The Atlantic Police Department reports 24-year old Michael Sherman, of Atlantic, was arrested Thursday. Sherman was taken into custody on a warrant for Probation Violation. The man was brought to the Cass County Jail and booked-in.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court says poor defendants have a right to legal representation in simple misdemeanor cases that carry possible jail time. State Appellate Defender Mark Smith says Friday’s ruling will affect people charged with offenses such as shoplifting and public intoxication. He says it’s particularly important for crimes in which potential punishments are enhanced for subsequent offenses.

The decision will not affect the majority of simple misdemeanors, such as traffic violations, because they don’t carry jail time. The ruling dismisses a theft conviction against Archaletta Young in Polk County. Prosecutors used a penalty enhancement to charge her with an aggravated misdemeanor for shoplifting after two previous convictions.

The court says Young didn’t have a lawyer in one of the prior cases, and therefore it can’t be used against her.

With the deadline to file our federal tax returns in less than two weeks, it’s no coincidence best-selling author Steve Berry is releasing his latest book now, as it addresses arguments the income tax may not be legal. Berry will be in Iowa next week to promote his novel, “The Patriot Threat,” and he says it is -not- a manifesto to quit paying your taxes, but it brings up some startling facts from U-S history.  “The book deals with the 16th Amendment to the Constitution and what may have happened in 1913 when the amendment was ratified,” Berry says. “There’s some interesting legal issues that arose during that time, ones that call into question the entire amendment, so I sent my recurring character, my hero Cotton Malone, to deal with this constitutional question.”

Berry writes fictional thrillers and does in-depth research to weave in bits of non-fictional history. For this book, he says he had as many as 400 sources and made trips to Washington D-C, Italy and Croatia. The research led him to some surprising revelations.  “There was a gentleman about 20 years ago who went to every state in the union that supposedly ratified the 16th Amendment and studied their ratification process,” Berry says. “He discovered problems in a lot of the states and in about 12 to 15 of the states, they may very well not have ratified the amendment. His research is not out in left field. There’s a lot of it that makes good sense.” Berry’s first book, “The Amber Room,” was rejected by publishers 85 times.

The 86th attempt landed him his first national best-seller and he’s had multiple best-sellers in the years since. Berry and his wife will be at the Des Moines Public Library next week to pitch the newest book in a benefit for historic preservation.  “I’ll be talking about the book and taking questions and signing books,” Berry says. “That’ll happen at 7 o’clock on the 10th, and then on the 11th, we’re doing the History Matters Writers Workshop. Elizabeth and I are going to teach the craft of writing for four hours. You’ll buy your way in with a contribution and all of that money is going to a historic preservation project that we’re there to sponsor.” The workshops, Berry says, have raised almost one-million dollars for historic preservation and other causes. Last year, Berry hosted a workshop in Davenport to benefit the city’s Art Legacy League.

At a similar event in Des Moines in 2012, Berry donated all proceeds to a state landmark, Terrace Hill, the Iowa Governor’s Mansion. He also featured the historic Salisbury House in Des Moines in his last novel, “The Lincoln Myth.” Berry’s books have been translated into 40 languages with more than 18-million printed copies in 51 countries. Learn more at www.steveberry.org.

(Radio Iowa)

The Government Oversight Committee in the Iowa House is planning to conduct a review of the state’s civil forfeiture laws after a newspaper investigation raised what one lawmaker calls “significant concerns.” A Des Moines Register investigation found law enforcement in Iowa has used civil forfeiture laws to seize 43 MILLION dollars in the past six years — sometimes without ever arresting the person involved or charging them with a crime. Representative Mary Wolfe, a Democrat from Clinton, says the newspaper’s report has sparked posts on her Facebook page.

