OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – More than a dozen Nebraska and Council Bluffs grocery stores have eliminated tainted beef from suppliers that used products from an Omaha meat-processing facility. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t listed any E. coli outbreaks in Nebraska or Iowa this week. The newspaper says local health departments weren’t available for comment Wednesday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a nationwide recall last week for more than 167,000 pounds of All American Meats Inc. ground beef products for possible E. coli contamination. The bacteria can cause death or illness. More than 100 retailers in about 20 states were on a USDA-issued list of locations that might have tainted meat on their shelves.

Damage assessment is underway in communities across much of Iowa after Wednesday’s severe weather. There are multiple reports of tornadoes, mostly in southwest and central Iowa, as well as wind damage reports from Council Bluffs to Davenport. In Adams County, Donnie Willett is the Emergency Management Coordinator. He says they may have had a twister touch down near Corning.

“We had three buildings at our industrial site that sustained roof damage and sidewall damage from the downburst or tornado or whatever it was.” Workers were evacuated from the P-P-I or Precision Pulley and Idler factory in Corning. No injuries were reported. Willett says the powerful winds made for a rough afternoon for at least one truck driver.

“We had a semi blow over on Highway 34 at the Redwood Avenue intersection,” Willett says. “There were no injuries involved.”  The Weather Service says power poles were knocked down in Red Oak at around 1:45-p.m., Wednesday.

In Ringgold County, where winds whipped up to 80-mph, power lines were downed in a rural area south of Delphos, and a machine shed was destroyed by a possible tornado east of Delphos. A barn was also destroyed southeast of Diagonal and part of a machine shed was damaged west/northwest of Mount Ayr. The weather service says also, a barn lost its roof one mile north of Bridgewater at around 2:15-p.m.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN News)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The National Weather Service says severe thunderstorms may have created tornadoes in Iowa and Nebraska on Wednesday. Rich Thompson, lead forecaster at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma says the reports of twisters spotted yesterday could not be verified until survey teams were sent to the affected areas.

ATLANTIC, Iowa (AP) —Speaking in Tuesday night’s debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Florida Senator Marco Rubio cast the election as a “generational choice,” implicitly contrasting his youth with the political dynasties of older competitors — former Governor Jeb Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton. On Wednesday, Rubio appealed to evangelical voters in a speech at a crowded restaurant gathering in Davenport, Iowa.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Donald Trump says watching his Republican rivals drop out of the GOP presidential race is a “beautiful thing.” Speaking to a breakfast audience in New Hampshire yesterday, Trump said he expects more presidential contenders to start dropping out as they fail to rise in the polls. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker dropped out this fall.

KINGSTON, N.H. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is framing himself as the political heir to Donald Trump should the billionaire businessman fail in his effort to win the party’s nomination, saying Trump’s supporters should come to his campaign. The Texas senator spoke to supporters Wednesday night during a town hall meeting in New Hampshire a day after the latest Republican debate.

Officials with the Cass County Health System say the Main Entrance area to the hospital and clinics will be under repair beginning Thursday, November 12th, as crews work to remove and replace the concrete in the driveway. The Main Entrance doors will remain open but the construction will block the covered patient drop-off area.

Vehicles will be routed through Parking Lot A and a temporary drop-off zone will be marked with orange cones just east of the main entrance. Drivers and pedestrians are urged to exercise caution as they share the parking lot for a few days. Work should be completed within a week, depending on weather conditions.

Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert said Wednesday, crews were out assessing damage from an apparent tornado crossed over from Pottawattamie into Shelby County, Wednesday afternoon. His preliminary report indicated the damage was minimal, and no injuries had been reported.

Photo provided by Shelby County EMA

Seivert said some downed power lines were observed at 400th and M-16, and on Juniper Road. Damage to an outbuilding and trees at one rural location, was additionally being investigated. As was the case in Pottawattamie County, Emergency Management personnel called for spotters to be placed into position prior to the storms moving into the area. Just before 2-p.m., the National Weather service issued a Tornado Warning for Shelby County, with reports of a funnel cloud crossing the interstate and strong rotation indicated by radar.

