DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -The Black Hawk County chief deputy investigating the disappearance of two Iowa cousins missing for nearly a week say one of the parents may not be cooperating 100 percent. Family members say Misty and Dan Morrissey, parents of 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey, have talked to an attorney who is advising they stop talking and taking polygraph tests. Both Morriseys have spent time in prison on drug charges.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map shows that severe drought affecting much of the Midwest and Great Plains now covers more than half of Iowa and three-quarters of Nebraska.  The drought map is a project shared by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Weather Service. The latest map is based on conditions as of 6 a.m. Tuesday.

NEW YORK (AP) – A Republican-leaning independent group is out with a new TV ad chiding President Barack Obama for criticizing Mitt Romney’s business record. American Crossroads, a super PAC tied to GOP strategist Karl Rove, announced yesterday that it is spending $9.3 million to air the ad in nine general election battleground states, including Iowa.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – An Iowa woman accused of using a bomb threat to rob a Sioux Falls bank says she’d been kidnapped and forced to commit the crime. But police say her story doesn’t match the evidence. Thirty-nine-year-old Michelle Bock says two men kidnapped her, strapped a bomb to her chest and forced her to walk into the First Premier Bank on South Kiwanis with a note that read, “This is a robbery.” Bock is set to appear in court Wednesday.

MINBURN, Iowa (AP) – As the temperature soared near or past 100, people in Minburn were wondering when their electricity would come back on. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that the town lost power yesterdmorning when a truck ran into a power pole. Minburn has about 360 residents and sits 22 miles northwest of Des Moines. As night approached yesterday, power was restored to all but a few residents.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A Pleasant Hill police officer has been charged in Des Moines with drinking in public. The Des Moines Register reports that 28-year-old Christopher Brooks was cited on Saturday.