OTO, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say an Ida County man has drowned in an accident on the Little Sioux River near Oto in western Iowa.  Woodbury County Sheriff’s Maj. Greg Stallman says 23-year-old Derick Vielguth was with three friends when he slipped on a rock and fell into the swift-flowing river about 10:30 a.m. Sunday.  One of the friends jumped in to help but was unable to get him out of the river.  The man’s body was recovered a little before 2 p.m., about 30 yards from where he’d fallen in.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A new exhibition about cycling in Iowa and the annual RAGBRAI event will open this week at the State Historical Museum of Iowa.  Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds showcased the “Riding Through History” exhibition during a Monday news conference. The exhibition opens to the public on Friday, just before the annual RAGBRAI event begins Sunday.

RAGBRAI – which started in 1973 – is a week-long bicycle ride through Iowa sponsored by the Des Moines Register. The name stands for Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.   Artifacts in the exhibition include bicycles ridden in the race, press clippings about the early years and examples of food served along the route.

The museum will also host a day of events on July 23, when RAGBRAI is scheduled to come through Des Moines.

Officials in northwest Iowa say after decades of planning and construction, completing the conversion of Highway 20 to four lanes may be in jeopardy. A 32-mile long stretch of U.S. Highway 20 from east of Moville to Early has yet to be four-laned and funding cuts will make it difficult to complete anytime soon, according to Highway 20 Corridor Association Marketing Director Ann Trimble.

“Everybody, in general, needs to be prepared that there could be projects removed from the (Iowa Department of Transportation’s) five-year plan, due to a lack of funding. That’s a blanket warning everyone is getting from the DOT, but it does illustrate where our next steps need to be as far as our advocacy for the completion of the project,” Trimble said. She spoke at the annual meeting of the Highway 20 Corridor Association last week in Sioux City. Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott said completing the project should be a top priority.

“You know, their big push is to get rail across the northern half (of Iowa) and rail across the southern half, but I said we have to get Highway 20 done before you can expect Sioux City to make a real commitment to rail across our state,” Scott said. “Not that we would be opposed to that, but we need a commitment to get this road finished.” The push to widen Highway 20 to four lanes across the entire state started in the 1960s. Advocates say it’s desperately needed as an east-west alternative to Interstate 80.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Department of Public Health, CDC and local public health agencies are investigating an outbreak of an intestinal illness caused by Cyclospora (a rare parasite). As of today, July 15th, 71 cases of Cyclospora infections have been reported to IDPH; almost all have been identified through testing at the State Hygienic Lab (SHL). Linn County in eastern Iowa continues to lead the state with 27 cases. Polk County has four and 17 other counties have at least one.  Three people have been hospitalized.

In western Iowa, there have been 3 confirmed cases in Dallas County, 2 in Mills County, and 1 case each in Monona, Pottawattamie and Woodbury Counties.  The numbers remain  unchanged from Friday with regard to those counties.

The illness is most commonly contracted by eating food or drinking water contaminated with human feces containing the cyclospora parasite. Iowa typically has just one or two cases a year, usually travelers. Officials believe fresh vegetables may be the culprit, but the investigation continues.

Consumers should wash fruits and vegetables to reduce the risk of the illness, which causes diarrhea that lasts an average of 57 days.

Nearly 10-percent of children younger than 4 years of age have food allergies and one of the most severe is caused by peanuts. But, a recent study indicates simply smelling peanuts or peanut butter likely won’t trigger an allergic reaction. Doctor Michael Huckabee has been researching the issue at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. “Studies have shown that most individuals, in fact 91-percent of individuals, actually reported that it was ingestion of the peanut butter that would create a reaction,” Huckabee says. “So, with that information, we feel somewhat reassured that the odor is not the problem, it’s the direct contact – by touching or ingesting – and that’s what causes the more severe reactions.”

A recent study had participants smell peanuts and no one suffered a reaction.  “That smell was disguised by adding tuna fish and mint to the peanut itself, so it could not be smelled as peanuts. They allowed some children to be tested with a dish that had that mixture and those kids did not have reactions,” Huckabee explains.

The study, according to Huckabee, should ease the concerns of kids with peanut allergies and their parents that if they sit by someone in a lunch room who is eating a peanut butter sandwich – they should not suffer a reaction. However, Huckabee says there still is a concern when it comes to airborne peanut dust.  “Even a pinch of peanuts, whether that be dust or powder, if it is airborne and breathed in, that would cause the same reaction as if it were ingested,” Huckabee says.

The reaction from those with peanut allergies can range from a rash to heart arrhythmia’s to death. Huckabee recommends people with a peanut allergy wear a medical alert bracelet and carry an EpiPen.

(Radio Iowa)

No injuries were reported following an accident Sunday night, in Clarinda. The Clarinda P-D says a vehicle driven by 17-year old Samuel Ripley, of Clarinda, was traveling south on 15th Street at around 10:20-p.m., and entering the intersection with Lincoln, at the same time a vehicle driven by 18-year old Krista Rogers, of Clarinda, was traveling west on Lincoln Street and entering the intersection. Ripley’s SUV hit Rogers’ SUV in the middle of the intersection, causing a total of $10,000 damage to the vehicles. After the impact, Rogers’ SUV hit a light pole, causing it to snap-off at the base. Damage to the City of Clarinda pole was estimated at $1,500. Police cited Rogers for Failure to Yield to the vehicle on her right.

w/ Ric Hanson

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A 37-year-old man has been arrested, accused of kidnapping his daughter in eastern Iowa and causing an Amber Alert to be issued.

Sean Shannon

Officials say Sean Shannon was arrested just before 11:30 a.m. Sunday in Cedar Rapids. Online records say Shannon remains in Benton County Jail, awaiting court action on a kidnapping charge.
He’s accused of abducting his 11-year-old daughter, Kiley, from her Shellsburg home on Thursday night. Authorities say he punched Kiley’s 15-year-old half brother at the home as he took the girl.

Kiley Seane Shannon

Authorities say Kiley was released without injury in Cedar Rapids less than an hour after the Amber Alert was issued on Friday evening. Authorities say Shannon doesn’t have parental rights to his daughter.

Members of the Elk Horn-Kimballton Board of Education will meet this evening in the Family and Consumer Science Room, at the High School in Elk Horn. During the 7-p.m. session, under the Consent Agenda, the Board will act on approving contracts with: Tony Santiseban, Junior High Boys Basketball/Assistant High School Basketball Coach, and Kelly Juhl, Assistant High School Girls Basketball Coach. They will also act on appointing a School Board lawyer, and Secretary/Treasurer as well as Business Manager.

Under “New Business,” the EHK Board will discuss and likely act on approving: contracts with HTS, Midwest Lock and Security, and Southwestern Community College; a bid for an I-T Room heat pump; and the high school and teacher handbooks.

Prior to adjourning for the evening, the Board will enter into a closed session per Iowa Code, to “Evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose hiring is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual’s reputation.”

Afterward, they will return from the closed session to discuss and act on Superintendent Dean Schnoes’ contract.