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The Grundy Register Iowa Caucuses 2016
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Cruz, Rubio rise to top of GOP field locally; Sanders, Clinton almost evenly split
BY: ROB MAHARRY AND MICHAELA KENDALL The Grundy Register GRUNDY COUNTY- Iowa’s first in the nation caucuses were in the spotlight across the U.S. on Monday evening as voters in the Hawkeye state stumped for their presidential candidates, cast their votes and appointed delegates on both the Democratic and Republican sides. In Grundy County, different precincts told different stories. In Precinct 7, which includes most of Grundy Center, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) won the Republican poll handily as he captured 68 out of almost 150 votes cast, and businessman Donald Trump came in second with 32 votes. Senator
Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was third with 19, and none of the remaining eight candidates captured more than 15 votes. Ohio Governor John Kasich, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore each failed to gain a single vote. Cruz, however, dominated the polls in Precinct 1, which includes Beaman and Conrad, on his way to a statewide win with 28 percent of the vote, continuing Iowa’s history of choosing socially conservative candidates in the GOP Caucus. Over 160 Republicans voted in all, as he gained 57 votes, and Rubio finished in a distant second with 27 votes. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson came in third with 23 votes, and Trump, the frontrunner entering
Monday night’s caucuses, came in fourth with 22 votes. On the Democratic side, the race between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) was essentially a dead heat, mirroring the rest of the state. Sanders edged out a win in precinct 7 with 41 votes to Clinton’s 40, and he won precinct one with 25 votes to Clinton’s 22, though they ended up splitting the delegates (five each) in Conrad who will later represent each candidate at the Grundy County convention. The tones at the Democratic and Republican caucuses were wildly contrasting: at the GOP event in the BCLUW High School commons, Caucus Chair Dave Lee spoke of the need to “take the country
back,” protect traditional values and strengthen gun rights, among other major issues, and he argued that Iowa should send a message to the rest of the country by voting for a true conservative to take on the Democrats in the general election. “We have got to make sure that in our conscience, with our God, we’re nominating people who can win and defeat the other side,” he said. “I think there are a number of people on this ballot who can do that, and we’re starting that process tonight.” Democrats, on the other hand, bemoaned the scourge of the George W. Bush years and stressed the need to build on the momentum of Barack Obama’s presidency going forward. They were split,
however, on whether Clinton or Sanders would be the best person to carry that torch. “We need a candidate that brings our country together and doesn’t create war, divide and further mistrust among elected officials in our country. Without a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, we need a leader that knows Washington inside and out,” Clinton supporter and precinct captain Jared Walter of Conrad said in a prepared speech. “Hillary has the reputation as one of the strongest female political figures in the world, and it’s imperative that women all around the globe have Hillary as an advocate for them—for equal pay, for equal treatment, for women’s reproductive rights.”
Sanders supporters echoed the iconoclastic and self-described Democratic Socialist Senator’s fiery populist rhetoric on issues like Wall Street banks, campaign finance reform and the expansion of Medicare and Social Security. In the lead-up to the caucus on Monday, Sanders claimed that if voter turnout were high, he would win. “I’ve been waiting a long time to get behind somebody with enthusiasm,” Sanders supporter Craig Speicher said. “His ideas are what I believe in.” At press time, the race between Clinton and Sanders statewide was still considered too close to call, although Clinton had a slight edge in most polls.
Supervisors discuss hospital bonding, budget requests By ROB MAHARRY The Grundy Register GRUNDY CENTER- As the deadline to certify the county budget for fiscal year 2017 draws near, the Board of Supervisors heard requests from several more departments and received an update from the leaders at the Grundy County Memorial Hospital on future plans and bonding schedules. The GCMH recently announced its purchase of the Grundy County Rural Electric Cooperative (REC), which is located just north of the hospital’s main campus, and while CEO Jennifer Havens did not offer a specific plan for how she would like to see the property used, she told the supervisors that it just made sense. “The purpose is looking to the future,” she said. “With the timing,
it seemed important that we took the opportunity to own that piece of land that was contiguous with our property.” Leaders from GCMH also plan to request the same amount ($263,000) in grant money from the county as in past years, of which $163,000 goes to operations, and $100,000 is directed toward capital improvements. Supervisor Jim Ross noted that having such a state of the art hospital known for excellent service is an asset to all residents of the county who might otherwise have to travel much farther in order to obtain the care they need. Havens reported that the hospital has seen a marked increase in patients from the Reinbeck, Dike, Beaman and Conrad areas, and the cardiology and wound clinics have grown considerably.
