Atlantic Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring reports the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department has opened all of the public restrooms at Sunnyside Park and City Park for the public’s convenience. The Department asks that you treat the restrooms with the same respect as you would your own.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A judge has ruled that Iowa inmates have the right to legal counsel when challenging Department of Corrections’ decisions that can add time to their sentences. If upheld on appeal, the ruling could help inmates during classification and disciplinary hearings run by department officials. It’s not clear who would pay for their attorneys.

The department on Thursday appealed the decision by Judge Scott Rosenburg. The Iowa Supreme Court will decide whether to keep the case or send it to the Court of Appeals. The high court ruled last year that misdemeanor defendants have the right to counsel under the Iowa Constitution. Given that decision, Rosenburg says it makes sense that inmates “facing the possibility of an increase in the amount of time he or she will be incarcerated” also qualify.

Law enforcement officers in Page County, Thursday afternoon, arrested a man wanted on a Page County warrant for Probation Violation. Sheriff’s Deputies and Officers with the Shenandoah Police Department took 35-year old Michael Wayne England, II, of Clarinda, into custody at around 3:25-p.m.

England was wanted on a warrant associated with an original charge of Harassment in the 1st degree. He was unable to post a $2,000 cash bond, and was transported to the Page County Jail where he awaits an appearance before the court.

(Update 9:52-a.m.: Harlan Police have located the vehicle. No other details are available)

Authorities in western Iowa are on the lookout for a vehicle stolen sometime Thursday night, from Harlan. According to a BOLO (Be On the Look Out for)  broadcast from State Radio, the vehicle taken was a white, 2007 Buick Rendezvous, with Iowa Shelby County license plate number CQF 930.

If you happen to see the vehicle, contact your local law enforcement agency.

2007 Buick Rendezvous (Similar to the one reported stolen)

A southwest Iowa man is gathering signatures in hopes of finding some justice for his daughter who was killed by an alleged drunk driver earlier this year. Scott Root, of Council Bluffs, says the man charged in the fatal crash was in the U-S illegally, yet was released on a very low bond and is believed to have fled the country. Now, Root wants the judge who set that bond punished.

Root says, “I’d called Officer Swanson at the police station and he said, ‘Scott, I’m trying to get an ICE hold on him and I’ll call you back in 10 minutes.’ In about 10 minutes he called back and said, ‘I’m sorry to inform you, he’s been bonded out,’ the same day you’re burying your kid.”

Omaha police say the suspect, 19-year-old Eswin Mejia, of Honduras, was street racing and driving drunk on January 31st when he rear-ended the S-U-V driven by 21-year-old Sarah Root of Council Bluffs, killing her. Root had graduated the day before from Bellevue University with a 4.0 grade point. Bond was set by the judge on Mejia at $50,000 and he was released after posting the standard ten-percent, or five-thousand dollars. He hasn’t been seen since. Root wants that judge to answer for his actions.

“Everybody should be held accountable for what they do, or what? They don’t keep their job,” Root says. “In my eyes, I don’t believe he should (keep his job). He should resign or have some type of repercussion for what he did. Whether it be not looking at the facts or choosing to look the other way. I don’t know what it is. I just don’t get it.”

Police say Mejia’s blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit and he was driving on a suspended license when he was speeding and caused the accident. Root wants to see Mejia — and the judge — held responsible. “If you look at the facts of this gentleman’s past, even prior to killing my daughter, that shows you what kind of person he is,” Root says. “If you don’t think it’s right, you think (the judge) dropped the ball, give me a signature. Maybe it’ll change somebody else’s life. Maybe it won’t but if you don’t try, nothing is going to happen.”

Root says he’ll be collecting signatures on his petition tomorrow (Saturday) starting at 11 A-M at the corner of 78th and Dodge Street in Omaha. He says he’ll take the petitions to the Nebraska Supreme Court.

(Radio Iowa)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Three Iowa child sex cases against a Nebraska jail officer have been consolidated. The Daily Nonpareil reports that Shawn Beu has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of child pornography. His trial is scheduled to begin June 1 in Pottawattamie County District Court. A judge has barred most of the court documents from public scrutiny.

Beu was arrested on warrants after a search of his Council Bluffs home. He’s a corrections sergeant at the Douglas County Jail in Omaha.

Police in Creston say one person was arrested and one theft was reported, Thursday. Authorities say 19-year old Trey Mills, of Kent, was arrested Thursday afternoon for Driving While Barred, following an accident at the exit from a school drive onto Townline Road. Officials say Mills was driving a 2000 Chevy Lumina southbound from the drive and failed to yield at the stop sign. His car struck an eastbound 2005 Dodge Caravan driven by 43-year old Tammy Reed, of Kirksville, MO., causing $7,000 damage. No injuries were reported. He was cited for the traffic offense and arrested on the Driving While Barred charge. Mills was later released from the Union County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

And, a Creston man residing in the 800 block of N. Lincoln Street reported Thursday evening, that someone had stolen a 1989 Blue Diamond gooseneck trailer that was parked in the old Creston Wal-Mart parking lot off New York Avenue. The incident happened sometime between March 14^th and 31^st. The loss was estimated at $3,000.

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

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Police in Red Oak report two people were arrested on separate charges, Thursday. Thursday night, 22-year old Blake Mitchell Wilkinson, of Red Oak, was arrested for on an active Montgomery County warrants charging him with violating the terms of his probation. Wilkinson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

And, 49-year old Kristine Myers Ryan, of Elliott, was arrested at around 2-a.m. Thursday, for possession of a controlled substance/marijuana. She was taken into custody following a traffic stop in Red Oak. Ryan was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department K-9 unit assisted Red Oak Police in making the arrest.

Police in Red Oak say an accident Thursday evening caused $1,600 damage, but no one was injured. Officials say the accident happened at around 6:10-p.m., when 16-year old Kyla Gass, of Red Oak, stopped at the intersection of 4th and E. Hammond Streets, but then proceeded into the intersection, where the 2002 Chevy Cavalier she was driving was struck by a northbound 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix, driven by 20-year old Andrew Parker, of Red Oak. Gass was cited for Failure to Yield from a stop sign.