(Radio Iowa) – Despite this temporary warm spell, Iowa’s still in the midst of cold and flu season and there’s an increased health risk from taking too much over-the-counter medication to relieve symptoms like coughing, sneezing, headaches and body aches. Janna Day, spokeswoman for the Iowa Poison Control Center and a licensed practical nurse, says they’re seeing an upturn in calls about the risks of taking multiple meds to fight seasonal ailments. Day says, “One of the common scenarios is that people unintentionally take too much of the same active ingredient that they might find in various over-the-counter medications that they may be taking.” The products are safe for most people to use when they follow the directions or their doctor’s recommendations, but Day says problems may crop up when folks try to fight too many battles at once.

“Maybe they’re taking something for cold symptoms. Maybe they take something else for pain. Maybe they take something else for a cough,” Day says, “and they don’t realize that each of those medications individually has the same active ingredient and that they’ve now taken too much of that.” Day says people need to be especially careful when they take certain drugs — like acetaminophen, decongestants, antihistamines and cough suppressants — as they could be just fine alone, but they may be hazardous in combination. “Sometimes folks might take too much because they think it might work better if they take a higher dose,” Day says. “It’s important to note that you wouldn’t want to take a higher dose to try to get more relief. It’s important to follow the dosage recommendations.”

Symptoms from taking too many meds at once could include nausea, dizziness, vomiting, confusion and more, but Day urges Iowans to call the Poison Center before symptoms appear if they fear they’ve over-medicated themselves. Day says it’s vital that parents follow the directions explicitly when they’re administering drugs to their children. “You might not dose it exactly right,” Day says. “So instead of digging the tablespoon out of the drawer, make sure you’re actually using the dosage cup or the dosage syringe that comes with that product so you can make sure that you’re actually giving the child the exact right dose.”

The Sioux City-based Iowa Poison Control Center responds to more than 23,000 cases each year and makes more than 50,000 follow-up calls to ensure patients remain safe. More than half of all cases involve children under the age of 19. The round-the-clock number is 1-800-222-1222.

(Red Oak, IA) – A traffic stop at around 11:25-p.m. Monday in Villisca, resulted in the arrest of a teenager for OWI/1st offense. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the traffic stop was conducted at 3rd Avenue and 5th Street in Villisca. The 16-year-old driver of the vehicle (whose name was not released) was cited into Juvenile Court, and released to their guardian.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The Food and Drug Administration recalled a supplement Friday that may contain a widely drug-resistant strain of Salmonella. The Rosabella-brand moringa powder sold through Tryrosabella.com , as well as on Amazon, TikTok and Shein, and was distributed by Ambrosia Brands LLC. The Salmonella illness was reported in multiple states, including Iowa. Three people have been hospitalized.

This strain, Salmonella Newport, is resistant to all first-line and alternative antibiotics commonly recommended for treatment. The recall affects certain lots expiring in 2027, with a full list on the FDA’s website.

Salmonella symptoms can occur 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food. Symptoms can include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. The FDA says you should throw any contaminated product away, or return it. Anyone who has the product should clean any surfaces that it touched.

If you have infection symptoms after taking the product, call your healthcare provider.

(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – A House subcommittee advanced a bill Monday that would require all wind turbines in the state be equipped with aircraft detection lighting systems, to address landowner complaints about blinking red lights.

House File 2081 as introduced would require new wind farms be constructed with the sensor-based lights and existing turbines to be retrofitted with the lights by the start of 2028. Lawmakers in the subcommittee, however, said they plan to amend the bill to extend the timeline to change out existing lights.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Dean Fisher, R-Montour, who said landowners in his district have been upset about the lights on a recent wind energy conversion facility built in Tama County.  Fisher specified that the bill helps people “miles away” from a wind turbine farm who don’t reap any of the economic benefits of having a turbine on their property.

The bill calls for the implementation of aircraft detection lighting systems, sometimes abbreviated as ADLS, which the Federal Aviation Administration describes as obstruction lights that turn on when a primary radar detects approaching aircraft. The lights remain on until the aircraft has passed the area and will also turn on if there is a failure with the sensor.

Chaz Allen, a lobbyist representing the Iowa Utility Association — of which MidAmerican Energy Company and Alliant Energy Corporation are part — said utilities are “already in the process” putting these lights in place.  According to Allen, about 27% of wind turbines in Iowa have the aircraft detecting sensors in place. Allen was registered undecided on the bill, but said the deadlines might not be feasible because the utilities have to get approval from FAA and the Federal Communications Commission, which can slow down retrofitting.

No groups registered opposed to the bill. The Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Iowa Environmental Council both registered in favor of the bill. Rep. Adam Zabner, D-Iowa City, did not support the measure because he worried about implementing a mandate that would increase utility costs for Iowans.

Rep. Tom Determann, R-Clinton, and Rep. David Blom, R-Marshalltown, voted to advance the bill, with the intention of amending the implementation timeline required by the bill.

(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – A bill that would require Iowa’s medical facilities to inform regulators of any serious medical errors is again facing opposition from the state’s hospitals. Senate File 2185 would require Iowa hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and birth centers to report any “serious reportable events” — sometimes called “never events” — to the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing.

Such events include injuries or deaths associated with the use of contaminated drugs, major medication errors, the discharge of newborn infants to the wrong patients, surgery on the wrong body part or wrong patient, and artificial insemination with the wrong sperm or donor egg.

Recently, the nonprofit National Quality Forum, an affiliate of the Joint Commission, which accredits many of the nation’s hospitals, reported that more than 30 states and the District of Columbia have incorporated the organizations’ list of reportable events into their own event-reporting programs — some of which require reporting to state regulators, and some of which treat such reporting as voluntary.

