The first of what is expected to several lawsuits have been filed by an Iowa woman against Jimmy John’s for tainted sprouts. The woman is claiming she become ill after eating the sprouts. Heather Tuttle, 27, is seeking compensation from Jimmy Johns for her medical expenses and paing and suffering.

Heather is one of 12 individuals from Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Wisconsion who became ill after consuming the sprouts between December 25th and January 15. This includes several local Springfield, MO residents.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week that a preliminary investigation identified a common lot of clover seeds that were used to grow the tainted sprouts. The CDC said the seed supplier had warned Jimmy Johns to stop using them.

This is not the first time Jimmy Johns has been involved with sprout related illnesses. Since 2008, over 400 people have complained of illness due to sprouts.

Federal regulators warn against eating raw sprouts, which are one of the most frequent perpetrators of foodborne illness. Though they are often touted as a health food, sprouts grow in warm and humid conditions, which encourage bacterial growth.

As this food poisoning outbreak has reached the Ozarks, many individuals from the surrounding Springfield, Missouri area have been affected with e. coli. If you or someone you love have become ill as a result of eating Jimmy Johns sprouts, please contact the experienced Springfield food poisoning lawyers of Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. at 417-887-4300.

Goodyear announced this week that it would recall 41,000 of its wrangler silent armor tires. These tires were produced in 2009 and in 2011 at least two people have died as a result of a small tear in the tire

“A small number of tires within this population may experience a partial tread area separation under certain severe usage conditions,” Goodyear said in a February 22 letter to theNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Use of these tires in severe conditions could result in partial tread separation which could lead to vehicle damage or a motor vehicle crash.”

If you or someone you love has been injured by a faulty Goodyear tire, please contact the experienced Springfield product liability attorneys of Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. at 417-887-4300.

A Belleville nursing home was sued today for wrongful death by the family of a man who wandered away from the facility last month and was found dead less than a block away.

Aubrey Giles, 75, who had dementia, was reported missing from Midwest Rehab and Respiratory nursing home on January 14. His body was found two days later in a frozen ravine near the nursing home. A preliminary medical investigation determined hypothermia was the cause of death.

The four count lawsuit filed in St. Clair County alleges the nursing home was negligent, violated various state regulations, and failed to provide adequate supervised care. The suit was filed by O’Fallon, Ill., lawyer Staci M. Yandle, on behalf of Terri Dancy and Linda Woods, the administrators of Giles’ estate.

Earlier this month, the incident spurred the Illinois Department of Public Health to issue eight citations against the nursing home.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/illinois/belleville-nursing-home-sued-over-death-of-man-who-wandered/article_6f8acf74-5cc8-11e1-aae7-0019bb30f31a.html#ixzz1n4oPrORp

If you or someone you know has been injured while staying in a nursing home, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys of Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. at 417-887-4300.

One person was killed and two others injured today in a three-vehicle crash on Olive Boulevard, police said.

A black sport utility vehicle eastbound on Olive crossed the center line and struck two westbound vehicles about 11 a.m., said Capt. Steve Lewis of the Chesterfield Police Department.

The crash at Olive Boulevard at Creve Coeur Mill Road shut down the westbound lanes road until about 3:45 p.m., Lewis said. The SUV crossed into the westbound lanes, first struck a white pickup and then hit a four-door silver sedan.

Police late Tuesday did not know what caused the crash.

Police withheld identities of those involved late Tuesday. The person in the silver car died at a hospital, Lewis said. Two people in the SUV were hospitalized. A person in the white pickup was not hurt.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/one-dead-two-injured-in-chesterfield-crash/article_6a71c638-5cb8-11e1-bf0b-0019bb30f31a.html#ixzz1n4mt2QCX

If you or a loved one have been injured in a car accident, please contact the experienced Missouri car accident attorneys of Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. at 417-887-4300.

The Greene County Health Director is giving credit to his team in tracing the source for E.coli bacteria that made three folks sick in the Springfield area.

Kevin Gipson says epidemiologists and food safety inspectors were able to isolate bacteria from bad sprouts used in making Jimmy John’s sandwiches. That detective work contributed to a larger investigation by the Centers for Disease.

He also says the risk for further exposure has passed. The infections occurred during the second week in January.

The FDA has identified seeds from a common source used to grow clover sprouts that later made a dozen people sick in five states.

Read more: http://www.ktts.com/news/139479713.html

If you or a loved one have been infected with E. coli, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys of Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. at 417-887-4300.

