(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Area Chamber Ambassadors, Thursday, visited the Cass County Fair to celebrate the opening day. During their visit, the Ambassadors heard from several fair board members about all the exciting activities planned for this year’s event.

The annual Cass County Fair is a major draw for Atlantic and the surrounding communities, and it remains the only fully free county fair in Iowa; the only cost is for food. A highlight of this year’s schedule is tonight’s (Friday) annual bull ride, which will be followed by an all-new fireworks show and a concert by Steven Bankey & the Flatland Band at the Grandstand.

Sunday will feature a full day of entertainment, including the Strong and Amazing Ariel Stunt Show, where performers will showcase their incredible skills. In addition to these headline events, fairgoers can enjoy daily attractions such as 4-H and FFA exhibits, livestock contests, tractor pulls, and much more.

Ambassadors (Left to right): Dolly Bergmann, Angie Bitting, Summer Schwab, Steve Tjepkes, Kathie Hockenberry, Julie Waters, Lana Westphalen, Krysta Hanson, Jennifer McEntaffer, Dr. Keith Leonard, Alisha Wagner, Jeremy Butler, Kelsey Beschorner, Drew Williams, Tyler Comes, Curtis Bierbaum, Jeff Christensen, Gabby Buresh, Corey Scholl, Gabby Wahlert, Tori Gibson, Grace McAfee

The Cass County Fair runs from Thursday, July 24, through Tuesday, July 29, at the Cass County Fairgrounds (1000 Fair Ave., Atlantic, IA 50022). For daily food specials, event schedules, and updates, visit casscofairia.com or follow Cass County Fair – Iowa on Facebook.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the state’s most popular attractions — the Iowa State Fair — opens in less than two weeks, and the Travel Iowa office is in the midst of what it’s calling “Tourism Insider” meetings. Jessica O’Riley, tourism communication manager with the Iowa Economic Development Authority, says tourism staff members are going on the road to meet with local partners across the state.

“We have networking opportunities and we have professional development where they learn about crisis communication or projects happening in the community,” O’Riley says, “with the idea that maybe the people who attend can take those ideas home and sprout them in their own communities.” O’Riley says one of the first meetings in the series was held earlier this year in Spencer.

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“That one went very well,” O’Riley says. “That one we did some crisis communications around the flooding and how they managed the communications to potential travelers during that time, and how they recovered.” The next meeting will be held August 28th in Webster City.

“We’re going to learn about some of the building transformations there in Webster City, so the Webster Theaters, the community theater and the former Elks Building,” O’Riley says. “I believe there’s also going to be an art sculpture walking tour.” Another meeting is planned for November in Dubuque.

Find more information on tourism and the conferences at: industrypartners.traveliowa.com.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the Democrats running for the U-S Senate says the “Save Our Bacon Act” being touted by Iowa’s governor and Iowa Republicans in congress doesn’t address the real dilemma Iowa’s hog farmers face. The bill seeks to nullify rules requiring that pork sold in California come from hogs raised in pens large enough that the pigs can move around. J.D. Scholten of Sioux City says lawmakers should really be addressing corporate consolidation in the livestock industry. “You know 67% of the hog industry is owned by just a handful of companies,” Scholten says, “yet they want to blame a California bill for all their problems when the reality is these huge corporations have squeezed our farmers in the last few decades.” Scholten calls the “Save Our Bacon Act” is window dressing and he says Republicans have done nothing to protect independent hog farmers who can’t compete in a monopolized marketplace.

“Address the consolidation issue,” Scholten said. “China Pork owns Smithfield and in 2017 the CEO for China Pork made $291 million that year alone. That’s more than Elon Musk made that year. That’s more than Apple’s Tim Cook,” Scholten says. “And you as a hog farmer that year, especially one with that has a contract with Smithfied how they did that year, most of them said they probably made about the cost of production.” Scholten says picking a fight with California is barking up the wrong tree. “A place like Iowa, 90% of our food is imported and a huge chunk of it half of the food we eat comes from California,” Scholten says. “…I would rather have them work with California.”

State Rep. J.D. Scholten of Sioux City speaks at a statehouse news conference. (RI file photo)

Scholten says if Republicans really wanted to help farmers and consumers, they’d do something about corporate meatpackers that are gouging consumers. Scholten, Nathan Sage of Knoxville and Zach Wahls of Coralville are campaigning for the Democratic Party’s 2026 nomination for the U.S. Senate. Republican Senator Joni Ernst recently told Radio Iowa she’ll make an announcement this fall about her 2026 intentions and at least two Republicans have announced they intend to run against Ernst next year. James Carlin is an attorney from Sioux City is a former Republican state legislator who challenged Senator Chuck Grassley in 2022. Joshua Smith of Indianola, a former national leader in the Libertarian Party, announced on social media in early December that he intended to run against Ernst in the 2026 Republican primary.

(Atlantic, Iowa) — An event that was postponed on July 17th due to the threat of severe weather, will now take place the second Thursday in August. Sunnyside Pool’s popular Sip & Dip adult night was rescheduled to Thursday, August 14, along with a slightly new time, of 7-until 9-p.m.

Guests 21 and older are invited to enjoy a relaxed evening poolside with cold drinks, live music, “yard” deck games, and summer vibes after hours at the pool. Lucky Wife Wine Slushies will be on site, bringing specialty drinks and cold beer, great tunes from Paul Hart, and delicious dips from community partners will set the mood for a fun and refreshing night out. Event organizers invite adults age 21 and over, to enjoy the pool in a whole new way, and soak-up the last remnants of Summer.

