A unique, side-by-side bicycle “car” built by a Creston man, and destined to be sold at auction and used for community events, was stolen the day before the auction.

Bike stolen prior to auction.

The bike was built by Wilbur Ricks of Creston, who died in December. On June 22 his family scheduled an auction to sell his estate. The bicycle car was included. One of the civic clubs in Creston had determined that they would bid on it to make it a “parade vehicle” for community events.

Sometime in the early-morning hours of June 22, someone decided they would prefer to acquire the bike by wheeling it away from the property, rather than seeing it sold at auction. The family would still like to see it go to the service club to be enjoyed by the community

If you see the vehicle, call the Union County Law Enforcement Center at 641-782-8402, or Rick’s son at 319-269-3475 to collect a reward upon its recovery.

A pickup truck with a dump box and small equipment (including  4 new tires, a weed eater, paint machine and other, miscellaneous items) was reported stolen last week from the Harlan Wastewater Treatment plant. According to the Harlan Police Department, the incident happened sometime Thursday night. The loss was estimated at more than $36,000.

The Harlan PD, Shelby County Sheriff’s, Iowa State Patrol and other authorities in the area were notified to on the lookout for the vehicle and equipment. Authorities determined the stolen red truck with the city of Harlan logo on the side headed south from the plant, towards the interstate.

The facility, located on a mile south of Highway 44 on Maple Road, was broken into through a locked gate where the thieves used wire cutters to cut around the padlock. Anyone with information on the burglary at the Harlan wastewater treatment plant is asked to contact the Harlan Police Department at 712-755-5151 or city hall at 712-755-5137.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

A 27-year-old Boone native has quit his job at the Pentagon to run for the Iowa congressional seat Republican Steve King now holds. Democrat Jim Mowrer is formally kicking off his campaign this morning (Tuesday). Mowrer served in the Iowa National Guard unit that spent 23 months in Iraq — the longest Iraq deployment for any unit in the military. In 2009 he returned to Iraq as a private contractor. In 2010 Mowrer went to work at the Penaton as a special assistant to the Under Secretary of the Army.

Mowrer says too many politicians in Washington from both parties are “pushing sound bytes to…score political points for partisan gain.” He accuses King of being part of the problem. “Steve King isn’t working for Iowans. He’s not working for the 4th district and I have a record of actually getting things done,” Mowrer says. “I think that a lot of politicians spend time talking about problems, but not actually working on finding a way to find solutions and getting them done.” 

Mowrer’s last day at the Pentagon was June 10th. He has moved back to Boone with his wife — who is a Boone native, too — and their two young children. If elected, Mowrer would be among the youngest members of congress. To be eligible to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, a candidate must be at least 25 years old and a resident of the state they wish to represent.

(Radio Iowa)