CNA-10-20-2014

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DC-G TAKES DISTRICT

FIREFIGHTER 5K

Dallas Center-Grimes football team defeated Creston/O-M 35-14 Friday evening at Panther Field. The Panthers move to 6-2 overall heading into the regular season finale at Atlantic this Friday. Read more in SPORTS, page 5A. >>

More than 100 people participated in the third annual Band of Brotherhood 5K run/walk and firefighter hike Saturday at McKinley Park. See full results and photos from the event on page 10A.

creston

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014

flu season

Tips to protect your family from influenza this year By BAILEY POOLMAN

CNA staff reporter bpoolman@crestonnews.com

It’s the time of year again to watch out for the flu bug. This season, Robin Sevier, Union County public health nurse, gives tips to protect yourself and your family against influenza. Q: What is influenza? A: “Influenza is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat and lungs. It can cause mild to severe illness, and the best way to prevent influenza is by getting a flu vaccine each year.” Q: When is the flu season? A: “It’s not really possible to predict what the flu season will be like this year. The timing, severity and length of the flu season varies usually from one year to the next. Most commonly, flu activity peaks between December and February.” Q: What should you do if you have the flu? A: “The best way would be to contact your physician. They may be able to order an antiviral. But a test to determine that for sure, that’s the only way to determine that you actually have influenza.” Sevier also said young children and the elderly are most

CNA file photo

Tricia Pedrick, registered nurse at Greater Regional Medical Center (GRMC), right, administers a flu shot to Gary Scott of Mount Ayr in 2013. Public health officials recommend you get the flu shot because the influenza virus can be life-threatening. Flu shots can be given to those sixth months of age and older. It takes about two weeks for the vaccine to give 100 percent protection. For more information, call GRMC outreach and public health at 641-782-3682.

susceptible to the virus, and it is recommended anyone six months of age or older get a flu vaccine. Stay home, drink fluids and rest if symptoms pop up. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches and fatigue.

Q: When can you get the vaccine? A: “Our flu clinics are every Thursday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., until Thanksgiving. ... It’s the best defense, other than good hand washing, to stay healthy during the winter months.”

Sevier said the cost is $30, but commercial insurances and Medicare are also accepted. The vaccine will protect against four strains of flu, including H1N1. Please see FLU, Page 2

QUICK NEWS Another I rating for Creston band at state

They met their goal. Creston Panther Marching Band received a I rating at the Iowa High School Music Association State Band Festival Saturday in Treynor. This marks 26 consecutive I ratings at state for the CHS band program. “I am so incredibly proud of this group,” said Mike Peters, band director at Creston High School. “It was by far the best performance of the year. The kids peaked at the perfect time. They marched and played cleaner and with more energy than they Peters had all season.” Creston’s band ■ Creston’s received 86.1 band receives points Saturday. “This is the 86.1 points at state most points Cres- — the proton has received gram’s best at state for at least showing in the last 30 years the past 30 (as far back as my years. records show),” Peters said. This year’s Creston band has 85 members, including 40 “rookies” in the band (freshman and new members). Peters said he was proud of the hard work his entire band put forth this summer and fall leading up to state. Peters said the band will now shift its focus to all-state auditions, concert and jazz band and winterguard.

Creston/Prescott schools merger?

Creston School Board is hosting a public information meeting 5:30 p.m. tonight and will discuss a consolidation of Creston and Prescott schools. The meeting does include a public forum. A full agenda was posted in Friday’s Creston News Advertiser.

Uptown railroad crossing closures this week

CNA photo by BAILEY POOLMAN

Highway 25 accident: Steve Maitlen, Union County sheriff chief deputy, front, and Creston Police Officer Jason Catrenich control

traffic after a vehicle accident 3 p.m. Friday on Highway 25. According to a Union County Sheriff report, Charlie Patterson, 59, of North Carolina, driving a 2014 International semi truck and trailer, owned by Heartland Express of North Liberty, had a medical condition, was unable to stop the vehicle and it rolled backward into the cable guard on the south side of Highway 25 near the Summit Bridge crossing before the vehicle jackknifed and it came to a stop. There was no damage done to the truck. The trailer’s passenger side skirt was damaged, and the cable and posts, owned by Iowa Department of Transportation, were damaged. No damage estimates are available.

Ammonia release in Villisca contained VILLISCA — Ammonia that got released from an agricultural cooperative in Villisca earlier this week is contained and is being recovered. The recovered solution of water and ammonia will be land applied to crop fields. An unknown amount of anhydrous ammonia was released into a city storm sewer

intake and then flowed into a small unnamed tributary of the West Nodaway River. The ammonia is believed to have originated at the United Farmers Mercantile Co-op in Villisca and to have occurred sometime between 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. It was reported to the DNR by a citizen.

Under instruction from the DNR, the co-op constructed a dam on the tributary and is pumping it to be land applied. By Friday afternoon, approximately 44,000 gallons of the solution had been recovered. The co-op is also flushing the tributary from the storm sewer to remove the contamination. Although the incident is

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Volume 131 No. 99

2014

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still under investigation by the DNR, it appears that soil at the cooperative had been contaminated with anhydrous ammonia and came in contact with water when a water line broke. Anhydrous ammonia is in vapor form until it comes Please see AMMONIA, Page 2

The railroad crossings at Elm Street and New York Avenue in uptown Creston will be periodically closed this week. Kevin Kruse, Creston’s public works director, said paint crews are expected to arrive Tuesday to make the traveling public visually aware of the newly constructed medians Kruse in uptown. Kruse added a water main is also scheduled to be replaced near the South Elm and Union street intersection Tuesday and will hold up traffic for at least one week. The medians constructed in uptown Creston are part of a traffic safety improvement project being completed by the city so they can apply with Federal Railroad Administration to be a Quiet Zone community. A Quiet Zone is a system — where strict safety standards are met — so that train conductors don’t have to sound their whistle upon entering a city or traveling over a railroad crossing.

SAVE THE DATE the 5th Annual

EXTRAVAGANZA holiday to holiday

Thanksgiving | Christmas | New Years

Monday, October 27, 2014


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