SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a crop-dusting plane hit power lines just south of Sac City in western Iowa, causing it to crash and killing the pilot. The Fort Dodge Messenger reports the crash occurred around 9:15 a.m. Friday. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory told the newspaper that the plane came down in a corn field about three miles south of Sac City. The pilot’s name has not yet been released.

Hazardous materials team member Steve Teske says the plane was fully loaded with fuel and about 300 gallons of pesticide and fungicide. Teske says all the fuel and chemicals were absorbed into the soil after the crash. Steven Hansen, who owns the farmland where the plane crashed, says the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will monitor the site.

AtlanticFest, presented by First Whitney Bank, will be held August 13th rain or shine. AtlanticFest is an annual festival that serves as a fundraiser for the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce. Ouida Hargens, Executive Director, Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, said “We are so thankful to have so many generous sponsors and community members to help make this event our biggest annual fundraiser for the Chamber.” Hargens said “Our sponsorships help cover a lot of the costs of the events, allowing us to raise funds through registration fees, pop stand sales and the 50/50 raffle. We use the funds from AtlanticFest to continue to grow the event and to help improve other upcoming events. It also helps support businesses based programs.”

Downtown Atlantic will be filled with fun activities for the whole family to enjoy. Come early and enjoy a pancake breakfast or start the day off with a run through town in the Annual Road Race with chip timing coming back this year. The Annual Tractor Ride will also be taking place, kicking off at the Cass County Fair Grounds at 8 AM.

There will be crafters from all over Southwest Iowa, as well as some of the best food vendors to help satisfy any appetite. Kids can enjoy the pony rides and bounce house while adults can relax in the beer garden or play in the 2nd Annual Bags Tournament.

The 18th Annual Car Show and Motorcycle Show will be taking place once again this year. Pre-Registration for the Car Show, Motorcycle Show, Road Race, Craft and Food Vendors are going on now through August 1st at noon. And with free entertainment throughout the day, including local favorite Glass House Prophet beginning at 7 PM, you can’t go wrong.

The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce is encouraging the community to take photos while at AtlanticFest and upload them to www.explorecass.com as part of their on-going marketing campaign, “Explore, Discover, Share”. People are encouraged to visit www.explorecass.com and VOTE on their favorite photos. The photo that receives the most votes every week wins a prize, located at the Chamber Office. If you are interested in being a part of AtlanticFest, or to print off a full schedule of events, please visit www.atlanticiowa.com or call the Chamber at 712.243.3017.

The Chamber thanks its partners for helping make the event possible. They include: First Whitney Bank; A.M. Cohron & Son; Megan Roberts, State Farm; Weirich Welding Plus; Cass County Health System; Connect-A-Dock; Atlantic Motor Supply (NAPA); Atlantic Municipal Utilities; Brown Electric; Partners Insurance Inc.; Plastic Professionals; Salute Gymnastics; Wells Fargo Bank; Atlantic Pest Control; Klassic Farm Management; Rumors Lounge; R/T Motors, Inc.; Ricks Auto Clinic; The Butcher Shop; Olsens Outdoor Power; Southwest Iowa Sandblasting & Powder Coating; Rolling Hills Bank & Trust.

A traffic stop early this (Saturday) morning in Fremont County, resulted in the arrests of a couple from Tennessee on drug charges. The Fremont County K9 Unit stopped a vehicle on Interstate 29 and as a result, arrested 42-year old Ryan Morrow and his wife, 42-year old Amy Morrow, both of Harrison, TN. The Morrow’s were charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and on weapons charges.

In their vehicle, deputies located multiple firearms, including pistols and an assault rifle, along with a large amount of ammunition. The couple was transported to the Fremont County Jail and held, while awaiting a court appearance.

Amy Morrow

Ryan Morrow

Iowa State University’s solar car team will start a long race today (Saturday). Matt Goode, the project director for Team PrISUm, says they’re going into the American Solar Challenge with confidence, having won last year’s race. “This year, we are racing from Ohio to South Dakota and it’s going to be a little bit over 1,900 miles,” Goode says. “We are going from one national park to another with the national parks centennial and it’s a race to see who can get to South Dakota first with the least amount of energy.”

Given the starting and ending points, it was initially hoped the race might be trekking though Iowa this year but that won’t be the case. The race begins today (Saturday) at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Brecksville, Ohio. Goode says, “When we start, it’s going to be in northern Ohio, we dip down through Dayton and southern Illinois, go through St. Louis, and then we dip further down into Missouri going through a national battlefield from the Civil War, then heading up to a couple of parks in Nebraska and then shooting over to South Dakota.”

The race is scheduled to conclude after a week on August 6th at the Wind Cave National Park in Hot Springs, South Dakota. Next year, the ISU team plans to take part in the World Solar Car Challenge in Australia. See updates on the Team PrISUm Facebook page: www.facebook.com/PrISUm.Solar.Car/

(Radio Iowa)

(8/1- correction: the meeting is at the Middle School Media Center, NOT the High School)

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will meet in a special session Monday afternoon, in the Atlantic Middle School Media Center. During the meeting, which begins at 4:30-p.m., the Board will enter into a Closed Session under Iowa Code, to, according to the agenda: “Discuss the purchase or sale of particular real estate only where premature disclosure could be reasonably expected to increase the price the governmental body would have to pay for that property or reduce the price the governmental body would receive for that property.”

