From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.)
WILLIAMSBURG, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have identified a man who was found dead last week in an eastern Iowa grain bin. The Iowa County Sheriff’s Office says 63-year-old Robert Wade Chittick, of Williamsburg, was found buried under 10 feet of corn after emergency responders were called around 7:30 a.m. Friday to the grain bin near Williamsburg. Arriving crews worked for an hour before finding Chittick inside the bin. He was declared dead at the scene. The sheriff’s office says the 20,000-bushel capacity grain bin is owned by Kinze Manufacturing and is leased to Circle J Grain of Williamsburg.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa agriculture officials said Saturday they have confirmed another case of bird flu in a flock of commercial pullet chickens. Iowa Department of Agriculture says in a news release the outbreak The in Franklin County is the seventh found in Iowa this month. The department says this latest outbreak affects about 250,000 birds. Farms found with the virus must kill and dispose of their flocks because the virus is highly contagious and fatal to domestic birds.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa agriculture officials have confirmed another case of bird flu in a commercial turkey farm in northwest Iowa. Official on Thursday said the outbreak in Buena Vista County will require the killing of nearly 54,0 turkeys. It’s the third case of avian influenza in the county, following a March 6 case that led to the killing of nearly 50,000 turkeys and an infection found March 17 that resulted in the killing of 5.3 million egg-laying hens. Iowa has had one other commercial egg-laying chicken farm affected in Taylor County, which involved 915,000 birds. Two other Iowa cases involved backyard birds. U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows 17 states have confirmed cases in commercial or backyard flocks.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The family of a boy whose brain was severely injured during birth at an Iowa City hospital has been awarded $97.4 million. The Des Moines Register reports that a Johnson County on Monday handed down the award, believed to be the largest medical malpractice verdict in Iowa’s history. The award came in a lawsuit filed by Kathleen and Andrew Kromphardt against Mercy Hospital Iowa City and an obstetrician. The family’s lawyers contend that the boy’s brain damage was caused by, among other things, medical staff’s failure to deliver the baby by cesarean section. The boy is now 3 years old and is unable to walk by himself or speak beyond a few words. The family says he will need 24-hour care for the rest of his life.
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – Planned Parenthood North Central States has received an unexpected donation of $20 million from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. It’s the largest donation in the organization’s history. Scott is the former wife of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. North Central States operates 28 facilities in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, says the donation brings tremendous relief because costs of providing care are going up. Scott revealed Wednesday that she has donated nearly $4 billion to 465 nonprofits, including $275 million to Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
