Another compromise proposed on how to keep meth makers from buying pseudophed, packaged salads from Ohio blamed for illnesses in six states including Indiana, 7 Indiana Mayors area among 300 in the nation’s capital to talk about common concern, problems and possible solutions…
INDIANA METH LAW
An Indiana legislator is scaling back his proposal to require a doctor’s prescription to buy cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine as lawmakers look for ways to prevent methamphetamine makers from obtaining the drug.
Republican Representative Ben Smaltz of Auburn says the new version will classify pseudoephedrine in a way that most consumers would be able to buy it, but pharmacists would have authority to require a prescription from suspicious customers. The change also establishes a registry to cross-check customers who have a criminal record of meth-related offenses.
The House Public Health Committee is set to consider Smaltz’s bill and other meth-related measures on Monday.
Committee chairwoman Cindy Kirchhofer of Indianapolis said last week the prescription requirement bill wouldn’t be taken up, but she calls the new version a compromise.
SALAD-LISTERIA
Packaged salads produced at a Dole facility in Ohio are linked to one listeria death in Michigan.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that 12 people in six states have been hospitalized in the outbreak. Salads have been sold under the names Dole, Fresh Selections, Simple Truth, Marketside, The Little Salad Bar and President’s Choice.
The CDC says Dole has stopped all production at the Springfield, Ohio, plant and is withdrawing packaged salads on the market that were produced there.
The agency says that the illnesses were in Michigan, , Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Listeria can cause fever, muscle aches and gastrointestinal symptoms and can be fatal. It also can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature labor, and serious illness or death in newborn babies.
SPEED CEMENT
Residents living near a cement-making plant in a small southern Indiana community are worried the plant’s plans to use a new fuel type could pose a public health and environmental threat. Essroc Cement Corporation is applying for a state environmental permit to burn liquid waste-derived fuel in one of its cement kilns in the unincorporated Clark County community of Speed. The News and Tribune reports the fuel is repurposed from used products such as antifreeze.
KAYKER RESCUE
Officials say a 28-year-old kayaker is out of the hospital a day after being pulled from the icy White River in Indianapolis. Emergency crews were called to rescue the man about 4:30 p.m. Thursday. He was about 30-feet from shore. Although bystanders weren’t able to reach the man they helped keep him awake and talking until a fire crew arrived on the scene. Rescuers say the man had been in the water for about 15 minutes and severe hypothermia had set in by the time he was rescued.
FLINT WATER
Indiana residents are collecting bottles of water for Flint, Michigan, where high levels of lead have been found in the city’s water. In South Bend, volunteers are organizing a bottled water drive for Saturday. Organizer Donald Smith says his 3-year-old son was diagnosed with lead poisoning because of lead-based paint. Volunteers say they’ll be getting donations from Indianapolis, Elkhart and Fort Wayne. They plan to drive them Sunday to Michigan.
MAYORS IN DC
Despite where you live–cities large and small are facing the same challenges –crumbling infrastructure, community/police relations, education, and job creation. And if you’re a mayor, nobody cares what your party is, they care what you’re getting done. Seven mayors from Indiana are in Washington D.C. this week for the U.S. Conference of Mayor’s winter meeting. Nearly 300 mayors from throughout the nation are sharing stories, ideas and solutions for how to better serve you. Indianapolis will play host to the group’s national convention in June.