Presidential Elections

Two supervisors seek re-election (03/09/10)
Two Plymouth County Supervisors have filed for re-election. Republicans Craig A. Anderson, of Merrill, and Don Kass, of Remsen, turned in their papers Tuesday morning to run again for supervisor. Anderson, who first took office in early 2006, is seeking to hold the District 4 seat for another term. Anderson was first elected in a special election, filling the unfinished term of Jack Spies. He was re-elected for a full term later that year...

Candidates can file paperwork Monday (03/04/10)
Candidates wishing to file papers for the county's primary election can start Monday. Candidates must file paperwork with Cherie Nitzschke, Plymouth County deputy auditor, at the courthouse. The deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 31.

Branstad says it's time to clean house, Iowa (02/19/10)
Former Gov. Terry Branstad is OK with ice cream for breakfast, but he's not OK with Iowa's government the way it is now. That's what he told the crowd at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor in Le Mars Thursday morning on a campaign stop for the 2010 governor's race...

Branstad plans Thursday Le Mars stop (02/16/10)
Iowa gubernatorial candidate former Gov. Terry Branstad will be in Le Mars Thursday. Branstad is hosting a 9 a.m. Plymouth County "Iowa Comeback Tour" stop at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor. Branstad, who served as Iowa's governor from 1983 to 1999, is making five town hall stops as part of his campaign Wednesday and Thursday...

Huseman seeks re-election (02/15/10)
Rep. Dan Huseman (R-Aurelia) announced Friday he will be running for re-election to the Iowa House. Huseman represents Cherokee County, 10 townships in eastern and southern Plymouth County and nine townships in northern Woodbury County. "State government must manage Iowans' tax dollars wisely. ...

County Republicans to hold caucus (01/11/10)
The Plymouth County Republican G.O.P. will be having a caucus at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23. At the caucus, the group will elect county Central Committee members and delegates to the County Convention that will be in March. Anyone with questions can call Scott Ihrke at 548-4778...

Remembering the decade: At home and beyond (01/04/10)
Ten years ago, as the decade turned, we were waiting to see if the Y2K threat was real. While that turned out to be the biggest non-news event of the Aughts (the first decade of the 2000s), there was plenty of headline material to come, tragedy and triumph alike...

Supervisors to consider raise for elected officials at budget time (12/30/09)
The Plymouth County Compensation Board recommended a 2 percent salary increase for elected officials in 2010-11. The Plymouth County Supervisors said Tuesday they will take that into consideration as they prepare the new budget. The first work session on the 2010-11 budget will be Monday...

Election may calm Honduras waters, allow more aid (12/07/09)
After more than four months of uncertainty, the people of Honduras elected a new president last week -- a move that will hopefully speed aid to the poor there, according to a Le Mars man with a close connection to the country. Richard Sievert, director of Mission Honduras Le Mars and teacher at Gehlen Catholic School, has been closely following the situation in Honduras, especially since June, when the country's president was deposed...

Fair board members elected at society's annual meeting (11/20/09)
Nine seats on the Plymouth County Fair Board were filled during an election at the annual meeting of the Plymouth County 4-H and Agricultural Society Nov. 12 at the Plymouth County Extension Office. Board members whose terms expired and were seeking re-election were Tony Schroeder, Terry Reuter, Brett McNaughton, Wayne Beitelspacher and Rich Benson...

Supervisors approve election numbers with no changes (11/13/09)
The Plymouth County Supervisors made no adjustments Tuesday in their canvass of last week's city elections. Final numbers verified 1,017 residents visited the polls for an 11 percent voter turnout. The county's cost for the election was $7,858, but that amount will be reimbursed by the cities, said Cheri Nitzschke, deputy auditor...

Election workers' service spans decades (11/04/09)
They arrive one hour before voting starts. They don't leave the building, not even for lunch. They stay until the last vote from their precinct is counted. Meet the Le Mars election workers that help you make sure your vote counts. Bernice Koopman started serving at the polls 40 years ago...

