–Today is the deadline to put your absentee ballot in the mail for it to be counted in Tuesday’s primary election. If you are planning on mailing your ballot today or want to know what to do with it, Kossuth County Auditor Amber Garman has some tips.

        *Bring your ballot into the post office to make sure it is postmarked with today’s date (June 1^st).

        *If you have filled out your ballot, you can put it in the drop-box located at the North entrance of the Kossuth County Courthouse. You can drop your ballot off up until 9 PM Tuesday.

        *If you requested an absentee ballot but haven’t filled it out, you will not be able to vote in person on Tuesday unless your bring the ballot with you and surrender it to election workers.

        *If you did not request an absentee ballot, you can still vote early at the Kossuth County Election Center until 5 PM today.

In Kossuth County, 3,625 absentee ballots were requested for Tuesday’s primary, and as of Friday 2,844 of them have been returned. The only polling place that will be open Tuesday in Kossuth County is at the Columbia Hall in Algona, from 7AM-9PM. If you have any questions, contact the Kossuth County Auditor’s Office at 515-295-2718.

–The Wild Rose Casino in Emmetsburg is set to reopen today after being closed since March as a part of the coronavirus pandemic. Wild Rose General Manager Steve Cody tells KLGA News they have been looking forward to this day for over 2 months.

Cody says they will have some restrictions in place to help keep their patrons safe.

Cody says they are not quite sure what kind of crowd they will get today.

Despite being closed since the middle of March, Cody says plenty of work has been done while the facility has been closed.

Cody says it will still be a little bit before they can host live entertainment at the facility, but they are hoping to bring those performances back as soon as they can.

–The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors narrowly approved an amended road use agreement with Wisconsin Power and Light during their meeting on Tuesday. The agreement will allow a large crane to be moved in 1 piece instead of the crane being dismantled and brought in on separate trucks. Kossuth County Engineer Doug Miller spoke to the Supervisors about the process.

The larger crane will be used in the construction of a wind farm in Southeastern Kossuth County. Wisconsin Power and Light will pay Kossuth County a fee of 1.5 Million Dollars as a part of the amended road use agreement for being able to haul the crane in one piece. Miller says any proposed route will need to be approved prior to it being used by Wisconsin Power and Light.

The amended road use agreement was approved by a vote of 3-2, with Supervisors Galen Casey and Kyle Stecker voting against.

–An Algona man was taken into custody early Wednesday evening after allegedly violating a no contact order.

According to the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Department, Deputies were called to a residence in Fenton just after 6 PM Wednesday on a report of a subject having contact with someone they could not have contact with. Upon arrival Deputies conducted a brief investigation and took 29-year-old Justin Allen Garcia into custody on charges of Violation of a No Contact Order-Contempt, a Simple Misdemeanor.

Online court records show Garcia was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault Causing Injury or Mental Illness on January 1^st of 2020 and a No Contact Order was issued at that time to prevent him from having contact with the alleged victim.

Garcia plead Not Guilty to that charge back in February but online court records show a Plea Hearing is scheduled to take place on June 1^st.

–A Michigan man was arrested on multiple charges following an alleged disturbance at a Titonka establishment Wednesday night.

According to the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Department, Deputies were called to a bar in Titonka just before 7:30 PM Wednesday on the report of a person causing problems. Upon arrival, Deputies were able to locate the suspect, identified as 28-year-old Dillon James Harburn-Elowsky from Flint, Michigan.

Harburn-Elowsky was taken into custody on 2 counts of assault, 1 count of 5^th degree criminal mischief and 1 count Disorderly Conduct, all Simple Misdemeanors. He is also being charged with 1 count of Trespassing, a Serious Misdemeanor.

Harburn-Elowsky was booked into the Kossuth County Jail to await an initial court appearance.

–Playground equipment in Algona’s parks that has been taped off for 2 months will be opening up next week. Algona Parks and Recreation Director Brody Bertram tells KLGA News that the Governor’s Proclamation this week allowing parks to reopen means they will be out early on Monday morning.

Bertram says the Parks and Recreation staff will be preparing the equipment over the next few days to make sure everything is ready to go on the 1^st.

Bertram says they only had a couple of incidents with people trying to play on the equipment while it was closed to the public.

The city can officially open the playground equipment on June 1^st.

–The state website that tracks coronavirus cases is reported two more positive cases in Kossuth County Thursday morning, bringing the county’s total number of cases at the time up to 10. However one of those cases has now been removed, leaving a total of 9 cases here.

On Wednesday afternoon, Kossuth County Public Health Officials confirmed the 8^th case in the county was a person in the 41-60 year-old age group. The release says that person is currently recovering at home.

While Kossuth County has seen an increase in cases over the last 2 weeks, Health Officials say that is to be expected as testing increases and the county has seen relatively few cases.

On Wednesday, state officials confirmed over 400 new cases have been discovered in Buena Vista County, bringing that county’s total to over 600 cases.

You can find the latest totals from every county in the state by going online to www.coronavirus.iowa.gov.

–A Swea City man is facing a felony charge of Domestic Abuse following an alleged incident Sunday evening.

According to the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, Deputies were notified of about a domestic disturbance in progress at a residence in Swea City just after 7 PM Sunday. After conducting an investigation at the scene, Deputies arrested 44-year-old Timothy Michael Nelson.

Online court records show Nelson is being charged with Domestic Abuse Assault Impeding Air/Blood Flow Causing Bodily Injury, a Class D Felony.

Nelson was booked into the Kossuth County Jail before posting bond earlier this week.

A No Contact Order has been issued to keep Nelson from having any contact with the alleged victim in this case.

–The Kossuth County Courthouse will remain closed to the general public for at least the next two weeks.

During their meeting Tuesday, the Kossuth County Board of Supervisors held discussion with Department Heads and Elected Officials about whether or not to reopen the building to the public.

Supervisors Chairman Jack Plathe tells KLGA News that following the discussion, the board felt it was best to keep the courthouse closed for now and they will re-evaluate the situation in two weeks.

The supervisors will not meet next week due to the Primary Election so they will discuss the matter once again during their meeting on June 9^th.

Earlier this week, Governor Kim Reynolds announced that more businesses will be allowed to open again on June 1^st, including casinos and amusement parks. Bars across the state will be allowed to open with capacity restrictions in place on Thursday.

–Algona’s “Founder’s Day” celebration scheduled for July has now been called off. Algona Chamber of Commerce Director Vicki Mallory tells KLGA News that the Founder’s Day Committee made the decision to cancel the July 9^th-12^th festival with input from city and chamber leaders.

Mallory says everyone agreed that a scaled-back version of Founder’s Day was not something that should go on.

This year’s edition would have taken place on State Street in downtown Algona, leaving behind the usual location in the Nebraska Street parking lot. Mallory says the changes that were to be implemented this year will be used next summer.

Next year’s Founders Day Celebration is scheduled to take place July 8-11.