(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop early this morning at 200th Street and Boxelder Avenue in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of a woman on drug charges.  According to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the traffic stop happened at around 3:18 a.m. During an investigation that followed, Deputies arrested 39-year old Elysia Tylene White, of Red Oak, for possession of Marijuana 1^st Offense, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Interference with Official Acts.

White was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Marshalltown, Iowa) — The family of a Marshalltown man, who worked in the town’s JBS plant, says the company disregarded workers’ safety when it came to COVID-19, which led to the death of Jose Andrade-Garcia.

Andrade-Garcia, who worked at the meatpacking plant for 21 years, according to the lawsuit, died of COVID-19 on May 15, 2020, after getting rushed to the hospital on April 17 for severe difficulty breathing. KCCI reports, according to the lawsuit, the man went to work, even though he felt sick, and worked until April 13. He was afraid he would be fired if he didn’t show up to work due to the company’s “point system” for attendance, the suit states. If an employee received enough points they would be fired for not showing up, according to the filing.

The company had a steak lunch, to thank employees for their work. According to the lawsuit, despite the Governor’s order at the time that public gatherings be limited to no more than 10 people, “… hundreds of Defendants’ workers were crammed inside the Marshalltown plant cafeteria” with inadequate safety precautions, such as social distancing and limited quantities of people, and provided no protective equipment such as masks or barriers.”

The suit also alleges that workers endured similar conditions while working inside the plant. The Andrade-Garcia family seeks punitive damages and compensation for his loss. It accuses the company of fraudulent misrepresentation, such as the spread of COVID-19 in the Marshalltown plant, sufficient safety measures implemented inside and sufficient safety equipment. It also accuses the company of gross negligence because it owed a duty to Andrade-Garcia to not create intentional or reckless policies to cause injury.

A JBS spokesperson says the company does not comment on pending litigation, lawyers for the company have not filed a response to the initial motion. Tyson faces two separate suits from families of four Waterloo employees who died from the virus in 2020. The company has filed a motion to dismiss both cases, but the court has not rule on those motions. Both cases are set to go to trial in 2024.

(Red Oak, Iowa) –A traffic stop late Friday night in Red Oak, resulted in an arrest. According to Red Oak Police, 21-year-old Ayden Michael Rossell, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 11-p.m., for driving while barred. Rossell was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $2,000 bond.