(Radio Iowa) – An annual report on child well-being has ranked Iowa sixth in the nation. The annual KidsCount report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows Iowa ranks near the top nationally in areas like the number of high schoolers graduating on time. Anne Discher, executive director of Common Good Iowa, says Iowa has a lot of room for improvement in other areas.

“One of those is teen birth rate, where we ranked 23rd. We ranked 25th on the share of three and four year olds who are attending preschool,” Discher says, “and then we ranked 29th on the share of 10 to 17 year olds who are overweight or obese.” Discher says the report shows Iowa parents also continue to face challenges around obtaining affordable and accessible childcare.

“Fourteen percent of Iowa children birth to five had a family member in ‘20, and ‘21, who either quit, changed or refused a job because of problems with childcare,” Discher says. The Kids Count report ranked Iowa third in the category of economic well-being, ninth for education and 11th for children’s health.

Des Moines, Iowa – The Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau reports 48-year-old Christopher Robin Cundiff, of Adel was charged with three counts of Fraudulent Submissions (Class D Felony), two counts of Forgery (Class D Felony), and two counts of Identity Theft (Aggravated Misdemeanor) following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau.

The charges against Cundiff stem from an investigation which began in January 2023. According to a criminal complaint filed by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau, while Cundiff was working as an insurance producer, he altered documents and submitted them in support of insurance policies knowing that they misrepresented material facts.

Cundiff was arrested on June 12, 2023 and booked into the Dallas County Jail. Cundiff posted a $10,000 bond and was released.

Christopher Cundiff (Photo courtesy of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office)

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

(Iowa DNR News) – A collision between a personal watercraft (PWC) and a pontoon Sunday afternoon at Black Hawk Lake sent two Harlan teenagers to the hospital.

The pontoon, operated by Charles Lierman, 75, of Ankeny, was traveling an estimated 15 miles per hour (MPH), pulling three grandkids on a tube and was in the process of making a sweeping left turn when Lierman saw the PWC coming from his left. He corrected to the right to try to avoid the collision.

The PWC was heading east across the lake at approximately 40 MPH when the operator, Averie Thometz, 16, of Harlan, saw the pontoon, and let off the throttle. A PWC is jet-driven meaning when it’s throttled down, the steering doesn’t work.

The PWC collided with the front port side pontoon and Thometz and her passenger Dakota Goede, 17, of Harlan, were ejected, hitting the pontoon and metal skirting. The girls were helped aboard the pontoon by the tubers then taken to shore for medical assistance.

Thometz and Goede were transported by ambulance to Loring Hospital in Sac City. Thometz was then sent on to Omaha for surgery to repair a lower leg fracture.

The incident occurred around 3:17 p.m., in the center of the lake, on the north side. Boat traffic was light for a Sunday likely due to cool air temperatures, plus wind and moderate wave action, said State Conservation Officer Nathan Haupert. The dredge was operating in the east bay and not involved in the incident.

The incident remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – A Central City woman who stole over 400-thousand dollars from two elderly relatives has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. Forty-four year old Carrie April Martin pleaded guilty last fall to one count of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Martin had two elderly relatives in the Cedar Rapids area and between 2014 and 2017, she stole checks drawn at a credit union.

She also sold over 100-thousand dollars worth of stock that one victim held in an energy company and made false statements to a fraud specialist at her credit union as well as law enforcement to cover up her crimes.

One of Martin’s relatives was an elderly widow who lived in a nursing home, had dementia and died in 2014 at the age of 89. The other relative she swindled was an elderly widow who had significant assets and lived in an assisted living until her death in 2017 at the age of 96. Martin has been ordered to pay 416-thousand dollars in restitution to her victim’s beneficiaries — including the Elkader church named in one woman’s will.

(Radio Iowa) – The Spirit Lake School Board has voted to keep its longstanding Indian mascot. Earlier this year, the Spirit Lake Tribal Council in North Dakota sent the district a letter, saying the mascot is offensive and calling for its removal. Vicky Larson is among the area residents who spoke at the board’s Monday night meeting. She favors keeping the Indian mascot for Spirit Lake teams. “Most teams, they’re warriors,” she said, “so why not honor the warriors.” Kate Mendenhall told the board indigenous people do not feel Indian mascots honor them.

“A rebrand with a new mascot could…focus on this community’s bright future,” Mendenhall said. Jeromy Mouw , the newest member of the Spirit Lake School Board member, says his vote to keep the Indian mascot is based on community feedback. “There were a couple of people that were a little bit like: ‘Um, you know I don’t know that we should keep the logo.’ But I said: ‘OK. Do you want it changed?’ and the answer was no,” Mauw says. “I didn’t get a single person who said: ‘Change the logo.'”

The board voted four-to-one to keep the Indian mascot. Greta Gruys was the board member who voted no, suggesting the board should collect more feedback before making a final decision.  “The Native American people have told us that using the Indian mascot is not an honor or a sign of respect,” Gruys said, “and they have repeatedly asked us to change it.”

In 2021, the Camanche School District changed its mascot to “the Storm” after Camanche sports teams had been known as The Indians for 60 years.