Poor showing at the polls during city elections (11/04/09)
Unofficial results indicate low voter turnout at the polls Tuesday with just 1,017 residents picking their favorites in 11 city elections throughout Plymouth County. According to election officials, 11,391 registered voters in the county had the opportunity to vote in Tuesday's city elections...

City elections Tuesday (11/02/09)
Polling sites will be open from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday for city elections in all 11 Plymouth County towns. Le Mars residents, voting in the Le Mars Convention Center, will be using voting machines to cast ballots while other city voting sites will be using paper ballots...

Voters to cast ballots in city elections Tuesday (10/30/09)
All 11 Plymouth County cities will hold elections Tuesday. In Le Mars there are no contested races and incumbents are running unopposed for mayor, three city council seats and two Floyd Valley Hospital Board of Trustee seats. Mayor Dick Kirchoff is seeking a second two-year term...

Absentee ballots for Nov. 3 available (10/02/09)
Voters wishing to cast their ballot absentee for the upcoming city elections can do so now. Absentee ballots are now available at the Plymouth County Auditor's Office for the city election to be held on November 3. People can vote absentee until 11 a.m. Nov. 3...

Challengers vie for city seats in many Plymouth County towns (09/21/09)
There are races in six Plymouth County towns for city elections Nov. 3. Le Mars is not one of them, with incumbents running unopposed for mayor, three seats on the city council and two on the Floyd Valley Hospital Board of Trustees. Mayor Dick Kirchoff is seeking a second two-year term. Councilmen John Leonard (Ward 1), Ken Nelson (Ward 3) and Rex Knapp (council at-large) are seeking another four-year term...

Supervisors approve last week's school election (09/14/09)
Three more people cast votes in last week's school board election than originally reported. The Plymouth County Supervisors learned the actual number of voters was 1,219 and gave their official stamp of approval last Friday during a canvass of the election...

Bond passes, new Hinton elementary looms on horizon (09/09/09)
Hinton residents made their feelings known Tuesday when more than 60 percent voted in favor of a $5.9 million bond to build a new elementary school. Hinton School District needed a 60 percent majority to pass the measure -- it got 65 percent. Unofficially, of the 836 people voting absentee and visiting the polls Tuesday, 545 were in favor of the bond while 291 were against. These numbers will be verified Friday...

LCS, Remsen, Hinton have new school board members (09/09/09)
A total of 1,216 voters in Plymouth County school districts went to the polls Tuesday to make their choices for school board members. Le Mars Community School District will have one new member on the board. Scott Kommes received 152 votes for the District 1 seat formerly held by Leon Scott. Scott is retiring from his board seat and did not seek re-election...

School board election is Tuesday (09/04/09)
Voters in Plymouth County school districts will go to the voting booth Tuesday to elect school board members, and in the case of Hinton Community School District, decide on a $5.9 million bond issue for the construction of a new elementary school. The polls at the Hinton Community Center will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. due to the bond issue on the ballot and the number of voters going to one voting location...

Hinton school approves land purchase agreement (09/01/09)
Hinton School Board members Monday voted unanimously to accept an offer from Kevin and Annette Held to purchase 24 acres to build a new elementary school. That decision means the district will pay $580,000 for the property, which includes 8 acres adjacent to the school building and 16 acres to the west...

Voters to decide on school board seats, Hinton bond issue (08/04/09)
September's school board elections will include a bond issue for Hinton, a few races for seats around Plymouth County and a few empty spots as well. In Hinton, voters will decide whether to approve a bond issue to help pay for a school addition on their September 8 ballots...

Few candidates with school board deadline nearing (07/24/09)
Candidates for school board seats open at area school districts have until 5 p.m. Thursday, July 30 to file nomination papers with board secretaries. As of Thursday, only two candidates had filed papers for the 14 seats open in Plymouth County school districts...

Ethics board clears school in election concern (06/12/09)
Le Mars Community School District didn't cross a legal boundary by sending out a letter sharing the pros and cons of the Instructional Support Levy (ISL) last year. That's the verdict of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. The board recently released its decision regarding a complaint that the school district had illegally used taxpayer dollars for political purposes during the ISL election...