“I wasn’t aware of just quite how grievous the situation was in some counties,” Wolfe says. “I know certainly on my Facebook that’s certainly blown up and people are appalled.” The majority of the money seized by police and other law enforcement in Iowa is used to buy new equipment or pay for officer training, but The Register’s investigation found some counties are using the confiscated funds for questionable things, like buying “tropical fish, scented candles, mulch and other items that appear to have little or no direct link to law enforcement activities.” Wolfe, a member of the House Government Oversight Committee, cited the newspaper’s accounts during the committee’s meeting on Thursday.

“It’s something that somebody needs to address,” Wolfe said. “And I would love to see us do it and do it in a very decisive manner and in the relatively near future.” Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann, of Wilton is chairman of the Oversight Committee agrees the panel should address the issues that have been raised.  “I’ve had a lot of law enforcement contact me and say, ‘Hey, let’s see if we can find a way to narrow this down so that we’re not endangering the 98 percent of law enforcement that do this properly,” Kaufmann says.

And Kaufmann says legislators should find a way to close loopholes that allow civil forfeiture laws to “be abused.” The issue is being raised on the presidential campaign trail in Iowa, too. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who will formally enter the G-O-P race next week, is sponsoring legislation to reign in forfeitures and is bringing up the issue during campaign speeches here.

(Radio Iowa)

The Walnut City Council, Thursday evening, resumed discussion about the possible acquisition of the Walnut Community School Building. City Clerk Terri Abel said no decision was made, but the Council is moving forward with the matter. She says they will conduct a joint facility study with the school, to give an overview of the condition of the building and possible use of the building.

In February, the City was offered the chance by Walnut Superintendent Jesse Ulrich to acquire the building. At that time, a decision was then made to form a committee to decide what they want the facility to become. They also discussed the possibility of hiring a consultant or an architect to conduct a feasibility study and facility study on the building.

The Council, yesterday (Thursday) also heard about improvements being made to Veterans Memorial Park. Abel says Rick Blum was present to discuss ideas about tree planting, signage and other ways to improve the park. Abel says the Walnut City Council also approved the Fire Department’s recommendation of Justen Tooley to serve as Fire Chief for two-years, and they discussed amendments to the FY 2014-15 budgets by $1,000 in the program of Debt Service, and $10,000 in the Program of Culture and Recreation, with a Public Hearing being set for May 7th at 5-p.m. Abel says unanticipated repairs to the Library’s roof took up the majority of the amendments.

And with regard to the State Auditor’s report over concerns about Walnut’s documentation of financial reports, funds, debts so on, Abel says she has some questions about the report. She says the report was just received Thursday, so the Council had not seen it. There were comments on the report she says, that she doesn’t understand, and a call to clarify those statements is in order.

Terri reminds Walnut residents the annual Easter Egg Hunt, sponsored by the Walnut Fire Department, takes place 10-a.m. Saturday in the Walnut City Park, for kids pre-school through elementary. The kids will be divided up by age group, so younger kids aren’t competing against older kids for the eggs.

A woman from Union County was arrested Thursday morning in Creston, on charges that include Public Intoxication, and Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs. 37-year old Crystal Huddleson, of Kent, was being held in the Ringgold County Jail on $5,000 bond.

And, early this (Friday) morning, Creston Police arrested 43-year old Chad Dryden, of Creston, for OWI/1st offense, Dryden was later released on $1,000 bond.

The 7:06-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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A man from Union County was arrested this (Friday) morning, in Montgomery County. Sheriff’s officials say 35-year old Shane Allen Dewees, of Kent, was arrested for Driving While Suspended, with seven withdrawals in effect. He was also charged with providing False Identification information. Dewees was taken into custody at around 3:23-a.m. near mile-marker 51, on Highway 34. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

A traffic stop in Red Oak Thursday night resulted in the arrest of a passenger in the vehicle. Red Oak Police say 28-year old Lovelle Joseph Ward, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 10-p.m., for Possession of drug Paraphernalia, after a K-9 detected the odor of narcotics coming from inside the vehicle. Ward was later released from the scene on a citation. The paraphernalia was seized into evidence.