The grand opening of a new gambling facility is tomorrow (Saturday) in southwest Iowa. Harrah’s Council Bluffs Casino has been closed this week as it transitions from being aboard a riverboat to an exclusively land-based gaming hall. Harrah’s general manager Bo Guidry says there will be advantages to not having a riverboat.  “It’s a good feeling not having to worry about customers going onto three different levels and having a slow elevator or to go up the stairs,” Guidry says. The Kanesville Queen, docked along the Missouri River, was closed for good over the weekend. The new casino is located near the entrance to the hotel. 

“We’re about 30 steps away from valet,” Guidry says. “Before, you had to park your car, walk down these long corridors, then you had to get on the ramp of the boat, which was 200 feet long, and then you would get to the boat.” The riverboat officially closed at 4 A-M on Monday and Guidry says it was a good morning for one gambler in particular. “Our last customer who left won $500 right before she left so it was fantastic and she had a great time,” he says.

The casino will offer new options for gambling, dining and entertainment. It has about 25-thousand square feet of gaming space, which is a bit smaller than what was available on the boat. Efforts to sell the riverboat and keep it afloat have failed. The plan is now to tear it apart for scrap. The new gaming space replaces what was Harrah’s convention area. Last year, the company took over operations of the Mid America Center in Council Bluffs. All events that were held at the casino are now being held there, including weddings, receptions and conventions.

(Radio Iowa)

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is asking for more adults to be vaccinated against pertussis. Through the G.I.F.T. (Give Immunity Fight Transmission) program, officials with Shelby County Public Health say they can immunize more families by receiving the Adacel vaccine at no charge.  New mothers, fathers, grandparents, and day care providers are urged to get vaccinated against pertussis to decrease the spread of this highly contagious disease to infants and others. 

Recipients of the free Adacel vaccine must have Medicaid, Medicare, or no insurance and have an income level at or below 200% of the federal poverty level ($1985 per month for a family of 2). Interested persons may contact Shelby County Public Health at 755-4422 to make an appointment to receive the Adacel vaccine against pertussis or may register on-line at www.shelbycountyclinics.com.

According to the CDC, people who are not vaccinated have eight times the risk of infection compared to people who are fully vaccinated against pertussis. If someone who has been vaccinated does get pertussis, the disease is usually less serious and they’re far less likely to spread the virus to someone else. The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) joins the CDC in urging Iowa adults to talk to their health care provider about getting a booster dose of pertussis-containing vaccine.

While children ages 5 to 14 years make up the bulk of reported cases, it’s important to note that adults are considered the primary ‘spreaders’ of the disease.  It’s especially important that adults receive pertussis-containing vaccine because they can spread the disease to infants who are too young to be immunized. In infants, pertussis can be severe and even deadly. Adults can receive the Tdap (the adult tetanus vaccine that also contains whooping cough vaccine) immunization.

For more information about pertussis, including the Iowa Pertussis Update, visit www.idph.state.ia.us/Cade/default.aspx?group=3#DI.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Some extra Iowa marketing may precede the arrival of “The Bridges of Madison County” on Broadway. Robert Waller’s best-selling book about two people who met at one of Iowa’s famed covered bridges has been turned into a musical. It first was turned in to a 1995 movie starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep.
 
Producers said Thursday the show will debut in August at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts. It will then open in January at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater in New York. Madison County Chamber of Commerce executive director Heather Riley told The Des Moines Register that she’s been corresponding with a marketing representative from the musical’s production company about promoting the musical during the Covered Bridge Festival in October.

A Pottawattamie County man convicted in May on 1st and 2nd degree kidnapping charges has had his sentencing delayed until mid-August. The Omaha World-Herald says 39-year old Bryan Bey, of Crescent, was supposed to have been sentenced yesterday (Thursday), but his court-appointed attorney filed for a continuance in the case. Sentencing was then rescheduled to August 9th.

