“BaDa BaDa Bing Bang” is fun to say and fun to do. Plan to attend BaDa BaDa Bing Bang Rally Saturday, May 18 at the Armory, 201 Poplar Street, Atlantic. The day –long event celebrates Armed Forces Day. Stop by between 9 am and 3 pm. There’s something of interest for everyone including really big military vehicles, games, lunch plus birthday cake and displays. Steve and Marie Livengood created the local rally to bring military equipment owners/operators together to share their interests. New exhibits and activities are added every year.

Thirty vehicles from five states ranging from huge half-tracks to motorcycles will be in the parking lot at the Armory. Stop by to view equipment, visit with the owners and say thank you to those who have served in the armed forces. Lunch is available for free will offering. Beef Producers will be grilling hamburgers and hot dogs to eat with baked beans and more. Celebrate 90th year of the American Legion Memorial Building with birthday cake.

Military games have been created by Livengood which are appropriate for 8 to 18 to 78 year olds. They include “Decode a Message”, “Bomb the Bunker”, “Duffel Bag Stuff” and “Bomb Lift & Lower”. They are all safe so no real bombs. The Military Museum, Military Library and Atlantic History Center will all be open for tours. New exhibits include communications equipment and memorabilia. Silk pillow covers to moms and sweethearts, puzzles, and a surprising variety of items were sent home from around the world as souvenirs.

A cruise of vehicles through part of downtown Atlantic begins with a canon shot at 2:30 pm. A short stop at Wal-Mart parking lot provides another opportunity for viewing. Atlantic Rock Island Society Enterprise (ARISE) assists with activities. Atlantic Community Promotion Commission gives support. Information is available on www.ariseAtlantic.org and Face book.

Police in Creston report three arrests from over the weekend. At around 5-a.m. Sunday, 30-year old Nathan Marx, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. And, just before 2-a.m. Sunday, 51-year old Penny Oetken, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, for OWI/1st Offense. Marx and Oetken were later released on $1,000 bonds, each.

At around 1:40-a.m. Saturday, 30-year old Eric Shinn, of Redding, was arrested in Creston on two Union County warrants for: (2 counts) Harassment in the 1st degree, and Violation of a Protection Order. Shinn was also charged with Driving While Suspended, Violation of a Protection Order, and being a Felon in Possession of an Offensive Weapons. He was being held in the Adams County Jail on $8,600 bond.

Creston Police said also, a motorist reported just before Noon, Saturday, that someone had broken one pane of a double-pane window at a realty business in the 100 block of N. Elm Street. The damage was estimated at $200. And, a Creston resident reported just before 8-p.m. Saturday, that someone vandalized his vehicle by flattening a tire, damaging the grill and scraping the side of the vehicle. The incident happened while the vehicle was parked outside of the owners’ residence in the 600 block of N. Maple Street, sometime between 2-a.m. Saturday and 3-p.m.  The damage was estimated at $250.

(7-a.m. News)

(Radio Iowa) — Local school boards would be able to add 15 minutes to the maximum route time for students under a rule change given initial approval by the State Board of Education. Travel time is now limited to 75 minutes for high school students and 60 for elementary. Department of Education rule coordinator Nicole Proesch, says they had quite a bit of discussion with several groups about how to handle the travel time. She says they discussed getting rid of the mandatory ride times altogether, but some of the groups didn’t want that and wanted to make sure the students were not on the bused too long.

Proesch says this allows the school districts some room to make their own decisions based on the input of parents. “That can be approved by the local board, and beyond that if a district feels like the 15 minutes is not enough, they can still come the to department and apply for a waiver beyond that,” Proesch says. “So they are not hamstrung necessarily by the 15 minutes, but it gives them a little flexibility so they don’t have to come to us and ask for a waiver.”

Education Department Transportation director Max Christensen, says it has become more of an issue for smaller districts. “We get more requests all of the time simply because you got schools that are consolidating and whole grade sharing….and that just adds to the length of time that kids have to travel,” Christensen says. Another rule change would require that the two yearly inspections include ALL vehicles used for student transportation. Christensen says they are now limited to inspecting only vehicles used as school buses. “Which means that vehicles used for activities do not get inspected at all,” Christensen says.

He says the activity vehicles are often vans or suburbans. “Those vehicles maybe have a rust problem, bad tires, something like that and the vehicle is maybe such they don’t want to repair those vehicles and then they are used for activity vehicles. Which really to us does not make a lot of sense because these vehicles are being driven further and at a faster speed than what route vehicles are,”Christensen says.

They are also asking that the inspection fee be raised from 40 to 50 dollars on July 1st. The inspection fee has not been raised since 2013. The Board of Education will hold a public hearing on the proposed changes on June 25th.

(Radio Iowa) — A Cedar Rapids woman who gave a wanted man car ride to a hotel will spend three months in federal prison. Twenty-eight-year-old Saudia Raquel Watkins admitted to giving a car ride to a motel to federal fugitive felon Kelsey Beckett in August of 2016, U-S Marshals say Watkins put the motel room in her name after a Deputy U-S Marshal had warned Watkins that Beckett was a fugitive and that Watkins should contact the him if she learned of Beckett’s whereabouts. The Deputy U-S Marshal says Watkins smoked marijuana with Beckett in the motel room. She then became a fugitive herself.