The Greene County Health Director is giving credit to his team in tracing the source for E.coli bacteria that made three folks sick in the Springfield area.

Kevin Gipson says epidemiologists and food safety inspectors were able to isolate bacteria from bad sprouts used in making Jimmy John’s sandwiches. That detective work contributed to a larger investigation by the Centers for Disease.

He also says the risk for further exposure has passed. The infections occurred during the second week in January.

The FDA has identified seeds from a common source used to grow clover sprouts that later made a dozen people sick in five states.

Read more: http://www.ktts.com/news/139479713.html

If you or a loved one have been infected with E. coli, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys of Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. at 417-887-4300.

The Greene County Health Director is giving credit to his team in tracing the source for E.coli bacteria that made three folks sick in the Springfield area.

Kevin Gipson says epidemiologists and food safety inspectors were able to isolate bacteria from bad sprouts used in making Jimmy John’s sandwiches. That detective work contributed to a larger investigation by the Centers for Disease.

He also says the risk for further exposure has passed. The infections occurred during the second week in January.

The FDA has identified seeds from a common source used to grow clover sprouts that later made a dozen people sick in five states.

Read more: http://www.ktts.com/news/139479713.html

If you or a loved one have been infected with E. coli, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys of Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. at 417-887-4300.

Raw sprouts from the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s have been linked to an outbreak of foodborne illness – again.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that 12 cases of E. coli poisoning in five states are linked to raw clover sprouts eaten at Jimmy John’s restaurants. The outbreak comes a year after raw alfalfa sprouts from one of the chain’s suppliers were linked to 140 salmonella illnesses. Sprouts from the chain’s suppliers were also linked to a 2009 salmonella outbreak in several Midwestern states and were suspected in an E. coli outbreak in Boulder, Colo. in 2008.

Illinois-based Jimmy John’s declined to comment on the outbreak. After the salmonella outbreak a year ago, the company said it would switch from using alfalfa sprouts to using clover sprouts because they are easier to clean. But federal regulators warn against eating all raw sprouts, which are one of the most frequent perpetrators of foodborne illness.

Though they are often touted as a health food, sprouts need warm and humid conditions to grow, encouraging bacterial growth. Many restaurants have stopped serving them after multiple outbreaks, and the government recommends that the very young, elderly, pregnant and others with compromised immune systems stay away from raw sprouts completely. Fully cooked sprouts are safe to eat.

According to the CDC, there have been at least 30 outbreaks associated with raw or lightly cooked sprouts in the United States in the last 15 years and even more around the world, including a 1996 outbreak in Japan that sickened thousands of people with E. coli. Fenugreek sprout seeds from Egypt are thought to have caused a major outbreak of E. coli poisoning in Europe last year that killed more than 50 people.

Illnesses in the current outbreak were reported in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Wisconsin. The illnesses occurred between Dec. 25 and Jan. 15 and two of the victims were hospitalized.

In most sprout outbreaks the restaurant is not to blame for the contamination itself. Contamination usually happens when the seeds are grown or harvested and is often impossible to wash off.

Food safety lawyer Bill Marler has represented victims in the three previous sprout outbreaks potentially linked to Jimmy John’s. He has pushed the FDA to require warning labels on sprouts and praises restaurants that have taken them off the menu.

“You have to wonder what this company is thinking,” he said.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/16/jimmy-johns-e-coli_n_1281448.html?ref=food

If you or a loved one have been infected with E. coli, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys of Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. at 417-887-4300.

Raw sprouts from the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s have again been linked to an outbreak of foodborne illness, including three cases in the Springfield, Mo. area.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that 12 cases of E. coli poisoning in five states are linked to raw clover sprouts eaten at Jimmy John’s restaurants. The outbreak comes a year after raw alfalfa sprouts from one of the chain’s suppliers were linked to 140 salmonella illnesses. Sprouts from the chain’s suppliers were also linked to a 2009 salmonella outbreak in several Midwestern states and were suspected in an E. coli outbreak in Boulder, Colo. in 2008.

Illinois-based Jimmy John’s declined to comment on the outbreak. Springfield-Greene County health officials said the local restaurants cooperated with the investigation. The infections occurred between Jan. 7 and Jan. 13 and there is not an ongoing health risk to customers, according to the health department.

After the salmonella outbreak a year ago, the company said it would switch from using alfalfa sprouts to using clover sprouts because they are easier to clean. But federal regulators warn against eating all raw sprouts, which are one of the most frequent perpetrators of foodborne illness.

