Clinton and Trump Winners in Greene County Caucus
On Monday evening, Greene County residents voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump as the winners of the caucus.
According to the Iowa Democratic Party results, Hillary Clinton won over Bernie Sanders 53.8 percent to 46.2 percent. She won in four of the seven precincts.
Steve Haupert was the chair for the central precinct, where Sanders won three of the seven precincts along with the North and Central precincts. Haupert says they had only 45 people and Sanders won with 25 to Clinton’s 20. He noted that he was disappointed with the turnout and he thought they would have over 100 people last night.
As for the Republican Party, Donald Trump won Greene County with 164 votes to Ted Cruz’s 162 votes. In third place was Marco Rubio with 77 votes, fourth place was Dr. Ben Carson with 62 votes and Jeb Bush was fifth with 25 votes.
Greene County resident and State Central Committee member for the Republican Party of Iowa John Thompson says he’s happy with the largest turnout they’ve ever had and generating a lot of people to participate in the caucus. He adds that he was surprised Rubio did so well considering he didn’t have as strong of a ground game as Trump or Cruz.
A Jefferson Man Faces Additional Charges After Escaping From the Greene County Jail
A Jefferson man was apprehended after he allegedly broke out of the Greene County Jail Friday, January 30th.
Sheriff Steve Haupert says 33 year-old Andrew Lee Jensen was being taken to an interrogation room to call his attorney. As he was being taken back to his cell, Jensen ran from the jailer through an unlocked security door. He then smashed through another unsecured door and gain access to the front office area of the Law Enforcement Center. Jensen then went out the front door.
Haupert says two Jefferson Police Officers were able to find Jensen within 15 minutes in a nearby relative’s fifth wheel camper in the 300 block of East Harrison Street. Jensen was handcuffed and brought back to the LEC. No one was hurt in the incident and the only damage was to one of the doors.
Haupert notes that Jensen was not handcuffed because he was being taken through secured parts of the building. He adds that if the first door is usually locked, but it wasn’t that night. It was the first time anyone had escaped from the jail in Haupert’s 18 years with the Sheriff’s office.
Jensen was charged with escape and fourth degree criminal mischief. He is being held at the medical and classification center in Coralville.
He is charged with two felonies in Greene County for allegedly stealing vehicles this past October.
No Raise for Greene County Supervisors
Earlier this week, the Greene County Board of Supervisors approved to give county elected official’s a small raise for the next fiscal year.
Three different motions were made before the Supervisors passed a 3-2 vote to take a zero percent raise for the Board and a two percent raise for all other elected county officials. The first motion was for the compensation board’s recommended 2.5 percent across-the-board raise and that failed 3-2. The second motion also failed by a vote of 3-2 for a two percent across-the-board raise, including the Supervisors. The final motion was passed with “yes” votes from Supervisors Tom Contner, Mick Burkett and Chair John Muir. Supervisors Dawn Rudolph and Guy Richardson voted “no”.
Muir thought the compromise by the Board to not taking a raise was fair considering where he thought the county was economically and the taxation rates.
“I think we’ve done a good job, I think we’ve done a good job. I think we’re well compensated for that job and I think at this particular time it was a doable thing for us to just sit for a year and see where we are a year from now.”
Muir explains why he was comfortable with a two percent raise for all other elected county officials.
“In our job we have to balance that with the expenses back to the taxpayers of the county. Just at this time that was my feelings that maybe this was a place for us to land. As you could tell by the voting, a lot of thought went into where we ended up.”
Last year, the Supervisors voted to receive a 2.5 percent for themselves and a three percent raise for the other county elected officials.
Winter Storm Results in Several Accidents and Power Outages in Greene County
Earlier this week, a winter storm not only brought several inches of snowfall, but several accidents and power outages throughout Greene County.
The Greene County Sheriff’s office responded to eight single vehicle accidents on Tuesday, all due to slushy road conditions. City of Jefferson crews as well as the Greene County Secondary Roads Department were busy working almost around the clock to keep the slush and ice covered roads cleared for travel.
Midland Power Cooperative crews had a busy day on Wednesday trying to restore power to some 514 residents after high winds pushed power lines together causing power outages. Calls started coming in during the overnight and crews had all power restored by 2pm.
Greene County Sheriff Surprised by Flood of New Carry Permits
Carry permits are continuing to come into the Greene County Sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Steve Haupert says in their second quarter, which consists of October through December of 2015, the Sheriff’s office has received $5,135 in weapon permits, which is the second most ever. The most was during the third quarter of 2013 from January through March with $5,800. Haupert is surprised at how many new people have been coming in to get a new permit.
“I don’t think it has as much to do with the fear of the government is going to take our firearms away. People just feel uneasy about today’s society and feel that it is their right to have that carry permit and to carry a firearm.”
He reminds everyone that you must go to your local Sheriff’s office to obtain a new or renew a carry permit. For a renewal, you can use previous certification, take a class from a certified instructor or show proficiency on a gun range. For new permits, you must pass a class or shoot on a range, bring in your certificate to the Sheriff’s office and a permit will be issued to you.
New permits are $50 and renewals are $25, plus an extra $10 for a hard copy of the permit.