FURTHER INFORMATION ON SALMONELLA OUTBREAK
A salmonella outbreak that has sickened several-hundred people in 39 states, is linked to peanut butter produced in Georgia and has area residents checking their cabinets. According to Metro News Source, nearly 300 people have gotten sick and almost all the victims have sought hospital treatment, but no one has died.
Even though no salmonella illness has been reported in Georgia, the largest peanut producer in the United States, the ConAgra Plant in Sylvester, GA has been voluntarily shut down. The Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning to consumers not to eat certain jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter. Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvinn says the recall involves jars of peanut butter with the product code on the lid that begins with the numbers 2111.
Locally, both Capri IGA and Super Value stores in Greenville told WGEL that they have taken all Peter Pan products off of the shelves, and are sending them back to their warehouses. Both grocery stores report that people have been returning the recalled product. Neither store in Greenville carries the Great Value brand of peanut butter. Anyone who has purchased Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter with the product code "2111" should return it to the store they purchased it from.
Salmonella is a bacterial infection that sickens about 40,000 people each year in the U.S. Anyone with questions or concerns about the recall should call the 24-hour toll-free hotline at 866-344-6970.
POWER OUTAGE IN GREENVILLE THURSDAY MORNING
Around 5:30 Thursday morning, some area residents in central parts of Greenville were without power for a little over an hour. AmerenIP reports that they were continuing work on a 345,000-volt line and in order to safely make the repairs, power must be turned off during that time period. One of the switches that needed to be open during the repair process was frozen over; therefore, power will have to be shut down again next week to continue their work.
AmerenIP spokesperson Erica Abbett reminded area residents that Ameren makes every effort to contact every consumer that will be affected during these planned outages for repair work.
FAIR BOARD APPROVES UPGRADES AND FAIR EVENTS
In spite of the cold weather and ice, the Bond County Fair Board meeting was held on schedule this week. A motion was made and approved to purchase 125 new chairs and 10 new pipe gates for the horse arena. The treasurer report showed funds were available to make these purchases which made planning for the next fair easier. A motion was made and approved to pay the insurance premium for fair board member insurance when it is due. In order to meet the requirement to track the movement of show animals, the Bond County fair will be obtaining a premise ID number and there is no cost for that.
Two new sheep department assistant superintendents, Dennis Lingley and Diana Ostrom, were appointed. A motion was approved to set a monthly rental rate for the north horse barn at $400 per month plus electricity and $35 per month per stall for stalls in the south barn.
The Fair Board discussed several options for Thursday and Saturday night programs at the fair but no decision was made. The fair board received a request to install fans in the hog and dairy cattle show rings and will consider doing that if local dairy cattle and hog exhibitors will help for the fans.
