(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Police Department reports three recent arrests. Two people were arrested on separate charges, Sunday: 33-year-old Callie Faulkner, of Prairie Du Chien, WI, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. And, 29-year-old Jason Mark, of Atlantic, was arrested for Disorderly Conduct, Interference with Official Acts, and Public Intoxication.

On Saturday, 27-year-old Philip Thompson, of Atlantic, was arrested for OWI/2nd offense.  All three subjects were booked into the Cass County Jail and later released.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is seeing more young children in crisis, so the state is launching a new ad campaign which aims to bring awareness to children’s mental health. The campaign starts this month and will run on social media and traditional media platforms, targeting both kids and adults. The ads urge kids who are struggling to seek help. “So, if you’ve been thinking about suicide, talk to a friend, talk to a parent…”

The ads also urge adults to reach out to kids who seem down. Iowa Department of Human Services Director Kelly Garcia says the state is trying to provide direction and resources to parents who may not know how to address mental health with their children.”Because there are spaces in parenthood that you’re not really given those clear toolkits,” Garcia says, “and so this is something that we wanted to provide. So it’s really practical conversation starters.”

Garcia says the state is launching the campaign as it’s been seeing an increase in younger children experiencing mental health crises. “We’re seeing really small children in distress – crisis – mobile crisis response and crisis stabilization utilization for really little kids,” Garcia says, “and we’re seeing really young children attempt and complete suicide, which is horrifying.”

Iowans who need help can find resources at YourLifeIowa.org.

(reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Two weeks after contract negotiations began, union workers at Arconic have decided to vote on whether to authorize a strike. Local 105 of the United Steelworkers represents 18-hundred hourly workers at the Davenport Works in Riverdale. Lee Shaffer, Local 105 spokesman, says negotiations have been slow, so union workers hope to speed them up, and emphasize their “essential” status during the pandemic.  “We were essential back then, so we want to be treated as essential now,” Shaffer says.

“We feel like we deserve pay that’s essential. Our benefits, health care and things of that nature, need to stay the same. We have good health care and we’d like to keep it, and our retirement. We’d like more put into our retirement so that we can enjoy better lives when we retire.”

The strike authorization vote will affect more than three-thousand workers at four locations — the Quad Cities, Tennessee, Indiana, and New York. Union workers will vote Thursday at the Isle of Capri in Bettendorf. The current, three-year contract expires Sunday at noon. The Davenport Works manufactures aluminum sheet and plate for aerospace, automotive, and industrial applications.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A man from Omaha was arrested early this Wednesday morning on an OWI charge, after he was seen traveling at a high rate of speed in Shelby and Pottawattamie Counties. The Pott. County Sheriff’s Office says 31-year-old Chuong Q Thai was traveling south on Highway 59 at around 12:30-a.m.  A Deputy responding to a Shelby County broadcast about the suspect vehicle, encountered the 2021 Range Rover that passed Interstate 80 to the south and made a U-turn to head back north.

The vehicle then stopped in the middle of the left lane of travel for a short time, before taking-off at a high rate of speed. The deputy initiated a traffic stop on the SUV near Avoca, and conducted an OWI investigation, which resulted in Thai being charged with OWI/1st offense. His bond at the Pott. County Jail, was set at $1,000.

The Pott. County Sheriff’s Office reports also:

• 22-year-old Maggie Ann Baker, of Omaha, Nebraska, was transported Tuesday from Douglas County (Nebraska) Corrections to the Pottawattamie County Jail, to address a warrant in Pottawattamie County for Child Endangerment, Abandon – Bodily Injury. Bond was set at $5,000.
• and, 59-year-old William Douglas Coffman, of Omaha, Nebraska, was transported from Douglas County Corrections to the Pottawattamie County Jail to address a warrant in Pottawattamie County for Harassment 1^st Degree – Threaten Forcible Felony. Bond was set at $2,000.

(Iowa State Patrol/District 4 – Denison): The Iowa State Patrol, on Tuesday, said a pursuit earlier this week in Harrison County, ended with a car on fire in the ditch, and a driver taken directly to jail. In a Facebook post, troopers said the incident happened when a driver tried to elude troopers on Interstate 29. The Patrol used stop sticks to flatten the tires of the suspect vehicle, but according to the Patrol’s Facebook post, “The driver continued to drive on their flat tires which caused their vehicle to catch fire.”

Photo from the ISP Facebook page

Troopers then helped pull the driver out of the burning vehicle and took them to jail. The Iowa State Patrol did not identify the driver or say what charges they could face.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports four arrests took place Tuesday (May 10). Early Tuesday morning, 18-year-old Damian Joseph Gibbons, of Creston, and 18-year-old Hunter James Tullis, of Corning, were arrested at 319 Sumner Street in Creston. Both men were charged with three counts of Burglary in the 3rd Degree, and Attempted Burglary in the 3rd Degree/1st offense. Gibbons was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $2,000 bond. Tullis was being held on bond amounting to $7,000.

Tuesday afternoon, 36-year-old Jackie Lee Marler, of Creston, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault/Strangulation. Marler was being held without bond in the Union County Jail, pending an appearance before the magistrate. And, Tuesday evening, 34-year-old Wesley Gene Keeler, Jr., of Creston, was arrested on two Union County warrants for: Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; Poss. of a Controlled Substance/2nd offense – Marijuana; and Poss. of a Controlled Substance/2nd offense – Methamphetamine. Bond was set at $2,300.

Creston Police said also, Monday afternoon, a woman residing in the  200 block of S. Peterson reported that sometime between 1-a.m. and 9-a.m., Monday, someone entered her son’s vehicle and took a P.Mauliat saxophone, and a large container of change. The loss was estimated at about $5,655.