The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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MARION, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say the chemical that rained down on a northeast Marion neighborhood was a fungicide. Several people called 911 Tuesday night after noticing a white substance on vehicles and houses. The Marion Fire Department said in a news release Thursday that tests show the substance has components commonly found in a field treatment used by farmers.

Iowa public health officials say that after 12 hours, lawns or vegetation exposed to the fungicide weren’t expected to pose health risks to people. Officials say exposed hard surfaces should be cleaned with soapy water, and all clothes and bare skin that were covered by the substance should be washed. The incident is still being investigated.

Red Oak Police report three arrests took place, Thursday. At around 11:35-p.m., officers with the Red Oak P-D arrested 52-year old Robert Wade Abraham, of Red Oak, for Interference with Official Acts. Abraham was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 cash bond.

And, at around 3:45-p.m., Red Oak Police arrested 20-year old Ridge Allen Casteel, of Creston, and 20-year old Ashley Kate Lewis, of Red Oak. Casteel was charged with Assault and Trespass, while Lewis faces a Domestic Abuse Assault, charge. Both were transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where Casteel was being held on $300 bond, and Lewis was being held without bond until appearing before a magistrate.

Dozens of hot air balloons will be flying over south-central Iowa over the next 9 days and nights. Indianola has hosted the National Balloon Classic, billed as “one of the largest and longest hot air balloon events in the Midwest,” for over 40 years. Jim Fromm, who serves on the National Balloon Classic board, says spectators will watch nearly 100 balloons decorate the sky.

“We had 86 registered pilots, so around 90 or so balloons will be here,” Fromm said. This year’s event launches tonight (Friday) and runs through August 6. There are evening flights combined with live music each night beginning at 6 p.m. The morning launches are scheduled each day at 6:30 a.m., but balloons will also fill the sky even earlier in the morning on both Saturdays and next Wednesday morning.

“There’s ‘Dawn Patrol,’ which is an unusual happening with balloons. Typically, we don’t fly with any aircraft lights on, but for (dawn patrol) we do hang lights on…and launch before sunrise, in the dark,” Fromm said. “We launch and fly for an hour or two, until the sun comes up. Everytime we hit the burner, the whole balloon lights up and that is very impressive.”

Similarly, “Nite Glow” events are scheduled after sunset this Sunday, next Wednesday (8/3), and next Friday (8/5). Learn more at: nationalballoonclassic.com.

(Radio Iowa)

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A review of Des Moines Police Department data shows the city has seen an increase in drive-by shootings this year. The Des Moines Register reports that 31 drive-by shootings were reported in the city through the end of June. Police say 22 drive-by shootings were reported during the same time period last year. Sixteen drive-by shootings were reported for the same period in 2014, and 22 were reported the year before. Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek says there isn’t one cause for the shootings.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A judge has rejected conspiracy allegations against Missouri State Highway Patrol commanders named in a federal civil lawsuit over the 2014 drowning of a 20-year-old handcuffed Iowa man at Lake of the Ozarks. U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey said Wednesday lawyers for Brandon Ellingson’s family hadn’t proved that patrol officials conspired to cover up the cause of the death of Brandon Ellingson, who drowned after he fell from a patrol boat.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — A 21-year-old Iowa woman who caused a Christmas Day crash that killed a 6-year-old Webster City girl has pleaded guilty to three traffic violations. The Fort Dodge Messenger says Ruth Tomlinson pleaded guilty Wednesday to driving on the wrong side of a highway, failure to maintain control and having no proof of insurance. She was ordered to pay more than $2,300 in fines and court costs.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is suing federal regulators for approving permits for a $3.8 billion pipeline between North Dakota and Illinois that would be the biggest-capacity pipeline carrying oil out of the state’s oil patch. Tribal officials filed the lawsuit Wednesday against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The tribe says it opposes the Dakota Access Pipeline because it fears a spill could contaminate drinking water on its reservation, which is home to 8,000 people.

The Iowa Utilities Board recently updated its rules for people who produce their own electricity. I-U-B spokesman Don Tormey says it involves a process known as “net metering.”  “When customers generate their own electricity, any electricity that the customer generates that they do not use is exported to the utility grid. And under net metering, the customer’s extra generation is credited to his or her account and is used to offset the customer’s future electricity use,” Tormey explains. The new rules expand the size of operations that can feed electricity back into the grid.