No other details are currently available.

Red Oak Police report two arrests took place Friday evening. At around 7:45-p.m., 32-year old Ryan Leigh Powell, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 1800 block of E. Summit Street, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Powell was cited into court, with a future court date pending. And, at around 6-p.m., Red Oak Police arrested 39-year old Richard Allen Straw, of Red Oak, for Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Driving While Suspended. Straw was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 cash bond.

The Cass County Democratic Party has announced the winners of their Cass County Fair booth give-a-ways. Maynard Hansen, of Wiota, won the US flag. Chase Vogl, of Atlantic, guessed the closest number of candies in the M&M drawing, winning the container of candy. Congratulations, Maynard and Chase!

Police in Council Bluffs report three people were injured during a boating accident Friday night, on the Missouri River. At around 10:16-p.m. Council Bluffs rescue and officers were dispatched to the Bob Kerry pedestrian foot bridge for a report of a boat that had stuck the bridge resulting in several passengers sustaining injuries. The 63- foot boat, owned by River City Star, of Omaha, was located on the Iowa side of the Missouri River, and was disabled on the bank next to Tom Hanafans Rivers Edge Park.

The crew told authorities the boat was north of the pedestrian bridge when it struck some rocks on the Nebraska side of the river bank. The vessel lost its forward power capability, which caused it to drift in reverse underneath the pedestrian bridge. The crew said the boat never struck the pedestrian bridge, though.

The 130 passengers and 5 crew members on the boat were all evacuated by Council Bluffs rescue. Three of the passengers were transported to local hospitals for non-life threatening injuries. Since the accident occurred in Nebraska, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Departments nautical services team responded to conduct the investigation. Their investigation is considered on-going at this time.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An employee at an Iowa Lottery retailer is charged with stealing a winning $250,000 scratch ticket and working with her boyfriend and mother in an attempt to claim the prize. Prosecutors said Friday that the trio now faces felony charges.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Public Safety has announced an arrest in a shooting death that occurred nearly 18 months ago in Burlington. Authorities say 23-year-old Earl Riley Booth-Harris was arrested Friday on a warrant charging him with first-degree murder in the Feb. 16, 2015 death of 24-year-old Deonte Raynell Carter.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Public Health has filled the position of state medical examiner with a doctor who has been in the position on an interim basis. Agency Director Gerd Clabaugh announced Friday that Dr. Dennis Klein had accepted the position, which became open when Dr. Julia Goodin resigned in January to take a similar job in Tennessee.

GRIMES, Iowa (AP) — The mother of a 2-year-old boy who was found dead in his Polk County home also has died. Authorities said Friday that Stephanie Erickson was pronounced dead Thursday at a Des Moines hospital. Erickson was taken there a week ago after she and the body of her little boy, Mason Wyckoff, were found. The causes of the two deaths aren’t being released until autopsy results have been returned.

A couple from Jefferson, South Dakota is asking for the public’s help to find a lost bike which fell off their car when they left to go back home from RAGBRAI this week. Breanne Demers says she and her husband Jeffrey had to leave Tuesday because of work commitments, and made their way around the bike route on gravel before hitting the highway. “We got on Highway 25, we headed north and we then turned west on Highway 34. And we continued on that route and we stopped in Red Oak to get a bite to eat, and we happened to notice that the strap had broken on the rack,” Demers says.

She says here husband’s bike was last on the rack it had fallen off somewhere along the route. Jeffrey served three tours in Iraq and the bike has sentimental meaning to him, as he bought it following the final tour. “When he met me he got into biking and he didn’t have a nice road bike,” Breanne explains. “And on that tour as he was making money overseas, he was sticking a little bit aside…and he saved enough to buy this bike and all the components he wanted on it. So for him, it’s kind of like his little medal from coming back from overseas, you know, it has a lot of meaning to him.”

They put out a call on Facebook and some state biking websites asking if anyone had seen it, and got some idea of where it may’ve fallen off from a woman who called them.
The woman had seen the bike in the middle of road somewhere between one and three miles south of Highway 34 on Highway 25. The woman stopped and moved the bike to the should and called the Creston Police Department. Creston police told the couple the bike was gone by the time they were able to check on it. She says the sentimental background of the bike is the reason they want it back as they know he will probably need to get a new bike for rides.

“When an aluminum-framed road bike hits the pavement at 70-miles-an-hour — not likely it’s going to be real ridable, the frame will be bent. She says she told her husband he likely won’t be able to ride the bike distances as he used to anymore and he will have to get a new bike anyway . “He said ‘I know but I want that bike back’, I don’t care if it hangs in the garage, I can just see it every day.” The bike is white Specialized brand with red handle bars. It has an Albrechts bike shop sticker on it. If find the bike or know where it may be, please call Breanne at 712-635-3161.

(Radio Iowa)