(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak report a man from Des Moines, 22-year-old Jonah Lee Kirsch, was arrested a little before 10-p.m. Friday, on a simple misdemeanor charge of Public Intoxication. Kirsch was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 bond.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Friday, reported a probable case of monkeypox virus infection in an adult in North Central Iowa. Testing was conducted by the State Hygienic Lab in Coralville.

The patient was likely infected during international travels and is isolating, receiving outpatient care and in regular communication with health department staff. HHS staff and local public health are conducting contact tracing with local health partners to identify anyone who may be at risk due to direct close contact with the patient while infectious. People with direct close contact are directed to watch for symptoms of illness and are offered a vaccine series that can prevent symptoms from developing or developing severe illness. The CDC does not recommend broader use of the vaccine at this time; however, their evaluation of vaccine guidance is ongoing.

Monkeypox does not spread easily between people without close contact, like:

• direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids
• respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact, or during intimate physical contact, such as kissing, cuddling, or sex.

Risk to the general public is low, but anyone with a rash that looks like monkeypox should talk to their healthcare provider, even if they don’t think they had contact with someone who has monkeypox.

People who may be at higher risk might include but are not limited to those who:

1. Had contact with someone who had a rash that looks like monkeypox or someone who was diagnosed with confirmed or probable monkeypox.
2. Had skin-to-skin contact with someone in a social network experiencing monkeypox activity, this includes men who have sex with men who meet partners through an online website, digital application (“app”), or social event (e.g., a bar or party).
3. Traveled outside the US to a country with confirmed cases of monkeypox or where monkeypox activity has been ongoing.

If possible, call ahead before going to a healthcare facility. If you are not able to call ahead, tell a staff member as soon as you arrive that you are concerned about monkeypox.

Over 5,700 cases have been reported internationally. In the U.S., 460 cases have been reported across 32 states. Over the last month, HHS staff have been working with health care providers and community partners to promote awareness of monkeypox, including what symptoms to look for, how to test for it, and ways to help prevent transmission. More information about the virus and how to limit infection risk can be found on the monkeypox page on the CDC website.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the new laws that took effect today (July 1) will allow police to search through a person’s garbage for criminal evidence without a warrant. But the new law is at odds with an Iowa Supreme Court decision last year that said the search of a Clear Lake man’s trash without a warrant was an invasion of his privacy. Drake University law professor Bob Rigg says that decision stands despite the new law.

“Essentially the Iowa legislature cannot overrule the Iowa Supreme Court in interpreting what the Iowa Constitution is,” Rigg says. Rigg says the issue is likely to end up back before the Iowa Supreme Court, which will soon have a new member. Rigg says a new justice could change the court’s perspective on illegal search and seizure.

“We don’t know, that can shift to a 4-3 the other direction, but right now State v Wright is the law regarding search and seizure in Iowa of trash,” he says. A new Supreme Court Justice will replace retiring Justice Brent Appel who was part of the majority in the previous case. That new member could make a difference in the garbage searching decision.

(Radio Iowa) – The president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids applauds the recent F-D-A ruling that banned Juul (JEWEL) vaping products from the U-S, but he says the damage is already done in states like Iowa. Matt Myers says in almost every category, Iowa’s youth smoking rates are well above the national average and it’s going to take serious work to reduce what he’s calling an epidemic. “Iowa’s number of kids who smoke cigarettes is almost seven-percent, which is about two to three points higher than the national average, but it’s particularly concerning with regard to e-cigarettes,” Myers says. “One in five kids in Iowa use these e-cigarettes and about 40% of them are seriously addicted to the product. That’s far higher than the national average.”

Juul’s role in driving the youth e-cigarette craze is clear, according to Myers. He says the company introduced a sleek, easy-to-hide product that was sold in appealing flavors which delivered massive doses of nicotine that can quickly addict kids.  “Juul has fought regulation every step of the way in order to continue to market to kids and they’re doing so now,” Myers says. “The FDA’s findings should concern everybody, but Juul won’t give up.” With slick marketing campaigns that focused on teens, Myers says Juul is largely to blame for e-cigarette use among high school students rocketing between 2017 to 2019.

“While the e-cigarette companies touted the product as a way to help smokers quit, they marketed the products to youth,” Myers says. “So what we found was the percentage of kids who use e-cigarettes almost doubled during the three years after Juul was introduced, even during a period of time when we saw no increase in adults using these products.” While the F-D-A order specifically named Juul, Myers remains hopeful it will serve as a warning to other vaping product makers.

“What’s really our long-term concern is that many of the kids who use these products have become addicted,” Myers says. “Kids who start using e-cigarettes are three times as likely to become cigarette smokers, and the threat that e-cigarettes pose to the long-term progress we’ve made in Iowa and elsewhere is real.” The youth e-cigarette epidemic is a public health crisis which Myers says Juul, more than any other product or company, is responsible for creating. He says removing these products from the market is “absolutely critical” to reversing the trend.

https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/

(Radio Iowa) – Fireworks aren’t the only things that are sky high this Fourth of July weekend. Iowans who are grilling out should be prepared to pay much higher prices. An American Farm Bureau Federation survey found consumers will pay an average of $69.68 for standard July Fourth cookout fare, including more costly burgers, buns, potato salad, chips, lemonade, and ice cream. The item that rose in cost the most, ground beef, was up a whopping 36% from last year. It all breaks down to about $7 a person per 10 cookout attendees. Cookout costs are up $10 from last year or 17%, which the federation says is the largest increase since they started tracking data a decade ago.

The survey found prices are rising based on the ongoing war in Ukraine, inflation across the consumer landscape, supply chain disruptions and “shrinkflation” due to the pandemic, among other factors.

(Dubuque, Iowa) – Three people, a young adult and two teens, died in a single-vehicle crash this (Friday) morning, in Dubuque. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2014 Chevy Camaro driven by 18-year-old William L. Wodrich, IV, was traveling at a high rate of speed  southbound on the NW Arterial at around 1:20-a.m., when the car went out of control. The vehicle entered a ditch and went airborne before it rolled and came to rest.

Wodrich, and his passengers, 17-year-old Kennedy Elizabeth Elskamp, and 17-year-old Chloe Madison Lucas, all from Dubuque, died at the scene. Lucas was not wearing her seat belt.

The State Patrol says the accident remains under investigation.