CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Lottery has posted record results for fiscal 2019, which ended June 30. Lottery officials say in a news release that sales, prizes to players and retail commissions all set records for the year. Preliminary figures released Wednesday show the generated a record $92.8 million in proceeds to state causes for the year. The sales record was $390.9 million, while prizes to players totaled a record $241.9 million. Lottery sales commissions to the retail locations that sell its tickets totaled $25.4 million.

The unaudited results show that sales increased 5.4% from the previous year. Scratch-game sales in Iowa have set records each year since fiscal 2015 and did so again this past year: $250.6 million.

Due to the weather, playground equipment installation planned for today at the Schildberg Recreation Area in Atlantic, has been postponed. Atlantic Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rassmussen had hoped to be able to have volunteers stop by this afternoon, but the rain continued as of mid-day, forcing a change in plans. We’ll let you know when the event is rescheduled.

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report 26-year old Justin Ray Carlson, of Villisca, was arrested late Tuesday night. Carlson was taken into custody on a warrant out of Montgomery County for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was arrested following a traffic stop at around 11:54-p.m. and held on a $1,000 bond.

CRESCENT BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Officials say an Iowa man honeymooning in Florida drowned when he was swept out to sea during his first time in the ocean. The Florida Times-Union reports that a St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office incident report says 22-year-old Dalton Cottrell of Malcolm, Iowa, went swimming Tuesday at Crescent Beach, south of Jacksonville.

A beach-goer heard screaming from the water and grabbed a paddleboard, joining a lifeguard who went to the rescue. The report says they found Cottrell and brought him back to shore, but he died. Cottrell’s wife told St. Johns County sheriff’s deputies it was his first time in the ocean. She said the current pulled them out and “he started to freak out.” She told deputies she tried to help, but he was struggling and pulled her underwater.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is warning paddlers to use caution on the Raccoon River in Des Moines and Upper Iowa River in Winneshiek County as there could be obstructions caused by falling trees and logs. The D-N-R’s Todd Robertson says people in kayaks and canoes have flipped when a strong current took them into the obstructions. Robertson teaches paddling courses and says it’s something everyone should look into — especially rookies. “Whether it’s canoe, kayak or paddle board, you should know four or five basic strokes. If you know those strokes and know how to navigate your vessel — your’re going to be much, much safer out on the water,” according to Robertson. “But when you end up going to a corner store and just buying the first kayak you see and then head straight to the river, that’s when things can happen.

Seeking formal instruction, knowing safety, knowing rules and regulations is very important for first-time paddlers.” Robertson teaches paddling classes through the D-N-R and says there are other opportunities for lessons. “There’s padlding clubs around with seasoned paddlers that you can find on Facebook. Granted, they may not be certified instructors, but you can learn some basic strokes. A lot of these bigger retails stores that you go into, some of them offer a free hour or two-hour paddling class,” he says. Robertson has been seeing more people get into paddle boards. “It’s so easy to get into paddle boarding because unlike a canoe or kayak — it doesn’t fill up with water. So, if you dump into the water you are able to get back on your board real quick, plus it’s just real fun,” Robertson says. “I think for the last four or five years it’s been the fastest growing outdoor vessel as far as activity goes.”

Paddle boards can be used on the same waterways that are used for kayaks and canoes. “You can definitely run them on a river — but it’s not advised until you have a lot experience — because it is a whole different ballgame. The storkes are basically the same, but you are up against moving water rather then just flat unmoving water,” Robertson says. Robertson says the lifejacket rules apply the same to paddle boards as the other vessels. “Just like canoes and kayaks — you’ve got to have a lifejacket on that board,” Robertson says.

Robertson, is the D-N-R River Programs Outreach Coordinator, and says it’s natural for rivers to have the hazards from trees and logs. A section of the Raccoon River from Walnut Woods State Park to Waterworks Park in Des Moines has caused a lot of problems for paddlers recently. A large log jam that formed upstream of Chimney Rock Park on a river left outside bend of the Upper Iowa River in Winneshiek County near Decorah has also been causing problems. You can see a real time look at issues on the water through the D-N-R’s interactive paddling map at iowadnr.gov/paddlingmap.

