(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.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office released details on the arrest of three individuals following a traffic stop on Monday, April 4th. The traffic stop was conducted at 8:41 a.m. in the 1400 block of N 7th Street in Red Oak.

Deputies arrested 28-year-old Cody James Copeland of Graham, MO for Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Deliver, Possession of Marijuana 3rd or subsequent Offense, and Driving Under Suspension. He was held on $100,000 bond.

Also arrested was 25-year-old Dejonh Eugene Malik Delarge-Kimble of Olathe, KS for Possession of Methamphetamine 3rd or subsequent offense, Possession of Marijuana 3rd or subsequent offense. he was held on $7,000 bond.

20-year-old Carter Allen Christensen of Maryville, MO was also arrested during the stop for Possession of Marijuana. He was held on $1,000 bond.

Sheriff’s Deputies seized a sizeable amount of methamphetamine and some US currency during the stop. The Sherrif’s Office was assisted by the Red Oak Police Department.

(Radio Iowa) – President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Iowa early next week. Officials from the White House told The Des Moines Register Biden will be in Des Moines on Tuesday, but details about when and where were not released. Biden’s last trip to Iowa was in the fall of 2020, for a pre-election rally at the state fairgrounds.

The Iowa Democratic Party’s chairman says he’s eager for Iowans to hire directly from the president next week about projects around the state that are financed by the infrastructure bill Biden approved last year. The Iowa Republican Party’s chairman says Biden is pursuing big government policies that are reckless.

(Radio Iowa) – A Republican lawmaker who is not seeking re-election is urging colleagues who’ll return next year to make another try at passing a “Second Chances” bill. It would establish a list of guidelines for when Iowa governors have the power to release inmates who’ve been sentenced to life in prison. “The ‘Good Book’ teaches that government needs both justice and mercy,” Representative Terry Baxter, a Republican from Garner, said during a retirement speech in the House this week. “Iowa needs a comprehensive pathway to commute just a handful of (sentences for) those who’ve made a big difference in their life and done significant things to change.”

Iowa governors have the general authority to commute, or shorten, life sentences, but rarely do. Baxter, who is an ordained minister, considers the “Second Chances” bill a piece of unfinished business as he ends his eight year career in the Iowa House. “I’ve had the opportunity of going into our prisons and spending time with some men and women who have been behind bars for 40, 50 or more years,” Baxter said. “Some of them made some very tragic decisions when they were intoxicated, stoned or themselves victims of some kind of abuse or dysfunction and they are radically different people today and I’ll just ask the question: How many of you are the same person today that you were 40 years ago?”

In 2010, Baxter co-founded a non-profit group called GoServ Global that provides aid to disaster stricken areas — with missions underway today in central America and Africa. Baxter said he’s retiring from the legislature to devote the majority of his time to the group.

(Radio Iowa) – The chairman of the Mills County Board of Supervisors says the decision to close the state-run facility in Glenwood that provides residential care for Iowans with intellectual and development disabilities is devastating. Mills County Supervisor Richard Crouch is also president of the Glenwood Resource Center’s parental and family support group. His son was a resident at Glenwood until his death in January. “I’ve had some parents calling me asking what’s going to take place, where’s my child going and so on,” Crouch says.

The governor announced late yesterday (Thursday) that the Glenwood Resource Center will close by 2024. Some residents will be transferred to a similar state facility in Woodward, but most will be placed in privately-run facilities, with the state covering the cost of care. Staff at the Glenwood Resource Center will be offered retention bonuses to keep working during the transition. Crouch says he’s concerned about job prospects for those workers — and the impact the closure will have on the local economy. “There’s quite a few workers up there yet and, yes, I know it’s going to take two years, they say, for it to close, but it’s still going to have an effect on the whole of southwest Iowa,” Crouch says.

It will be tough for the community to absorb the loss of a major employer, according to Crouch, who suspects many employees will move. “There are 300-400 people that work there,” Crouch says. “…You know, there’s not many facilities like this or paying jobs like this in southwest Iowa.” Glenwood is in the state senate district of Mark Costello, a Republican from Imogene. Costello is also the chairman of the senate panel that drafts the budget for the Iowa Department of Human Services — the state agency that oversees the Glenwood Resource Center. “It’s really something I could see coming for a while, but it’s still — when I heard the news that we had made that final decision — it’s really discouraging, you know, because we tried so hard to find a way to keep it going,” Costello says, “and we really couldn’t see a way forward.”

Costello says moving will be difficult for some residents. “Transition is never easy, even when it’s good,” Costello says. “And it’s a little bit harder, even, for intellectually disabled people than for the average person.”

The U.S. Justice Department has been investigating operations at the Glenwood Resource Center over allegations that residents were not being provided adequate care. Federal officials say the state will be able to spend less — and provide better care — if residents are moved out of Glenwood’s institutional setting and into community-based care.