DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa couple whose adopted baby was killed after his birth parents regained custody in 2014 has won a $3.25 million judgment in a lawsuit against their adoption lawyer.

The Des Moines Register reports that Rachel and Heidi McFarland were awarded the judgment Tuesday in a lawsuit against their attorney, Jason Rieper. The couple alleged in their lawsuit that Rieper allowed them to believe he’d gotten the baby’s birth mother to sign a critical release-of-custody document when he had not done so.

The 3-month-old baby, Gabriel McFarland, died on April 22, 2014, about five weeks after his birth mother got him back from the McFarlands. The child’s father, 17-year-old Drew James Weehler-Smith, was sentenced to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 2015.

The Creston Police Department reports 35-year old Brandon Howe, of Creston, was arrested Wednesday evening on an out-of-state warrant. Howe was taken into custody on a Jefferson City, MO. Probation and Parole Board warrant for the charge of Parole Violation. He was being held in the Union County Jail without bond, while awaiting extradition.

After a couple of public meetings on how Atlantic should celebrate its 150^th Anniversary as a City in 2018, a committee has decided on a plan. City Clerk Barb Barrick says they decided on a theme for each month, beginning this December (2017), with a Mayoral Proclamation during the Christmas Parade. A different, suggested theme for groups and organizations to build around each month, begins January, 2018.)

City Hall will be the point of contact for getting events on the calendar. There’s also a Facebook page that debuted on Wednesday. It’s called “Atlantic Sesquicentennial.” If you have problems spelling out the entire word Sesquicentennial, just type in “Atlantic Ses” in the Facebook search bar to locate and “Like” their page.

Police in Red Oak say no citations were issued following an investigation into an accident that occurred late Wednesday evening, because officers were unable to determine which driver’s version of events was correct. Officers were dispatched to the intersection of 4th and Washington Streets at around 8:30-p.m.  After they arrived, they spoke with 39-year old Jacob Lynn Hallock, of Red Oak, whose 2009 Chevy 1500 pickup was parked near the laundry mat in a parking stall. The driver of a 2007 Buick Rendezvous, 39-year old Tracy Anne Burkes, of Red Oak, left the scene after she and Hallock exchanged insurance information, since there were no injuries.

As Police were gathering information at the scene, Burkes showed up and provided them with a statement. She claimed her vehicle was eastbound on Washington Street and made a very wide turn into the laundry mat parking spot. The turn was so wide, she said, she went over into oncoming traffic to make the turn.

Hallock told Red Oak Police that he was traveling east on Washington when Burkes’ SUV came across his lane of travel and was traveling the wrong way down 4th Street. Following the collision, he pulled over into the parking spot. Damage to the vehicles amounted to $7,500.

Iowa is the second-best state in the nation to grow old, according to a report from a senior care website. Tim Sullivan, vice president of caring-dot-com, says the study examined a series of 13 categories, including financial, health care and quality of life. “We looked at the cost of care across a variety of senior care services,” Sullivan says. “We also looked at self-reported well-beings for older adults in those states as well as consumer reviews of assisted living communities and in-home care services in those states.”

Utah ranks first on the report while Iowa is number-two for the second year in a row. He says Iowa didn’t rank first in any of the categories but was a strong contender in almost every one. “The Hawkeye State did great on quality,” Sullivan says. “They’re tied for 8th and that quality comes at a very reasonable cost where they came in at 17th.”

For senior care costs, Iowa is hovering around the national median. A private one-bedroom in an assisted living community in Iowa will cost around $42,210 per year on average, more than $1,000 less than the national average. “They are really great on the cost of their assisted living communities,” Sullivan says. “They also have a lot of high-quality assisted living communities. We looked at the best-ranked assisted living communities, based on consumer reviews on caring.com, and Iowa came in 4th.”

The rankings are meant to be something of a wake-up call, according to Sullivan, as well as a starting point for important conversations between family members. “We really want folks to think about their retirement in the long term, not just about their 60s but also their 70s and 80s,” Sullivan says. “Your needs change as you age and you really want to make sure that you’re going to be able to have those needs met in the place where you live.”

While Utah and Iowa were one and two, the rest of the top five are: South Carolina, Washington state and Nebraska. The worst states to grow old, according to the survey, are: Wyoming, North Dakota, New York, Indiana and last — West Virginia.

(Radio Iowa)