(Radio Iowa) — A new report on childhood obesity finds Iowa’s numbers aren’t budging, with more than 50-thousand kids statewide falling into the category. Victoria Brown, senior program officer for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, says the report looked at children between the ages of 10 and 17 over the past two years.

“The obesity rate in Iowa for this age group, about 16.4 percent of your population, has held steady in recent years,” Brown says. “You rank as the 14th highest in the nation for childhood obesity.” That’s about one in seven children. Nationwide, the report found four-point-eight million children in that age range are obese, a number that’s also remained essentially unchanged since the last report.

“Even though the rate overall has held steady in recent years, there’s still big health disparities across populations with this rate,” Brown says. “Black and Hispanic youth are much more likely to have obesity than their white or Asian peers. Same for youth from families with lower incomes, they’re at greater risk for higher obesity.” While it’s discouraging the state and national numbers haven’t fallen from year to year, Brown says it’s also important to note they’re not rising either.

“The message here is to stay the course,” Brown says. “A commitment to healthier school meals to make sure that kids get strong nutrition at school breakfast and school lunch, considering that kids consume over half their calories each day in their school buildings, is really critical.” She says it’s also important to maintain access to SNAP or food stamp programs, that we continue to build “walkable” communities, and address things like “food deserts” or urban areas where it’s hard to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food. The report found Mississippi has the highest childhood obesity rate at 25-point-4 percent, while Utah has the lowest rate at 8-point-7 percent.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has issued orders changing how the state court system conducts security assessments after two cybersecurity workers hired by state court administrators were arrested for breaking into the Dallas County Courthouse last month.

Chief Justice Mark Cady signed an order Thursday that prohibits physical break-ins of courthouses and entry outside of regular business hours as part of cybersecurity testing. Court administrators also must confer with local officials on systems testing.

In addition, Cady says security contracts must be reviewed by a lawyer and the court administrator must personally approve contracts with input from building security, sheriffs and others.

The courts hired an outside law firm to investigate after cybersecurity company Coalfire broke into the Dallas County Courthouse in Adel and Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines. Two workers were arrested at the Dallas County Courthouse.

The law firm concluded there were misunderstandings over contracts terms. It also found contract language was ambiguous and there was a lack of management, oversight and proper supervision of the testing program.

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday backed the new leader of Iowa’s human resources agency, saying he made an honest error when he misstated what his department does on his résumé. Reynolds told reporters that “people make mistakes” on their résumés, and that Department of Administrative Services Director Jim Kurtenbach is human.
“It’s not intentional, and I think we need to remember that sometimes,” she said after an appearance at an education technology event in Coralville. “It happens. I’m fine with that. I don’t think there’s anything there.”

Reynolds appointed Kurtenbach in June to lead the department, which manages human resources, buildings and several other functions for the executive branch. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Kurtenbach is working on the side as a paid expert witness for an Ames family that is seeking millions of dollars from neighbors whose opposition they blame for delaying their plan to build a campground and events venue.

Kurtenbach submitted his résumé to the court last week, claiming the department he leads is the “primary entity charged in the Code of Iowa with representing the State in legal matters,” among other duties. That’s not true. The attorney general’s office, not his department, represents the state in legal matters. Kurtenbach, a former state representative and Iowa GOP chairman, hasn’t responded to questions about how the error occurred. His department warns applicants for state jobs that intentionally misrepresenting their experience can result in disqualification.
Reynolds said she was aware of Kurtenbach’s work on the lawsuit before he was appointed and that she was comfortable with his decision to continue. She said Kurtenbach, a former Iowa State University administrator and accounting professor, was one of many people from outside of state government whom her administration has hired because of their expertise.

“It’s legal, so it’s perfectly fine, and we have to give him time to wind down some of the things he was participating in,” Reynolds said. “I’m fine with that and we’re going to continue to move forward.” Iowa law generally allows state officials to work outside jobs that do not conflict with their state duties or rely on government resources. Kurtenbach revealed in last week’s filing that he is being paid $350 per hour for his work on the lawsuit, which is set for trial in February.

(Radio Iowa) — A special investigation by the state auditor’s office indicates the office manager for a southern Iowa landfill failed to deposit tens of thousands of dollars in facility fees. Jennifer Nickell was the office manager for the Solid Waste Management Commission for Wayne, Ringgold and Decatur Counties. According to a letter from the state auditor’s office, Nickell admitted to the commission she had taken “cash collections for personal use.” She resigned rather than be fired in the middle of last year.

Auditors reviewed four years of records related to the fees charged for dropping off trash at the landfill that’s near Grand River — and identified nearly 62-thousand dollars in cash hadn’t been deposited in the commission’s bank accounts. The report indicates cash was withheld from over 90 percent of the deposits made during Nickell’s tenure.

The special investigation by the state auditor’s office has been turned over to state and local authorities.