DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Health officials say four cases of respiratory illness have been confirmed in four young Iowans with a history of vaping.

The Iowa Department of Public Health said in a news release Thursday that several other states have recently reported cases of severe respiratory illness among teenagers and young adults who’d been vaping. Their symptoms include cough, fatigue, dizziness, headache, vomiting and diarrhea, chest pain and worsening difficulty breathing. The cases are still being investigated.

The department director, Dr. Caitlin Pedati, is asking health care providers to watch for cases of severe respiratory illness among teenagers and young adults and to inquire about their recent vaping and e-cigarette use. The providers also are asked to report any cases to the Iowa Public Health Department.

Work is expected to begin soon on a section of Olive Street on the north side of Atlantic. The construction is a resurfacing project of about a six mile stretch of Olive Street from the Atlantic city limits to the Audubon County line.

A pilot car will be in place to control traffic on the roadway as the road is milled down and re-surfaced with asphalt. The roadway will also be widened by two feet on each side.

Once started the project has a 35 working day timeline and is expected to be completed by mid to late September.

w/ Chris Parks

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A day after Griswold School Officials celebrated a new addition, the Red Oak School District hosted a ribbon-cutting for their new school facilities upgrade on Thursday.

The project is a $29 million new school facilities upgrade that started after $19.9 million in obligation bonds was approved by district patrons in 2017. Construction started at the end of the 2017-18 school year and adjustments were made to hold activities around the work last year. Red Oak students will get to use the new facility today.

The complete plan closed the middle school building and converted the Washington Elementary building to house early elementary. The Inman building houses first through sixth grade students. The new high school campus will house 7th through 12th grade students.

CLOVERDALE, Ind. (AP) — The owner of a western Indiana ethanol plant is blaming its shut down on the Trump administration allowing some refineries to not blend ethanol with gasoline as required under federal law.

South Dakota-based ethanol producer Poet says it will cease production by mid-October at its Cloverdale plant, one of four it operates in Indiana. A company notification says 50 workers will lose jobs from the closure.

The company says production is being cut at half of its 28 plants where corn is processed into ethanol. Poet says it’s consolidating jobs at plants in Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, South Dakota and Missouri.

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued gasoline refinery exemptions removing 2.6 billion gallons (9.8 billion liters) of ethanol from production.

Poet calls those exemptions “bailouts to oil companies.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The amount of water being released into the lower Missouri River will remain high at least into September.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday that water releases from Gavins Point Dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border will remain at current levels of 70,000 cubic feet per second.

The Corps says it is still clearing out floodwater that accumulated in the reservoirs during the spring.

The large amount of water flowing into the river may exacerbate flooding in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri because many levees are still damaged from spring flooding.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports one arrest on Wednesday. At 7:19pm Deputies arrested 29-year-old Dustin Read McComas of Council Bluffs for Driving Under Suspension. He was taken to the Mills County Jail and held on $300 bond.

NEW PROVIDENCE, Iowa – An upcoming movie about Iowa’s six-on-six girls basketball could be the big break for anyone hoping to break into show business, particularly high school female basketball players, parents and fans of the game.

Open casting calls are set for this Saturday in Des Moines and next Saturday in Iowa Falls, with producers emphasizing that acting experience and preparation are not needed. The first casting call will be held Saturday at the Des Moines Playhouse lower level, 831 42^nd St., from 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. The second casting call will be Saturday, Aug. 31 at the Iowa Falls Chamber of Commerce, 520 Rockslyvania Ave, Iowa Falls from 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

The movie, “New Providence,” will depict the final season of Iowa’s six-on-six basketball. It’s the story of Jimmy Voss, an often-controversial New York sportswriter sent to a small town in Iowa to cover the final season of the state’s iconic six-on-six high school girls basketball in 1993. What he encounters is a passion for the sport by the coach and team and an undying love for the small town. When he allows himself to enter into their world, Voss discovers that being sent to New Providence, Iowa may have been the best day of his life.

The screenplay’s author, Jack Smith, moved to New Providence himself in 1993 to run a business and quickly became a student of the unique game. Fearless Cinema, LLC is developing the script and producing the film.

“Being a basketball and history junkie, I soon learned that in Iowa, girls six-on-six basketball was what high school football is to Texas and boy’s high school basketball is to Indiana,” said Smith, who interviewed players, coaches and fans, poured over articles about the sport and watched hours of game video as he wrote his work. “Six-on-six basketball was very special and a small town’s status and spirit was often based on how far its girls’ team advanced in the state tournament.”

DONNELLSON, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa day care worker has been arrested and charged with child endangerment in the December death of a child in her care.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety says in a news release that Laura McDowell was charged Thursday with the felony. Investigators say McDowell was the site supervisor and lead teacher at Raisin Em Up Daycare in Donnellson. Medics were called to the child care center on Dec. 3 for an unresponsive child. Police say the child was taken a nearby hospital, and later to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

On Dec. 11, the child was taken of life support and pronounced dead.

No details about what caused the child’s death or what led to McDowell’s arrest were released.

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (AP) — A southeastern Iowa high school teacher has been arrested and charged with sexually exploiting a student at his school.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety says in a news release that 33-year-old Eusebio Jimenez Jr. was charged Thursday with sexual exploitation by a school employee. Jimenez is a Spanish language teacher in the Columbus Community High School. Superintendent Gary Benda says Jimenez has been suspended pending the outcome of his criminal case.

Jimenez was booked into the Louisa County Jail; a person who answered the phone at the jail Thursday afternoon said Jimenez was in the process of being released on $5,000 cash bond. It was not clear whether Jimenez had an attorney.

Investigators say an underage student reported in November that he had been sexually exploited by Jimenez.