Although Senate File 2185 includes provisions that appear intended to elicit support from the medical community — such as a requirement that any reports made to DIAL exclude information that would identify any individual health care professionals involved in an incident — it has, as in years past, run into opposition from the state’s hospitals.

The Iowa Hospital Association, UnityPoint Health and MercyOne are all registered in opposition to the bill. Executives and lobbyists with all three entities did not respond to the Iowa Capital Dispatch’s inquiries last week and Monday about their stance on the legislation.

The bill passed a subcommittee Feb. 12 and moved to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. The full panel is so far not scheduled to meet this week. Most bills need approval from a committee in either the House or Senate before the end of this week to remain eligible for debate this session.

(Radio Iowa) – The Sioux City Community School District is rolling out new electric buses this week after receiving
almost six million dollars for 15 new buses from a E-P-A program. District Operations and Maintenance director Tim Paul admits there was some push-back from some community members who aren’t fans of electric buses.

“There was a lot of back and forth with it, but I think it’s been the right decision. Time will tell,” he says. “All this is new technology, but it’s really a growing technology, and I see it moving forward, especially in the, the city or the rural routes, maybe not so much, but the urban routes for sure.” Doug Stewart oversees the Sioux City bus department and says the first thing you notice about an electric bus is the quiet ride.

“You don’t have the diesel motor, gasoline motor, or propane motor noise. Propane are by far the loudest of the motors that we have. So all you have is the electric hum of the electric motor in the back, which is in the back by the tires, actually,” he says. Stewart showed off the buses to local media Monday. The electric buses replace older diesel ones and will make up one quarter of the district’s fleet.

“It’s much cleaner for the environment. It’s a much better experience for the driver, I’d say, more comfortable. I think it’s going to be a much better experience for the students as well,” Stewart says.

The Clean School Bus Program provided two-point-six ($2.6) billion dollars to help schools purchase zero-emission buses. Five billion was allocated by the Biden Administration, but the E-P-A says it’s reviewing the program under an executive order from the Trump administration to ensure tax dollars aren’t wasted. The Environmental Law and Policy Center says at least 46 electric school buses have been funded by federal and state money for 16 school districts across Iowa.

(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH, Des Moines, IA) – Iowa lawmakers advanced two bills from House subcommittees Monday that would restrict the commercial operation of self-driving vehicles and assign liability to the owners of autonomous vehicles. The bills were opposed by automotive industry representatives who argued the legislation would prohibit situations like an automated car transporting passengers in places like an airport. Labor unions and trial lawyers supported the bills, arguing the language would protect Iowans from the new technology.

House Study Bill 598 would hold the owner of a self-driving vehicle liable in the event of a crash or traffic law violation. It would also prohibit a “driverless-capable vehicle” from transporting hazardous material without a conventional human driver.  Michael Triplett, speaking on behalf of the Alliance For Automotive Innovation, said the bill would hold the owner of the car liable for “everything” when they put the car into autonomous mode. Triplett also called the language around hazardous material “extremely vague.”

The bill summary explains hazardous material is a “substance or material which has been determined by the U.S. secretary of transportation to be capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce.” General Motors also registered against the bill.  Lawmakers said the language of the bill still needed work, but the subcommittee ultimately decided to advance the bill. The other bill considered on Monday, House File 2375, would require a licensed, “conventional human driver” to be present in vehicles equipped with self-driving capabilities if the car is operating in a commercial capacity.

Driverless cars from companies like Waymo are now common rideshare operators in large cities like San Francisco, Austin and Los Angeles.  Uber Technologies, Inc. the popular rideshare and delivery company, registered as undecided on both bills, and did not have a representative speak at either subcommittee.”

All three lawmakers on the subcommittee, including Rep. Craig Williams (R) from Manning, and Rep. Brent Siegrist (R) from Council Bluffs, agreed to move HF 2375 forward, Monday, with Siegrist saying said some exceptions, like airports, might be warranted in the bill, but said generally the bill was an “appropriate response” to the “burgeoning industry.”

The bills are scheduled for consideration Tuesday (today) in the House Transportation Committee. They must advance from the committee by Friday to remain eligible beyond Legislature’s self-imposed funnel deadline.

(Des Moines, IA) – A member of the Iowa House of Representatives, Monday, announced she is retiring, and will not seek re-election. Democrat Jennifer Konfrst, who has represented the 32nd District since 2019, said in a post on social media that she  will retire from the Iowa House at the end of this year.

In a Facebook post, Konfrst thanked supporters following her recent decision to end her campaign for Congress. She said she is stepping aside to make room for new leadership in House District 32. Konfrst also said she is not done with politics and plans to serve her constituents through January 2027 while helping other Democrats leading up to Election Day.

Rep. Jennifer Konfrst (D) profile photo from her official Facebook page

Read her full statement, here:

(Radio Iowa) – A legislator who started drinking a different flavor of a popular beverage was surprised she couldn’t return the empties for a nickel deposit, so she’s sponsoring a bill to expand Iowa’s Bottle Bill. Representative Devon Wood of New Market consumes a lot of CELSIUS, which contains caffeine.

“I fell in love with a flavor to start with that happened to have been carbonated and was throwing it in my box of redeemables to redeem as usual and then switched to a flavor that was not carbonated and hadn’t even thought about the difference,” Wood said.

There is a difference. Aluminum cans that contain alcoholic or carbonated beverages are part of the “Bottle Bill” and subject to a five cent deposit, which can be redeemed. Wood’s bill would make cans with non-carbonated beverages subject to the Bottle Bill as well. Critics say the nickel deposit is a tax on Iowans.

Supporters of the Bottle Bill say it encourages recycling, so bottles and cans don’t wind up in the trash. Wood’s bill is eligible for consideration in a House committee this week.