(Radio Iowa) — A survey finds nearly a quarter of Iowa’s high schoolers vape and critics say new federal regulations on e-cigarettes are having virtually no impact toward heading off the epidemic. Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, says the new policies are “entirely inadequate” and will not help stop a new generation of Iowa kids from becoming nicotine addicts.

“There was a great deal of publicity about the new federal rule prohibiting the sale of certain flavored products, but literally thousands of flavored e-cigarette products remain on the market,” Myers says, “including many that are called single-use or disposable that look like a flash drive but have as much nicotine in them as a full pack-and-a-half of cigarettes.” Studies find more than 80-percent of kids who use tobacco started with flavored products, while 97-percent of youth e-cigarette users puffed on a flavored e-cigarette in the past month.

Myers says the packaging and the flavors clearly target youth, including cotton candy, strawberry and mango. “There’s a bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives that would ban the sale of all of the flavored products that have led to over 20% of Iowa’s high school students to using these products,” Myers says. “It’s called the Reversing the E-Cigarette Youth Epidemic Act and to vote on it is absolutely critical.”

Myers says the new federal policies are “riddled with loopholes” and he notes, thousands of flavored e-cigarette products remain available at more than 100-thousand locations nationwide, including convenience stores, gas stations and vape shops.  “It was a positive step, raising the age to 21, but we all know that if you make a product that’s highly appealing to kids, they’ll find a way to get it,” Myers says. “It was already illegal to sell to kids 18 and under, and yet over five-million American kids and over 20% of Iowa’s kids, have begun using these products.”

The figures are discouraging, he says, as about six-percent of Iowa high schoolers smoke traditional tobacco cigarettes. “The most recent survey shows that over 22% of Iowa’s high school students are using e-cigarettes,” Myers says. “That’s almost four times the number of high school students who are using cigarettes.” He encourages Iowans to call their members of Congress and urge them to vote for the pending legislation to ban all flavored vaping products.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Sioux City Journal) — A Sioux City mother has complained to the local school board after she says her sixth-grade daughter suffered a broken arm and elbow at the hands of two other middle students carrying out a viral online prank. The Sioux City Journal reports that the woman told the board Monday night her daughter had been hurt on Feb. 7, when two West Middle School classmates cajoled her into a jumping contest, then kicked the girl’s feet out from under her, causing her to fall on her shoulder.

Called the “skull breaker challenge,” the prank was made popular on the social media platform TikTok and has led to reports of children across the country suffering serious head and other injuries.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa lawmakers plan to hold hearings to investigate problems at a state-run institution for people with intellectual disabilities. House Government Oversight Chairwoman Mary Ann Hanusa says she’s planning a meeting with no date yet confirmed. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds didn’t object to legislative oversight hearings when asked Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating allegations that the former director was planning to conduct human sexual arousal experiments and had begun questionable hydration therapy on patients and deaths were occurring at a rate that concerned employees.

A new partnership between Cass County Health System, the Atlantic Kiwanis, and Head Start, ensures leftover food from CCHS is sent home with families who could use a little extra food on the table. Last fall, members of Healthy Cass County spoke with CCHS Food Service Director, James Baker, who mentioned approximately 50 pounds of food that wasn’t served was thrown away every week. James shared that his staff often told him they wished the food could be shared with others. One conversation led to another, and as of January 2020 the Atlantic Kiwanis program is now “rescuing” the leftover food from the hospital and transporting it to Head Start, where teachers can send it home with young students to share with their families.

Kiwanis member Carol Sedden (Left) and Head Start Teacher Heather Dulberg (Right) stand by the freezer holding food from CCHS. (Photo submitted)

Carol Seddon, the Kiwanis member who has spearheaded her organization’s involvement in the food rescue partnership, reports it’s been going very well. “The families are loving it because once in a while mom and dad can’t be there or you have a night when you don’t want to cook, and they can just warm up lasagna” shares Carol. Kiwanis has also started sending “how to use” cards home with non-traditional items. Unsure how someone should prepare frozen potatoes, Carol took a few home to test recipes herself. After finding success, she prepared “how to use” cards that are now sent home with the frozen potatoes.