Though they are often touted as a health food, sprouts need warm and humid conditions to grow, encouraging bacterial growth. Many restaurants have stopped serving them after multiple outbreaks, and the government recommends that the very young, elderly, pregnant and others with compromised immune systems stay away from raw sprouts completely. Fully cooked sprouts are safe to eat.

According to the CDC, there have been at least 30 outbreaks associated with raw or lightly cooked sprouts in the United States in the last 15 years and even more around the world, including a 1996 outbreak in Japan that sickened thousands of people with E. coli. Fenugreek sprout seeds from Egypt are thought to have caused a major outbreak of E. coli poisoning in Europe last year that killed more than 50 people.

Illnesses in the current outbreak were reported in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Wisconsin. The illnesses occurred between Dec. 25 and Jan. 15 and two of the victims were hospitalized, neither in Missouri.

In most sprout outbreaks the restaurant is not to blame for the contamination itself. Contamination usually happens when the seeds are grown or harvested and is often impossible to wash off.

Food safety lawyer Bill Marler has represented victims in the three previous sprout outbreaks potentially linked to Jimmy John’s. He has pushed the FDA to require warning labels on sprouts and praises restaurants that have taken them off the menu.

“You have to wonder what this company is thinking,” he said.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/science/tainted-sprouts-again-linked-to-jimmy-john-s/article_b09b0ae9-2f09-52b0-ac7f-0f4376aa9ce1.html#ixzz1mbriduRt

Greene County’s top disease investigator said today that the source of the E. coli outbreak that has sickened people in five states appears to be sprout seeds that were sold to growers.

“It is believed to be the seeds that were the problem,” said Kendra Williams, the county administrator for community health and epidemiology.

Three of the E. coli cases linked to eating raw sprouts that are being investigated by federal health officials were in Greene County, local health officials said.

Williams said three women between the ages of 25 and 49 got sick with cramps and bloody diarrhea. The Springfield- Greene County Health Department investigated and found that each woman had eaten a sandwich with raw clover sprouts from Jimmy John’s.

Williams said three different Jimmy John’s restaurants were involved. She said the restaurants in Springfield had obtained the sprouts from a farm in Kansas, but neither the restaurants or the farm appeared to be the source of the contamination.

When county health inspectors visited the Jimmy John’s restaurants, they didn’t find any contaminated sprouts. Williams said the contaminated spouts had apparently been used.

John Hershberger, the owner of Sweetwater Farms in Inman, Kan., said federal investigators have not conclusively linked the seeds to the outbreak. He said an investigator from the U.S. Department of Food and Drug Administration was at his farm last week but didn’t find any contamination at the farm.

“They don’t know that for a fact,” Hershberger said of a possible link to the seeds.

Hershberger said he had voluntarily withdrawn clover sprouts from the market.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that it is collaborating with state and local public health officials in multiple states to investigate an outbreak of E. coli linked to eating raw sprouts. Using DNA “fingerprinting” of the E. coli bacteria and cross-referencing it with a national database, public health officials have confirmed that the bacterium is responsible for infection of 12 people in five states.

None of the three local cases resulted in hospitalizations.

Health officials said the local infections occurred between Jan. 7 and Jan. 13. At this point, there is no reason to believe there is an ongoing exposure risk at local restaurants.

“Jimmy John’s has been extremely cooperative and has taken all necessary steps to protect food safety at its locations,” said Health Director Kevin Gipson. “They took our investigation seriously and treated it with prompt attention.”

Read more: http://www.news-leader.com/article/20120216/NEWS01/302160087/Three-cases-ecoli-raw-sprouts-Greene-County?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

If you or a loved one have been infected with E. coli, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys of Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. at 417-887-4300.

Greene County’s top disease investigator said today that the source of the E. coli outbreak that has sickened people in five states appears to be sprout seeds that were sold to growers.

“It is believed to be the seeds that were the problem,” said Kendra Williams, the county administrator for community health and epidemiology.

Three of the E. coli cases linked to eating raw sprouts that are being investigated by federal health officials were in Greene County, local health officials said.

Williams said three women between the ages of 25 and 49 got sick with cramps and bloody diarrhea. The Springfield- Greene County Health Department investigated and found that each woman had eaten a sandwich with raw clover sprouts from Jimmy John’s.

Williams said three different Jimmy John’s restaurants were involved. She said the restaurants in Springfield had obtained the sprouts from a farm in Kansas, but neither the restaurants or the farm appeared to be the source of the contamination.

