing some things to reflect the polling that we’re seeing,” said Grant Woodard, Hatch’s campaign manager.
Woodard said as polls change “we’re going to make decisions accordingly.”
Television ad buys in the Sioux City and Davenport markets have been placed on hold and ad schedules on Des Moines and Cedar Rapids stations have been changed.
Branstad’s campaign manager, Jake Ketzner, said it’s a signal the Hatch campaign is struggling to find the money to stay on television.
“The story is, it’s 43 days out and he’s broke and he can’t be on TV,” Ketzner said.
Branstad is running ads in nearly all of Iowa’s major television markets in addition to Mason City, Ottumwa and Quincy, Illinois, which reaches into the state’s southeast corner, Ketzner said.
Campaign financial reports show Hatch’s campaign had $183,000 in cash on hand in July, the most recent reporting period for which records are available.
Branstad’s committee had $4 million.
More People Choosing To Vote Early
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The number of absentee ballots requested by Iowa voters is nearly double the number sought 43 days before the 2010 election, Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz said Monday.
Voters have increasingly opted for early voting by absentee ballot in recent elections for the convenience and in response to increasing pressure from political parties striving to get as many votes as possible cast by election day.
Democrats have in recent election cycles excelled at the strategy but the numbers released Monday show Republican absentee ballot requests are up nearly 145 percent from 2010 to just over 31,000. Democratic requests have climbed nearly 67 percent to nearly 58,000.
That shows Republican Party efforts that include spending about $1 million this election cycle on voter turnout are paying off, party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said.
Democrats, however, point out that they still have a nearly 27,000-vote lead among early voters. Given that Democrats have pushed early voting in the last few election cycles to still see a 67 percent increase is a positive trend, Iowa Democratic Party spokeswoman Christina Freundlich said.
No Party requests are up 138 percent to 23,000.
When all early voters are tallied, absentee ballot requests are up nearly 98 percent to just over 112,000 so far.
