JEFFERSON, Iowa (AP) — The Greene County Medical Center in Jefferson is getting $20 million in federal government loans to help expand and renovate the 75-year-old hospital. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s community facilities program is offering an $18 million direct loan and a $2 million guaranteed loan for the project. The hospital is the area’s largest employer with over 250 workers on staff. It has a payroll of more than $9 million. Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager announced the grant on Monday during a visit to the area. He says it’s part of the Obama administration’s effort to advance technology in rural health care. The USDA administers and manages housing, business and community infrastructure and facility programs through a national network of state and local rural development offices.

MANCHESTER, Iowa (AP) — The Delaware County attorney says a Manchester couple found dead in their home on Mother’s Day were shot to death. The couple’s grandson, 17-year-old Isaiah Sweet, is charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree murder. He remains jailed on a $1 million bond.

TOLEDO, Iowa (AP) — A Tama volunteer firefighter has been arrested for allegedly setting a series of fires in the area. Eighteen-year-old Justin Anderson was charged on Monday with seven counts of arson. The Tama County sheriff’s office says he’s accused of setting fire to at least seven different rural properties, including two vacant homes and a barn, from March to May. Sheriff Dennis Kucera says Anderson is the son of Tama Fire Chief Ron Anderson.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Soy Energy officials believe an explosion at the company’s biodiesel plant in Mason City originated in a tank inside a restricted area. No one was injured in the blast that happened Tuesday evening. Jeff Oestmann, CEO and general manager of Soy Energy, says the investigation is ongoing. He says authorities are focusing on the tank, which had only minimal damage.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Lawyers representing a disgraced egg industry titan, his son and one of their company’s officers say their clients are potential targets of a criminal investigation into the 2010 salmonella outbreak that sickened thousands of Americans. In recent documents filed in a civil case in California, lawyers for Jack and Peter DeCoster and Quality Egg Chief Financial Officer Patsy Larson say a federal grand jury has been meeting to determine whether fraud or other crimes were committed in the production and testing of eggs in Iowa. Larson’s attorney says his client has been subpoenaed to testify next week.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Lawyers representing black job applicants turned down for positions with Iowa’s executive branch are appealing a ruling that dismissed their class-action lawsuit. Attorney Thomas Newkirk announced yesterday that he had filed a notice of appeal, and would ask the Iowa Supreme Court to reinstate the lawsuit. The high court could hear the case, or send it to the Court of Appeals.

STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) — A 43-year-old woman has been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for stealing money from the northwest Iowa city of Storm Lake. Lee Martin was sentenced Monday for felony theft. A second felony charge was dropped as part of Martin’s plea deal with prosecutors.

SIBLEY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are still trying to round up some wayward buffalo that escaped from a ranch in northwest Iowa. About 200 buffalo broke out of their pen at the Frick and Joe Buffalo Ranch in Sibley on Sunday. The animals have since been spotted in five counties Lyon, Osceola, Sioux and O’Brien counties in Iowa and Nobles County in Minnesota. No injuries have been reported, but motorists are asked to be careful while driving through the area.