This new food partnership supplements the Family Nutrition program Kiwanis provides for Head Start with support from Fareway. Once a week, the Family Nutrition program sends every Head Start student home with a bag of meals to share with their family. The new partnership with CCHS allows teachers to send additional food home with students when needed. Carol shares that the kids appreciate the food. Little kids have put seatbelts around the bags of food they take home with them on the bus, and teachers report kids sharing that they’ve cooked with their parents. As Carol says, the program doesn’t just provide food, “it supports families.”

For more information, please contact: Brigham Hoegh, Wellness Coordinator Cass County ISU Extension 712-249-5870 Healthy Cass County is a community-focused network to promote the health and well-being of Cass County residents. Healthy Cass County holds monthly meetings held at Cass County Public Health the second Monday of the month at noon. Follow Healthy Cass County on Facebook @HealthyCassCounty. Or reach out to Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh at bhoegh@iastate.edu or 712-249-5870 more information on local health and wellness events or resources.

A Nebraska woman arrested in Cass County was transported to the Pottawattamie County Jail, Tuesday afternoon. 22-year old Aisha Chanel Green, of Omaha, was wanted on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Violation of Probation. No bond information was available.

Police in Red Oak report 49-year old Anthony Allan Graham, of Red Oak, was arrested Tuesday afternoon. Graham was taken into custody on a Red Oak Police warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held without bond, in the Montgomery County Jail.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports 25-year old Blade Allen Fox, of Creston, was arrested Tuesday morning. Fox was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a Union County Warrant for Sex Offender Registration Violation. He was later released on a $2,000 bond.

And a man from Thayer reported last Saturday, that someone recently broke his garage window and took his Ring doorbell. The estimated value of the damage and stolen item was $250.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A man has pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide in the crash deaths of two men in Des Moines. Polk County court records say the lawyer for 23-year-old Alejandro Contreras entered the pleas Tuesday. No trial date has been set. Police say the crash occurred around 11:45 a.m. Thursday, when a southbound car struck an eastbound car that had just entered a roadway. Two men in the eastbound car died after being rushed to a hospital. They’ve been identified as 26-year-old Mauricio Ruiz Quintana and 22-year-old Brayan Martinez Ruiz. They lived in Windsor Heights.

(Radio Iowa) — Rumors about coronavirus are flying and the medical director of the Iowa Department of Public Health is urging Iowans to get the facts before posting anything on social media so they don’t spread disinformation. Doctor Caitlin Pedati says it’s understandable that people are concerned but they also need to use their heads before contributing to the panic. “Sometimes it can be hard to know where to find reliable information,” Pedati says. “I think the biggest thing we’d like to emphasize is that Iowans can use our Facebook page, our social media and our webpage to get accurate and up-to-date information about this virus and a variety of public health issues.”

In recent weeks, two Iowans were put under watch for possible exposure to the deadly virus and both ended up being fine. Now, Pedati confirms, seven more Iowans are under watch by the state health department. All of them are in self-quarantine, meaning, they’re staying in their own homes. “We’re providing monitoring for people who don’t have symptoms but who had a travel risk,” Pedati says. “We check in on them twice a day to see how they’re doing and the idea is to support them if they were to need care and also to limit the spread of any potential illnesses.”

Federal health officials are warning Americans to prepare for the possibility of an aggressive outbreak. Pedati says Iowa families need to prep for this as they would any other emergency, like severe weather. “If we were to see it spread in the United States, which we have not yet, but if we were, we want to make sure people understand the kinds of things you would do to help protect yourself,” Pedati says. “It sounds simple, but those are really important things like covering your cough, washing your hands and truly, staying home from work and school when you’re sick.” Coronavirus is confirmed in more than 30 countries, but federal health officials are not calling it a pandemic.

Radio Iowa asked Pedati why: “This is indeed a new virus, it can spread from person to person, and it does seem to be spreading in some other countries but we’ve not yet seen widespread activity across the globe,” Pedati says. “That’s what people are thinking about when we think about the criteria for an illness that we see around the world.” In China, more than 27-hundred deaths are attributed to coronavirus, with 78-thousand confirmed cases. Hundreds of cases are confirmed elsewhere around the globe.