When county health inspectors visited the Jimmy John’s restaurants, they didn’t find any contaminated sprouts. Williams said the contaminated spouts had apparently been used.

John Hershberger, the owner of Sweetwater Farms in Inman, Kan., said federal investigators have not conclusively linked the seeds to the outbreak. He said an investigator from the U.S. Department of Food and Drug Administration was at his farm last week but didn’t find any contamination at the farm.

“They don’t know that for a fact,” Hershberger said of a possible link to the seeds.

Hershberger said he had voluntarily withdrawn clover sprouts from the market.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that it is collaborating with state and local public health officials in multiple states to investigate an outbreak of E. coli linked to eating raw sprouts. Using DNA “fingerprinting” of the E. coli bacteria and cross-referencing it with a national database, public health officials have confirmed that the bacterium is responsible for infection of 12 people in five states.

None of the three local cases resulted in hospitalizations.

Health officials said the local infections occurred between Jan. 7 and Jan. 13. At this point, there is no reason to believe there is an ongoing exposure risk at local restaurants.

“Jimmy John’s has been extremely cooperative and has taken all necessary steps to protect food safety at its locations,” said Health Director Kevin Gipson. “They took our investigation seriously and treated it with prompt attention.”

Read more: http://www.news-leader.com/article/20120216/NEWS01/302160087/Three-cases-ecoli-raw-sprouts-Greene-County?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

If you or a loved one have been infected with E. coli, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys of Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. at 417-887-4300.

Authorities in St. Louis say the pedestrian killed along Interstate 55 was a man in his 60s who was trying to help a friend who ran out of gas.

A semi struck the man Wednesday night as he standing on the left shoulder of I-55, trying to fill the gas tank of the disabled car. The victim’s name has not been released.

Investigators say the truck driver stopped. Charges are not expected.

All lanes of southbound I-55 were closed for more than two hours.

Read More: http://www.news-leader.com/article/20120202/NEWS11/302020082/ST-LOUIS-INTERSTATE-PEDESTRIAN-KILLED?odyssey=obinsite

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a pedestrian accident, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys of Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. at 417-887-4300.

On the day jury selection was to begin in a wrongful death lawsuit in the case of a 16-year-old St. Joseph boy who died when he was hit by a school bus , a multi-million dollar settlement was reached.

Mason Adams was s truck by a First Student Inc., school bus on Nov. 15, 2010 when walking to school. He was about three-tenths of a mile from Lafayette High School, where he was a junior.

Mason’s mother filed the wrongful death lawsuit against First Student and the bus driver, and were awarded a $5 million judgment on Monday.

In First Student taking responsibility for Mason’s death, his mother, Bridget Blasi, got what she really wanted, according to an email from her attorney.

Blasi spoke with 41 Action News Reporter Beth Vaughn in front of the Buchanan County Courthouse. She said, “I had been waiting on an apology. I had been waiting on them to say ‘We’re responsible for your son’s death.’ Today, they finally said that.”

Blasi is hoping to use the settlement money to build a baseball park in St. Joseph and to continue a scholarship fund in Mason’s name.

She explained tearfully, “Mason was #24. He was a competitive baseball player and he loved baseball.”
Blasi imagined what Mason might say to her now, saying, “You did it Mom. You fought for me and for what’s right and I’m so proud of you.”

We did some checking, and the St. Joseph School District pays First Student about three million dollars per year for its service. The company owns 60,000 buses nation-wide that is uses in 42 states.

Video was released for the first time Monday showing the bus driver, Tracey Jones, entering a fogged and frosted bus. The video shows Jones leaving the bus barn before clearing the windows. Shortly thereafter, Adams was struck and killed.

Attorney Michael Kuckelman explained what he’s argued for the past year, “A bus driver driving a 26,000 pound bus down the streets of St. Joseph with frost or dew on the windows, when she can’t see out, is like a 26,000 pound missile going down St. Joseph Avenue.”

He continued, “I think the amount of the settlement speaks volumes to how bad the case was.”

The St. Joseph School District tells 41 Action News it’s undecided if First Student will provide its transportation next year. The district is in the midst of a bidding process that is slated to end next week.

First Student refused to comment on the settlement.

Read more: http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_missouri/5-million-settlement-reached-in-fatal-St-Joseph-school-bus-wreck#ixzz1lewML7PZ

If you or someone you know has lost someone they love, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys of Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. at 417-887-4300.