The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has announced six Iowa communities have been awarded fluoride certificates by the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors on behalf of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Dental Association (ADA). Fluoridation is the adjustment of fluoride in the water to an optimal level for preventing tooth decay.

Among the six communities receiving the 50 Year Award for maintaining continuous community water fluoridation from 1965-2016, is Elk Horn Municipal Water Works.

Fluoride is a natural mineral present in almost all water. Its benefits for teeth were discovered in the 1930s. Dental scientists found low tooth decay rates among people whose water supplies contained natural fluoride. Today, approximately 75 percent of Americans and 91 percent of Iowans served by community water systems have access to optimally fluoridated water. Even with the availability of other fluoride-containing products, fluoridated water prevents approximately 25 percent of tooth decay in children and adults.

The CDC has recognized community water fluoridation, the process of adjusting the fluoride concentration in water to the optimal level for preventing tooth decay, as one of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th Century. It is supported by the U.S. Surgeon General, American Dental Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Public Health Association as a safe, effective, and inexpensive method of preventing tooth decay. Both Healthy People 2020 and Healthy Iowans have set goals to increase the number of people receiving fluoridated water.

IDPH is a strong supporter of fluoridation programs. The IDPH Bureau of Oral and Health Delivery Systems monitors the fluoride levels of Iowa communities and provides information and assistance to water supply professionals, healthcare professionals, and the public. To see the fluoridation status of Iowa counties and towns, visit https://nccd.cdc.gov/DOH_MWF/Default/Default.aspx.

CHEROKEE, Iowa (AP) – A former teacher in northwest Iowa has been given five years of probation and a suspended 10-year prison term for having a sexual relationship with a student. Court records say Chad Osler, of Manchester, pleaded guilty to sexual abuse after prosecutors dropped two related charges. At his sentencing Monday he also was fined $1,000.

Court documents say Osler was a physical education teacher in Cherokee when he had sex with the student in July 2013. The relationship continued through 2014 and early 2015.  Osler took a job with the West Delaware Community School District, where he was put on administrative leave after he was arrested in April 2015. He’s no longer listed in the district staff directory.

Sheriff’s officials in Audubon County today (Tuesday) released details about a tractor-trailer rollover accident that took place Monday afternoon, northeast of Exira. Authorities say the driver of the semi, 32-year old Shawn David Irvine, of Clearmont, MO., was transported by private vehicle to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, following the accident that took place at around 3:30-p.m. on Pheasant Avenue, near 280th Street, or about three-miles northeast of Exira.

The Sheriff’s Dept. says Irvine was traveling south over the posted speed limit in a 2013 Peterbilt tractor-trailer registered to Sioux Valley Transport, L-L-C, of Estherville, when he entered a curve in the road. A load of market hogs shifted in the trailer, causing the semi to roll over onto the shoulder of the road. About 60 hogs died in the crash.

The semi sustained an estimated $100,000 damage. Irvine was charged with Failure to Maintain Control. The Iowa State Patrol and Exira Fire and Rescue assisted at the accident scene.

The Missouri State Patrol says a woman from Page County was injured during a crash Saturday night, in Nodaway County, MO. 19-year old Carrie L. Beason, of Clarinda, who was wearing her seat belt, was transported to St. Francis Hospital in Maryville, MO., following the single-vehicle accident that happened at around 11:30-p.m., Saturday.

Officials say Beason was traveling west on 330th Street in a 1999 Ford Escort, when her car left the north side of the road and began to slide. The car then struck an embankment and rolled over, coming to rest on the driver’s side, facing north.

A man from Page County died following a crash Monday afternoon, in northwest Missouri. According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, 52-year old Todd M. Pedersen, of Clarinda, who was wearing his seat belt, died in a collision with a semi in Nodaway County, MO. The accident happened at around 12:10-p.m. on Highway 71.

Authorities say Pedersen was traveling south in a 2005 Chevy Impala, when for reasons unknown, his car cross the center line of the road, into the path of a northbound 2013 International semi, driven by 55-year old Donald Root, of Punkhannock, PA.  Root was not injured in the crash.

Following the impact, the car skidded off the north shoulder of the road and came to rest in the ditch. The semi came to rest on its wheels off the south side of the road.