Des Moines Register: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced a pair of upper-level staffing changes on Thursday, including the hiring of a new chief operating officer. Taryn Frideres, a native of Denison, will move into the role after spending more than a decade as a senior policy adviser, most recently as deputy to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Frideres’ hiring will be accompanied by a move for Paul Trombino, who was serving as Iowa’s chief operating officer and as the state’s interim director of Iowa’s Department of Administrative Services. Trombino will become the new head of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management. He will succeed outgoing homeland security director Joyce Flinn, who is retiring Jan. 29.