Le Mars girl dies from meningitis

A northwest Iowa girl has become the state’s third victim of bacterial meningitis this year.Nine-year-old Samantha Hawkins of LeMars died this weekend at a Sioux City hospital. Her illness was caused by type A strep bacteria, commonly associated with strep throat. The version of meningitis that killed Hawkins is extremely rare, and health officials say there’s no connection among the three meningitis deaths.