SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man has been charged after police say he stole a skid loader in an attempt to free a stolen pickup truck stuck on railroad tracks. The Sioux City Journal reports the incident happened Thursday, when police say 36-year-old Nicholas Shannon Penny drove the stolen truck over tracks and became stuck. Police say Penny then walked to a nearby Bobcat dealership and stole one of the dealership’s skid loaders. Police say he damaged a fence when he drove the skid loader through it and also damaged the loader’s door, causing about $3,000 in damage.

Penny remained Saturday in the Woodbury County Jail on theft, burglary and criminal mischief charges.

CARTER LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Western Iowa officials say a Nebraska man was arrested twice in as many days for trying to break into his ex-girlfriend’s home. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports 58-year-old Joseph Pendley, of Bellevue, Nebraska, was arrested Jan. 17 after Carter Lake police were called about someone trying to break into the home through a window. Officers say they found Pendley hiding in the home’s garage. He was arrested and released after posting $300.

The next day, police were again called to the home when a man reported Pendley had tried to force his way in. Police say they found Pendley hiding in the garage next door and that he had a baseball bat.

He remained jailed Saturday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state’s court system will close for a day later this spring to help close a $400,000 budget gap. The Des Moines Register cites a memo sent to Judicial Branch personnel on Friday in reporting that the state’s court system will go on furlough May 26.

Court Administrator David Boyd says clerk of court and other offices will be closed the Friday before Memorial Day, and 1,446 judicial employees will not be paid. Boyd says judges and magistrates will work that day with no pay cut.

The shortfall is a result of cuts the Legislature is poised to approve and send to Gov. Terry Branstad. The adjustments were drafted after revenue forecasts for the fiscal year came up lower than expected.

Police in Creston cited the driver of a 2010 Honda Accord following a collision Friday afternoon at the intersection of Sumner and Adams Streets. Authorities say 48-year old Scott Allen Geary, of Creston, was cited after his car rear-ended a 2004 Dodge pickup driven by 30-year old Colby Michael Lenhart, of Bedford. The accident happened just before 2-p.m., as Lenhart was stopped at the red light. Officials said Geary seemed fatigued and didn’t seem to know what happened, following the collision. He was cited for Following too closely. Damage from the accident amounted to $4,300. No injuries were reported.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The Historical Society of Pottawattamie County is hoping to see more people in jail — the Historic Pottawattamie County Squirrel Cage Jail. The Daily Nonpareil reports the society is working to give the museum the same feel it had when it operated as a jail.

The three-story building that includes a rotating cell block was built in 1885 and used as a jail until 1969. It was bought by the Council Bluffs Parks Board in 1971 and named to the National Register of Historic Places the next year.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jason LeMaster, who serves on the board, is leading the effort. LeMaster says the museum needs light-colored sheets and military-style wool blankets to outfit the cells’ bunks, as well as mannequins to represent the inmates.