The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), Monday, issued a Press Release  urges all Iowans over 6 months of age to receive their yearly seasonal influenza vaccine. Surveillance by IDPH influenza sentinel sites and confirmatory testing by the State Hygienic Laboratory shows the flu is circulating in Iowa, and appears to be particularly spreading among children. IDPH Medical Director, Dr. Patricia Quinlisk says “Children are known as ‘super spreaders’ because they are often in close contact with others at schools or daycare, and when ill, can quickly spread the illness to others.”

Quinlisk says while the flu vaccine is the best defense against getting influenza, it’s also important to take personal actions to help prevent the spread of illness. Remember the 3Cs: Cover your coughs and sneezes; Clean your hands frequently; and Contain germs by staying home when ill. The flu is a respiratory illness caused by viruses. The flu comes on suddenly and symptoms may include fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, and body aches. Illness typically lasts two to seven days.

Influenza may cause severe illness or even death in people such as the very young or very old, or those who have underlying health conditions. Influenza is not a ‘reportable disease’ in Iowa, which means doctors are not required to notify IDPH each time a patient tests positive for influenza; however, IDPH conducts year-round influenza surveillance through the Iowa Influenza Surveillance Network. The surveillance indicates what types of influenza viruses are circulating and how widespread influenza illness is.

For more information about where and what kind of influenza is in Iowa, go to www.idph.state.ia.us/Cade/Influenza.aspx?pg=FluHome. Contact your health care provider or local health department to find out where the vaccine is available in your community or use the Flu Vaccine Finder at www.flu.gov.

Sheriff’s Officials in Montgomery County have identified the victim of Friday’s train-versus-pedestrian collision. Authorities are awaiting dental records and autopsy results to confirm the victim was 18-year old Jessica Lynn Randolph of Jackson, Missouri. According to Sheriff Joe Sampson, the young woman moved to Stanton in August, and was a senior at Red Oak High School.

Authorities have yet to  determine why she was standing on the railroad tracks just east of the Halland Avenue railroad crossing on the southern edge of Stanton, where she was struck by a Burlington Northern Railroad freight train at around 5:24-p.m., Friday.

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) – An Iowa man will face federal charges in a bank robbery, now that Nebraska is dropping its case.  The Sioux City Journal says 67-year-old Max Lafferty, of Sioux City, Iowa, was indicted last week in U.S. District Court in Omaha. Dakota County Attorney Kim Watson filed a motion Friday to dismiss the Nebraska case against Lafferty.

Lafferty is accused of robbing a Bank of the West branch in South Sioux City on Sept. 11. Police say he flashed a steak knife when he demanded cash from a bank worker and left the building with about $1,500. He was arrested about a block away. A Dakota County jailer said Monday that Lafferty has been turned over to federal marshals.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports southwest Iowa man was sentenced October 19th to more than two-years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt says in addition to the 26-month prison term, United States District Court Judge Ronald E. Longstaff also 35-year old Brandon Scott Sutton, of Tabor,to 3 years of supervised release. The Court also ordered Sutton to pay a $100.00 special assessment for the Crime Victim Fund, and, he must forfeit the firearm and ammunition found in his possession at the time of his arrest. Sutton
remains in the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation of the Federal Bureau of
Prisons facility at which he will serve his sentence.

Officials say on November 29th, 2011, Sutton was charged in a one-count Indictment with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Sutton entered his plea of guilty to the firearms charge on June 1st ,2012, in United States District Court in Council Bluffs. The charges arose from an incident on October 6th, 2011, at a truck stop on Interstate 80, near Underwood. Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call regarding threats of assaultive behavior and found Brandon Scott Sutton in possession of a 9 mm pistol and ammunition. Sutton had previously been convicted of various felony offenses, including an offense relating to assault on a police officer.

The case was investigated by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

(12:40-p.m. News)

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – Iowa drivers need be on the lookout for deer as the harvest thins the corn fields and the mating season begins.  Iowa ranks second among the states in the number of car-deer crashes.  Only West Virginia has more.  The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier says this is the time of year for drivers to be most watchful. State Farm, which tracks statistics on deer-related accidents, says November, October and December, in that order, are the most common months for deer accidents.  Tom Litchfield of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says corn crops make good cover for deer, and as the harvest progresses, the deer scatter.  Deer are on the move mostly at dawn and dusk, but Litchfield says it could be anytime during the mating season.