The City Council in Audubon, is expected to act this evening on approving the plans and specifications for the water tower repair and improvement project. A resolution approving the plans and specs will come before the Council after they hear from a representative with J-E-O Consulting about the matter. The Council is also expected to act on authorizing JEO to submit plans to the Iowa DNR for the project, which includes painting the tower. On a related note, the Audubon City Council will act on authorizing JEO to proceed with the bid letting process for the project.

In other business, the Council will discuss repairs to the Police Department office, act on a resolution appointing Tella Knueven, Jen Stetzel and Brandon Toft to the Park and Rec Board, with their terms expiring Dec. 31st, 2014. And, they will act on a resolution  approving a report on Tax Increment Financing (TIF).

The Audubon City Council meeting begins at 7-p.m., in their chambers at City Hall.

A reminder to those interested in the future of education in Iowa, that Iowa Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds will be in Atlantic and Council Bluffs tomorrow (Tuesday, December 11th), to hold a community conversations on STEM (Science,  Technology, Engineering and Math), and economic development. The meeting is part of a series of community conversations on the STEM initiative, prior to the start of the 2013 legislative session.

Locally, a Cass County Community Conversation on STEM will be take place 11-a.m., at the Rock Island Depot at 102 Chestnut Street, and in Council Bluffs at 2:30-p.m., in the auditorium of Looft Hall, at Iowa Western Community College.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Some Iowa hospitals and clinics have begun using a state computer system to quickly share patient records.   Most hospitals and clinics have begun using electronic medical records, but many of their systems are so different they can’t share information. The Iowa Health Information Network aims to solve that problem.

The network also lets hospitals search for records of patients seen at other Iowa hospitals or clinics that also are on the network.  Kim Norby, of the Iowa Department of Public Health, told The Des Moines Register that the system is mostly financed by more than $8 million the federal government granted Iowa under the 2009 economic stimulus.

A standard patient confidentiality form will, with patient consent, give a hospital authority to share information via the new system.

The Iowa Department of Public Health is reporting flu activity in the state has started early this season and is increasing rapidly. Doctor Patricia Quinlisk is the agency’s medical director. “Over the last week or so, our numbers of people being hospitalized, the number of people with confirmed flu and the number of schools having outbreaks – have all gone up significantly,” Quinlisk said. “We want people to be aware of that and if they’ve put off getting their flu shot, to go in and get it really quickly.” Of the 21 hospitals that report such information to state health officials, there have been 49 hospitalizations due to the flu so far this year. That compares to only eight last year at this time. There have been 378 confirmed cases of influenza, compared to only 10 last year.

“Actually, Iowa’s (flu activity) is not increasing as fast as some other states. There are some southern states, especially, that have really sort of exploded with the flu,” Quinlisk said. “In Iowa, we are increasing pretty fast, but not quite what (southern states) are doing.” So far this school year, 23 Iowa schools have reported more than 10-percent of their student body out sick on the same day – compared to only eight last year at this time. Quinlisk is encouraging anyone with flu symptoms to stay away from school or work because the virus spreads so easily.

“The flu travels through the air, so all you really need to have is somebody within about three to six feet from you coughing and you can catch it,” Quinlisk said. “So, you can imagine a kid at a school or a coworker who never covers their mouth when they cough or sneeze…you can spread it to a lot of people during the day.” Quinlisk notes all three strains of the seasonal flu have been confirmed in Iowa this season, and all are covered by the vaccine. She encourages all people over six months of age to get a flu shot each year.

(More on the web at http://www.idph.state.ia.us/Default.aspx)

(Radio Iowa)