A former Marine unit has returned to Ho Chi Minh City for a ceremony tonight (Wednesday) honoring the last two Americans, including an Iowan, to die in the Vietnam War.

Darwin Judge

Darwin Judge, from Marshalltown, and fellow Marine Charles McMahon were killed by enemy fire 40 years ago today. A bronze and granite memorial will be dedicated on the grounds of the old U.S. Embassy. Douglas Potratz, who was part of the Embassy Guard unit with Judge and McMahon, is leading the delegation.

“If we memorialize the last two to die, put it in a plaque and put it in that compound where they worked at one time, I think it’s a fitting tribute for them and all the other servicemen who served in that country and died in that country,” Potratz said. Potratz is with the Fall of Saigon Marines Association. He calls Darwin Judge his “hero,” as Judge made sure Potratz’s wife and then-three-year-old daughter were safely boarded on a plane that shipped them out of Saigon.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with Hy-Vee, Incorporated, issued a recall Tuesday for Hy-Vee Summer Fresh Pasta Salad, which is sold in its stores’ kitchen department cold cases and salad bars. The Omaha World-Herald reports the recall was issued due to potential contamination with listeria monocytogenes. It came after Hy-Vee was notified that the frozen vegetables used to make the ready-to-eat pasta were potentially contaminated. Inventure Foods of Jefferson, Georgia, produced the frozen vegetables.

Listeria monocytogenes can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

The Summer Fresh Pasta Salad is packaged upon customer request from the kitchen cold case and would have been packaged in 16-ounce (1-pound) or 32-ounce (2-pound) clear plastic containers. A light tan scale-produced label with the product name, weight and price would have been affixed to the container.

The recalled product was available between April 9th and Monday, April 27th. Hy-Vee has since pulled the ready-to-eat Summer Fresh Pasta Salad from its distribution channels and the stores in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota to which it was distributed. All stores that received the product have been instructed to dispose of it.

To date, Hy-Vee has not received any complaints associated with the salad. Customers who purchased the recalled pasta salad from the Hy-Vee kitchen department cold case or salad bar between April 9th and April 27th should dispose of the product or return it to the store for a refund. For questions, call Hy-Vee Customer Care at 1-800-772-4098.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources late Tuesday evening updated our earlier report about a possible fertilizer spill near Red Oak. Authorities said they were investigating two reports of pollutant releases. Nachurs Alpine Solutions (Nachurs) reported a release of an unknown amount of fertilizer Tuesday afternoon. City officials closed a floodgate to prevent fertilizer from reaching the Nishnabotna River.

It is unknown whether the fertilizer reached the river. DNR staff is working with the facility and the Montgomery County Emergency Response. To be safe, Red Oak residents should keep children and pets away from the waterway behind the Nachurs
building.

The second report involves ammonia found near a culvert in Red Oak. The source of
the ammonia is unknown and still being investigated. The DNR will continue to monitor the river and clean up, as needed.

Photos courtesy Montgomery County EMA

Officials with the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency announced late Tuesday afternoon, that the City of Red Oak was notified of a possible hazardous materials spill from Nachurs Alpine Solutions, in Red Oak. It was determined that an unknown amount of mixed fertilizer had been released into a waterway behind the business and had traveled to the Nishnabotna River on the west side of Red Oak.

At this time there is no immediate health risk to the public, however there may be an environmental impact to fish downstream. Nachurs Alpine in Red Oak has taken the steps to contain the spill and are working with an outside source to clean up the remaining product that had been released.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Staffers in the Iowa Legislature are starting some of the tasks associated with adjourning the session, even though lawmakers are not close to concluding the budget process. Student pages in the Iowa Senate were organizing boxes in the chamber Tuesday for members to pack up desks. As per tradition, they also stacked the boxes up to the balcony until they collapsed.

Friday will mark the last day for lawmakers to receive daily expense payments, as well as the final day of work for many clerks and pages in the part-time Legislature. But lawmakers in the Democratic-majority Senate and Republican-controlled House have not reached a compromise deal on the state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1st.

Officials with Iowa State University’s Theatre Department report an ISU student from Walnut, Breanna Kixmiller, was recently awarded the $1,000 Frank E. Brandt Production Scholarship.

Breanna Kixmiller (photo submitted by ISU)

Breanna is a sophomore in Pre-Integrated Studio Arts and Performing Arts. She was scenic design assistant for this year’s spring musical, Les Misérables.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s office said Tuesday, it received many reports over the past several days about loud explosions or gun shots being fired. Authorities say the noises appeared to have originated in the northwest part of Guthrie Center. Late Monday night, officers were able to pin point and identify the source of the explosions.

Guthrie Center Police Chief Rod Pavelka, says Rose Acre Farms is using a device intended to keep the migratory birds away from their water treatment lagoons due to the Avian Flu spreading closer to the County. This device uses propane and fires off a burst, which is essentially a small explosion. The location of the device is high enough on the hills behind Rose Acres that the sound travels easily into town and echoes off of our many metal buildings.

Pavelka says the device will primarily be used during dawn and dusk periods  during the day. These explosions pose no danger to our citizens, but are a minor irritation from the noise. The explosions are fairly random, but are harmless.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports deputies arrested 41-year old Lisa Jennifer Holtz , of Westboro, Mo., Monday, at the Page County Courthouse. Holtz was taken into custody on a Page County Warrant for charges of unauthorized use of a Credit Card, and Theft in the 4th Degree. Holtz was unable to post the $2000.00 bond and is currently being held in the Page County Jail.

Also on Monday, an arrest warrant was issued for 59-year old William Alfred Hale Jr., of Shenandoah. The warrant, issued by the Page County District Court, charges Hale with Forgery, Identity theft under $1000.00, and Theft 4th Degree. Hale had failed to appear for sentencing in the District court on April 27th and was arrested at 809 Vista in Shenandoah that same day. He was transported to the Fremont County courthouse for sentencing in the District Court. Hale was sentenced to two 5-year prison sentences to run concurrently, and ordered to be transported to the Oakdale Medical Classification Center for intake into the Iowa Prison System.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Two former egg industry executives are appealing the three-month jail sentences a judge has ordered for their roles in a 2010 food poisoning outbreak. The appeals filed Monday by Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son, Peter DeCoster, had been expected.

U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett ordered the jail time earlier this month, citing a “litany of shameful conduct” that happened at their large Iowa egg production company. But Bennett allowed them to stay free while they appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Federal investigators traced the 2010 salmonella outbreak to eggs that came from the DeCosters’ company, Quality Egg. Thousands of people were sickened and more than 500 million eggs were voluntarily recalled. The DeCosters’ attorneys argue that jail time is unconstitutional for the crime.