Iowa Caucuses 2016
Fellow supervisor Chuck Bakker agreed that the hospital, which employs 205 people (65 percent of whom are Grundy County residents), is a huge positive, but he wondered if the grant level should be adjusted considering that the hospital is now in much better financial shape than in the past, noting that the county has contributed around $2.5 million since he first joined the board. Barb Smith, who in addition to being chair of the supervisors is a member of the hospital’s board of commissioners, countered that among county hospitals in the state, Grundy County is very close to the bottom in terms of taxpayer support. “I think it would be a precarious time to change it because we’re
Cruz, Rubio rise to top of GOP field locally; Sanders, Clinton almost evenly split.
The students of the GC-DNH Academic Decathlon team pose with the traveling trophy that they won at this year’s regional competition. In the photo, from left to right are (front row): Shannon Meester, Tiana Saak, Jack Stanley, and Zach Delfs and (back row): Blake Kelley, Eli Harberts, Dylan Hendricks, and Noah Boquet. Not pictured is Abrina O’Rourke. (Photo courtesy of Don Osterhaus)
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School board GC-DNH academic decathlon team shatters records, wins regional championship weighs options By MICHAELA KENDALL of kids this year. They’re very The team wont find out until for G-R The Grundy Register self motivated and autonomous after press time whether or not GRUNDY CENTER – The learners.” they will be attending the state dissolution Grundy Center-Dike New Hartford academic decathlon team crushed the competition and took home the trophy during the regional competition at the Grundy Center High School last Thursday. This year marks the school’s first regional competition win since the 2010-2011 school year. Along with winning the overall competition, the team also won the Super Quiz event, and broke several school records. The GC-DNH team scored a new school record when they earned 32,342 points. The previous best was in 1998, when that year’s team scored 30,130 points. Team member Tiana Saak also established a new school record for most points earned at a regional competition when she scored 6,414 points. The previous record was held by Cory Sents, who scored 6,150 points in 2005. “ I t ’s v e r y e x c i t i n g , ” s a i d GC-DNH decathlon coach Don Osterhaus. “We have a great group
The team’s next step after the regional competition is the state competition, which will be a faceoff between the top 12 scoring schools from all four regional competitions. This means that even though the GC-DNH team won the regional competition, they are not guaranteed a spot in the state competition until the scores are totaled and they are ranked in the top 12. Osterhaus remained positive on the possibility of the team going to state. “I’m optimistic that we will be going to the state academic decathlon,” Osterhaus said. “Ours is probably one of the most competitive small schools.” Osterhaus speculated that Iowa Falls-Alden and Union would most likely be there as well, as Iowa Falls-Alden won second place in the regional competition and Union won third. Iowa Falls-Alden also had the overall top scoring individual, Joseph Tibbs.
competition in Spirit Lake on March 4 and 5, but Osterhaus said that he is very confident the team will be going. Osterhaus, who has been coaching the academic decathlon team for 28 years and teaching at the school for 40 years, said that this year was extra special for him – and not just because of the win. Several of his old students were back in the Grundy Center High School gym during the competition, but this time as coaches instead of participants. One of these former students is Lance Husak, who is now the president of the Board of Directors for the Iowa Academic Decathlon. Husak and Osterhaus got to meet up on their home turf, and reminisce on the days when Husak was a student in the competition and Osterhaus was his coach. “It’s very special to see them back here,” Osterhaus said. “It really means a lot to me that they stayed with the program.”
By MICHAELA KENDALL The Grundy Register GRUNDY CENTER – At Wednesday night’s school board meeting, the discussion focused on the Gladbrook-Reinbeck dissolution proposal, and how the possible dissolution could affect the Grundy Center School District financially. A presentation by Gary Sinclair, a financial consultant from PMA Financial Network, reviewed the school’s finances and gave projections of how the incoming students from G-R could affect the school’s financial standing. In general the effect wouldn’t be profound, Sinclair said, adding that the school’s finances would remain consistent and proportional – not moving much either up or down. “It doesn’t hurt us, but it doesn’t necessarily help us much more either,” explained Superintendent Jerry Schutz. “We would get more money, but we would also be spending more money.” Sinclair said that because of the changes that the school made last See SCHOOL BOARD page 3
There’s a new street in town
Those who travel through the main drag along Center Street in Conrad will notice that there’s a new road heading north just past the Steckelberg Veterinary Clinic on the east edge of town. Hartwig Street, which is part of the Smith Development, will eventually be the home to the new Conrad Fire Station, the Central Iowa Healthcare Clinic and two other lots open for commercial development. The sign has been up for about a month now. (Rob Maharry/The Grundy Register photo)
The Grundy Register, P.O. Box 245, Grundy Center, IA 50638 Phone: (319) 824-6958 • Fax: (319) 824-6288 • E-mail: publisher@gcmuni.net, registerads@gcmuni.net, editor@gcmuni.net