EVANSDALE, Iowa (AP) — An FBI spokeswoman says authorities returned to a lake in Evansdale to check on leads related to the search for two cousins who have been missing for three weeks. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that FBI agents went to Meyers Lake today but that there were “no positive results.” Ten-year-old Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins, whose ninth birthday was Tuesday, disappeared July 13th while riding their bikes in Evansdale.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The value of an acre of Nebraska cropland rose more than any other state over the last year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says cropland in Nebraska climbed nearly 36 percent to $4,480 an acre. Second was North Dakota, which was up nearly 30 percent. Iowa cropland rose nearly 24 percent to $7,300 an acre and farm real estate rose nearly 23 percent to $7,000 an acre.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — A Fort Dodge man has pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge in a shooting of a man who died months later under his family’s care in Florida. Twenty-six-year-old Derrick McElroy entered a written plea of not guilty yesterday in Iowa’s Webster County District Court. McElroy was charged last month in the May 2011 shooting death of 19-year-old Brandyn Preston.

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Ricky Stenhouse Junior will go for his fourth straight win at Iowa Speedway in tomorrow night’s U.S. Cellular 250. He enters the race in Newton, Iowa 13 points behind Nationwide Series leader Elliott Sadler.