The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals (DIA) today (Tuesday) jointly issued a consumer advisory for chicken salad sold at Fareway stores. The chicken salad, which is produced and packaged by a third party for Fareway, is implicated in multiple cases of salmonella illness across Iowa. Preliminary test results from the State Hygienic Laboratory (SHL) at the University of Iowa indicate the presence of salmonella in this product.

Fareway voluntarily stopped the sale of the product and pulled the chicken salad from its shelves after being contacted by DIA. “The company has been very cooperative and is working with IDPH and DIA in the investigation of the reported illnesses,” said DIA Food and Consumer Safety Bureau Chief Steven Mandernach, who noted that no chicken salad has been sold to the consuming public since last Friday evening (2/9/18).

IDPH is investigating multiple cases of possible illness associated with the chicken salad. “The bottom line is that no one should eat this product,” said IDPH Medical Director, Dr. Patricia Quinlisk. “If you have it in your refrigerator, you should throw it away.”

Salmonella infection is a common bacterial disease that can cause illness and rarely, it can be severe. Usually, people who get salmonella infection develop symptoms within 12 to 36 hours after ingesting the bacteria, but symptoms can appear as early as six hours and as late as three days after ingestion.

Symptoms of salmonella infection generally last four to seven days and include:

• Diarrhea
• Headache
• Fever
• Nausea
• Abdominal pain
• Dehydration
• Vomiting
• Muscle pains
• Bloody stools

Most people get better without treatment, but in some cases, the diarrhea associated with a salmonella infection can cause dehydration, which can sometimes result in hospitalization. It is important whenever you have diarrhea to make sure you drink plenty of fluids. If you are ill, you should contact your health care provider.

Consumers who have purchased chicken salad from Fareway should throw it out and not return the product to the store.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports an Atlantic man died when his pickup struck a house in Treynor this (Tuesday) morning. The driver was identified as 79-year old Francis “Gary” Symonds.

Authorities say Symonds was driving a 2012 Chevy Silverado pickup northbound on 300th Street at around 8:15-a.m., when the vehicle left the road to the right and then left before traveling through three residential yards and striking a residence near the intersection of Countryside Drive.

Pottawattamie County deputies and Treynor Rescue personnel arrived about 10-minutes after the crash was reported. The pickup truck had struck the residence and partially destroyed the foundation.  Francis Symonds was deceased by the time rescue crews arrived. The homeowner was in the residence at the time of the accident, but no one in the home was injured.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope said Tuesday (today), that Jamie Behrends (RN), Director of Home and Community Based Services for Southwest Iowa Home Health providers, have been instrumental in helping the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office provide public safety to the citizens of Fremont County. Jaime and her team work on Emergency Preparedness Grants for local law enforcement. Today (Tuesday) Behrends presented the Sheriff 10 Ballistic Response Kits, and 10 Tourniquets for his deputies.

Pictured is Sheriff Kevin Aistrope and Director of Home and Community Based Services Jamie Behrends (RN).

The kits contain valuable first aid items to combat major wounds such as gunshots and major lacerations that may occur in active threat situations. Behrends was able to get a kit for each deputy on the Sheriff’s Office. Jaime Behrends and Southwest Iowa Home Health are also the ones who provided the AEDs last year that have played a vital role in service to the citizens. The AEDs alone have been used numerous times in life saving situations.

Sheriff Kevin Aistrope wants to thank Jaime and her amazing team for all their hard work in helping provide these services!!!!!

Officials with the Pottawatamie County Sheriff’s Office say a man was found dead in a vehicle that crashed into a home in Treynor, this morning. Chief Deputy Sheriff John Reynolds said more details will be released later this afternoon with regard to the incident that happened at around 8:15-a.m., where a pickup crashed into the residence at 101 N. Eyberg Street. Authorities had said earlier, that when deputies arrived on the scene, the man was deceased. The cause of death was uncertain, but may have been related to a medical issue, according to officials.

An Audubon County woman, Monday, plead guilty to two counts of Child Endangerment, one resulting in serious injury, and a single count of Neglect or Abandonment of a Dependent Person, and will be sentenced April 23rd, at 1:30-p.m.  50-year old Samantha Kay Bailey, of Gray, had faced felony charges that included two counts of child endangerment – serious injury and two counts of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person.

She was arrested April 14th, 2017, following an incident at her home in Gray, that resulted in two children being flown to the hospital.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — A proposed plan to remove two dams across the Des Moines River in central Iowa could cost more than $4 million and be completed next winter. The Messenger reports that the proposal presented to the Fort Dodge City Council Monday calls for the removal of the Hydroelectric Dam and the Little Dam during the winter of 2018-19.

Wade Greiman is a project manager with engineering firm Snyder & Associates. He says the Hydroelectric Dam removal will cost about $3.6 million and the Little Dam removal will cost about $750,000. The dams would be replaced with structures to direct water and reduce stream bed erosion. The funding will be included in a $9 million general obligation bond issue proposal, which the council will consider on March 12.