“The talk” about the birds and the bees isn’t something most parents look forward to having with their kids, but October is the month when parents are urged to have conversations with their teens about pregnancy prevention. Bobbie Jo Sheridan is a training and education coordinator at Eyes Open Iowa, an advocacy and education group based in Des Moines. Sheridan explains the goals of “Let’s Talk Month.”

“To encourage parents and their children to talk about healthy relationships, family values and sexual health,” Sheridan says. “We often find that kids want to hear this information from their moms and dads but moms and dads are uncomfortable sharing this information with their kids.”

Sheridan says communication is the name of the game in these important conversations. “We always encourage parents to just give the facts,” she says. “There’s lots of websites, EyesOpenIowa.org is one of them, where parents can find tons of information so they can provide medically-accurate information for their kid.” Sheridan says there is good news as a result of pregnancy prevention efforts.

“We are very fortunate in Iowa that we have a low teen pregnancy rate, but when we look at high school kids, about 43.9% of high school kids have had sexual intercourse, so that number is still quite high and we’d like to see it lowered.” Learn more at www.eyesopeniowa.org.

(Radio Iowa)

A Council Bluffs man was charged Friday with two felony counts of Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer, following an alleged “Suicide by Cop” incident last August, during which he reported lunged at a pair of Council Bluffs Police Officers. According to the Daily NonPareil, 52-year old Michael Hannum faces up to 10-years in prison, if convicted. He’s currently being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail on $50,000 bond.

Hannum escaped from a federal halfway house when he left the Council Bluffs facility the morning of August 2nd. He was serving the remaining months of a conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber said Federal charges for the escape are pending in connection with that incident.

Officer Aaron Gutierrez shot Hannum twice, in the abdomen and hip, on Aug. 4th at the Walmart construction site on North 16th Street. The Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office said Hannum admitted he had used methamphetamine earlier in the day, and he was depressed when he charged at the officers with the idea of getting himself shot. Authorities found that Hannum had deep self-inflicted cuts to his wrists suffered prior to the shooting.

After a lengthy investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation into the matter, Wilber said he believes the officers acted appropriately during the incident. Gutierrez and fellow officer Jason Burleigh will not be charged.