An Iowa judge who nullified 50,000 absentee ballot requests in Linn County is deciding the fate of thousands more in Johnson County. Judge Ian Thornhill heard arguments yesterday in Johnson County, the state’s most Democrat-leaning, in a lawsuit similar to those brought in Linn and Woodbury Counties. Judge Thornhill said he would issue a ruling soon but raised several points that he did in his Linn County ruling last month. County elections commissioners in Linn and Woodbury Counties were found to have acted improperly and against state law when they mailed absentee ballot request forms to voters with their personal information already filled in; the issue is the same in Johnson County.
Voter registration is changing in Iowa. For the first time in a long time Democrats and Republicans each outnumber Independent voters. The Secretary of State’s Office now shows 34.1% of Iowans register as Republican, 33.7% as Democrat, and 31.5% as Independent. Secretary of State Paul Pate said he believes the shift was driven by absentee ballot requests he mailed out to every active voter before the June Primary. Pate said Iowa saw 50,000 new Republicans and 40,000 new Democrats. The GOP has now expanded its advantage to more than 7,000 voters in the state of Iowa.
Mount Mercy University announced yesterday that Dr. Robert Beatty has resigned from his role as president after a little more than 2 months on the job. Beatty, a Cedar Rapids native, was named as Mount Mercy’s 10th president at the end of February and assumed his duties as president on July 1. Dr. Tim Laurent has been appointed interim president by the school’s board of trustees. Laurent has worked as Mount Mercy’s provost and vice president for academic affairs since 2018.
A proposal to oust zoning commissioner LeaAnn Saul died without discussion at Tuesday night’s Cedar Falls City Council meeting. Mayor Rob Green offered a resolution to remove Saul, citing what he called a “false” Facebook post about the city’s proposed mask mandate. But no one on the council offered a motion on his proposal, and it was dismissed without debate. Saul’s attorney disputed that Saul’s comments rose to the level of “just cause,” and said her removal would be “unconstitutional” and “politically motivated.”
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley is in his seventh term as a member of the U.S. Senate, but told reporters yesterday he supports term limits for members of Congress. Since Grassley was elected to the Senate in 1980, he has voted for term limit proposals. However, those plans either didn’t make it out of committee or were tabled when they reached the floor. The topic came up in response to proposals made by Nebraska U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse. While Grassley goes along with the term limit idea, he does not support Sasse’s plan to abolish the 17th Amendment calling for the popular election of senators. Before its ratification in 1913, senators were appointed by state lawmakers.
Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin Monday, September 21st on the 3rd Avenue SE floodgate in Cedar Rapids. The completed floodgate will feature stackable, removable panels that slide into permanent columns on the sidewalk during flood threats. The floodgate will be deployed for a 22′ river elevation and is designed to protect up to the 2008 record flood level. Construction will consist of the installation of the foundation and vertical columns that will hold the removable panels. The project is scheduled for a summer 2021 completion date.
Administrators in the Iowa City Community School District will ask the Iowa Department of Education for another online-only schooling waiver as soon as this week. Board members voted to ask for the state’s permission at a Tuesday board meeting. While the district’s current waiver does not expire until September 22nd, officials say they want to submit the waiver soon to give families as much notice as possible. State officials are letting school districts move completely remote when their counties reach a COVID-19 positivity rate of 15% for a 14-day average. The county’s positivity rate yesterday afternoon was 19.9 percent.
A cyber attack on the Fort Dodge Community School District’s internet and phones caused the district to cancel classes for today. School phone lines and internet services went down around 11:30 yesterday morning. Students will not be expected to participate in online learning since staff does not have internet access in the buildings. The district is working with authorities to restore their systems.
One person is dead following a crash on I-380 in Buchanan County early Monday morning. Buchanan County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a report of a motor vehicle accident on I-380 near the 50-mile marker around 3:45 a.m. One fatality has been confirmed. Authorities believe an adult male operating a motorcycle was traveling northbound on I-380 when he lost control of the vehicle. The operator was ejected from the motorcycle and pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators are identifying the man killed during a motorcycle accident last Friday afternoon in Robins. Officials say 47-year-old Ricky Davis of Wadena died at a hospital. Investigators say Davis was riding on N. Center Point Road and Chester Road just before 4 p.m. They say another driver, 17-year-old William Pardubsky of Cedar Rapids, did a U-turn in front of Davis and he was not able to avoid colliding into the car. The accident is still under investigation.
