DES MOINES, Iowa – Use of e-cigarettes among young people in Iowa and across the United States is topping regular cigarettes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that, for the first time in the history of its National Youth Tobacco Survey, e-cigarette use is higher than all other forms of tobacco use, including cigarettes.

CDC director Tom Frieden said the increased popularity of the product is working against other progress made in the fight against cigarette smoking. “Big picture here is, we’re seeing a striking increase,” he said. “It’s very concerning. It more than counterbalances the decrease in cigarette smoking, which we’ve seen occurring over the last few years.”

Brian King, deputy director for research translation in the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said the many flavors offered with e-cigarettes and hookah tobacco make them interesting options to young people. “Hookah, like e-cigarettes, are not regulated, although they have proposed to be regulated,” he said, “and they’re still available in flavors, and particularly kid-friendly flavors that can increase appeal and access.”

Last year, the CDC estimated, 2.4 million youths were users of e-cigarettes, and an estimated 1.6 million young people who used hookahs, the large pipes used to smoke flavored tobacco. The agency said those numbers have tripled since 2011. The report is online at cdc.gov.

(Iowa News Service)

The Creston Police Department reports a woman from Cromwell, in Union County, was arrested Monday night. 36-year old Carrie Nawacy Parcher was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for a Controlled Substance Violation. Her bond was set at $10,000.

Residents in Adair and Guthrie County can access a new application for their cell phones, tablets and other electronic devices. Bob Kempf, Emergency Management Coordinator for Adair and Guthrie Counties, says the new app available through the Google Play Store, allows residents “one-stop location” for all sorts of important information. He says it’s an all-in-one mobile app with information on what to do and expect before, during and after an emergency.

Kempf acknowledges there are other sources from which persons can glean emergency and weather information, including the NOAA weather radio and the Code Red system for emergency notifications via text and land-lines that covers Adair and Guthrie County, the Adair-Guthrie County Emergency Management Commission wanted a more concise way to reach the mobile user.

The two counties will be the first in the State to offer an app that offers weather, weather alerts, radar, a way to push out emergency notifications such as Boil Orders or evacuations, as well as links to the EMA’s Facebook and Twitter sites, contact information, and how to send a damage report to the Adair-Guthrie EMA if your property is hit by a storm or other disaster.

The system is not affiliated with the “Alert Iowa” program, which is a statewide mass notification and emergency messaging system. Kempf says because the two counties still have a year remaining on their Code Red contract, they won’t be switching over to Alert Iowa until the contract expires. He says if you come home or get in your vehicle and catch the tail end of a weather alert broadcast from your weather radio or local radio station, you can go to the new app on your cell phone and read exactly what the message from the National Weather Service was. You simply open up the app and access the type of information you want.

That includes preparedness information for example on what to do after a power outage. Kempf says the app has been under development since last fall. He says you can find and download it from the Google Play Store by searching for Adair (space) Guthrie (space) EMA, or at the iTunes app store under the iPhone section, not the iPad.