Admission is just $5 at the gate. Pool passes will not be accepted. For more updates, follow Sunnyside Pool – Atlantic, IA on Facebook.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report the arrest at around 1:30-a.m. today (Friday), of 28-year-old Adrian Scott Routh, of Creston. Routh arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana-1st offense. He was cited and then released from the scene, on a promise to appear in court.

(Radio Iowa) – A state program that allows libraries to borrow books from each other is on hold until August, after which, the State Library of Iowa will scale back deliveries and pickups of inter-library loans from twice a week to just once. Shenandoah Public Library director Carrie Falk says in the past year, her library received more than 400 books and sent out another 500, so this change due to federal budget uncertainty -will- have an impact.

“It’s just going to slow some stuff down, and we’re all going to have to learn to have a little bit more patience, and it’s going to take a little bit longer to get things,” Falk says, “but I don’t see that it would change a lot, other than the length of time it’s going to take to get stuff in.” After the pause, books will be delivered through a partnership with Iowa’s Area Education Agencies. A-E-As will start fulfilling deliveries August 4th. Falk says the program gives her patrons in southwest Iowa access to a large number of materials the library otherwise wouldn’t have space for on its shelves. “While we have a ton of stuff, we don’t have everything,” Falk says, “and so it’s phenomenal to be able to have the rest of the state’s material at our fingertips.”

The state service to transport materials to and from libraries is supported by a federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. President Donald Trump moved to eliminate the agency earlier this year.

(Washington, D-C) – The Democratic National Committee is launching a five-figure digital ad campaign targeting Iowa U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson (IA-02) and Zach Nunn (IA-03). KCCI-TV reports the ads aim to pressure the two Republican lawmakers to release files related to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The ads accuse House Republicans of shutting down Congress and leaving Washington, D.C., as part of what the DNC alleges is an effort to “bury the truth about Donald Trump’s association with a known sexual predator.” The ads also urge Iowans to contact their representatives and demand the release of the records.

The DNC claims that Iowa Republicans, who previously expressed support for releasing the Epstein files during their campaigns, are now avoiding the issue. The Department of Justice met with Epstein co-conspirator and convicted sex trafficker Ghislane Maxwell in Florida Thursday. The day prior, the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena her to testify before the panel remotely next month.

The actions come after The Wall Street Journal reported Attorney General Pam Bondi told President Donald Trump in May that his name appears in the Epstein case files. That doesn’t imply wrongdoing, but it has fueled new calls for transparency. The White House has denied the Wall Street Journal’s report.

Meanwhile, lawmakers headed home Thursday for their month-long August recess. House Speaker Mike Johnson sent members home a day early, cancelling some scheduled votes, as the Epstein controversy roiled Republicans on Capitol Hill.

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowans who shop online have experienced the gratification of same-day shipping, but when the items you’ve ordered are coming from overseas, even with new tariffs in place, packages should still be delivered by the promised time. Lisa Schiller, spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau, says sellers are bound to honor their delivery estimates. “If a seller can’t ship within the promised time, they have to provide you with a revised shipping date,” Schiller says, “with the chance to either cancel your order or giving you a full refund or accept the new shipping date.”

Schiller says it is a “buyer beware” situation with overseas shopping — and shipping — right now. “Remember that if you purchase from overseas, from outside the United States, your ability to to get a refund or get some type of assistance from an agency is pretty much non-existent,” she says.

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Schiller also warns that criminals have been sending out phony messages saying you may owe duties on a package. If you’re expecting a delivery, check with the seller or delivery service directly before paying a fee.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University researcher is using a special tool to test the limits of lithium-ion batteries. Todd Kingston says the device called the accelerating rate calorimeter or ARC. “It enables us to do various types of electrochemical, thermal, mechanical and electrical abuse testing in a very safe manner,” he says. Kingston purchased the ARC with a grant from the U-S Department of Defense’s Office of Naval Research. It can safely recreate the conditions that cause batteries to heat up. “It’s specifically designed to contain a thermal runaway event, explosions of the battery,” Kingston says. Kingston says they can push the batteries beyond their charging limits, or submit them to mechanical abuse.

“Mechanical abuse could be like a crush test. So if you apply pressure to a battery, some batteries are designed, they have a kind of a rigid can and can withstand some pressure. But after enough pressure is applied, you can start to have mechanical deformation and start to actually mechanically deform the active materials inside of the battery,” he says. Kingston is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and says they want to learn how to prevent issues with the batteries. “Ultimately we are interested in improving the safety and the performance of batteries. That being said, I don’t design batteries myself, but we can provide lots of information that would inform the design or the guidelines or the use of battery in various applications,” Kingston says

Waste haulers say lithium-ion batteries have increasingly caused problems with fires in garbage trucks and landfills, and are encouraging everyone to recycle batteries. Kingston says his research could also help in the recycling process. “Recycling them, even the collection and transport of batteries, you know, ones that are reached their end of life and are looking to be recycled, there’s a lot of safety concerns associated with just, you know, that process the recycling process and how do we safely transport them, how do we safely recycle them. So there’s a lot to learn and a lot that we need to still improve on,” Kingston says. He says the are testing a range of batteries used for various applications from smaller ones to larger ones used in electric vehicles.