Authorities are investigating a bank robbery that took place Monday afternoon in southeast Iowa. The Keokuk County Sheriff’s Office reports a 911 call was received at around 2:40-p.m., Monday, with regard to a bank robbery at the Hedrick Bank, South Ottumwa Savings Bank, located in Hedrick. Law enforcement personnel from multiple agencies responded to the scene. Additional information was not immediately released.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Cedar Rapids woman has been charged with vehicular homicide for the crash deaths of two people in Linn County. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office says 23-year-old Brianna Stastny was arrested Sunday. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for her. Deputies say 22-year-old Kaelonnie Moore and 43-year-old Darla Moander, both of Cedar Rapids, where killed in the Sept. 29, 2017, crash on U.S. Highway 151 near Cedar Rapids. Deputies say Stastny was driving south and attempting to pass another vehicle when she struck a northbound vehicle driven by Moander.

Stastny was treated at a hospital. Investigators say she was under the influence of marijuana when the collision occurred.

(Radio Iowa) — A western Iowa woman is part of one of the first Cyclospora outbreak lawsuits against the company that supplied salads to McDonalds. Kellie McCall lives in Monona County and says she got sick in June of this year and began having diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, and severe gas within 14 days of eating a McDonald’s salad she bought in Onawa. She says she was forced to see emergency medical attention at Burgess Hospital in Onawa. Attorney William Marler of the Marler-Clark Law Firm is representing McCall and around two dozen others. He says the C-D-C was able to find Cyclospora in an unopened container of Fresh Express salad, so the C-D-C and the F-D-A where able to link the Cyclospora to the salad kids sold at McDonalds.

There are 395 confirmed cases across 15 states, with 87 of the case in Iowa. Sixteen people have been hospitalized. “They haven’t figured out if its the carrots in it or the romaine lettuce, but the product tested positive for the parasite before it got to McDonalds,” Marler says. “So, even though technically I could have sued McDonalds — the real entity here who had the last best chance to make sure there wasn’t a parasite in your food was Fresh Express.” Fresh Express is a Delaware corporation that operates mainly out of Windermere, Florida. “We are asking them to compensate them for their medical bills, lost wages, and the pain and suffering for having this parasite in your body,” Marler says.

Marler says this was not a simple one or two-day illness. “Some of these people were sick for several weeks. It’s a hard bug to get rid of, they use a very powerful antibiotic to actually kill the bug, which is almost as difficult on your body as the parasite is,” Marler says. “So, a lot of these people have taken a long time to recover.”  Marler believes this is a case of not following through with the food safety law requirements to make sure the Cyclospora wasn’t in the salad ingredients. “The law exists, it’s really just getting the companies to really implement them. If there is a failure of government here, it’s not having enough inspectors to inspect products that are brought in from outside the United States. We are probably maybe only inspecting one or two percent of the produce that comes in, and I think most people would find that pretty unacceptable,” Marler says.

He thinks his case is pretty strong against the company. “There are people who tested positive for this parasite and it’s been found in the food. There’s not a lot of argument that Fresh Express could have that this thing didn’t happen,” Marler says. “Hopefully they will see the writing on the wall and take care of my clients and the hundreds of other people who were sickened.” The court filing says McCall had to have more treatment after initially going to the emergency room and being diagnosed with Cyclospora. It also says she lost considerable income due to the sickness. Des Moines Attorney Steven Wandro is working with Marler Clark, which is based in Seattle.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King says he hopes the trade disputes between the U-S and other countries can be resolved sooner rather than later — but he is not optimistic. King says he has said he’d like to see the trade issues solved before the soybeans turn ready for harvest, but he says in talking with the top two White House negotiators, he is not as optimistic as he was.

King, a Republican, says they don’t even had a NAFTA agree done yet. King says Canada seems to be holding up that agreement, while Mexico is ready.”So, the president has indicated he may be ready to cut a bilateral trade agreement with the Mexicans, and then to a bilateral negotiation with the Canadians, hoping to get that resolved,” according to King.

King says trade with China poses a whole different series of problems, particularly for the Fourth District he represents — as the district is top in the state in pork and soybean production.  “Don’t forget that the center of the objection with China is not the trade imbalance — but instead is their theft of our intellectual property. The lowest annual cost of the thievery of our intellectual property is 250 BILLION dollars a year. The highest number I see is 600 BILLION dollars a year,” King says.

He says the recent administration decision to make up producer losses will help for now, but he wants the trade battle to end as quickly as possible.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CDT

WASHINGTON, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa father has been given nine years in prison for letting his 17-month-old daughter starve to death. Washington County District Court records say 37-year-old Anthony McCoy was sentenced Friday in Washington. His daughter Avery McCoy weighed just 11 pounds when she was found dead in November 2016. Her mother, Ambrashia “Amber” Chrzan, was sentenced last month to 50 years in prison.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say two firefighters were injured battling a blaze that left a two-building complex partially collapsed in downtown Burlington. The fire was reported a little before 11 p.m. Saturday. Burlington Fire Chief Matt Trexel says the two firefighters were taken to a hospital. One was treated for a back injury and one for smoke inhalation. Trexel says both returned to the fire scene. The fire cause is being investigated.

