OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A new director has been named for the Department of Veterans Affairs Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System. Dr. Marci Mylan has been associate director at the VA Health Care System in Minneapolis. She will replace Al Washko, who retired March 31 after holding the Nebraska-western Iowa post for more than seven years.

The system serves more than 161,000 veterans who live in 104 counties in Nebraska, western Iowa, and portions of Kansas and Missouri. Mylan holds a doctorate in clinical psychology and a master’s degree in health care administration. She takes over in Omaha on Jan. 15.

Police in Atlantic said Monday, an accident late Saturday morning in the downtown area caused $1,700 damage to the vehicles involved, but no one was injured. Officials say a vehicle driven by Verlain Rathkamp, of Griswold, was traveling south on Chestnut Street at around 11:35-a.m. in front of Cappel’s Hardware Store, when a vehicle driven by Philip Cullen, of Wiota, began to back out of a parking stall in front of the store, and the vehicles collided.   No citations were issued.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County says a tractor trailer driver who had been missing, was found dead inside the cab of his semi Monday at a rest stop which is under construction, near Shelby. Corporal Nick Amdor, with the Pott County Sheriff’s Office, says the 58-year-old trucker from Monmouth, Ill., appeared to have died of natural causes, but Amdor declined to release the man’s name until his relatives had been notified.

Amdor says it appears the man died Friday evening or Saturday morning.  His body was found in the cab’s sleeper compartment. The semi was still covered in snow when a co-worker found the truck and the body about 7:15 p.m. Monday. The trucking company he had worked for, out of Burlington, had asked its drivers to be on the lookout for the semi-trailer truck, and had notified law enforcement offices along the driver’s route.

Corporal Amdor says while the rest stop near Shelby is under construction,  truckers are still able to pull in for the night to get some sleep.

Iowa law enforcement officials are highlighting a connection between juvenile crime and child abuse. The Iowa State Sheriff and Deputies Association released a report today (Monday) in cooperation with a national group called “Fight Crime, Invest in Kids”. Spokeswoman Jessica Fast says children who suffer mistreatment or neglect are almost twice as likely to commit a crime. And in 2009, 13-thousand (13,000) kids were confirmed victims of abuse or neglect in Iowa.

“It puts numbers on a situation that is very, very real in Iowa. And that’s even under reported because a lot of the times those victims don’t get reported to the police or they don’t rise to the level of criminal abuse,” Fast said. There are currently a handful of state-run programs where parents can volunteer to have their home examined to ensure it’s a safe environment for their children. The latest figures show 15-thousand (15,000) Iowa families had a home visit in 2009. Fast hopes the Iowa legislature will protect funding for the programs during the upcoming session. She says national data shows such programs have the ability to reduce the chance of child abuse by 50 percent.

“What we are really asking the state is to make sure those are high quality programs — evidence based, quality programs that really show the desired results of reducing child abuse and neglect which then increases public safety and saves tax payers’ dollars,” Fast said. Investing in children now, Fast said, would go a long way toward decreasing crime in the future.

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)

Authorities in Montgomery County, Monday, were investigating the theft of a car from Villisca. They also report the arrest of a Villisca teen, on drug charges.

The Sheriff’s Department said a 2009 silver, 4-door Chevy Impala was reported stolen from the 200 block of East 5^th Street in Villisca, Monday. The car bore Iowa plate number 497 YAM.  Anyone with information on the location of the vehicle or with regard to the theft, is asked to contact their local law enforcement agency or the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, at 712-623-5107.

In other news out of Montgomery County, authorities say 13-year-old Ashley Fitzwater, of Villisca, was taken into custody Monday morning, for allegedly being in possession of marijuana.  The teen was later released to the custody of a parent.