While many Iowans have their air conditioners running during the heat of early August, one expert suggests they look ahead to wintertime and their home heating needs. Harold Hommes, a fuels analyst with the Iowa Department of Agriculture, says a very rapid rise in liquid propane prices last winter left many Iowans stunned and facing tough financial decisions.  “We’re encouraging people to be prepared,” Hommes says. “Last year was truly an unusual situation that caught a lot of people off guard. We had prices bumping up in that $4 and $5 level and we certainly don’t want to see a repeat of that.” It’s a lesson learned in Economics 101 about supply and demand and Hommes right now, the supply is very good, so prices are low.

“Propane prices are ranging from about $1.40 on up to the $1.70 range,” Hommes says. “Those are good summertime fill opportunities. Get that tank full going into winter and minimize obligations for what they’ll be facing for propane costs this winter.” Prices peaked in January above five-dollars a gallon. About 90-percent of the Midwest’s inventory of propane is stored in underground caverns near Conway, Kansas. Hommes says supplies are plentiful heading into fall and winter.

“Right now, we’re sitting on about 22.5-million barrels which puts us 6.5% better than we were at this point one year ago,” Hommes says. “Unfortunately, we’re still slightly below our five-year average for this point in the calendar year.” About 15-percent of Iowa homes are heated with propane, mainly in rural areas.

(Radio Iowa)

Atlantic’s largest summer festival, AtlanticFest, is set to take place this Saturday, August 9th. Activities begin at 10-a.m. with a craft fair, car show, kid games, tractor ride, pedal pulls, weasel rides, live entertainment, and food. Most of those events end at 4-p.m., with the exception of the motorcycle show, which concludes at 2-p.m.

Live music will continue through the evening, with performances by Mega Music Bert Rose, Dirt Road Divide, and Exit 113. A beer garden will be set up on 6th and Chestnut Street at 4-p.m., with a street dance beginning at 8-p.m. and continuing late into the night.

For questions about AtlanticFest, call the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce at 712.243.3017 or visit www.atlanticiowa.com.

Police in Red Oak report a local man was arrested late Monday night on an assault charge. 28-year old Ryan Joseph Pullen, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 11:45-p.m. in the 700 block of north 7th Street in Red Oak. Pullen was charged with Aggravated Domestic Abuse Assault. He was transported to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held without bond.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul says he’s doesn’t have a “definite plan” to run for president in 2016, but his border-to-border, barnstorming tour of Iowa this week is a big hint. Paul has hired an Iowa-based consultant. Two Iowans who worked on his dad’s 2012 Iowa Caucus campaign are working for Rand Paul’s political action committee. And as Nebraska Congressman Lee Terry introduced Paul to a crowd in Council Bluffs Monday afternoon, Terry made it clear that Paul’s sights are set on a race for the White House.

“A great principled conservative with great ideas and maybe a future outside of the Senate, in ophthalmology,” Terry said. Paul, who is an eye doctor, is helping two of Iowa’s Republican congressional candidates raise money this week, plus he’s appearing at half a dozen county offices around the state where local party activists are running phone banks, handing out yard signs and staging neighborhood canvassing. Paul says there’s “pent up enthusiasm” in the country, but he cautioned Republicans not to be over-confident.

“They out-hustled us last time,” Paul said, reminding the crowd in Council Bluffs that Obama won Iowa in both 2008 and 2012. “So I hope you’re motivated because you believe strongly in our country, you want to see a recovery again and I’m going to do everything I can to help.”

Paul describes himself as a “cheerleader” for expanding the Republican tent. He says, in Iowa, the party’s 2016 nominee has to be able to appeal beyond the “business class” and sell the party’s economic growth message to those who work for an hourly wage. “Some people think of Iowa, ‘Oh, it’s a great place to come to talk about presidential primaries,’ but really the problem is not so much the primary, it’s the General Election,” Paul said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “You know we need to think about not only how we win a primary, but you’ve got to think how you win General Elections in Iowa, because Iowa is one of those 10 or 15 states that are sort of purplish states.” Mark Hansen of Council Bluffs was a Ron Paul supporter in 2012 who is ready to back Rand Paul in 2016.

“His biggest path to success is going after the independent voters,” Hansen says. “…It’s all about winning the General Election.” Steve Meidlinger of Council Bluffs, was among those who crowded into the G-O-P headquarters in Pottawattamie County on Monday afternoon to hear Paul speak.  “I like him because he’s a conservative and he’s got some of the same ideas that I think are important in a candidate,” Meidlinger says. Paul was asked during a stop in Sioux City if he is going to run for president and he replied: “Maybe.”

Rand Paul is one of half a dozen potential 2016 presidential candidates who are making trips to Iowa this week. The parade of possibles includes Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, who are past Iowa Caucus victors, as well as Governors Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who was in Iowa last weekend, will return this weekend.

(Radio Iowa)