$1,000 WINNER
ALL-STATE HONORS
Another $1,000 winner has been chosen in the final week of H&R Block sweepstakes in Creston. Who was the winner? More on 12A.
Nodaway Valley’s Lamb and Lenox’s Brown earned firstteam all-state honors, the Iowa Newspaper Association released Monday. More in SPORTS, page 7A. >>
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Omaha novelist promotes Tax credits ‘Busting Bad Guys’ in Creston expire for Lincoln School project city council
By BAILEY POOLMAN
“When I was a little kid, I had a police scanner, so I listened to all the police calls. By the time I was 10 years old, I knew all the police codes and I knew all the streets.”
CNA staff reporter bpoolman@crestonnews.com
OMAHA, Neb — Even though Mark Langan’s law enforcement experience has never been in a town the size of Creston, the former Omaha police officer has family roots in small-town Iowa. Langan, 56, the author of the novel “Busting Bad Guys: My True Crime Stories of Bookies, Drug Dealers and Ladies of the Night,” visited Creston to speak to Creston Rotary Club members thanks to his father-in-law Roger Turk, a retired Creston veterinarian. “I’m really excited that he came to Creston and that he was able to share with the Rotary,” said Brenda Strauss, Langan’s sister-inlaw. “He’s traveled all over to promote his book, which I think is exciting.”
By KYLE WILSON
CNA managing editor kwilson@crestonnews.com
— Mark Langan
Omaha novelist
Busting Bad Guys “Busting Bad Guys,” Langan’s debut novel, came after a little prodding from family and friends. “For years, people told me I should write a book because I had so many stories, both from my uniformed patrol days and my vice squad,” Langan said. “I never thought I could ever really write a book.” He sat down to write and “a floodgate opened.” He wrote 10,000 words before contacting an editor, who said to contact her when he was finished. After eight months of typing away, Langan had 80,000 words and began cutting stories from the first manuscript. The book looks at Langan’s rise to law enforcement as the youngest police officer ever hired in Omaha, Nebraska. He attended Creighton University in Omaha but dropped out to attend the police academy at 18 years old. By the time he was 19 years old, he was on the department.
Contributed photo
Mark Langan poses with a copy of his book “Busting Bad Guys” after the book was published. Langan, an Omaha law enforcement officer, was the youngest person ever to be on the Omaha Police Department at age 19. He spoke to Creston Rotary Club earlier this month about his novel, accompanied by his father-in-law Roger Turk.
“I had to mature at a very accelerated rate because I had a lot of responsibilities thrown on me at the age of 19,” Langan said. The words in Langan’s book tell the story of his days as an officer beginning in 1978. He was a uniformed officer for the first five years before moving to the vice squad for a few years. He spent 18 years undercover with the narcotics division before being promoted as sergeant, where he supervised high-level drug investigations for 16 years. Langan retired in 2004. “I was not too surprised that he decided to write a book because he’s so knowledgeable and great at expressing himself,” Strauss
said. “A lot of those chapters, I had no idea that Mark experienced a lot of those things, all those years that he’s been in my life.”
Law enforcement As a kid, Langan knew he wanted to be in law enforcement thanks to his father being a U.S. marshal. “When I was a little kid, I had a police scanner, so I listened to all the police calls. By the time I was 10 years old, I knew all the police codes and I knew all the streets,” Langan said. “I was around law enforcement my whole life, so on the weekends we’d go down to the federal courthouse, and we got to play in the jail cells and in the courtrooms of the federal judges.” After marrying his wife
Annette, who is sisters with Strauss, Langan worked the night shift for the first 23 years of their marriage. “She basically raised our two kids because I was off at night chasing bad guys,” Langan said. “She was a huge supporter of my law enforcement career, Annette was.” Together, they have two children: Katie, 33, and Tommy, 30. After years as an officer, Strauss said she is proud of her brother-in-law. “We’ll go out to eat, and he always recognizes them (people he’s arrested), and treats everybody with the utmost respect, whether they’re a felon or a regular person,” Strauss said. “I’m very proud of him for that.” Currently, Langan works at Nebraska Humane Society as vice president of field operations. There, he is in charge of the law enforcement branch of the society, which focuses on neglect and abuse of animals. He’s been there for about 10 years.
End result “Busting Bad Guys” is in its second year of publication, and after a book tour and book signing events, Langan’s novel has been an Amazon bestseller three separate times. “The thing about cops I always tell people is, we’re not BOOK | 2A
A rental housing project at Lincoln School in Creston to be completed by Seldin Company of Omaha, Nebraska, has fallen through — at least for now. The development company purchased Lincoln School from the city for $10,000 in August 2014. That sale was contingent upon Seldin using $412,731 in tax credits that was awarded to them for the project in March 2015 through the Iowa Finance Authority. Seldin was gearing up late last summer to begin the project, which included 16 rental housing units in the old school and 11 town homes on the school’s green space, when the company ran into problems. “They (Seldin) went through multiple general Taylor contractors and bids for construction were just coming in too high and their investors wouldn’t get on board,” said Mike Taylor, city administrator in Creston. The tax credits Seldin received in March expired in February 2016. In all, more than $5 million in improvements were planned by Seldin at the Lincoln School property. Taylor said Seldin may re-apply for the credits in the future and give the project a change again. “I wouldn’t say it’s high on their priority list right now, though,” Taylor said. Therefore, the city still owns the old school building and is currently in discussion with other development companies who have a similar plan in mind for the building. Lincoln School has been vacant since the city purchased the building from Creston School District for $1 in May 2010. The building was used temporarily by the Southern Prairie YMCA after the tornado that struck Creston in April 2012. It has also been used by the Friends of the Library for book sales and as a haunted house organized by a high school group during Halloween.
Owl Prowl set for March 19 in Mount Ayr Learn about the anatomy of an owl at this event, which starts at 6 p.m. ■
MOUNT AYR – Join Ringgold County Conservation Board Director Kate Zimmerman for an Owl Prowl from 6 to 7:30 p.m. March 19 at the enclosed Shady Oaks Shelter in Fife’s Grove Park north of Mount Ayr.
Ag day in Greenfield:
Jean Guikema with Greenfield Lumber, left, speaks with Kay Kellenberg during the annual Adair County Ag Expo held Monday afternoon at the Adair County Fairgrounds in Greenfield. About 160 attended the one-day expo event that featured a free lunch by the Adair County Cattlemen, Corn & Soybean Associatation, Farm Bureau and Pork Producers.
Learn about the anatomy of an owl while touching the wings, feet and skull. Find out what makes it the only successful predatory bird after dark and meet Rufous, the permanently injured live screech owl. Enjoy a hike through the park, stopping every so often to call out to the owls. Dress weather appropriate. Call Ringgold County Conservation at 641-464-2787 for more information.
CNA photo by TERESA PENDEGRAFT
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Volume 132 No. 204
2016
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St. Patty’S Day Party Thursday, March 17th Kamikaze Karaoke • Jello Shots Irish Car Bombs • Green Pitchers
Elm’s Club
108 N. Elm • Uptown Creston 782-2615