Looking in at Iowa

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From Joint Public Notice, US Army Corps of Engineers - Rock Island District, Iowa Department of Natural Resources:

Project Description. The applicant proposes to construct collector wells to enhance the Cedar Rapids Municipal water supply system. The project will include the construction of two horizontal collector wells. Each well is a 16-foot-diameter cast is place concrete caisson consisting of …

Maps in document show locations in Seminole Valley Park.

From Science Daily:

As a powerful electrical storm rages on Saturn with lightning bolts 10,000 times more powerful than those found on Earth, the Cassini spacecraft continues its five-month watch over the dramatic events. …

“The electrostatic radio outbursts have waxed and waned in intensity for five months now,” said Georg Fischer, an associate with the radio and plasma wave science team at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. “We saw similar storms in 2004 and 2006 that each lasted for nearly a month, but this storm is longer-lived by far. And it appeared after nearly two years during which we did not detect any electrical storm activity from Saturn.” …

Related article from February 15, 2006 Gazette archives:

Researchers at UI investigate Saturn storm

University of Iowa researchers are studying an electrical storm on Saturn that is said to be the strongest of its kind observed.

The storm, larger than the continental United States, has lightning bolts more than 1,000 times stronger than conventional lightning.

UI professor Donald Gurnett, principal investigator for the Radio and Plasma Wave Science investigation on the Cassini space mission, has been tracking the storm since Jan. 23 with UI researchers William Kurth and Georg Fischer.

Gurnett said the lightning flash rate exceeds the rate observed by Voyager 1 in 1980 and the intensities are at least as large, if not larger.

Cassini, launched Oct. 15, 1997, entered Saturn’s orbit July 1, 2004.

The UI developed much of the flight hardware and software for the Radio and Plasma Wave Science antennas, one of the major scientific instruments aboard Cassini.

Blog: Looking through the Mask, with posts appearing on this page by The Independent, “covering Columbia and southern Rensselaer counties in New York State.”

Chris Rosenbaum is a catcher for the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Kernels, a Class A affiliate of the L.A. Angels of Anaheim. Last year, he was with the Orem (Utah) Owls, a rookie league Angles affiliate. Rosenbaum, who lives in the off-season in Castleton, is a graduate of Columbia High. …

For another news item related to Chris Rosenbaum see recent LIAI post, Kernel’s baseball bats banned from boarding bus bound for blessings.

From Complaint and Jury Demand at U.S. Courts - Northern District of Iowa:

CASE No. 1:08-cv-45

MARIA TERESA LIZAMA LIDON, Plaintiff, vs. ANAMOSA COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT and STEVE GOODALL, Defendants. …

8. Plaintiff was subjected to harassment by students and parents as a result of her national origin. The harassment included but was not limited being told that she should be dead, that she should not be working in America, and that she should be deported. Complaints were also made regarding Plaintiff’s accent. The harassment, which was unwelcome, objectively and subjectively made the working environment hostile.

9. The harassment was severe and pervasive enough that it made it extremely difficult for Plaintiff to effectively do her job.

10. Plaintiff complained to Defendants and in fact some of the harassment was in the form of emails from parents to school administration. Nothing was done in response to the harassment, and things never improved.

11. Towards the end of the 2006-2007 school year, Plaintiff was informed by Defendant Steve Goodall that Plaintiff was being forced to leave her position and that her contract for the upcoming year was not going to be renewed. …

5/3 UPDATE - Gazette article, Former Spanish teacher sues Anamosa district, claims harassment