DES MOINES, Iowa – Governor Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Education are partnering with the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils (NFGFC) and its chairman Jake Steinfeld to participate in the DON’T QUIT! campaign which aims to reverse growing trends in mental illness and childhood obesity. NFGFC will gift a state-of-the-art DON’T QUIT! fitness center to three elementary or middle schools in Iowa.

“Since becoming Governor, my administration has made historic investments in Iowa’s mental health, including the first-ever children’s mental health system in our state,” stated Governor Reynolds. “I believe in supporting mental health in a variety of ways and am excited about how the DON’T QUIT! campaign can help improve the mental and physical health of school-age children by providing fitness centers for three Iowa schools.”

Steinfeld, also known as fitness icon “Body by Jake”, has spent the last 40 years promoting the importance of physical activity to combat childhood obesity, and has seen firsthand that the benefits don’t stop there. “Exercise has been proven to provide a positive effect on a child’s mental health as well,” Steinfeld said. “Our kids are our most precious resource and by providing them with a strong foundation in health and fitness, we will be helping them excel beyond their wildest dreams. It’s inspiring to see elected leaders like Governor Kim Reynolds champion the DON’T QUIT! vision and we look forward to bringing the campaign to Iowa.”

The NFGFC’s goal is to build a nation of the fittest, healthiest kids in the world. To date, it has provided fitness centers to 42 states plus Washington, DC. This year, the campaign will benefit four more states: Iowa, Vermont, Wyoming, and Montana. Each fitness center is financed through public-private partnerships with companies like The Coca-Cola Company, Amerigroup Foundation, Wheels Up and Nike, and does not rely on taxpayer dollars or state funding. Fitness Supply provides the fitness equipment.

Schools interested in receiving a fitness center can apply starting Tuesday, February 14, 2023, until Sunday, March 26, 2023. School districts will receive more information about the application process from the Iowa Department of Education and can visit https://natgovfit.org/apply-now/, then click on the Iowa button to download the application. Schools are asked to submit a short video expressing why they deserve a new fitness center and what they plan to do with it.

Physical activity and exercise are shown to help prevent and treat more than 40 chronic diseases, enhance individual health and quality of life, and reduce health care costs. In schools, studies show that physical activity improves academic achievement, increases confidence and self-esteem, reduces discipline problems, cuts absenteeism, and fosters better interpersonal relationships.

For more information about the NFGFC, visit www.natgovfit.org.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Based on the impending winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service, Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reminds Clarinda residents, that on street parking will be banned when two(2) or more inches of snow accumulate. The ban will remain in effect until the snow fall ceases and the streets have been plowed from curb to curb. Vehicles left on the street during a snow emergency parking ban may be ticketed and/or towed.

(Radio Iowa) – A coalition of groups is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the state law that banned smoking in most public places and urging lawmakers to do more. Threase Harms of the Iowa Tobacco Prevention Alliance says the adult smoking rate has fallen 33 percent since the Iowa Smokefree Air Act passed. Representatives from the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association are calling on lawmakers to increase the state tax on tobacco products and close a loophole that allows smoking on the gaming floors at the state’s casinos.

The coalition also wants e-cigarette use banned in the same places where it’s not legal to smoke a cigarette or a cigar.

(Radio Iowa) – Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids is closing two programs, downsizing a third, and laying off 28 full and part time workers. Both the dental technology and the energy production and distribution technologies programs were cut due to low enrollment and they will also eliminate the college’s behind-the-wheel portion of its Class A Commercial Driving License program which had 45 students in Fiscal Year 2023.

Kirkwood President Lori Sundberg said these decisions aren’t made easily or quickly. “If it’s been pretty flat for some period of time and there are high costs associated with this it kind of tells us that you know the demand is not as strong,” Sundberg says.

Kirkwood closed its Belle Plain and Tipton facilities last year and is consolidating the Johnson County and Iowa City campuses. The executive director of Community Colleges for Iowa, Emily Shields, says unlike their four-year counterparts, community colleges change their offerings at quicker pace.

“Community colleges have to really constantly evaluate their programs and whether they’re responsive to a community’s needs to the region’s industries, and kind of keeping up with the times,” Shields says.

Community Colleges for Iowa promotes Iowa’s 15 community colleges.

(By Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – A Monroe County man who was convicted of killing his brother has died after serving ten years of a 50-year prison sentence. The Department of Corrections says 85-year-old Richard Davis died from natural causes Monday in prison hospice. Davis was charged with first-degree murder, but found guilty by a jury of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his brother Gary in February of 2011at Gary’s home.

Gary Davis, who was 60 when he died, was a doctor in Albia, and media reports say the shooting came after a dispute between the two over a family farm operation.

(Montgomery County, Iowa) – Sheriff’s Deputies were called to the area of Main and Maple Streets in Elliott, Tuesday. They responded to a report of a possible domestic situation, but upon further investigation, determined there was not a domestic incident at the scene. Deputies however, arrested 57-year-old David Lee McClain, for Public Intoxication. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.