Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

A new partnership involving farm groups, veterinarians, animal welfare groups and Iowa State University has formed to field complaints about animal care in Iowa. Denny Harding is executive director of the new Iowa Farm Animal Care Coalition. “We do have times where there are some concerns that area raised by the general public about how farmers raise their animals,” Harding says. “We wanted to answer some of those questions and also offer a service where people can call in if they do have a concern they’d like to pass on regarding a specific farm, so they would have someone to go to, so we can follow up with that concern and see what the situation is.”

Harding, a farmer who used to raise livestock, admits he may have to a bit of an arbitrator sometimes, but he expects he’ll mostly be an educator. “If there is a need for some type of help…we would have a team at Iowa State that would be called that would go visit with that farmer,” Harding says. This new Iowa organization is based on a group that’s been operating in Alberta, Canada for about 20 years.

“Ninety-nine percent of what’s going on in the livestock industry is very positive and we feel that the farmers are doing a great job,” Harding says. “Every once in a while there might be something that needs some examination and we think this is a way to have some input and education and management at the farm level and improve the care of the animals.” The group kicked off their effort this morning (Thursday) with a news conference in Des Moines. Find the Iowa Farm Animal Care Coalition’s website at www.iowafarmanimalcare.org, or call, 1-800-252-0577 for more information.

(Radio Iowa)

The Mills County Sheriff’s Department Thursday (Today) issued a report on recent arrests, incidents and accidents. Officials say 45-year old Andrew Peter Smith, of Omaha, was arrested Wednesday, on a charge of OWI/1st offense. Smith was taken into custody on Interstate 29 near the 42-mile marker, at around 1:20-a.m. His bond was set at $1,000.

On Tuesday, Mills County deputies arrested 40-year old Michael Scott Jones, of Hastings, on a charge of Public Intoxication, and, 41-year old Kenneth Benjamin McDonald, of Glenwood, for Violating the terms of his probation. McDonald was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail Tuesday night, and held on $10,000 bond. Jones was arrested just before 8-p.m. Tuesday in Hastings. His bond was set at $300.

Authorities in Mills County said also, they were investigating two burglaries.  A burglary was reported by a Glenwood resident, whose property was located along Garfield Lane. And a burglary and theft was reported to have occurred at a property along 190th Street. The report was submitted by a person in Pacific Junction.

There were also two accidents in Mills County. Both happened Wednesday morning, and were attributed to frosty or slick roads. One of the accidents happened on 221st Street, at around 7:15-a.m., Wednesday, when a 2002 Ford driven by Kari Dykstra, of Glenwood, went out of control after hitting an icy spot on the road, about 8-miles northwest of Glenwood. The vehicle spun off the road and hit a power pole. Dykstra was transported to Mercy Hospital, by Glenwood Rescue.

The other accident also happened on 221st Street, about one-mile northwest of Glenwood, just after 8-a.m. Wednesday. Sheriff’s officials say a 1998 Ford driven by Sharon Sullivan, of Glenwood, was traveling south on 221st when her vehicle went out of control and hit an embankment. No injuries were reported.

Iowa’s number of flu cases is now considered widespread, and officials say the seasonal outbreak could get even worse now that children are back in school. Shelby County Public Health nurse Rachel Birks said that there have been many cases of flu seen by Myrtue Medical Center providers in December and so far in January.  There have been at least two cases that needed hospitalization—a small child and an elderly person.

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) says at least 151 people were hospitalized state-wide for flu complications in Iowa during the last week of December.  IDPH Medical Director Patricia Quinlisk said that she doubts the surge of illnesses will slow down soon. Dr. Quinlisk has said “We have “all the hallmarks of a relatively bad and prolonged flu season.”   .

Experts say the viruses are affecting more people than usual across much of the nation.  Government health experts say 18 children have died from complications of the flu, and 2,257 people were hospitalized with flu symptoms through the end of December. No child deaths have been reported in Iowa, though the state has had deaths of children in previous years.

Birks urges nearly everyone to get a vaccination now, if they have not gotten one already last fall.  The vaccine (shot or nasal mist) is recommended for everyone 6 months and older every year.   Call Myrtue Medical Center at 755-5130 or the Public Health Department at 755-4422 to make an appointment for your immunization.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Cass County Conservation Department Director Micah Lee provided the Board of Supervisors with a quarterly report on his department’s activities, during the Supervisor’s meeting Wednesday morning, in Atlantic. Lee said he’s checking prices and trying to obtain additional information, with regard to the installation of a pit-style toilet facility at the Outdoor Classroom site southeast of Massena. If they don’t prove to be too costly, the latrine would be similar to what can be found at Lake Anita.

Lee reported also County Environmental Education/Naturalist Lora Kanning saw 2,152 people last quarter, and worked to acquire a Resource Enhancement and Protection-Conservation Education Program (or, REAP/CEP) grant from the Iowa Department of Education. The $6,000 grant will allow the conservation department to purchase bird watching equipment, such as spotting scopes and binoculars, for the Outdoor Classroom. There will also be another “Trunk” with trail and tracking information added to the classroom building for students and teachers to look at the utilize.

Lee said progress has been made also on signage used to identify the southernmost trailhead for the T-Bone Trail in Cass County. He said new ID signs have been installed along Olive Street to point people in the direction of the south trail head location along Dunbar Road. Additional signs are being ordered to further mark the parking site for the south trail head, which is kind of obscured by brush and trees.

And, Micah says they’re working with the Iowa DNR to provide another campground entrance for Cold Springs State Park near Lewis, to alleviate congestion with campers trying to maneuver in the area. The entrance would be from the south, off of Park Road. He says there wouldn’t be any major changes to the park to accommodate the entrance, other than modifying an old gate.

w/ Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa has reached an agreement with a New York City-based online music retailer to refund a total of $40,000 in subscription fees to people who most likely didn’t know they’d enrolled.  The Des Moines Register reports that eMusic agreed to make its enrollment procedures more transparent and will pay the state $3,000 for consumer fraud enforcement

Attorney General Tom Miller says in a news release that some Iowans had been paying monthly fees for several years, including one person whose fees amounted to $1,600.  The agreement doesn’t indicate exactly how eMusic customers may have inadvertently signed up for the service.