More area and State News, from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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The Creston Police Department has released a report on recent arrests and thefts. Officials say 19-year old Wayne Signs, of Creston, was arrested Saturday night for Possession of drug paraphernalia and Criminal Mischief in the 5th degree. He was later released on a promise to appear in court. Saturday morning, Creston Police arrested 48-year old Joel Weeks, of Creston, on an assault charge. Weeks was released from the Union County Jail on a promise to appear in court, and later transferred to the custody of Polk County Sheriff’s Deputies. And, on Friday, 18-year old Dakota Williams, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While Suspended. He was later released on $300 bond.

Authorities said also, four incidents of theft or vandalism were reported. On Monday, a woman reported someone stole a red, Murray 22-inch mower off the front porch of her home in the 300 block of New York Avenue, in Creston. The loss was estimated at $156. That same afternoon, a resident reported someone had broken into his home in the 500 block of W. Adams Street, and taken a blanket and jacket. The loss was estimated at $400.

Last Saturday, a resident of Maryville, MO., reported to Creston Police someone had keyed his vehicle while it was parked on the south side of 1100 block of E. Irving Street, in Creston. The damage was estimated at $500. And, on on Friday, a resident of the 1500 block of Maranatha Lane, in Creston, reported someone had stolen 5 traffic barricades from the intersection of Sumner & Prairie Streets. The bottoms of all barricades were left behind, but the cone, top sections were missing. The loss was estimated at $500.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Legal issues remain unresolved following the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision not to rule on the closure of the former Argosy Sioux City riverboat casino. Last week the high court rejected the Belle of Sioux City’s request to review an Iowa Appeals Court decision that upheld previous rulings leading to the casino closure.

The Sioux City Journal reports that among the legal issues still pending is a breach of contract lawsuit Penn National Gaming Co. filed against Missouri River Historical Development, the state-licensed nonprofit gambling group that had held Woodbury County’s gambling license with the Belle of Sioux City, a subsidiary of Penn National.

There’s also the matter of nearly $1.8 million in revenue-sharing payments the Argosy owner withheld from the gambling group during the last year the casino operated.

(Update 5:52-a.m.) vehicle removed from the roadway, all lanes open

Atlantic Fire & Rescue, Marne 1st Responders and Medivac Ambulance were dispatched to a single-vehicle accident early this morning on Interstate 80, in Cass County. Dispatch reports at 5:11-a.m. indicated a subject was in shock following the accident that took place about a mile east of the Elk Horn (Highway 173) exit off I-80 eastbound, and during which all of the vehicles’ airbags deployed. It’s unclear if there were any serious injuries. At least one person was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital to be checked for possible injuries.

A man and woman from Colorado were in the 4-door Chevrolet vehicle. Authorities said they were in their early 20’s.

Additional information is not available at this time.

Police in Red Oak arrested a man late Monday night, on an OWI charge. 26-year old Shadoe Lane Steeve, of Red Oak, was arrested just before 11-p.m. in the 1800 block of N. Broadway Street, and brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $1,000.

A juvenile court officer who’s based in Sioux City says she’s engaged in a “fundamentally different” way of working with troubled foster care kids, to try to keep them out of the prison system. Lisa Nelson is part of what’s called a “crossover team” in Woodbury County.  “We are continually reminded that this work is a living relationship and that each case brings a set of unique needs,” Nelson says. “The fact that there are ongoing struggles and, at times, failures may lead individuals to question the process or the effectiveness of the model, but overall we believe the model forces a fundamentally different way of thinking and working with this population.”

The team includes law enforcement and court officials like Nelson as well as staff in group homes for foster care kids and mental health therapists. “We were also able to employ an educational specialist who tracks educational transcripts for every child in our system who enters care,” Nelson says. One of the team’s goals is to keep foster care kids from being sent from a foster care group home to juvenile detention, because it means the kid then gets a criminal record.

“If they’re in a facility and they’re not doing well and they’re acting out, we don’t want to criminalize that,” Nelson says, “and so we tried to help them come up with levels of intervention and things they could do absent of calling law enforcement and having that child detained.”

