(Radio Iowa) – Sixty-eight cases of Legionnaires’ disease are now confirmed in Marshall County, including one death, and the exact cause has yet to be pinpointed, even after two weeks. Marshall County Public Health director Sydney Grewell says they’ve tested a dozen cooling towers in Marshalltown and they’ve all been remediated. Grewell says the test they’re running is called an environmental sample. “The environmental samples do take a long time to grow and Legionella itself is just a hard bacteria to grow in general, so we haven’t found our smoking gun yet,” Grewell says, “but all of those remediated towers, everybody’s been working well with us and helping stop the spread of Legionella.”

When Grewell became the county’s public health director, she didn’t know she’d be learning so much about cooling towers, and she explains what they are. “Cooling towers are basically a large air conditioning system. These cooling towers are for large entities, just places that might need more air, and they’re used with a water-based system and it circulates and then it blows water into the air, which is how we get that legionella,” Grewell says, “and then it spreads around.” Grewell says they’re almost certain a cooling tower on the north side of Marshalltown is the culprit.

“We are focusing on the cooling towers and the CDC is in line with that,” Grewell says. “People like to go down those rabbit holes of like, ‘Well, what if it’s not that?’ Most of the time it is that cooling tower and that’s what we’re really focused on because of what we’re seeing.” As people begin to break out their humidifiers for the winter season ahead, she suggests they give the devices a good cleaning before use. Grewell says it takes between two and 14 days for people to start showing symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease, a lung infection that’s a form of pneumonia.”The most common ones, the dry cough, a high fever like 102, 103, 104, nothing to mess around with,” Grewell says. “It’s not just like, ‘Oh, we’re at 99,’ it’s high, sometimes weakness, fatigue.”

Other symptoms might include chills, muscle aches, headaches, and diarrhea. Grewell says if you are showing any of these symptoms, contact your primary healthcare provider and get tested.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa says four Georgia men were recently sentenced in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, for their role in a nationwide fraud conspiracy.

According to public court documents, between March 2022 and April 2024, 26-year-old Russell Tafron Weatherspoon, 23-year-old Karl Andre Dieudonne, 32-year-old Demonte Tequis Brazil, and 25-year-old Gregory Lamar Scorza, ran a multi-state fraud scam. The scammers led victims in several states across the United States, including Iowa, to believe that an arrest warrant had been issued for them for failing to appear in court. The scammers used names of local law enforcement officers and used an application that spoofed law enforcement phone numbers. The victims were told they would be arrested if a cash bond was not posted. The victims were directed to a bond company or other location to meet and pay a bond for failing to appear as an expert witness pursuant to a subpoena. The scam involved the use of legal terminology, purported court proceedings, and threats of arrest to authenticate the scam.

Weatherspoon led and organized these activities from a Georgia state prison. A drone was used to fly over the prison and drop cell phones into the yard that were then utilized by inmates to make the scam calls. Weatherspoon was in prison following his 2020 convictions for aggravated assault and violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.

Weatherspoon was sentenced on April 9, 2025, to 130 months in federal prison. Dieudonne was sentenced on May 13, 2025, to 36 months in federal prison. Brazil was sentenced on May 13, 2025, to 51 months in federal prison. Scorza was sentenced September 9, 2025, to 72 months in federal prison. One additional man has been charged in the conspiracy but has not yet been arrested.

After completing their terms of imprisonment, each defendant will be required to serve a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Victim restitution was also ordered.

Thes case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Council Bluffs Police Department, Iowa City Police Department, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations, Iowa State Patrol, Omaha Police Department, and Eppley Airport Police.

(Radio Iowa) – Dozens of health care workers gathered along the Mississippi River in Fort Madison Wednesday to protest the state’s request for private companies to take over health care in its prisons. Todd Copley is the local president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.  “The state and its political majority have chosen to honor the hard work and dedication of the medical staff by valuing profit and greed over its employees by calling it reform,” he says. Copley says the label doesn’t fit what’s happening.

“This isn’t reform. It’s reckless and the state employees across this state deserve better,” Copley says. The Department request says roughly 300 employees care for the inmates in Iowa’s nine prisons. Between 60 and 70 percent of inmates require ongoing medical treatment. Iowa Federation of Labor president Charlie Wishman says Iowa doesn’t need another fail privatization scheme. “Iowa needs safe, accountable, public health care in its prisons done by trained, well-paid people with benefits, with a pension; people who want to be there doing the job, who are good at it.”

The Iowa Department of Corrections filed the proposal, saying it faces staffing shortages and rising pharmaceutical costs.

DES MOINES, Iowa [WHO-TV] — John Deere is making job cuts at two Iowa locations. The agriculture machinery manufacturing giant announced layoffs on Wednesday at its Des Moines Works and Waterloo Operations. In total, 141 employees were notified that they are being laid off. A statement from Deere said the layoffs are a result of decreased demand and lower order volumes.

The final day for the 40 employees affected at the Des Moines Works is October 31st. The 101 Waterloo Operations workers who were laid off will work their last shift on October 17th. The Waterloo operations affected by the workforce reductions include: Tractor Operations, Drive Train Operations, Drive Train West, and Engine Works.

Deere said laid-off employees are eligible for recall for a period equal to their length of service. They will also receive monetary benefits, healthcare benefits, and other benefits, such as tuition reimbursement and job-placement assistance.

JESUP, Iowa (KCRG) – The Jesup Police Department issued a statement regarding harassment that results from “TP-ing” activities. The Jesup Police Department says “TP-ing” is now banned and anyone caught doing it will face legal charges, including fines and community service. The annual Homecoming tradition of “TP-ing” involves decorating homes and trees with toilet paper. Police say this has turned into harassment targeting the same non-participants every year.

