COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A Council Bluffs police officer who was fired for allegedly slapping a 10-year-old child who ran away from home is getting his job back. The city’s Civil Service Commission on Wednesday reinstated Bo Wake. He can return to the force in early September after serving a 90-day suspension without pay from the firing date. According to the complaint, Wake responded to a call about a runaway child in April. After the child was found and taken home, Wake allegedly slapped the child. Wake was fired in June.

Commission member Tara Slevin says the board believes Wake touched the child, but there wasn’t enough evidence to “show it was a slap.”

Residents of Sioux City are finally seeing some positive signs that the flooding Missouri River is going back down. Woodbury County Emergency Management Director, Gary Brown, says the Missouri dropped below flood stage late Wednesday. “It’s been 81 days since the Missouri River has been below flood stage in Sioux City, Iowa,” Brown said.

The river crested on July 21st, and Brown says it is now almost five feet lower. The receding waters are showing how much work is ahead in the recovery. Brown says they are seeing damage to property in collapsed sidewalks, farm fields damaged, and trees toppled over. “So we’re seeing what we expected we would when the water started going back down,” Brown says.

He says the race is on now to get as much cleaned up as they can before winter sets in. He says they’re starting to clean up some of the mud and muck cleaned up. Brown says they really hope to get a main intersection at Hamilton Boulevard and I-29 re-opened as quickly as they possibly can so businesses in the area can get running again.

While the floodwaters are going down, Brown is warning residents to stay away from flooded areas as they are still dangerous.

(Radio Iowa)

View from north side of restaurant, looking west

View from North side looking southeast

Dinner time at a popular restaurant in Elk Horn was disrupted this (Thursday) evening, when a car crashed into the building, injuring three people, two women and a man. The accident happened at around 5:40-p.m. Vern Kline owner of the Danish Inn, told KJAN News it was a normal night, when all of the sudden there was a crash.

Kline said he heard a loud noise, and turned to see a red Toyota Solara crashing into the north side of the building. He says three people were knocked to the ground. The car entered past the driver’s side door into the structure.

Kline said there were two people in the vehicle. He said they appeared to be fine, but three patrons in the restaurant were injured. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known, but Kline says they were taken away on stretchers. One of the patrons was nearly directly in front of the vehicle at a table, when it crashed. Two others were seated off to the side. None of the restaurant’s staff were injured.

The restaurant was closed for the rest of the evening, and it was unclear when it would reopen. Kline said he and his staff are still in shock over the event.  Additional details on the injured and what caused the crash are currently not available.

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