EVANSDALE, Iowa (AP) — Evansdale police have launched a new website to provide a clearinghouse of information about the unsolved abduction and killing of two young cousins in 2012. Ten-year-old Lyric Cook and her 8-year-old cousin Elizabeth Collins disappeared in Evansdale after they left for a bike ride in July 2012. Their bodies were found in December 2012 in a rural wildlife refuge in Bremer County.

No arrests have been made in their deaths. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports the website was launched Thursday. It displays information about likely characteristics of the cousins’ kidnapper. Investigators believe the abductor is from the area and chose the wildlife refuge because it was secluded.

A $150,000 reward has been set for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.

It seems everybody’s got a video on social media lately, having a bucket of ice water dumped on their heads — captains of industry, Hollywood celebrities, Iowa’s governor, or your neighbor down the street. The Ice Bucket Challenge was launched late last month as a way to raise awareness and funds for research into what’s known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or A-L-S. Abbi Costigan, coordinator of the Iowa chapter of the A-L-S Association, says the response has been completely unexpected and overwhelming.

“There is not one person from our chapters or nationwide that was even prepared for something like this,” Costigan says. “It’s been absolutely amazing to see the support of people who didn’t even know what Lou Gehrig’s disease was or that our chapters existed.” The challenge has spread very quickly through websites like Facebook. Once challenged, you can either dump a bucket of ice water on your head and donate at least ten dollars toward A-L-S research and challenge three more people — or skip the challenge and donate 100 dollars. Costigan says the first challenge she’s aware of was on July 29th, just three weeks ago. Since then, many thousands around the planet have accepted the challenge and written checks. The money is streaming in.

“I know it goes up and down because we’re getting donations every day,” she says, “but the last number I heard was about $41.8 million.” A-L-S stands for Amyotrophic (amy-oh-TROH-fick) Lateral Sclerosis (sklair-OH-sis). It’s a motor neuron disease, first described in 1869. It usually attacks both upper and lower motor neurons and causes degeneration throughout the brain and spinal cord. Once diagnosed, life expectancy is usually only two to five years. While the cause of A-L-S is not completely understood, Costigan says the last decade has brought a wealth of new scientific understanding about the disease that provides hope for the future. The sudden awareness of this killer disease — and the outpouring of support — is something Costigan can only describe as stunning.

“It gives me goosebumps,” Costigan says. “ALS has been around. We just celebrated 75 years since Lou Gehrig’s speech and to think this disease has been around for this long and it’s not until the year 2014 that we’ve had something like this go viral.” About 250 Iowans are afflicted with A-L-S at any one time. Learn more about the disease and The Ice Bucket Challenge at: www.alsaiowa.org

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Attendance at the Iowa State Fair was down but more people rode buses to reach the fairgrounds. The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority says ridership between park-and-rides and the fairground was 221,188 during the 11-day fair. That an 8 percent increase over last year. The increased ridership came even as overall fair attendance dipped a bit to nearly 1,016,000 people. That is the smallest attendance since 2010.

Transit authority General Manager Elizabeth Presutti says the ridership figures show more people want to avoid the cost and hassle of parking near the fairgrounds. Fairgoers with prepaid fair tickets also were offered bus discounts.

The increase also may reflect a more accurate ticketing system used at some park and ride locations.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

OELWEIN, Iowa (AP) – A northeast Iowa mayor accused of sexually abusing two girls has been released from jail. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports 36-year-old Jason Manus left the Fayette County Jail on Wednesday after a bail bonding company posted a reduced $65,000 bond. Manus, the mayor of Oelwein, is accused of sexually abusing two girls, ages 9 and 14, in 2010. He faces five counts of second-degree sexual abuse. He was arrested on August 11th.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – A Dubuque man faces federal charges for allegedly selling crack cocaine out of his candy store earlier this year. The Telegraph Herald reports 35-year-old Dwayne Howard is charged with four counts of distributing crack cocaine near a school or playground.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A northeast Iowa man sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for fabricating grain elevator scale tickets and bankruptcy fraud has lost his sentence appeal. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says 48-year-old Michael Recker was properly sentenced last year to 46 months in prison. Recker admitted at sentencing that in 2008 and 2009 he bribed an elevator worker to create false grain tickets then lied to Internal Revenue Service investigators about it.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The University of Iowa marching band is trying out a new, $15-million indoor facility for the first time after stormy weather blew through Iowa City this week. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports the Hawkeye Marching Band was able to rehearse inside on Wednesday.