Republicans redrawn: New Iowa chairman rallies for a sharper, hipper party (06/04/09)
When Matt Strawn spoke about going on the offensive Wednesday in Le Mars, the 35-year-old wasn't talking about the arena league football team he co-owns. He was talking about the Republican party. Strawn, elected chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa in January, sat around a Le Mars Truck Stop table with half a dozen local supporters and discussed how the GOP should emerge from the rubble of its 2008 campaign efforts...

Arbitrator will decide fate of LCS teacher contract negotiations (04/24/09)

State funding uncertainties plague LCS budget process (03/06/09)
Even as the City of Le Mars council members and Plymouth County Supervisors certify their budgets, the Le Mars Community School officials, along with districts across the state of Iowa, are faced with the task of preparing a budget for April 15 certification when they don't know how much money they have to work with...

Eliminating electoral college could impact Le Mars (03/03/09)
Before he was president, Barack Obama shook Le Mars residents' hands. He answered their questions. He stopped at the fairgrounds and spoke in the Plymouth County Historical Museum. Not only that, locals had face time with other major players in the 2008 presidential race. Hillary Clinton. John McCain. Joe Biden...

New S.D. law keeps door open for Greater Hoyt (02/27/09)
A bill currently making its way through the South Dakota Legislature will assure that students from the Greater Hoyt and Greater Scott School Districts in South Dakota will be able to attend school across the state's border in Iowa at Akron-Westfield and West Sioux Community Schools respectively...

ISL will not go to third vote for LCS (02/10/09)
There will not be a vote in the Le Mars Community School District on the Instructional Support Levy (ISL). The Le Mars Community School Board of Education unanimously approved a motion to accept Superintendent Dr. Todd Wendt's recommendations and abandon the election process on the ISL...

Bortschellers to attend Obama swear-in (01/12/09)
After Sen. Barack Obama was elected in the 44th president of the United States in November, Fred and Colleen Bortscheller of Le Mars knew they wanted to be present for the historic inauguration on January 20. "It's one of those 'where were you when' moments and we'll be able to say that we were there," said Colleen, a calculus teacher at Le Mars Community High School...

Outside review of information refutes allegations against school board (12/16/08)
A letter to the office of the State Auditor of Iowa with allegations against the Le Mars Community School District Board of Education by a district resident was addressed at the Dec. 8 board meeting. Jeffrey Peters, a certified public accountant with Williams & Company, in Le Mars, presented his findings to the board after receiving the information from the state auditor's office...

Election workers receive kudos for election efforts (12/12/08)
Election workers across the nation and in Plymouth County are being commended this week for their excellent service during the 2008 general election. In honor of National Election Worker Appreciation Week the United States Election Assistance Commission passed a resolution Monday recognizing the more than 1 million people that worked the polls Nov. 4...

Supervisors approve numbers for Hinton school election (12/10/08)
After the official count was confirmed, there were no changes in numbers for the Hinton Community School Districts Dec. 2 special election. The Plymouth County Supervisors Tuesday canvassed or approved the election, which brought 191 voters to the polls...

Le Mars pets will soon need to be collared with a new license (12/03/08)
Boxer, Bright-Eyes, Rover and Lily best be ready. Come Jan., 1 Le Mars dogs and cats over 6 months old will need a license and a metal identification tag. Le Mars City Council members gave a new city pet ordinance its final approval Tuesday with a 4-1 vote...

Hinton school voters switch from local to state tax (12/03/08)
Almost 200 voters visited the polls Tuesday to re-pass the Hinton School District's revenue purpose statement. The special election was needed after the 2008 Legislature decided to replace the one penny School Infrastructure Local Option (SILO) tax with a 1 cent statewide sales tax...

Election canvass gives complete picture of ballots cast (11/13/08)
The canvass of the Nov. 4 general election showed 52 more voters cast their ballots than initial numbers indicated. That is a total of 12,557 people or 71 percent of the total 17,544 registered voters in Plymouth County. These results were made official when the Plymouth County Supervisors conducted a canvass of the election Tuesday...

