DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Republican lawmaker who leads a legislative oversight committee says he’s launching an investigation into how Iowa handles child protective services following the October death of a 16-year-old girl.

Rep. Bobby Kaufmann announced Thursday the House Government Oversight Committee will question the Iowa Department of Human Services on how it handles child placement, including abuse allegations.

Kaufmann says the effort is inspired by the death of Natalie Finn, a West Des Moines teenager. A Democratic lawmaker who has met with state officials says the girl was starved to death. The girl had been involved in the state’s foster care and adoption program.

Kaufmann says he wants DHS to attend hearings, but the questions will not be specific to Natalie’s case. Gov. Terry Branstad and Republican lawmakers have criticized Senate Democrats for launching an informal investigation into child protective services. Officials for DHS and Branstad say they support an effort by lawmakers to learn about the state’s child welfare system.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Republican lawmakers are forging ahead with a bill prohibiting cities and counties from increasing the minimum wage, but House leaders say GOP legislators aren’t interested in raising the statewide wage.

The House has approved a bill blocking local jurisdictions from approving minimum wages above the state level of $7.25 and the measure now awaits action in the Senate. If approved, the move would mean workers in some Iowa counties that have approved higher minimums could see pay cuts.

House Speaker Linda Upmeyer and House Majority Leader Chris Hagenow said Thursday GOP lawmakers want a statewide minimum but don’t support increasing that wage. The Legislature last increased the wage in 2009.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The U.S. Census Bureau says Dallas County was the fifth-fastest-growing county in the latest population estimate. The bureau says in a report released Wednesday night that from July 1, 2015, to July 1, 2016, Dallas County’s population grew by 4.6 percent. The county population has increased by more than 27 percent since 2010.

Gary Krob of the State Data Center at the State Library of Iowa says that 2016 population estimates show that the state population continues to grow, but it’s occurring in just 23 of Iowa’s 99 counties. He says the Des Moines-West Des Moines Metropolitan area has been the state’s fastest-growing metro area, increasing by 11.4 percent in population since 2010. Adams County has declined at the highest rate: 8.3 percent since 2010.

Second-quarter earnings at Winnebago Industries released Wednesday show the company had a profit of more than 15 million dollars. The Forest City-based recreational vehicle manufacturer reports on a per-share basis, it had a profit of 48 cents. Earnings were 46 cents per share. Winnebago posted revenue of 370-and-a-half million dollars for the period, exceeding Wall Street forecasts. Company C-E-O Michael Happe says the company is building the foundation for a stronger future.

He says, “In our second quarter, we continued to make strong progress in transforming Winnebago Industries into a material-larger company with a more balanced R-V product portfolio, and an enterprise with significant runway for profitable growth in the future.” It was just over a year ago when Happe took over as the head of the legacy motor home manufacturer. In that time, he says he’s tried to guide the company to find its future identity.

He says, “We’ve made much progress in the last year. We admit there’s much work to do, and we’ll continue to set our goals high for what this Winnebago team can accomplish in the years to come.”

The second quarter marked the first full financial period after Winnebago acquired Indiana-based towable manufacturer Grand Design for 500 million dollars. Happe says with Grand Design on board now, it’s complimented Winnebago’s existing towables unit.  He says the overall towables segment in the second quarter accounted for about 46 percent of the roughly 370 million dollars revenue. “This 370 million dollars in enterprise sales was a 64 percent overall increase over the same period a year ago, when 90 plus-percent of Winnebago Industries’ revenue came from our motorized business.”

Winnebago Industries stock has risen almost 30 percent over the last 12 months.

(Radio Iowa)

Sheriff’s officials in Union County say a Creston woman reported Wednesday morning, that sometime during the overnight hours Tuesday into Wednesday, two 4-wheel ATV’s were taken from her property on Quail Avenue.  A few hours later, both 4-wheelers were recovered with no damage.

Also taken from the property was a 5-gallon gas can and a 24’ machete.  The still missing items, were valued at $50.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County report the arrest following a traffic stop, of a man who was in violation of a protective order. At around 2:10-p.m., Wednesday, a deputy stopped a pickup driven by 65-year old Marvin Ring, of Underwood. Records indicated a passenger in the truck, 38-year old Kirk Thomas Ring, also of Underwood, had a protection order issued against him by Marvin Ring.

Kirk Ring was placed under arrest and transported to the Pott. County Jail.