Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), Bureau of Immunization, say the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine for students enrolling in seventh grade, will be required,  beginning with the 2013-2014 school year. The new requirement became effective today (Wednesday). The change will require a one-time booster dose of Tdap vaccine for students enrolling in grades seven and up, if born on or after September 15, 2000. IDPH Immunization Program Manager Bethany Kintigh says “The secondary school vaccine requirement will help Iowa achieve and maintain high vaccination adolescent coverage levels while reducing the number of pertussis cases occurring annually.”

Pertussis or whooping cough is caused by Bordetella pertussis and causes epidemics every three-to -five years. In 2012, 1,647cases of pertussis were reported to IDPH, a 417 percent increase in cases compared to the average of the previous five years. The majority of cases occurred in children 10-14 years of age. Pertussis can cause serious illness in infants, children and adults. The disease starts like the common cold, with runny nose or congestion, sneezing, and sometimes a mild cough or fever which is followed by severe coughing.

Pertussis can cause violent and rapid coughing, over and over, until the air is gone from the lungs and you are forced to inhale with a “whooping’ sound. While treatment with antibiotics will prevent an individual diagnosed with pertussis from spreading the disease, the cough may continue to last for weeks. Children receive pertussis-containing vaccine beginning at two months of age, and are recommended to get a booster dose at 11 or 12 years of age.

The National Immunization Survey (NIS) Teen, 2011 results indicates 74.7 percent of Iowa adolescents 13-17 years have received the Tdap vaccine compared to the national average of 78.2 percent. If you have an incoming seventh grader that hasn’t received the Tdap vaccine, now is a great time to make an appointment with your child’s health care provider.

Two Council Bluffs men were sentenced today (Wednesday) to a total of just over four-years in prison for their roles in the robbery of a Sac County bank last year. 35-year old Robert Glade Edie III and 19-year old Patrick Allen Eggerling were sentenced in United States District Court in Council Bluffs, for the burglary of Farmer’s Bank and Trust in Earling. United States District Court Judge John A. Jarvey sentenced Robert Edie to 34 months in prison, to be followed by 24 months of supervised release. The Judge also sentenced Patrick Eggerling to 15 months in prison, to be followed by 36 months of supervised release. Both men were required to pay $100 to the Crime Victim Fund, and ordered that both are jointly liable for more than $10,900 in restitution.

Both men pled guilty to the charge, which stems from an April 12th, 2012 incident, during which the defendants during the night-time hours, entered an exterior lobby of the Farmer’s Bank and Trust in Earling, attached a log chain to an ATM, and using a stolen motor vehicle, pulled the ATM from its base and drug the ATM from the bank lobby. The men then put the ATM in the back of the stolen SUV and fled. The ATM contained approximately $6,000.00 when it was stolen. A high speed chase ensued in which Harrison County Sheriff deputies, Pottawattamie County Sheriff deputies, and Iowa State Patrol troopers pursued suspects vehicle. The chase reached speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour in the wrong direction on the interstate, until Edie, who was driving the vehicle, lost control of the it.

The SUV became airborne, left the interstate and crashed through a fence, before coming to rest in a field. Law enforcement personnel captured the men hiding in a ravine near the wrecked vehicle, and recovered the ATM, still containing the stolen money. Both suspects were on State of Iowa probation or parole at the time of the bank burglary.

The case against them was investigated by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department, and the Iowa State Patrol. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a Pottawattamie County Man was sentenced today (Wednesday) to a little more than five-years in prison for bank robbery. In addition to the 65 month sentence, Judge John Jarvey also ordered 45-year old William Martin Fiorito, Jr., to serve a three year term of supervised release following incarceration.  Fiorito, Jr. pled guilty on October 4th, 2012, robbing the Peoples National Bank located at 333 West Broadway in Council Bluffs, on October 11th, 2011. During the incident, the man produced a note demanding money and advised he had a firearm.

The teller at the time of the robbery observed what appeared to be the grips of a handgun protruding from the top of Fiorito’s waistband, and the teller provided money to him as demanded. Fiorito left the bank and entered a second Peoples National Bank located at 1600 West Broadway in Council Bluffs a few minutes later, where he again demanded money. His second attempt however failed.

The investigation into his activities was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The Iowa State Patrol report a Greenfield teen and her mother were injured during a two-vehicle collision Tuesday evening on the west side of Greenfield. Officials say an SUV driven by 14-year old Samantha College, of Greenfield, was traveling north on Lakeview Drive at around 6:30-p.m., when she stopped at the intersection with Highway 92. As she proceeded across the highway, the Chevy Blazer she was driving was hit by a 2013 Chevy Silverado pickup, driven by 76-year old Donald Shannon, of Greenfield. Following the collision, the SUV came to rest on the south shoulder of Highway 92, while the pickup came to rest in the north ditch.

Samantha College, and her passenger, 46-year old Debra College, were transported by the Adair Rescue to the Adair County Memorial Hospital in Greenfield. A report on their conditions is not available.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – School officials are crediting a Johnston Middle School student with stopping a Union County teen from selling a gun.  Johnston School District spokeswoman Laura Dillavou says the Johnston student reported 15-year old Dyrell Thorton, of Lorimor, after receiving text messages from him about selling a gun. Thorton, who attends East Union High School in Afton, was arrested Jan. 9 on weapons and other charges.

Police investigated the teen and discovered he used a school computer to send messages about a gun sale to a student at Lincoln High School in Des Moines. Afton Police Chief John Coulter says the middle school student thwarted the boy’s plans to sell the gun. Coulter says he previously thought Internet software had alerted officials to the messages, but that wasn’t true.

Police haven’t found the gun.