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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2016
OSCEOLA, IOWA 50213
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Z Capital Partners buys Affinity Gaming, Lakeside Casino By AMY HANSEN WILLEY
phone interview with the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune.
OST news editor ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
‘Concentration of ownership’ Under the terms of the agreement, Z Capital and its affiliates, which currently own approximately 41 percent of Affinity’s outstanding shares, will purchase Affinity’s remaining outstanding shares for $17.35 per share in cash. Jaffoni said the situation is more of a concentration of ownership, and Z Capital has been a majority shareholder for the past several years. Z Capital has received a debt-financing commitment in the amount of $465 million from Citizens Bank, National Association. “We are pleased to enter into the agreement to purchase Affinity and transition from the largest shareholder to sole controlling
There’s a new name to the owner of Lakeside Hotel and Casino, but it’s a familiar one to the company. According to a corporate press release, Z Capital Partners, the private equity management arm of Z Capital Group LLC, a global alternative investment manager focused on opportunistic, value-oriented private equity and credit funds, and Affinity Gaming, a diversified casino gaming operator, announced they have entered into an agreement for Z Capital to buy Affinity in an all-cash transaction that values Affinity at approximately $580 million. “It doesn’t mean you’re going to see anything different locally at the property,” said Joseph Jaffoni, spokesperson for Affinity, during a
LAKESIDE | 4
OST photo by AMY HANSEN WILLEY
Clarke County Public Health is located at 144 W. Jefferson St. on the square in Osceola.
Prepare yourself Clarke County Public Health to only offer flu shots this year; no mist available By AMY HANSEN WILLEY
lot of little kids that are used to getting the mist.”
OST news editor ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
Starting in October Clarke County Public Health will start having flu shots available the first week in October with “Walk-In Wednesdays.” If Wednesdays don’t work for people, appointments can be made to have a flu shot administered. The public health office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but every other Wednesday the office has clinics, which means officials could be working until 5 or 5:30 p.m. They do their best to offer later appointments. Flu shots at Clarke County Public Health will be quadrivalent, which protects against the four main influenza strands. This year, the quadrivalent flu shot will contain two different stands of influenza A and two different strands of influenza B. “They change it every year what strands are in there because it mutates so much,” Hickenbottom said. “They try to put the strands in there that they find the year before that most people were getting sick from.”
If you always got the flu mist because of a fear of needles, you will have to face your fears if you want a flu vaccine this year. The flu spray/mist will be unavailable at Clarke County Public Health for the 2016-17 influenza season. “They found that it was ineffective the last couple of years against one of the strands,” said Mackenzie Hickenbottom, administrator at Clarke County Public Health.
Effectiveness
OST photo by AMY HANSEN WILLEY
Pictured is the Lakeside Hotel and Casino sign.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body about two weeks after vaccination. These antibodies provide protection against infection with the viruses that are in the vaccine. Flu shots typically contain three to four strands of different types of influenza. Hickenbottom reiterated CDC officials discovered the flu mist wasn’t as effective as the flu shot against the different types of main influenza strands. “This year, they recommended that no one use the flu mist,” she said. “So, it’s going to be really hard for a
expense. If someone doesn’t have insurance, Clarke County Public Health’s flu shot costs $30. The public health office also has immunizations/vaccines for children, so anyone under the age of 18 who is on Medicaid or doesn’t have insurance, those young people are covered at no cost. “Hopefully, they’ll work on it (the mist) and get it so it’s more effective, and then it will be back next season,” Hickenbottom said. “Hopefully, next year it will be back. But, again, they really monitor how effective things are and they want it to be the best it can be.”
Getting it covered
Join the ‘herd’
Most insurance companies pay for the cost of a flu shot. For elderly adults, Medicare will pay for the
The public health staff also encourage the concept of having a herd immunity. The more people immu-
nized, the lesser the chances of infecting someone who is susceptible to getting ill. Babies under the age of 6 can’t get a flu shot. Elderly people, even with a shot, are still more susceptible to influenza or other viruses. A mother with an infant is recommended to get the flu shot so she won’t bring illnesses around her child. Young children and elderly citizens have died from influenza, as well as healthy adults. There can be other serious complications from it, too, including it leading to pneumonia. “You’re protecting yourself. You’re protecting your family and you’re protecting the community from getting sick,” Hickenbottom said.
How did the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. come to be? By AMY HANSEN WILLEY OST news editor ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
Did you enjoy your “unofficial end of summer?” The three-day holiday weekend culminated with Labor Day being observed Monday, Sept. 5. Many people see Labor Day as a chance to get in any last summer plans before school, activities and other fall schedules kick into high gear. “I think you can get that with a lot of holidays the further you get from the reasons. Upton Sinclair’s ‘Jungle’ has been a long time ago,” said Derek Lumsden, executive director of Osceola Chamber/Main SINGLE COPY PRICE: $1.00
Copyright 2016
Street. “I think it shows that people have come a long way from it, even if they do realize what it means, just like Memorial Day or Fourth of July Lumsden or anything like that. It becomes a symbol of ‘let’s take time and relax,’ and people forget the meaning behind it.”
A history Here’s a more in-depth look at the labor that went into creating Labor Day. According to the United States Department of Labor, Labor Day,
the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of the country. The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. It became a federal holiday in 1894. “I think a lot of people work really hard all year round, and this is the government’s way of recognizing, at least once a year, how im-
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portant those people are, and that everybody needs a day off when possible,” Lumsden said.
The strikes But, what about the working conditions that led to the formation of Labor Day? The late 19th and early 20th centuries were a time of big business, with major industrialists and tycoons often termed as “robber barons.” The average worker was striving for the basic employment and safety protections that are viewed as normal and expected in today’s 21st century society. There were long hours, dangerous working conditions and rampant child-labor prac-
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Don’t Forget
Weather Local 3-Day Forecast
Partly cloudy with a stray tstorm. Highs in the mid 80s and lows in the upper 60s.
tices. An example is the Pullman Strike of 1894, which was a nationwide railroad strike near Chicago. The strike and boycott shut down the majority of freight and passenger traffic west of Detroit. Workers were upset because of a significant reduction in wages. Remember, railroads were the main form of transportation back then. Shut them down, and major gridlock and chaos would ensue. The unions, railroad company and federal government all seemed to be pitted against each other. President Grover Cleveland, citing a delayed U.S. mail system,
81/57 Showers and t-storms. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the upper 50s.
74/52 Abundant sunshine. Highs in the mid 70s and lows in the low 50s.
Clarke County Farmers Market
Clarke County Farmers Market is 8 a.m. to noon on the square in Osceola.
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