Meeker County tobacco retailers recently received a thumbs up for giving the red light to underage smokers.

All 22 Meeker County establishments licensed to sell tobacco passed a compliance check in the past year. The check, conducted by the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office and Meeker County Public Health, is an unannounced investigation to determine whether retailers are selling tobacco to underage youth.

A new report published today by the Minnesota Department of Health documents significant reductions in the number of methamphetamine (meth) labs and meth users in Minnesota over the past few years. The report, Methamphetamine in Minnesota: a report on the impact of one illicit drug, is the first comprehensive review of the impact of meth in Minnesota.

The report’s key findings include:

* Between 2003 and 2007, the number of reported meth labs decreased by 92 percent. The number of reported meth labs in Minnesota peaked in 2003, at nearly 500.

Awareness of illnesses and healthy swimming behaviors play an important role in stopping the spread of illnesses through recreational water, according to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

“Germs on and in swimmers’ bodies end up in the water and can make other people sick,” said Dr. Kirk Smith, foodborne disease supervisor for MDH “Even healthy swimmers can get sick from recreational water illnesses, but the young, elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are especially at risk.”

Specific actions you can take to promote healthy swimming include:

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is accepting grant applications for a new grant program aimed at helping local units of government improve the safety of public swimming pool outlets and drainage systems.

Priority for grants will be given to projects that involve installing a secondary suction or drainage outlet for public pools where a fee is not charged for the use of the pool.

Owners of public pools in Minnesota must provide information to the Minnesota Department of Health by July 1 about their pools and the drain covers in their pools in order to renew or receive a license to operate. The drain covers must meet industry standards, be properly installed and not be broken or loose.

To help pool owners provide this information more quickly and easily, the department has created an online survey at http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/pools/forms.html.

Jack Higgins can’t wait until CentraCare Dialysis clinic starts seeing patients in Litchfield.

For nearly three years, the 82-year-old has traveled to Hutchinson three days a week for dialysis. Now, he can go right down the road, and he already has his chair measured out.

“I’m glad it fits,” Higgins said Tuesday at the Litchfield dialysis clinic’s open house.

More than 100 representatives from public and private organizations will gather on Friday, June 6, to celebrate completion of The Promise of Primary Prevention: A Five-Year Plan to Prevent Sexual Violence and Exploitation in Minnesota. The event also launches three action teams to address specific areas of the plan: 1) framing and messaging, 2) policy and legislation, and 3) data and research.

The goals of the plan include:

Strengthening social norms that encourage healthy and respectful relationships.

State health officials have identified seven cases of salmonellosis in recent months that are associated with handling chicks or ducklings, prompting them to remind Minnesotans to wash hands thoroughly after handling baby poultry.

The Minnesota Department of Health said the cases occurred from late March through late May 2008 and ranged in age from 5 months to 70 years. Two of those who became ill, a 5-month old and a 42-year old, were hospitalized for 2 and 3 days, respectively.

The Minnesota Department of Health has revised its fish consumption advisory to include a large new body of data on contaminants in fish from Minnesota lakes and rivers. The advisory is also in a new format designed to make it easier to understand while encouraging people to eat more fish.