Police say multiple people have been identified and are under investigation for trespassing, criminal mischief, illegal dumping, and disorderly conduct. The Jesup Police Department has announced on Facebook that it is enforcing a new zero-tolerance policy for this practice.

The post said:

(Radio Iowa) – Oskaloosa’s school board voted unanimously to fire a teacher over a social media post praising the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. High school art teacher Matthew Kargol allegedly shared a post last week reading: “1 Nazi down.” School personnel and the district’s legal counsel launched an investigation shortly after and placed Kargol on administrative leave. Superintendent Mike Fisher says free speech is allowed — until it causes disruptions at school. “I’m all about free speech, and I think that is really proven in case law and different things,” Fisher says, “but I think it’s also shown in much of the case law that when you have substantial material disruptions, that becomes a concern.”

Fisher says the board’s decision was based on facts. “It’s about our investigation and finding a fact and policy,” Fisher says. “Through our investigative pieces, we just go where the investigation takes us, and we apply to our policies and look through legal facts with our legal counsel and make the best recommendation based on policy, law and our vision culture.”

The Wednesday vote followed a closed session which was requested by Kargol. Earlier in the day, the Iowa Board of Regents directed the state’s public universities to place employees on leave while they investigate posts shared on social media about Kirk’s death.

RED OAK, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – A western Iowa nursing home has been cited by the state for failing to provide adequate nursing services for a woman whose leg was later amputated. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing has cited the Good Samaritan nursing home in Red Oak with failing intervene when a female resident’s condition worsened, and with failing to properly assess the woman’s impaired circulation in her leg despite a diagnosis related to gangrene.

According to inspectors, the resident was crying and complaining of serious pain in her right leg early in the afternoon of Aug. 3, 2025. The staff provided pain medication through the night and the next morning. By the afternoon of Aug. 4, the staff was documenting that the woman’s leg had turned purple and was cold to the touch, with the woman continuing to experience “extreme pain” in her leg.

Upon admission to a local hospital, the woman was diagnosed with a life-threatening condition and she was transported by air to another hospital where she could be seen immediately by a vascular surgeon.

The surgeon’s physician assistant later told inspectors the woman underwent a “through-the-knee amputation” of her leg on Aug. 7, 2025. When asked whether it would have made any difference had the Good Samaritan staff sent the woman to the hospital earlier, the physician assistant allegedly told inspectors the woman “would not have had to suffer as many days in significant pain.” A family member told KJAN the woman passed away on September 14th, due to complications and getting an infection from her amputation.

The inspections department has proposed, but held in suspension, an $8,500 state fine against the Good Samaritan home for failing to provide residents with the required nursing services. The state fine is being held in suspension while the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services determines whether a federal fine will be imposed.

Currently, the 64-bed Good Samaritan home has a two-star, “below average” overall rating from CMS. In April 2025, during the home’s most recent annual inspection, Good Samaritan was cited for regulatory violations related to environmental hazards, failure to implement resident care plans, services that failed to meet professional standards, treatment of bedsores, tube feedings, food services and infection control.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch was unable to reach the home’s administrator, Mike Early, for comment Tuesday.

DUBUQUE, Iowa [KCCI] — Three students from Cascade High School in West Dubuque are facing charges in juvenile court after allegedly using artificial intelligence to create fake nude images of classmates, according to reports from several female students in April. The number of images generated and the number of victims remain unknown. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a law last year that makes creating AI-generated sexual content of minors a crime.

The Dubuque County Attorney’s Office, Sheriff’s Office, and Dubuque Police Department will make a presentation to students and parents about the situation. Those departments aim to make parents aware of the dangers faced by students from bad actors on the internet and help parents identify what to look for in their children’s internet activity.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S-D-A is predicting this year’s soybean harvest in Iowa will be the third-largest on record, but the country that at one time bought about 60 percent of all U-S soybean exports isn’t buying at all. China has booked purchases from South America instead. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says that’s putting pressure on soybean farmers.

“It’s really death by a thousand cuts for our farmers right now which is they’re spending more for their inputs — for land, for equipment, for seed…for labor, for fuel — and they’re not getting the prices that they need,” Naig said, “and we’re coming into what by all expectations will be a sizable, if not historic size of a crop.” Naig says recent U-S negotiations with China about TikTok’s future might lead to a breakthrough on soybean exports.

“And frankly, they need the U.S. as a supplier. They can’t entirely rely on South America, so we need to get to reality here,” Naig said. “I am hopeful that we will in fact see some movement in that regard.” U-S soybeans are normally shipped to China from September through January, but experts who track sales say Chinese buyers haven’t booked any sales this fall. U-S soybeans are now far cheaper than Brazilian soybeans, but any Chinese buyer would have to pay a 23 percent tariff on U-S soybeans. Naig says increasing domestic use of soybeans for biofuels is part of the answer.

“But also let’s go play offense on trade,” Naig said. “Governor Reynolds and I just got back from India — huge market potential. Obviously some friction between the U.S. and India right now, although even as we were there it softened, the president and Prime Minister exchanging messages, and so we know that negotiations are ongoing.” Naig and Governor Kim Reynolds and 18 other Iowans returned Sunday after spending a week in India. The group met with leaders in India’s government as well as its manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

There were stops in India’s capitol of New Delhi and in Mumbai (mum-BY), India’s largest city and it’s financial center. The group’s other stop was in Pune (POO-nay), one of the most industrialized areas of India. Reynolds signed a partnership agreement with the region’s chief minister to expand trade ties between the two states and foster cooperation in advanced manufacturing, biotechnology and renewable energy.