Looking in at Iowa

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From ABCNEWS:

Karla Brendler has been living in Vietnam since October, as she awaits approval from the State Department to bring home her 16-month-old adopted daughter Madison. Amid allegations of corruption and baby buying, the U.S. has suspended adoptions from Vietnam. …

Adoptions can cost about $20,000. But with stalled international adoptions like Brendler’s, costs can rise dramatically. With agency costs, lawyer fees, home studies, travel, extended stay in Vietnam, lost wages, Brendler estimates her bills to be about $100,000.

Brendler sometimes feels that she is being held hostage in Vietnam away from family and friends. …

PHOTO of Karla Brendler and daughter Madison

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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.

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Iowa City and Midland, Texas, tied with 2.6 percent March unemployment rate.

More from Bureau of Labor Statistics release:

Unemployment rates were higher in March than a year earlier in 309 of the 369 metropolitan areas, lower in 40 areas, and unchanged in 20 areas, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today … The national unemployment rate in March was 5.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted, up from 4.5 percent a year earlier. …

In March, 45 metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates of at least 7.0 percent, up from 26 areas a year earlier, while 69 areas recorded rates below 4.0 percent, down from 128 areas in March 2007. Two agricultural areas in California again registered the highest rates in March: El Centro, 16.4 percent, and Merced, 13.7 percent. Iowa City, Iowa, and Midland, Texas, posted the lowest jobless rates, 2.6 percent each. Overall, 193 areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 5.2 percent, 163 areas had higher rates, and 13 areas had the same rate. …

More about Iowa City area’s low unemployment rates from this recent Gazette article, Manufacturing gains help steady cooling Iowa job market.

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Abstract from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office:

A crossbow having an increased powerstroke and reduced noise. The powerstroke is increased by inverting the limb orientation from the standard crossbow arrangement and locating string guides at least partially forward and rearward of the ends of the limbs. The bowstring is drawn from the tops of the string guides to maximize the powerstroke, reducing noise and increasing the retained and delivered energy over existing crossbows.

[more...]

See also: Historical information on crossbows from Encyclopedia Britannica or Wikipedia.

From St. Petersburg Times:

The wife of former Largo city manager Susan Stanton has filed for divorce.

Donna Stanton is seeking an equitable distribution of marital assets, child support and alimony.

“The parties are at this moment in amicable negotiations,” said Donna Stanton’s attorney, Cherie Parker of Clearwater.

Donna Stanton, who declined comment through her lawyer, filed her petition for dissolution of marriage on Feb. 20. That was almost a year to the day after Stanton — then known as Steve Stanton — publicly revealed plans to become a woman. Largo city commissioners voted 5-2 to fire Stanton on March 24. …

Since her departure from Largo, Stanton has lobbied Congress for transgender equality and was featured on the Montel Williams Show and Larry King Live. CNN is doing a documentary on her, and she plans to have gender reassignment surgery this spring. …

From White House site:

2008 State Easter Eggs

Local artists created the decorated eggs, which represent each state and the District of Columbia. The 2008 Easter Egg Collection continues the tradition that began in 1994 where each state sends a decorated egg to the White House for display. The collection is coordinated by the American Egg Board. White House photos by Chris Greenberg. …

Iowa [IMAGE]

Maybe it’s more interesting when opened up. What do you think is inside?

From Complaint:

ASSOCIATION OF FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, a Virginia Limited Liability Company, on behalf of its members

v.

MOLLIE ANDERSON, in her Official Capacity as Director of the Department of Administrative Services,  and the ADMINISTRATOR of the Iowa One Gift Campaign…

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

Each year Iowa state employees may voluntarily donate via payroll deduction to any of more than four hundred charities participating in the Iowa “One Gift” program, a campaign created by state statute as the only means for charitable solicitation in the state workplace. However, two of the program’s eligibility requirements effectively eliminate faith-based charitable organizations as an option for state employees’ voluntary contributions. In order to qualify, charities must, among other requirements, pledge that they do not “discriminate” on the basis of religious belief in their employment. Further, any charity “engaged in any way in sectarian activities, including activities aimed at promoting the adoption or defeat of any one or more religious viewpoints, shall not be eligible to participate.” Although participating organizations may espouse a broad range of political, social and other views, and limit their staff to those who share those views, organizations that engage in any religious activity or espouse any religious views, or only hire those who share the organization’s religious views, are excluded from the campaign. Excluding organizations from the Iowa “One Gift” campaign because they refuse to relinquish their federal constitutional and statutory rights to share and exercise their religious faith as well as their rights to associate with, hire, and be led by persons who share the organizations’ religious faith violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments and should be enjoined. …

From the Federal Register:

SUMMARY: This rule identifies communities, where the sale of flood insurance has been authorized under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), that are scheduled for suspension on the effective dates listed within this rule because of noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program. If the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) receives documentation that the community has adopted the required floodplain management measures prior to the effective suspension date given in this rule, the suspension will not occur and a notice of this will be provided by publication in the Federal Register on a subsequent date. …

Iowa: Frederika, City of, 190027 December 7, 1990, 03/04/2008……….. 03/04/2008 Bremer County. Emerg; December 7, 1990, Reg; March 04, 2008, Susp. …

From Federal Energy Regulatory Commission:

NOTICE OF APPLICATION ACCEPTED FOR FILING AND SOLICITING COMMENTS, MOTIONS TO INTERVENE, AND PROTESTS

(March 6, 200

Take notice that the following hydroelectric applications have been filed with the Commission and are available for public inspection:

a. Type of Application: Preliminary Permit

b. Project No.: P-13100-000

c. Date Filed: January 23, 2008

d. Applicant: Midriver Power L. L. C.

e. Name of the Project: Coralville Lake Hydropower Project

f. Location: The project would be located on the Iowa River in Johnson County, Iowa. The Coralville Lake Dam is owned and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. …

From 2008 National Drug Control Strategy report released Saturday:

In September 2007, ICE agents arrested 25 members of the Nguyen Vo money laundering and drug smuggling organization in the United States and Canada. Agents also executed federal search warrants in Los Angeles; Orange County, California; Houston; Dallas; Minneapolis; Davenport, Iowa; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and were present while the RCMP executed arrest and search warrants in Toronto, Canada. Ultimately, this 10-month investigation led by the ICE office in Houston and the RCMP’s Integrated Proceeds of Crime Unit in Toronto, Canada, resulted in the complete dismantling of the Nguyen Vo organization and the arrest of Nguyen Vo and Helen Tran, the group’s leaders. In addition, Operation Tien Can resulted in the seizure of approximately $7.8 million in U.S. currency, $305,000 in Canadian currency, 85 kilograms of cocaine, and 803 pounds of marijuana. …