WEST POINT, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say the body of a young woman found in southeast Iowa is not that of a missing University of Iowa student. The body was found early Sunday in rural Lee County. The area is about 87 miles southeast of where 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts was last seen on July 18. Investigators said Monday that the body had been identified as that of another 20-year-old woman, Sadie Alvarado. A man has been charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident in connection to her death.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say the body of a small child was recovered from the Mississippi River in southeast Iowa. It was pulled from the water Sunday night near Brown’s Island at Riverside Park in Muscatine. Authorities would not comment on whether the body was that of 2-year-old Hawk Newberry, who fell into the water July 24 from a dock at Schwiebert Riverfront Park in Rock Island, Illinois.

Atlantic, IA – Due to high demand for the shingles vaccine Shingrix, many patients across the country, including Cass County residents, are waiting on the vaccine to become available at their provider’s office. CCHS Clinical Nurse Manager Danielle Staiert, RN, said “Due to the popularity and the effectiveness of the vaccine, many people are receiving the vaccine, which is great. The downside to this surge in vaccination is that the demand is outpacing the supply, which means patients are having to wait. CCHS is currently waiting on our next order of Shingrix to arrive, and I know the local pharmacies have also been affected.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, GSK (the manufacturer of Shingrix) is trying to best manage the increase in demand by implementing order limits. The CDC website also states that GSK has increased the US supply available for 2018.

Staiert said “At this point, we recommend that patients call us first if they are interested in receiving the Shingrix vaccine. We can talk to the patient about their insurance, which factors into where they should get this shot, as well as let them know if we have it in stock.”  Patients should call the Atlantic Medical Center Immunization Room at 712-250-8122.

About the CDC Recommendation for Shingrix: The  CDC recommends that healthy adults 50 years and older get two doses of the shingles vaccine called Shingrix (recombinant zoster vaccine), separated by 2 to 6 months, to prevent shingles and the complications from the disease. Your doctor or pharmacist can give you Shingrix as a shot in your upper arm. Shingrix provides strong protection against shingles and PHN.

Two doses of Shingrix is more than 90% effective at preventing shingles and PHN. Protection stays above 85% for at least the first four years after you get vaccinated. Shingrix is the preferred vaccine, over Zostavax® (zoster vaccine live), a shingles vaccine in use since 2006. Zostavax may still be used to prevent shingles in healthy adults 60 years and older.

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — A county prosecutor in southern Iowa says a Fairfield man was killed and two Ottumwa men have been charged with attempted murder and other charges after a shootout with police followed an armed robbery at a home on the city’s south side.

Wapello County Attorney Gary Oldenburger says in a statement released Monday that 35-year-old David Roy White of Fairfield was killed Friday and 32-year-old Michael Paul Bibby of Ottumwa was shot and is recovering at a local hospital.

Police launched a manhunt and later located and arrested 23-year-old Dalton Wayne Cook of Ottumwa. Bibby and Cook are charged with burglary, robbery and six counts of attempted murder. Court documents say White, Bibby and Cook forced their way into an Ottumwa home and stole items from the residents. A man outside the home was shot and is recovering from wounds at a hospital.

The three armed men fled and were intercepted by Ottumwa police officers near Liberty Elementary School, where the shootout occurred. No officers were injured.
Online court records do not yet indicate the men have attorneys.

The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports today (Monday, Aug. 6) was the first day that candidates were allowed to file papers for the offices to be included on the General Election Ballot. Winners of the Primary Election do not need to file papers in the Auditor’s Office as they will already be included on the General Election Ballot.  The Deadline to file is August 29^th at 5:00 p.m. Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns reports that at the end of the day Monday, Dana Halder, of Atlantic, had filed papers as Nominated by Petition for the Cass County Supervisor District 3 seat.

In the Republican Primary, Halder lost by two votes to John Hartkopf after a recount of the close ballot results was requested. Halder kept his promise to run again in November, as a Republican, but by petition, in hopes of taking the seat from his opponent.

Officials with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office report 38-year old Nicholas John Brix, of Marne, was arrested last Thursday, on a Cass County Sheriff’s Office warrant for Felon in Control of Firearm (a Class-D Felony); Possession of Meth 2nd Offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Brix was taken to the Cass County Jail and was released later that day on $7,300 bond.

On Monday (August 6), Deputies arrested 29-year old Amanda Lee Marholz, of Walnut, on a charge of Driving Under Suspension. Marholz was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on $300 bond.

WASHINGTON, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa father has been given nine years in prison for letting his 17-month-old daughter starve to death. Washington County District Court records say 37-year-old Anthony McCoy was sentenced Friday in Washington. He’d pleaded guilty to two counts of child endangerment and one of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Avery McCoy. She weighed just 11 pounds when she was found dead in November 2016. An autopsy said malnutrition and neglect significantly contributed to the girl’s death. Her mother, Ambrashia “Amber” Chrzan, of Wellman, was sentenced last month to 50 years in prison.