Spotters were placed countywide, and sirens activated for the cities, of Tennant and Harlan. At 2:08-p.m. Seivert says a wind gust at the Harlan airport was clocked at 76 mph and heavy rain was occurring. An Emergency Management spotter reported a tornado on the ground with debris at about the same time. The tornado warning was cancelled at 2:12-p.m. Seivert said “This was a very unusual event for November.”

The National Weather Service in Valley, NE., confirmed,Wednesday an EF-1 Tornado struck about two-miles south and west of Avoca Wednesday afternoon, sometime around 2-p.m. The twister, which was seen on various pictures captured by motorists and residents, had a path about four-miles long, and packed winds of up to 110-miles per hour.

The tornado dissipated about four-miles north of Avoca. It’s strength was based on preliminary information compiled during a damage assessment. Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Coordinator Doug Reed told KJAN News Wednesday evening, that the tornado was primarily in the rural areas, where it took out at least one corn crib, which was blown across a neighboring field, and a power pole.

Reed said the twister next hit an eastbound semi, blowing it across the interstate to the west side and into the ditch. The driver was not injured. It continued north across York Road, and caused the road to be blocked with downed trees and power lines. The twister then entered Shelby County, where it caused some damage to rural outbuildings and grain bins. No injuries were reported.

Reed said “Even though it’s November, we just kind of went through our regular protocol with the severe weather threat today (Wednesday), and had storm spotters and people from the fire/rescue departments already out when the [National] Weather Service told us that things were ramping-up a little bit for areas of our county. [It was] A quick response, organized response by all, and kinda worked out well, and we’re glad it was isolated to kind of rural areas, with minor damage.”

A truck driver from Florida escaped injury after the semi he was driving toppled over on Interstate 80 due to high winds. The Iowa State Patrol reports 30-year old Alexandru Coclenci, of Orlando, Fl., was traveling on I-80 eastbound two-miles west of the Avoca exit just before 2-p.m., when a severe weather event…possibly a tornado..blew the 2010 Kenworth semi across the interstate. The rig came to rest in the westbound ditch.

The Iowa State Patrol was assisted at the scene by Avoca Fire and Rescue, and deputies with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush brought his presidential campaign to Atlantic on Wednesday.  Speaking before a large crowd and national media gathering at the Atlantic Bottling Company, Bush addressed the crowd and took questions just a day after the most recent debate in Milwaukee.  Bush was asked how he plans to accomplish reforms as president.

He says the best way to get things accomplished is to appoint men and women with talent and life experience and have their back.  He was also asked about the Renewable Fuel Standards and the future of Iowa agriculture.  Bush said he would depend on certain things…including the price of corn and soybeans, changing the regulatory system…including the Waters of the United States rules, and embracing free and fair trade.  But he is not a fan of farm subsidies.

Bush also addressed questions on social security reform, VA hospitals and immigration.

Intense thunderstorm winds caused a semi to be blown over off Interstate 80 in Cass County and near Avoca in Pottawattamie County, this (Wednesday) afternoon. The accident in Cass County happened just before 2-p.m. The other accident happened at about the same time just west of Avoca. Early reports indicated the injuries appeared to have been minor. A semi was also blown over in Adams County on Highway 34 at around 2:15-p.m.

Semi blown over in Cass County (Mike Kennon/Cass County EMA)

Elsewhere, storm damage, apparently created by a tornado or straight-line winds, was reported: Near Avoca; On the west side of Corning (where a employees at an industrial park saw a tornado that damaged trees, roofs and oxygen tanks); Northwest of Maloy (In Ringgold County); A barn lost its roof one mile north of Bridgewater, and numerous power lines were down in Ringgold County, near Delphos.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – The Council Bluffs school board has approved the sale of a former elementary school building that is slated for demolition. The Daily Nonpareil reports the school board approved the sale of Walnut Grove Elementary School Tuesday evening to nonprofit organization NeighborWorks Home Solutions for $104,000.

The nonprofit plans to build 14 new homes on the property once the building is demolished. The district shut down the elementary school at the end of the 2013-14 school year because the building was below standards and the cost to repair it would have been between $12 million and $15 million. Students were reassigned to four other schools.

Superintendent Martha Bruckner said the board decided the nonprofit’s plans for the property was a chance for the school district to do something good for the neighborhood.