Toyota announced a global recall of more than 400,000 2010 hybrid models, including the Prius, because of problems with their anti-lock braking systems, CNNMoney.com reported. The Prius, the Sai and Lexus HS250h, were all a part of the recall. A problem with sticking accelerators triggered a recall of 8.1 million Toyota vehicles last week. Read more.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reported its year-end and fourth quarter results yesterday, with net income available to common stockholders of $589.7 million, or $1.97 per diluted share, for the year ended Dec.31, 2009. That’s compared to $425.1 million, or $1.63 per diluted share, for the year prior. For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2009, the company reported net income available to common stockholders of $141.9 million, or 44 cents per diluted share. That’s compared to a net loss of $7.5 million, or 3 cents per diluted share, for the same period in the prior year. Read the full release.

Iowa City was selected as one of five sustainable communities pilot projects in the United States as part of a partnership between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Smart Growth pilots are part of an EPA initiative to bring HUD, DOT and EPA together in areas where there are formerly contaminated sites, transportation infrastructure investments and the need for affordable housing. Iowa City was chosen for the flood-impacted Riverfront Crossings District and the redevelopment potential of the brownfields, petroleum brownfields, underground storage tank sites, vacant properties and other underused sites. The goal is to create strategies to clean up and redevelop these properties into a redeveloped Riverfront Crossings District.

Iowa Health – Des Moines opened a new pain management clinic yesterday on the Iowa Methodist Medical Center campus. The clinic will provide referred patients with relief from most forms of chronic intractable pain. Daniel Baldi, a longstanding Des Moines anesthesiologist and pain management specialist, has joined Iowa Health. Baldi and the clinic staff will teach patients how to manage pain to allow them to return to a normal life.