Tyson Foods says its Tyson Fresh Meats subsidiary in Council Bluffs will spend 27 million dollars to expand production at the plant to be able to make more of its beef and pork products and meal kits that it distributes to grocery stores. A company news release says the expansion will allow them to add 350 jobs to bring the total number of employees to 14-hundred. The company also operates a pepperoni plant in Council Bluffs and a bacon plant in Omaha, for a total of two-thousand employees in the Council Bluffs-Omaha area. Work on the expansion in Council Bluffs is already underway, and the company says it should be completed by July of 2017.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Memorial Hospital’s Board of Trustees will meet this afternoon to act on approving an offer of employment to the Board’s selection for Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The meeting begins at 2-p.m.

30 people applied for the position left vacant by the termination on June 7th of Todd Hudspeth. Former CEO Pat Markham (whom Hudspeth had succeeded following her retirement) is serving as the interim top officer for the Cass County Health System until the new CEO is in place. The field of 30 applicants was narrowed down to six finalists who went through four sets of interviews with 25 people in four individual groups representing Board Members, the Administrative Team, medical providers and Health Department directors.

Police in Council Bluffs are investigating the robbery of an elderly man in the parking lot of a casino. Officers were called to the Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs at around 5:23-p.m., Thursday.  The victim, 78 year old Gary McDonald, of Albion Nebraska, informed officers that an unknown black male began a conversation with him as he exited his vehicle, which was parked in the south lot of the Casino.

McDonald said he left his vehicle and walked towards the main entrance of the Casino. While walking, the suspect began accusing him of having relations with his girlfriend. The offender pushed McDonald down onto a grassy median, located south of the valet drive thru of the Casino. While on the ground, the suspect removed McDonald’s wallet from his pants pocket.

After witnesses were alerted by McDonald yelling for help, the suspect left McDonald on the ground and ran to the southeast taking his wallet. The man got into a maroon or red sedan, driven by an unknown female. The vehicle drove out of the Casino parking lot towards the interstate. The suspect’s identities are unknown and McDonald did not require medical assistance at the scene.

The male suspect was said to be in his 30’s, about 5-feet 9-inches to 6-feet 3-inches tall, with a muscular build. He was wearing a blue and white bandana on his head and a white “NYPD” t-shirt and blue jeans. The female driver was also black. Witnesses described the vehicle as a 2002 Ford Taurus with Nebraska plates, the first three letters on the license plate are possibly “CEG”.

The investigation is ongoing by the Criminal Investigation Division. Anyone with any information that was in the area at the time of this incident is encouraged to contact this Division at 712-328-4728 or they may call Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.