WINTER PARKING RULES BEGIN TODAY
On this November the 1st, winter parking rules go into effect in the City of Le Mars. Police say Odd/Even parking enforcement will take place in residential areas. Citizens are asked to park for the next calendar day. If the next day is an odd calendar day park on the side of the street with odd house numbers. If the next day is an even calendar day park on the side of the street with even house numbers. The calendar day begins at 6 PM preceding the date. Police officers out on patrol normally issue citations between the hours of Midnight to 4 AM. They will first issue Odd/Even warnings to begin this process and, and ask for cooperation. This method makes it easier for street crews to plow the streets when it snows.
DIEKEN SEEKS RE-ELECTION IN HOUSE DISTRICT 5
A Granville resident seeks re-election to the Iowa House in District 5. This district includes parts of Cherokee and Buena Vista Counties, and all of O’Brien and Osceola Counties. Dieken is a native northwest Iowan, and will remain so.
His motivation to run for office are sanctity of life issues.
Dieken wanted to see change in government, and two years ago decided to run in the newly-formed District 5.
Dieken serves on the Agriculture and Public Safety Committees. He wants to support law enforcement and first responders.
Dieken did not support changes made in Area Education Agencies, and is cautious about changes in the mental health system.
Dieken favors empowering local government for funding mental health services, rather than state sources.
The solution for rural health care is to allow for more medical centers outside of the dominance of the hospital system..
Another problem for rural areas is providing public defenders to represent defendants in criminal cases.
Dieken wants to correct a property tax reform bill that has caused problems for property owners.
Dieken says he is humble, and accessible.
Dieken ran unopposed in this year’s primary election. Tuesday, his election opponent is Mike Schnoes, a no party candidate, from rural Sutherland.
EARLY VOTING PACE IN IOWA SIMILAR TO 2016
Well over half a MILLION Iowans have already voted in this year’s election. Becky Bissell — president of the Iowa State Association of County Auditors — says that’s about 25 percent of registered voters.
Nearly a million ballots were cast before election day four years ago, as many Iowa voters opted for mail-in voting during the pandemic. Bissell, who is the Adams County Auditor, says early voting in Iowa this year is similar to 2016.
The majority of ballots that have already been cast this year are from Iowans who went to their county auditor’s office or a satellite location to vote. For those who requested an absentee ballot, got it in the mail, but haven’t mailed it back yet — Bissell has some advice.
Election workers may begin counting the early “absentee” votes at 7 a.m. on Election Day. That’s the same time all neighborhood precincts open for in-person voting.
By 7 a.m. Thursday, over 517-thousand early votes had been cast in Iowa. At some point today, state officials will release an updated report on the number of registered voters in Iowa.
PATE SUED OVER POTENTIAL BALLOT CHALLENGES
Secretary of State Paul Pate is being sued for directing election workers to challenge the ballots of over two-thousand people who he says got a driver’s license when they were legal residents, but may not be U-S citizens. The lawsuit has been filed in federal court on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens and four naturalized citizens. One of them is a Luther College political science professor who’s a native of Turkey who has voted in two previous elections after becoming a citizen in 2023. He got a letter from the Winnishiek County Auditor after he cast an early ballot, saying he was a suspected non-citizen. Secretary of State Pate says none of the people on the list are barred from voting since their voter registration has not been revoked and they will be able to have their votes counted if they show proof of citizenship.
FOUR MONTHS AFTER FLASH FLOODING STORES IN SPENCER’S MALL REOPENING
Businesses have begun reopening this month at the shopping mall in Spencer that was hit by flooding that rushed through the community in June. Southpark Mall manager Kathy Anderson says the Palms Movie Theaters will reopen today. Anchor stores like Hobby Lobby and Dunham’s have been open for a couple of weeks and J-C Penney’s will be open on Friday. Flood levels in the mall reached 16 inches four months ago. Anderson says new flooring is yet to be installed in some areas, but she expects those projects to be completed by December. In July, Spencer officials estimated that 80 percent of the homes, businesses and other structures in the city were hit by flooding or sewer backup.
IOWA DNR TO RECRUIT YOUNG HUNTERS
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is exploring ways to address a national decline in the number of hunters, and to prevent the drop from happening here. D-N-R wildlife biologist Matt Dollison says Iowa has seen its number of pheasant hunters -rise- by almost 20-thousand in the past few seasons, and they now number 83-thousand, but he says national hunter figures have been falling for decades. In the 1980s, about nine-percent of the population hunted, while he says it’s down now below four-percent. The focus in the past was on hosting youth hunting events across the state, but Dollison says they’ve started turning to young adults in recent years.
