DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate continues his ‘Voter Ready’ outreach initiative by unveiling a fresh, updated website ahead of the November 8 general election. VoterReady.Iowa.gov is a one-stop shop for Iowa voters. They can register to vote, download an absentee ballot request form, track the status of their request, look up their polling place, and find important dates and deadlines for the election all in one place.

“I encourage all Iowans to have a plan for casting their ballot and VoterReady.Iowa.gov is the place to go to develop that plan,” Secretary Pate said. “The November 8 general election is less than six weeks away and voters are already requesting their absentee ballots. Let’s keep Iowa’s great track record of being one of the best states in the nation for voter participation.”

As National Voter Registration Month comes to a close, it’s a great time to visit the site and make sure you are registered to vote. It’s also a great opportunity to ensure your voter registration contains the most up-to-date information.

The ‘Voter Ready’ educational initiative is designed to ensure all eligible Iowans are prepared for Election Day. It launched ahead of the 2018 election. Since that time, Iowans have broken turnout records four times in statewide elections.

“This website is being promoted through various means including partnering with Iowa’s college football coaches and athletic departments, as well as TV, radio, print, social media, and digital ads,” Secretary Pate said. “These next six weeks will include a tremendous effort by my office to get every voter the information they need to cast a ballot for the November 8 general election.”

Secretary Pate’s free, customizable media toolkit is available to any group or organization interested in helping Iowans participate in elections. The toolkit includes infographics and proposed verbiage to use in social media posts and timely information in newsletters for organizations to utilize. To receive this toolkit or to get on the outreach list, email sos@sos.iowa.gov.

Please be advised that the Henry County Board of Supervisors will be hosting a public information meeting in regards to recent wind energy company interests in Henry County, Iowa properties. This meeting will occur on October 11, 2022 at 7:00 PM at the Swedesburg, Iowa at the Swedesburg Lutheran Church Parish Hall located at 201 Academy Ave. The general – public is invited to take part in an informational meeting / questions and answers session with Liberty Power Renewables and RWE Renewables. These two companies have both expressed interests in a proposed wind turbine farm in the norther portion of Henry County, Iowa.

DAVENPORT, IA – Kendal Duane Letcher, age 64 of Washington, Iowa, was sentenced on Monday, September 26, 2022, to 180 monthsin prison following his plea to a charge of Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography. Letcher was ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution to each
of his four victims, totaling $12,000. According to court documents, an investigation into a peer-to-peer file sharing system
identified that Letcher was allowing others to download child pornography that he made available. Letcher admitted to viewing child pornography for the past ten years, as well as utilizing the file sharing system since 2014. The investigation revealed that Letcher had amassed 3,785 images and 485 videos containing child sex abuse materials. United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was
started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are
encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821

Mt. Pleasant resident and business owner Ted Wiley now holds the position of Grand Master of Masons in Iowa. The Grand Master is the supreme executive authority of Iowa Masonry. First initiated in 2000, Wiley has served the Mount Pleasant Lodge as Worshipful Master. His service to Iowa Masonry includes serving as Junior Grand Deacon and Junior Grand Warden. He has been a member of many Masonic committees and is equally generous with his service to the Mount Pleasant community. He is active on many community boards, foundations and committees. Wiley is the President of Jean C. Wiley and Sons Inc. Building Contractors.  Plans are being made for a reception in Wiley’s honor on October 8.

At 4:22 p.m. Monday the Burlington and West Burlington Fire Departments were dispatched for a structure fire at Borghi USA, 402 West Division Street in West Burlington. Burlington Firefighters arrived on scene at 4:26 pm to find heavy smoke showing from the west side of the
commercial manufacturing facility with employees evacuating the structure. Firefighters located the fire inside the west side door of the building and brought the fire under control within 10 minutes. Eleven Burlington Firefighters were assisted at the scene by Eight
West Burlington Firefighters, the West Burlington Police Department, and maintenance staff from Borghi USA. Three off-duty Burlington Firefighters reported for duty to cover additional calls. Employees activated the fire alarm system and called 911 to report the fire. Employees
attempted to control the fire with fire extinguishers. There were no other injuries. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Burlington and West Burlington Fire Departments and is not considered suspicious. The facility did receive significant smoke
damages and fire damage was limited to a small portion of the building. Damage estimates are not available at this time. Fire crews cleared the scene at 6:00 p.m

During Monday night’s work session, the Mount Pleasant School Board discussed the possibility of hiring a resource officer. Supt. John Henriksen has already been in conversation with Mount Pleasant Police Chief Lyle Murray and Sheriff Rich McNamee about working with local law enforcement.  The proposal is for the school district to enter into a 28E agreement with the police department in order to make use of the services of a Mount Pleasant Police officer during the time school is in session. There are still Union questions that need answered. The salary also needs to be worked out. But it sounds like the school board members are agreeable to the idea and so is the Police Chief. The Superintendent told the school board members that he anticipates the district staff would continue to handle student situations as they have been but the officer would be readily available for those situations that could escalate.  The board was also in agreement that the position calls for the right type of individual who can establish a relationship and a trust with students.  The Police Chief thought an agreement could be in place by January 1.

No it wasn’t aliens, and we weren’t under attack. The strange string of lights in the sky Monday night wasn’t a natural space phenomenon, either. But the site was still pretty darn cool. It’s not official but it’s likely what you saw was a Starlink Internet satellite train of possibly 50 satellites launched and headed into their orbits. The train was visible for about 3 minutes over Mount Pleasant at about 8:20 Monday night. These trains are periodically launched and according to a schedule found online there was a train sent out last night over Iowa.