Bey was convicted on of first- and second-degree kidnapping in the May 2012 beating and abduction of 30-year old Tabitha Proplesch. Proplesch was found severely beaten, nearly unconscious and handcuffed in the cab of the truck that had run out of gas.

Tests have confirmed a “devastating” virus has struck swine herds in eight states, including Iowa. The National Pork Producers Council is committing 410-thousand dollars to research aimed at combating the disease. The virus — known as P-E-D-V — is not transmitted to humans and is not considered a threat to food safety, but the vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration it causes can kill up to 90 percent of baby pigs in a herd. Dr. Howard Hill, a veterinarian, is the president-elect of the National Pork Producers Council. “For the individual farm that’s gotten infected, it’s quite devastating,” Hill says. The virus has been found in much of Europe and in China, but this is the first time it has been discovered in the western hemisphere.

“It doesn’t look like the disease has been here very long,” Hill says. Diagnostic labs at Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota have confirmed 103 cases of the virus. “Unfortunately, the scope seems to be getting bigger,” Hill says. “…We know there’s a lot more cases than that.” Besides Iowa, tests have confirmed the virus is present in swine herds in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Oklahoma and Colorado. There is no vaccine available for the virus today, although Hill says a lab plans to start testing a vaccine late this summer.

“There’s some procedures that veterinarians have in place to try to get over the disease as quick as possible,” Hill says. “But the big thing we need to stress is biosecurity and that biosecurity would be everything from transportation, making sure trucks are in the right flow — washing, disinfecting, drying; same with facilities; same with making sure that maintenance people and all your employees are doing what they’re supposed to be doing.” Some “good, hot days” in Iowa could kill the virus, according to Hill. Hill works for Iowa Select Farms, an Iowa Falls-based pork operation that employs over 900 people in 43 Iowa counties.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A John Deere plant in Dubuque has laid off 65 employees in its manufacturing section. Waterloo television station KWWL reportsthe employees at John Deere Dubuque Works were notified yesterday. The layoffs are effective June 24th. John Deere spokesman Ken Golden says the layoffs were according to seniority.

CARROLL, Iowa (AP) — Funeral services are being held this afternoon for James Wilson, the publisher of western Iowa’s Carroll Daily Times Herald newspaper for 36 years. Services begin today at 3 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Carroll.

OSCEOLA, Iowa (AP) — The board that regulates gambling in Iowa is accepting applications for a proposed casino in Cedar Rapids through September 3rd. Voters in Linn County approved a gambling referendum in March and developers are proposing to build a $100 million casino. The five-member Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission also will hire a consultant to conduct a statewide market study to look at the impact of adding casinos in Iowa.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Michael Annett has always cherished racing at his hometown track in Des Moines, Iowa. Annett’s latest trip to Iowa Speedway will mark a major milestone in his comeback from a gruesome injury. When the NASCAR Nationwide series runs in Iowa tomorrow night, the 26-year-old Annett will race for just the third time since fracturing and dislocating his sternum in February.

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today encouraged horse owners to protect their animals from the West Nile virus by making sure their horses are vaccinated and that the vaccination is up-to-date. The first year of vaccination requires two vaccinations to be protective for horses and then annual boosters in following years.

“As we enter mosquito season it is important for horse owners to vaccinate their animals so that they are protected from West Nile virus,” Northey said. “I encourage owners to talk to their veterinarian about vaccination and make sure all their animals’ vaccinations are up-to-date.”

In 2012 Iowa had 36 confirmed West Nile virus cases in horses last year and in most cases the animals had not had any vaccinations and in a few of these cases only had their first dose of vaccine. Iowa had only one confirmed case in a horse in 2011. West Nile virus has been in the U.S. since 1999, and while it is primarily a disease of birds it can infect horses, dogs, humans, and several other animal species.

It is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. Most animals and humans do not show clinical signs of being infected, but horses may develop a brain infection with signs such as lethargy, weakness, incoordination/staggering, paralysis or even death.

Horse owners are encouraged to contact their veterinarian for more information and to discuss vaccination and other preventions measures, such as mosquito control.