DETROIT (AP) — Ford and Mazda are recalling more than 380,000 older small pickup trucks for a second time to replace Takata air bag inflators that can explode and hurl shrapnel.
The recalls cover driver and passenger inflators in certain 2004 to 2006 Ford Ranger and Mazda B-Series trucks made by Ford. Takata uses ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion that inflates air bags. But the chemical can deteriorate over time and burn too fast, blowing apart a metal canister. At least 20 people have been killed worldwide.

The trucks were recalled in 2015 and 2016 to replace inflators with newer ones as a temporary fix. Under the latest recalls, inflators will be swapped for ones that don’t use ammonium nitrate.
Owners will be notified starting later this month.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Hancock turned himself-in to the Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday afternoon. 43-year old Jeffrey Bruce Willett was wanted on a Probation Violation warrant. He was transported to the Jail and booked-in. And, a Council Bluffs man was arrested Wednesday morning for Interference with Official Acts. 47-year old Kenneth Edward Petty was arrested after a Deputy went to Petty’s home to serve legal papers. Petty allegedly became argumentative, even after he was warned to stop, or face arrest. He continued to show resistance while being arrested and while being put in the patrol vehicle.

It’s a busy time of the year for everyone, especially the medical experts working the phones at the Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center. Registered nurse Joan McVoy says the number of accidental poisonings involving children typically rises during the holiday season. “When you have your holiday visitors come in, make sure they’re storing their medications up, out of reach, out of sight, so small children don’t get into them, teenagers don’t get into them,” McVoy says. “That’s the thing that we get, most of our calls are going to be medications.”

Another potential problem at this time of year is those tiny, button-sized disc batteries. “You’ll find them in remotes, the Christmas greeting cards that play music, watches, toys and games,” McVoy says. “Amazingly, even though we talk about this every year, last year, over 2,000 kids swallowed disc batteries and that was a 14-percent increase nationally.”

There will be celebrating the season with alcohol in many Iowa households, especially for New Year’s Eve, which can also pose a threat. “After the party, what happens is a lot of times we get calls here, the parents were tired in the evening and just go to bed and when the kids come down in the morning, they’re hungry and they’re looking at all of the empty drink glasses sitting around and they’ll get into the drinks,” McVoy says, “and then we’ll get a call from a parent.”

Should you need to make the call to the Sioux City-based hotline, it’s staffed around-the-clock at 800-222-1222.

(Radio Iowa, w/Thanks to Karla James, Omaha)

Ambassador Terry Branstad is back home in Iowa for the first time since assuming his post in China. The former Iowa governor attended his brother’s funeral in Leland on Monday and plans to spend the holidays here. On Wednesday, Branstad worked from a desk in the governor’s office, catching up on ambassador business. An aide stopped him from discussing embassy affairs, but Branstad did reveal that in recent weeks he has traveled to the Chinese border with North Korea.

“I’ve been to Tuman which is on the river that separates Jilin province of China with Korea,” Branstad said. “I was there three days after they had the nuclear test and I met with the party secretary who’s the top person up there and, you know, they felt it.”

Branstad says North Korea is one of the top issues he’s addressing as ambassador. “I think we’re getting gotten more cooperation from China than we’ve ever gotten, but there’s still more that needs to be done to try to convince North Korea that this course they’re on, I mean, this is the most dangerous thing to humankind right now this nuclear and ballistic missile program they are embarked on,” Branstad says.

Branstad’s wife, Chris, his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters who’ve been living in China since this summer accompanied him back to Iowa. Branstad’s oldest son, Eric, has been working in Washington, D.C. in the U.S. Commerce Department since January, while his wife and kids remained in Des Moines. Branstad’s other son, Marcus, has remained with his family in central Iowa. The Branstads plan to attend Christmas Mass in Des Moines and celebrate Christmas together. Ambassador Branstad plans to head back to China January 3rd.

(Radio Iowa)