(Radio Iowa) — A northwest Iowa ethanol plant suspended production this week “until further notice.” Plymouth Energy in Merrill is one of at least 10 ethanol plants in the country to temporarily shut down. Three others have closed. Monte Shaw is executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. “A lot of the experts say we’ve got about a 10% overage of production and until that production comes off line, the economics aren’t going to improve,” Shaw says.

Shaw says this supply-demand imbalance is caused by waivers federal officials are granting big oil companies — so refiners don’t have to blend as much ethanol into gasoline. “If you look at the demand destruction from these waivers that the Trump Administration has done, for the first time in 21 years, in 2018 the U.S. used less ethanol than the prior year,” Shaw says. “In other words, for 20 straight years we always used more ethanol each and every year than we did the year before here domestically, not talking exports. In 2018, we actually took a step backwards.”

Shaw says the past 18 months have been a very rough on the industry. “A certain portion of the industry has made a little bit of money, barely; some have been just struggling to break even and then there’s a portion of our industry which has been losing real money on a cash basis and you can only do that for so long. Eventually your cash reserves run out and you can’t buy corn and so we did see that come home to roost, even in Iowa.”

The board of Plymouth Energy issued a statement, saying all existing corn contracts will be honored and they hope to resume production “in the not too distant future.” A coalition of groups representing ag and biofuels interests today (Wednesday) asked a federal court to allow a 2018 lawsuit challenging the E-P-A’s management of renewable fuels policy to proceed. Shaw says if E-P-A policy doesn’t change over the next few months, more ethanol plant managers may consider temporarily shutting down production. “This is not good for our economy,” Shaw says. “This is not good for corn prices and things like that, but it’s really tough on the employees whose jobs are in question right now.”

Shaw says if the E-P-A were to adhere to the rules outlined by the Renewable Fuels Standard, there would be an “immediate impact” on corn prices and ethanol production would quickly rebound.

The City Council in Walnut is set to receive a report Thursday evening from Alexis Fleener, with regard to the Walnut Housing Agreement. Fleener is with SWIPCO (the Southwest Iowa Planning Council, based in Atlantic).

The Iowa Department of Economic Development recently announced a federally funded Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) was awarded to Walnut, amounting to nearly $240,000, for the rehabilitation of six, owner-occupied homes in Walnut. The grant money, for low-income homeowners, can be used for new windows, siding, interior or whatever is needed to make the home safe and livable according to building standards. The city is putting in a match of a little over $10,000 to go towards those six homes.

The CDBG is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In other business, the Walnut City Council will receive an update on, and review, the City’s Infrastructure Needs Study and Strategic Plan, an update on the Welcome Center, and discuss planter maintenance along with City mowing.

The Walnut City Council meeting takes place at City Hall, beginning 5-p.m., Thursday.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A lawyer for the ousted Iowa Department of Human Services director says he’ll file a legal claim alleging he was the victim of whistleblower retaliation. Attorney Tom Duff confirmed Wednesday that he’s representing Jerry Foxhoven, who was asked to step down by Gov. Kim Reynolds last month. Duff said that Foxhoven plans to announce Thursday that he’s filing a wrongful termination claim with the State Appeals Board, the first step toward pursuing a lawsuit against state government.

Duff says that Foxhoven objected to a request to continue to have his agency fund most of the salary of the governor’s deputy chief of staff, Paige Thorson. Duff says that Foxhoven believed the arrangement made sense when he approved it in 2018. But he said that, by June, Foxhoven believed Thorson was no longer furthering the agency’s interests. Duff says that Foxhoven wanted a legal opinion before moving forward with the arrangement.

A spokesman for Reynolds has said that Foxhoven never raised any such concerns and that he was let go because she wanted to move in a new direction.

MONDAMIN, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Harrison County have recovered the body of a farmer who died after his tractor flipped over atop him when it ran off a riverbank edge into the Missouri River. The tractor was spotted by people searching for the man Tuesday evening a little more than 2 miles northwest of Mondamin. The Harrison County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as 82-year-old Malvern Wallis, who lived in Mondamin. He had been working along the riverbank since 8 a.m., getting the land ready for cattle. It’s unclear when the accident occurred.