Stories

An employee in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa received a national award from the U.S. Department of Justice in recognition of her continued service to the office and exceptional accomplishments in the wake of the June 2008 floods.

CEDAR RAPIDS — U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin met with several small business owners this weekend to draw attention to the benefits of health care reform for those owners and the self-employed. “I think one of the best-kept secrets of our health reform bill that we have in Congress right now is that the biggest winners are going to be small businesses and the self-employed,” