CRESTON, Iowa (AP) — People in four Iowa cities have been told they can once again safely drink water from their taps. The Southern Iowa Rural Water Association says the treatment system is back up and running with new filtration membranes. Three cities given an all-clear Monday were Afton, Diagonal and Lenox. Creston was cleared Sunday. The advisory remains in effect for people in rural areas around Creston and in several counties served by the association.

A membrane filtration system failure at the Twelve Mile Water Plant in Creston had left association customers without safe tap water since June 1. People were advised to boil tap water before consumption to avoid pathogens and parasites that could cause illness. The water was considered safe for bathing and for pets and livestock.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa City man accused of neglecting more than 200 birds on his rural Solon property has been given a year of probation and fined $315. Johnson County Court records say 71-year-old Francis Prohaska pleaded guilty last week to livestock neglect. The judge granted him a deferred judgment. That means the conviction can be cleared from Prohaska’s record if he abides by the terms of his probation.

The charge stemmed from a Dec. 9 search of the Solon area farmstead. Deputies found a number of dead birds and counted about 200 others, including ducks, geese, chickens and pigeons.

Gas prices are around 50 cents higher this June than they were last year and that is having an impact on demand. Triple-A Iowa’s Rose White says it is unusual to see the amount of gas burned by motorists dropping. “The Energy Information Office is reporting that demand is dropping — and that is occurring for the first time since mid-January,”White says. “It’s just under nine million barrels per day. Now, this is surprising as levels have consistently measured about the nine million barrel mark every week in June since 2015.”

The drop in demand is only one of the factors that has led to a slight decrease in gas prices this week.  “Contributing to the downturn in prices is crude oil costs, which have dropped nearly six dollars a barrel just in the last few weeks,” according to White. She says gas prices will usually drop from two to four cents a gallon with each one dollar drop in the price of oil. But gas prices here haven’t dropped down to their levels seen last year. White says gas is averaging two-79 a gallon or about 13 cents below the national average. That price is a drop of three cents from last week — but the cost is still 53 cents higher then one year ago when a gallon of gas cost two dollars, 26 cents.

Summer driving often leads to an increase in driving and an increase in demand for gasoline. But White says drivers are making adjustments with the high fuel costs. “It seems that when prices do rise people shop around. And the also may even change their driving habits,” White explains. “When we start to see big spikes in prices, those with flex-fuel vehicles may favor the E-85 blend.” The E-85 blend is cheaper than the other blends of gas. South Carolina is the state with the cheapest gas — coming in at two dollars, 58 cents a gallon. California has the highest average price at three dollars, 17 cents a gallon.

(Radio Iowa)