SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Sioux City hospitals are requiring health care workers who haven’t received a flu shot to wear masks when consulting with patients.  Mercy Medical Center Sioux City and UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s want anyone who comes in contact with patients to be immunized or wear a mask if they opt out for medical or religious reasons. The hospitals’ policies aren’t mandated by the state.

The Sioux City Journal reports the state Department of Public Health has upgraded influenza activity in Iowa from regional to widespread. Officials have confirmed more than 500 cases of the virus. Hospital officials say catching the flu while being hospitalized with another medical condition can be dangerous. It could lead to longer hospital stays or cause death.

The lead character in the new movie “The Monuments Men” is based on a Winterset native who went to the University of Iowa. U-I president, Sally Mason, told the Board of Regents Thursday that George Stout got his beginning in the art world in Iowa City. “Stout served in World War One in a military hospital and then he attended the University of Iowa. So, we are proud obviously that he is an alum of the University of Iowa,” Mason says. “While he was at the University of Iowa he studied drawing — which during his time at Iowa was a required course — and he fell in love with art.”

Mason says Stout traveled around Europe visiting art museums after he graduated, and then he went on to Harvard for his graduate studies. It was at the Harvard Art Museum where Mason says Stout developed the modern science of art conservation. “He was really the first person that believed that rather than having artists repaint great masterpieces when they needed restoration, that there were ways that you could conserve art,” according to Mason. Mason says many of the techniques that Stout developed are still in practice today. Stout interrupted his career in the art world and took the unusual step of re-enlisting in the military in World War Two at the age of 45.

“Because he wanted to save world culture from being destroyed by the Nazis. And he was absolutely convinced that that was what was happening,” Mason says. “He led a group of art experts and museum professionals that were popularly know as monuments men.” Mason says the movie is based on a book about Stout and the work his team did during the war. “His Army team saved over 40 tons of artwork, including Davinci’s Mona Lisa and the Bayeux Tapestry. And they also worked to save priceless manuscripts and monuments — including a lot of Europe’s great churches and cathedrals,” Mason says.

When Japan surrendered, Stout went there and oversaw restoration projects. The movie is based on the 2009 book “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History.” George Clooney plays Stout in the movie. Stout went on to become the director of the Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts and then the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston. He died at the age of 80 in 1978.

(Radio Iowa)

Alliant Energy is warning its customers in Iowa about a new scam. Utility spokesman Justin Foss says a couple of customers in Mason City say they’ve been approached by someone claiming to be with Alliant and saying they had to pay their bill on the spot.  Somebody came to the door and demanded they be paid in cash or that the person go buy a pre-paid debit card and hand that over right away or their electricity would be disconnected. Foss says they do -not- go door-to-door demanding payment. Foss says if you get someone at your door or on the phone demanding immediate payment and it sounds suspicious, it’s likely bogus.

If there’s any time that something doesn’t seem right, just hang up or shut the door and call Alliant. They’ll be able to tell you if the request is legitimate. Foss says if you’ve been conned by a scam like this or you’ve been approached by a con artist, contact law enforcement. He says always call your local police department right away. He says one person reporting it might help police realize if it’s a trend that someone is trying to pull the scam in multiple neighborhoods or communities. Foss says the two Mason City clients who were approached this week didn’t fall for the scam and contacted Alliant to let them know what was taking place.

(Radio Iowa)

A light pole owned by the State of Iowa sustained $1,000 damage, but no one was injured, when a motorgrader grazed it Thursday morning. The Page County Sheriff’s Office says the 2011 Caterpillar road grader operated by 40-year old Troy Sands, of New Market, was clearing snow from the intersection of Highway 71 and 210th Street just east of Clarinda at around 11:50-a.m., Thursday, when the machine hit the pole, causing it to topple over. The grader was not damaged. No citations were issued.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest today (Friday), of a Glenwood man. 41-year old Donald Dale Elliott was taken into custody on a charge of OWI/2nd offense, following a traffic stop at around 12:35-a.m.  His bond was set at $2,000.