(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City of Atlantic’s Parks Advisory Commission held its first meeting this (Wednesday) afternoon, in the City Council’s Chambers at City Hall. The Commission was established by the Atlantic City Council, in October, 2023. It replaces the former Parks and Recreation Board, and consists of three people living within Atlantic City limits, two Cass County residents, and one non-voting high school student. Those appointed include Kevin Ferguson (2-year term), Dolly Bergmann (2-year term), Shirley Jensen (1-year term), Ali Pieken (1-year term), and Mary Strong (1-year term). A youth representative has not yet been chosen.

Parks & Rec Advisory Commission (1-24-2024)

During the Commission’s meeting, they introduced themselves and discussed the “Purpose of a Park Advisory Commission,” which the City Council has stated is “to ensure that a formal public feedback and input system was in place regarding the operations and capital planning for the city’s park and recreation system.”

The members present decided their next meeting, during which they will elect officers and hold related parks business, is the fourth Wednesday of each month at 3:30-p.m. Therefore the next meeting is on Feb. 28th. The Commission heard an update on efforts to bring a Splashpad to Atlantic.

Ali Pieken

Splashpad Committee spokesperson Ali Pieken said “To date, we’ve raised $415,000 for it, which is super exciting. We are in the process of starting the public bid preparation, with Snyder and Associates.” Pieken and another Committee member sat down with Snyder’s Mike Jorgensen  a few weeks ago to start the process of getting him all the information he needs to prepare the bid packet. She said “It’s very lengthy.” Jorgensen gave group a tentative timeline for the project, which includes hopes for the Splashpad to be open “At least a few days in August,” 2024.

The project was estimated to cost between $600,000 and $650,000, but the costs of materials and other factors are likely to push the price-tag higher. Pieken said “We hope to stay around that, but obviously [with] inflation and….that was last fall, so….”  The City of Atlantic has chipped-in a total of $95,000 towards the project. The engineering fee of $4,000 was deducted from the Splashpark fund by the City, leaving $91,000 still in the pot for the fund.

SWIPCO is working to acquire grants to get the project fund closer to the original goal.

(Radio Iowa) – Mahaska County Attorney Andrew Ritland is urging the state legislature to update Iowa’s criminal laws on pornography to address the use of new technology. “With the increase of artificially generated images online, either videos of still images, there’s been an increasing problem with individuals taking images of real children and adapting a pornographic image to make it appear that child is involved in a pornographic act,” Ritland said during a House subcommittee hearing.

Ritland told lawmakers there are already such cases in Iowa, but under current law they’re difficult to prosecute. Ritland supports a bill that expands the definition of sexual exploitation of a minor by making it a crime to produce or possess these kind of manipulated images. “In this way we hope to further protect the children of Iowa against these new technological threats and hold perpetrators accountable,” Ritland said.

Mahaska County Attorney Andrew Ritland and Kelly Meyers, lobbyist for Iowa County Attorneys Association, at an Iowa House subcommittee hearing. (RI photo)

Ritland is urging lawmakers to pass another bill dealing with so-called revenge porn that uses artificially manipulated images to harass, intimidate or annoy adults or minors. “Technology is not going to stop, right? The convincing nature of these photos and videos is going to get better and better until it’s indistinguishable to the human eye,” Ritland said. “…We need to get out in front of this issue as soon as we can before we get into a situation where we have to play catch up.”

Both bills have cleared initial review and are eliglble for votes in the Iowa House Judiciary Committee.

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Des Moines man was arrested on Sunday, January 21, 2024, and made his initial appearance before a United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa on Wednesday, January 24, 2024.

Sharmarke Omar Mohamed, 35, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Iowa with one felony drug offense: possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

According to the allegations in the unsealed complaint, as part of a Des Moines Police Department investigation, Mohamed was located traveling toward Des Moines from Arizona when the Iowa State Patrol conducted a traffic stop of his vehicle in Decatur County, Iowa. Pursuant to a federal search warrant for Mohamed’s vehicle, approximately 30,000 counterfeit pills suspected of containing fentanyl, weighing approximately 3,182 grams, were located in the luggage area of the vehicle.

This case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa. United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Des Moines Police Department is investigating the case, with the assistance of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Iowa State Patrol, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ankeny Police Department, and the Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force.

A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports 24-year-old Tyler Bascue, of Glenwood, was arrested today (Wednesday, Jan. 24), on a Mills County warrant. Bascue was being held in the Mills County jail on a $5,000 cash-only bond.