A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest:
5-2-1-0 EXPANSION: The Iowa Department of Public Health is expanded funding of 5-2-1-0 Healthy Choices Count!, which began in 2017 in Iowa. Five communities will receive grants, while 11 communities currently funded for the initiative will receive additional grants.
The funded communities will work to create policies and environments that support healthy choices by implementing strategies for healthy eating and active living in communities, schools, child care and out-of-school programs, health care practices and workplaces. New communities each receive $30,000.
5-2-1-0 Healthy Choices Count! is a nationally recognized and evidence-based prevention framework to promote healthy habits. The goal is to increase physical activity and healthy eating through policy and environmental change. 5-2-1-0 focuses on the importance of four daily health habits: five or more servings of fruits and vegetables; two hours or less of screen time (television, computer, video games, phones); one hour or more of physical activity; and zero sugar-sweetened beverages.
For more information, visit https://idph.iowa.gov/5210
JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT: James Daane of Sioux City has been appointed district court judge in Judicial Election District 3B by Gov. Kim Reynolds.
Daane practices law with Mayne, Hindman, Daane, Parry & Wingert in Sioux City. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Dakota.
Daane fills the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of District Court Judge Duane E. Hoffmeyer. Judicial Election District 3B includes Crawford, Ida, Monona, Plymouth, Sioux and Woodbury counties.
INMATE DIES: Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections said Thursday that Michael John Ryan was pronounced dead due to natural causes at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville.
Ryan, 70, was serving a 24-year maximum term for multiple sexual predator-related crimes from Mahaska County. He began serving his most recent sentence in February 2002.
— Gazette Des Moines Bureau
Get to know these new Iowa laws enacted in 2021