IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa egg producers blamed for a 2010 salmonella outbreak have settled a lawsuit brought by a California cooperative that lost profits as a result of the product recalls. Quality Egg and Hillandale Farms reached the settlement last week with NuCal Foods, Inc., to end three years of litigation in federal court in California. Financial terms weren’t released.

Quality Egg was owned by Jack DeCoster, who had a history of food safety, labor and environmental violations. Hillandale Farms received chickens and feed from DeCoster’s operations. The companies issued recalls covering 550 million eggs in 2010. Thousands of customers were sickened by the outbreak.

NuCal contended the companies were aware their farms and chickens were contaminated with salmonella but kept selling tainted eggs anyway. Its attorney declined comment on the settlement.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A butter sculpture of President Abraham Lincoln will share the dairy-centric spotlight this year with the world-famous butter cow at the Iowa State Fair. Organizers announced Monday that a sculpture of Lincoln, along with a replica of the Lincoln Highway Bridge in central Iowa, will be on display in a 40-degree cooler when the fair opens in August.

It will take sculptor Sarah Pratt three weeks and 1,000 pounds of regular salted butter to create the pieces. She says she’s unsure how she’ll depict Lincoln. The companion sculptures, which change every year, are marking anniversaries. It’s been 150 years since Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address. The historic Lincoln Highway, which stretches from New York to San Francisco, is 100 years old.

The fair runs Aug. 8 to Aug. 18.

The Iowa Department of Public Health, CDC and local public health agencies are investigating an outbreak of an intestinal illness caused by Cyclospora (a rare parasite). As of today, July 15th, 71 cases of Cyclospora infections have been reported to IDPH; almost all have been identified through testing at the State Hygienic Lab (SHL). Linn County in eastern Iowa continues to lead the state with 27 cases. Polk County has four and 17 other counties have at least one.  Three people have been hospitalized.

In western Iowa, there have been 3 confirmed cases in Dallas County, 2 in Mills County, and 1 case each in Monona, Pottawattamie and Woodbury Counties.  The numbers remain  unchanged from Friday with regard to those counties.

The illness is most commonly contracted by eating food or drinking water contaminated with human feces containing the cyclospora parasite. Iowa typically has just one or two cases a year, usually travelers. Officials believe fresh vegetables may be the culprit, but the investigation continues.

Consumers should wash fruits and vegetables to reduce the risk of the illness, which causes diarrhea that lasts an average of 57 days.

A public hearing with regard to making Sunnyside Park in Atlantic entirely smoke free, will take place Monday evening, at City Hall. The meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board and public hearing follows on the heels of a proposal June 17th by Karla Akers and a group of young people who are associated with the Kiwanis’-sponsored, Middle School Builders Club.Akers said originally, the tobacco-free zone request focused on the skate park area at Sunnyside Park, but the hope is to eventually make all parks in Cass County being tobacco free, to make them “A family friendly, safe, positive environment for healthy activity.”

To that end, Akers presented the Parks and Rec Board with a signed petition requesting Sunnyside Park be designated as Tobacco Free. If approved by the Parks and Rec Board and, by the City Council at a future meeting, violators will be asked to stop using tobacco products on Park property, or leave the property. If they fail to do so, a trespassing complaint may be filed with law enforcement.

In other business, the Parks and Rec Board will receive a monthly update from Director Roger Herring, with regard to the Schildberg Recreation Area, Sunny Park Tennis Court reconstruction, the boat ramp, Summer Rec programs, the Buck Creek Dog Park, and Park Maintenance building. The meeting in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall, begins at 5:15-p.m., Monday.

The public is invited to attend a free, “Movie in the Park,” later this month, here in Cass County. The movie “John Brown’s Holy War” will be shown at the Hitchcock Recreation Area, beginning at 9-p.m., Saturday, July 20th. It’s sponsored by the Cass County Conservation Board, and gives viewers a chance to learn about the historical figure’s involvement in the Civil War movement.

Persons planning on attending the movie should bring their lawn chairs or a blanket, to enjoy the movie under the stars. If it’s raining that night, the movie will be shown inside the barn. For more information, call Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning, at 712-769-2372.

It was a night of honor and royalty at the 2013 Shelby County Fair on Thursday evening. During the 2013 Queen Ceremony, Chandler Mores was awarded the 2013 Shelby County Fair Queen. Mores is a member of the Center Comers 4-H group. Mores will move on to the Iowa State Fair Queen competition in August and represent Shelby County. First Runner-Up Princess was awarded to Courtney Buman, while Chantel Schmidt and Shiloh Carroll tied for 2nd place.

In other news from the Shelby County Fair, Al Wilwerding, Leona Graves and Mark and Phyllis Lytle were inducted by the Shelby County Fair Board into the Hall of Fame. Graves was on the state committee for Farm Bureau and had six children pass through the Shelby County Fair. Mark and Phyllis Lytle both work closely with the Shelby County Fair Board. Al Wilwerding called it a big surprise being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He said he continues to work hard at the fair as in year’s past he works the PA systems and gets all the security lights working in the other buildings.

The Shelby County Fair began Sunday and concludes Monday evening, with the 4-H & FFA Livestock Auction. For more information, go to www.shelbycountyfair.org.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has slightly lowered its estimate of the corn crop, reflecting late planting in the Corn Belt caused by a wet spring.    Farmers are now expected to harvest 13.95 billion bushels, 55 million fewer bushels than predicted in June. That still beats the 2009 record by about 858 million bushels.

The supply of corn is likely to shrink this summer because of last year’s small, drought-affected harvest of 11 billion bushels and this year’s delayed planting, so prices will likely remain high.  That’s good for farmers selling grain, but will increase the cost of corn-based feed for livestock producers raising cattle, chickens and pigs. Food prices aren’t likely to be affected much by the change.

Chris Parks provides the latest info from the Atlantic Animal Shelter.

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