I was there: LCS grad celebrates Obama victory in Grant Park (11/07/08)
The last time a new president was voted into office, Tyler Pottebaum was in fifth grade. This time the 2008 Le Mars Community School graduate was right in the thick of it: Pottebaum spend election night in Chicago's Grant Park, the site of President-elect Barack Obama's victory party...

Speedy ballot count? Result of paper voting machines (11/07/08)
After the polls closed Tuesday, ballot results were at the Plymouth County Courthouse in record time. "All results were in with a half-hour of closing the polls," said Cherie Nitzschke, deputy auditor. "That's never happened before." At least since she came in 2003...

Rush of young voters? Not so much (11/06/08)
It was all the rumble -- young voters were going to rock the 2008 general election. Turns out it was more of a nudge. According to national exit polls, about 18 percent of the voters Tuesday were under the age of 30. That's up only 1 percent from the 2004, 2000 and 1996 general elections, where 18-29 year olds made up about 17 percent...

Pet licensing ordinance gets first round approval (11/05/08)
The reality of licenses for Le Mars dogs and cats moved a step closer Tuesday as members of the Le Mars City Council, voted 4-1, to give first reading approval for a pet licensing ordinance. Councilman Rex Knapp, who voted against the ordinance, emphasized that his action was not that he was against either dogs or cats but was based on his belief that responsibility for proper control of pets belongs to owners themselves...

Feenstra claims seat in Democrat-dominated Iowa Senate (11/05/08)
Republican Randy Feenstra who ran unopposed as Iowa Senator, District 2, hopes to bring his everyday work experiences into government. He joins a Democrat-heavy Senate -- the party maintained control following Tuesday's election. Feenstra said there are main areas he hopes to change in the state government during the next four years...

Supervisor incumbent Henrich beats out Koopman by wide margin (11/05/08)
In Plymouth County, Republican Jim Henrich will pick up the reins as county supervisor in District 5 for another term with 6,863 votes compared to his opponent's 4,647. "I'm kind of excited," said Henrich, from his home in Akron Tuesday night. District 5 includes the area north of Merrill and west of Le Mars reaching into a total of six townships...

Vote today (11/04/08)
All across the United States, eligible voters will cast their ballot today in the 56th consecutive presidential election. Republican John McCain, a U.S. Senator from Arizona, faces off with Democrat Barack Obama, a U.S. Senator from Illinois as the major party candidates...

Where to cast your vote (11/03/08)
Polling places are open Tuesday for the general election to pick a president for the U.S. along with several national, state, county and local offices. The polls in all Plymouth County's voting precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday. The precincts, area covered and poll locations are:...

Kerrey trumpets Obama's ability to bring change in Le Mars stop (09/30/08)
U.S. Senator and former Nebraska governor Bob Kerrey stopped by Le Mars Monday during an Iowa stump tour for presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama. Kerrey said he admired both Obama and Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate for president...

General election absentee ballots available (09/25/08)
Absentee ballots for the Nov. 4 general election are available to voters as of today (Thursday), according to officials at the Plymouth County Auditor's Office. A request form is required to receive an absentee ballot, whether in the Auditor's office or by mail. Request forms are available in the Auditor's Office or may be found online at www.co.plymouth.ia.us/Departments/audito... and clicking on the Absentee Ballot link...

School board waits on decision about future levy (09/23/08)
The Le Mars Community School board won't decide whether or not to make another try at starting the Instructional Support Levy (ISL) until November. Monday night's board of education meeting was the first opportunity for board members to discuss together the outcome of the Sept. 9 ISL vote...

Voters turn down ISL for Le Mars schools (09/10/08)
Le Mars Community School District voters said "no" to starting an Instructional Support Levy by 49 votes in Tuesday's election. District residents cast 1,880 "yes" votes (49 percent) for the adoption of the funding source for the district's general fund budget, with 1,929 "no" votes (51 percent) cast. The decision needed a simple majority to pass...

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