(Radio Iowa) – The holiday season can be a stressful time of year for people struggling with their monthly budgets. Food Bank of Iowa C-E-O Michelle Book says that of them don’t have enough food to eat. “As I go out and visit our pantry partners, what I’m hearing from them is that the increase in the lines for food pantry service is made up of two demographics; one, it’s young families with children who are working, or two, it’s folks living on fixed income, people living on Social Security and disability,” she says.

Book says every month since COVID-19 aid ended in 2022, food pantries across the state have seen more and more traffic. “Iowa is among three states that saw the largest increase, 44 percent, in the number of people facing food insecurity according to Feeding America’s latest “Map the Meal Gap” report,” Book says. With Thanksgiving just a few days away and December holidays around the corner, she worries about Iowans faced with making some tough financial choices. “If they’re struggling to make ends meet, save your financial resources to pay your heating bill or to cover the cost of transportation and find food assistance near you. People can come to foodbankofIowa.org, and click the “find food” button,” Book says.

Iowa is served by six Feeding America food banks – with 40% of food going to children.

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowans will go around the table at Thanksgiving and list the things for which they’re thankful, but a University of Iowa study finds simply expressing gratitude can help to improve heart health. Dr. Harleah Buck is director of the U-I’s Csomay Center for Gerontological Excellence. Buck says research shows gratitude can help to reduce inflammation, blood pressure, and heart rate, and it’s an odd coincidence we offer thanks during this particular holiday. “The foods that we eat at Thanksgiving tend -not- to be good for our heart. They’re heavy in the fats and things that we know are not good,” Buck says, “however, expressing gratitude around the table, I like to think ameliorates some of that.”

Research finds gratitude may help to boost a person’s ability to care for themselves, whether that’s taking their medication or getting more sleep. Buck and her team reviewed more than a dozen research studies involving the impact of gratitude on more than four-thousand people. “One of the studies that we looked at actually showed that expressing gratitude results in people feeling more confident that what they do makes a difference with their heart,” Buck says, “so it really is the gift that keeps on giving.” Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally, killing more people in recent years than even COVID-19. Buck, who’s also a professor in the U-I College of Nursing, says it’s fascinating something like gratitude can have such a far-reaching psychological and physiological impact.

“In the scientific literature, gratitude is defined as an emotional response to other people’s kindness, but it can also be a mood that focuses on what we cherish in life,” Buck says, “but the important part is it can become a trait. It can be something, a practice, that you can actually make part of your life.” How do we put more gratitude in our lives? Buck says there are all sorts of ways, and one of the easiest may be writing in a journal — on your laptop, in a notebook, or even on your phone. “Start out by writing what you’re thankful for each and every day. That can help you to track new things and remind you of the good things in your life,” Buck says. “At Thanksgiving around the table, we can share our gratitude. We can express it directly to people, and then we can listen to theirs, which also helps to lift our mood.”

The website for the Csomay Center says its mission is to advance innovations in research, education, and practice to promote optimal aging and quality of life in all older adults and their caregivers.

(Radio Iowa) – Democrats in the Iowa Senate have selected their next leader. Janice Weiner of Iowa City will be the Minority Leader in the Iowa Senate when the legislature starts January 13th. Weiner is a retired U-S State Department foreign service officer who moved back to her hometown of Iowa City in 2015, served on the city council and was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2022. Democrats will hold just 15 of the 50 seats in the Iowa Senate in January, their lowest point since 1970.

Weiner says Senate Democrats will work to hold those in power accountable and fight to ensure opportunity for all Iowans. Weiner is the third leader for Senate Democrats in less than two years. In mid-2023, Senate Democrats ousted Senator Zach Wahls of Coralville after he hired new staff to work for Senate Democrats and fired two longtime employees.

Iowa Senate Minority Leader-elect Janice Weiner (D-Iowa City) (official photo)

Senator Pam Jochum of Dubuque has been Minority Leader in the state senate since then. She did not seek reelection and is retiring about 32 years as a state legislator.

(Ames, Iowa) – Researchers say increasing the police presence in schools isn’t the best way to address classroom violence. One expert in Iowa says educators would do better to treat the underlying causes. Fifty years ago, just 1% of the nation’s public schools had police officers on campus. That number has jumped to more than 40% now.

The 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado prompted officials to harden schools with more police presence, thinking it would keep students safer. Iowa State University Associate Dean for the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice Monic Behnken said academic research shows that hasn’t worked. “What the literature is clear about for the past 20 years is actually the thing that you want to do is, you want to soften your schools,” said Behnken. “You want to increase access to therapists, counselors, social workers, community liaisons.”

Behnken said these professionals can address the emotional and social stressors among kids before they’d commit crimes. She added that although school shootings have increased and get huge media attention when they happen, they are still statistically rare. Behnken said data show that School Resource Officers (SROs), have next to no impact on stopping violence, bullying, or even schoolyard fights – but they do have a big impact in other areas.

Female police office standing in classroom showing transmitter device to group of kids on career day at school

“The research shows that SROs are good at policing,” said Behnken. “So, they are fantastic in a school that has a drug problem. They are fantastic at a school that has a gang problem.”

Behnken said otherwise, more officers on school campuses can do more harm than good – because school staff may learn to rely on SROs to solve discipline problems that administrators could handle without having to involve the police.

(Iowa News Service)