He says it now allows larger facilities to participate as they increased it from 500 kilowatts to one megawatt. The rules cover the state’s two largest utility companies and it asks them to write new rules for the cost or tariff charged to the customer for hooking up to the grid. He says the board ordered MidAmerican and Alliant Energy’s subsidiary Iowa Power and Light to file new tariffs on or before August 15th, and once the board receive those, they will have to review and approve them. Tormey says there’s not an exact number of people who are creating their own energy with the chance to feed the excess back to the power companies, but it could be around 15-hundred or more.

“There’s even customers who are off the grid that attempt to do that,” Tormey says. “You know people who live in real remote areas that have attempted to do solar panels and storage batteries and things like that.” He expects more people to look at creating their own energy either from wind or solar.

“It would be a mixture of both, but I would anticipate it might be more solar,” Tormey says. Experts in the field says the cost of solar panels has been coming down as technology improves and more people are looking at using them. You can find out more about net metering on the I-U-B’s website or in the link in this story at iub.iowa.gov

(Radio Iowa)

STORM LAKE, Iowa – The Sioux Rapids Police Department arrested three people in connection with a theft or attempted theft of a lottery scratch ticket. 20-year old Ashley Brianne Bosler, of Sioux Rapids, is charged with Theft of Lottery Ticket or Share, a Class D Felony, and Aiding and Abetting – Theft of a Lottery Ticket or Share, a Class D Felony; 26-year old Johnny Long, Jr., of Sioux Rapids, is charged with Theft of Lottery Ticket or Share, a Class D Felony; and 42-year old Sally Bosler, of Cedar Rapids, is charged with Aiding and Abetting – Theft of a Lottery Ticket or Share, a Class D Felony. The three were arrested July 27th, 2016, and booked in the Buena Vista County Jail.

The winning ticket in one of the lottery’s instant-scratch games was presented at the Regional Lottery Office in Storm Lake on June 17, 2016. The $250,000 prize involved has not been paid. The arrests were the result of a joint investigation by the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), the Buena Vista County Attorney’s Office, the Sioux Rapids Police Department and the Iowa Lottery.

The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce reports Connect-a-Dock is the Premier Partner of the AtlanticFest Road Race. The new partnership allows the AtlanticFest Road Race to continue chip timing to all the participants while keeping the cost and fees low to the entire community.  Abby Becker, Road Race chair, said “We are excited to continue chip timing for the AtlanticFest Road Race. Last year’s participants loved having an accurate time and immediate results.”  Becker added, “We are working with a new company this year, True Time Racing.”

The 2016 Road Race will be held on Saturday, August 13^th to kick off the 18^th Annual AtlanticFest. The race will begin at 8:00 AM at the Atlantic City Park with a 2 or 5 mile run and a 2 mile walk. The route can be found on www.atlanticiowa.com and will be similar to last year; enjoying a route through Schildberg Recreation Area.

Pre-Registration is open now until August 1^st. Participants that pre-register for $16 will receive a free performance shirt with the new Road Race logo. Pre-Registration is also available for $10 but does not include a shirt.  Racers that prefer to register closer to the event can register on-line until August 11^th or the day of at 7 am at the Atlantic City Park.

Pre-registered racers will receive a performance shirt with new thea Road Race logo sponsored by: First Whitney Bank, Connect- A- Dock, Cass County Health System and several other sponsors. New this year, Southwest Iowa Crystal Clear Southwest Iowa, will be filling re-usable water bottles to be distributed after the race.

For more information about the RoadRace, or additional AtlanticFest information visit www.atlanticiowa.com or call the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce at (712)243-3017.

Police in Council Bluffs said this (Thursday) afternoon, that at 11-a.m. (today), officers were called to the area of South 19th Street and Veteran’s Memorial Highway, with
regard to construction workers having uncovered human bones while moving dirt. Council Bluffs police officers and crime scene investigators, working in cooperation with the Pottawattamie County and State of Iowa Medical Examiner’s Offices, were able to determine that these bones were “ancient remains”, meaning that they are at least 100 years old.

Plans are in place to turn the bones over to the Office of the State Archaeologist, located at the University of Iowa, for further examination. There is no active criminal investigation taking place at this time.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A judge has rejected conspiracy allegations against Missouri State Highway Patrol commanders named in a federal civil lawsuit over the 2014 drowning of a 20-year-old handcuffed Iowa man at Lake of the Ozarks. U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey said Wednesday lawyers for Brandon Ellingson’s family hadn’t proved that commanders and patrol officials conspired to cover up the cause of Ellingson’s death at the lake. Ellingson drowned after he fell from a patrol boat.

The Kansas City Star reports the decision means counts against individual commanders have been dismissed. One count against the state of Missouri and the patrol is still active. Also still active and headed for trial in October in Jefferson City are several counts against Trooper Anthony Piercy, who says his training was inadequate.