White powder probably flour

A page designer for the Nevada Appeal, Karl Horeis, found a balloon of white powder in the Appeal parking lot at about 10 p.m. Thursday night.

A series of bicycle tire tracks through the powder appear to have broken the balloon. Horeis called the Carson City Sheriff's Department who sent patrol cars to the scene.

Early tests of the powder proved inconclusive, and backup was called in.

A Tri-Net detective ran three further tests and found the powder was neither cocaine, nor methamphetamine. The officers assumed the powder was flour.