About one-third of the foster care kids who wind up in the prison system got there because they were involved in some sort of incident in a group home. Nelson’s team has been working with Georgetown University on this project since 2008. Nelson made her comments during recent testimony at a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. More than 415-thousand American kids are in foster care today. Iowa ranks among the top 10 states in the percentage of its children in foster care.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in southeast Iowa say a 17-year-old driver has minor injuries after crashing his car into a pond at a private golf club. The Des Moines County Sheriff’s Office says the teen was speeding early Monday in Burlington and lost control of his vehicle at a curve. The car slid sideways, entered Flint Hills Golf Course and eventually went into a pond on the eighth hole.

HOLSTEIN, Iowa (AP) — Veterans of service in Iraq and Afghanistan are being asked to serve in a different way. The Sioux City Journal reports that membership in such groups as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars is shrinking as World War II and Korean War veterans age and die. The groups have met varying degrees of success as they try to attract younger veterans.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Proponents say barge traffic on the Missouri River is coming back, although the industry is still swimming upstream against a perception that the river is not reliable enough to support large-scale barge commerce. While some private barge companies never stopped using the river, public ports along the 750-mile span from Sioux City, Iowa, to St. Louis virtually disappeared in the early 2000s. But a public port in Kansas City reopened last year and St. Joseph is renovating its port.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A retired Army veteran from Clarksville plans to travel the length of the Mississippi River by canoe for personal growth and to raise funds for fellow veterans. The Leaf-Chronicle reports Bennie Giles will set a canoe into Minnesota’s Lake Itasca the first week of June for his adventure.

Sheriff’s deputies in Fremont County, last week, arrested three men for soliciting a product without a permit. Deputies were called Thursday to a rural Thurman residence where several individuals had reportedly tried to sell the resident asphalt. The homeowner advised he was contacted at his residence by a man, who advised that his crew was working near Plum Creek Road and had extra material they would sell to him at a discount rate. When the homeowner advised he had contacted law enforcement the crew left the residence.

Deputies made contact a short time later, with 52-year old Timothy Allen, and 48-year old Jeffery Allen, both of Fouke, Arkansas, and 50-year old Jerry Higgs, of Henry, Tennessee. All three were arrested for soliciting without a permit and taken to the Fremont County Jail. They plead guilty and were released with a fine.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office wants to warn residents to be aware of door to door solicitors in Fremont County. Door to door solicitors are required to obtain a permit to operate in Fremont County in each incorporated town through the respective City Hall, and are required to obtain a permit from the Sheriff’s Office to operate outside the city limits in the county.

Fremont County residents are often contacted in the summer months by sales persons selling, Chip and Seal, asphalt, vacuums, magazines, meat, or a variety of goods and services. Citizens are encouraged to contact the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office with any concerns in this matter at 712-374-2424.

Jeffrey Allen

Jerry Higgs

Timothy Allen

About nine in every ten Iowa children who are eligible for free meals during the summer break aren’t eating those meals. Stephanie Dross, a consultant for the Iowa Department of Education, says community groups offer summer meal sites all across the state, but for several reasons, tens of thousands of children don’t take part.

“We know that in the state of Iowa, we have over 200,000 children who are eligible for free and reduced-price meals during the school year,” Dross says. “When you compare that to our summer program, we average about 21,000 children on an average summer day. So, as you can tell, there’s a fairly significant gap.” According to Dross, since school buses aren’t picking kids up for class during the summer months, many of those children can’t get a ride to get a meal.

“Some of it is the knowledge from families as to the availability of sites and where those site locations are,” Dross says. “We also know there are transportation barriers across the state, both in rural and urban locations.” Still, some areas -are- able to access buses that bring the kids in. Some locations are also able to offer activities for the students in addition to the meals, which helps to boost attendance.

“The organizations that sponsor the summer food service program can choose to serve up to two meals or a meal and a snack per day,” Dross says. “The most commonly participated in meal is the lunch service but we also have lots of organizations across the state that do both breakfast meals and snacks throughout the day.” Another option is setting up serving sites at farmers markets, in addition to making connections with medical facilities.

For more information and to find locations for meal sites in your part of Iowa, call the Hunger Hotline at 866-3-HUNGRY, or text the word “food” to 877-877.

(Radio Iowa)