(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.

(Ankeny, Iowa) – A small aircraft experienced an engine malfunction while in flight, Thursday, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at around 11:30-a.m., on the 12th hole at the Briarwood Golf Course, in Ankeny. According to an Ankeny Police Department social media post, there were no injuries reported. The flight originated from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Ankeny was not the pilot’s intended destination.

The FAA coordinated the removal of the aircraft from the golf course.

(Ankeny PD Facebook page photos)

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — The Iowa State Fair is introducing new policies to enhance accessibility and convenience for attendees. Visitors can now bring in sealed or unsealed drinks, including water, soda, or Gatorade, but alcohol remains prohibited.

CEO Jeremy Parsons said they want to be able to provide an affordable option for families when they come to the fair. Snacks in soft-sided coolers are also allowed, ensuring affordability for families who may not be able to attend for the food. Rules include no glass containers, no alcohol, and outside food and drinks are not permitted at the grandstand.

To reduce entry lines, particularly at Gate 11 on Grand Avenue, new gates are being added on the northwest side near East 30th and Elwell Family Park.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The 2025 Cass County Fair Royalty was selected Thursday evening. The King and Queen winners were Nollan Smith and Lily Johnson. Smith was chosen from a field of four candidates. The others included: Colin Rudy – Cass County Cowpokes & Atlantic FFA; Conner Johnson – Grove H.O.T & Atlantic FFA; and Carter Witzman – Bear Grove Blazers & Atlantic FFA.

Johnson was chosen as Queen from a field of nine young ladies. They included: Zoey Amos – Pleasant Noble United & Griswold FFA; Alyson Dreager – Bear Grove Blazers & Atlantic FFA; Jacquelyn Freund – Washington GEM & Atlantic FFA; Miley Kelly – Griswold FFA;  Addison Masker – Atlantic FFA; Josephine Millikan – Griswold Clubsters; Leah Ohms – Union Leaders & CAM FFA, and Olivia Olson – Pymosa & Atlantic FFA.

Lily Johnson is a member of Grove H.O.T & Atlantic FFA, and the daughter of Jim and Melissa Johnson. She advances to the Iowa State Fair, to compete in a statewide competition vying for the 2025 Iowa State Fair Queen title. (Photo is from the Griswold CSD Facebook page)

Nollan Smith is a member of the Griswold Clubsters & Griswold FFA, and son of Ryan and Windy Smith. Conner Johnson was named Fair Prince. He is the son of Jim and Melissa Johnson, and Josephine Millkan was named Fair Princess. She’s the daughter of Shad & Anita Millikan.

The “Littler Mister” title was awarded to Malcolm Wickard, son of Allan and Braedi Wickard, and one of 12 candidates. The title of “Little Miss” went to Hattie Leighton, daughter of Matt and Sandra Leighton. She was one of 14 candidates.

2025 Royalty Judges were Mandy Pitzen and Cassidy Robinson. KJAN’s Jim Field was the Master of Ceremonies. Last year’s (2024) Cass County Fair Royalty included: Claire Pellett (Queen); Jack Brahams (King); Makayla Atkinson – Princess; Jace Thomsen – Prince & Mr. Congeniality; Claire Pellett – Miss Congeniality.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation is working to preserve one of the last pieces of undeveloped shoreline on East Lake Okoboji. The foundation bought the 50-acre property in 2021 for eight MILLION dollars and has been restoring native habitat. Joe Jayjack, the foundation’s director of external affairs, says this year’s check list includes removing some man-made terraces.

“To restore some of the natural terrain on the property and prepping for some prairie restoration to restore a lot of the grasslands that were historically there, and then a little bit of tree work and shoreline restoration right along the lake there that is going to make a big difference, especially during high water events and the stability of the shoreline.” The area is called Narrows Preserve and includes over two-thousand feet of East Lake Okoboji’s shore. When the work is finished, the foundation plans to open the area to the public.

“It’s going to be a really great place for people to enjoy some light outdoor recreation,” Jayjack says. “We have some mowed trails out there and it’s connected to the state park just to south of it, so we’re happy with the progress so far.” The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation has an option to purchase another 73 acre tract of land in the city limits of Arnolds Park.

Jayjack says it’s an area surrounded by three bodies of water in the Iowa Great Lakes region. “Eventually we’ll turn it over to the City of Arnolds Park,” Jayjack says. “It’ll be managed by Dickinson County Conservation to be a public nature area and park that people will be able to use.”

The foundation faces an October deadline to raise one-point-nine MILLION dollars to purchase the property, which has never been developed.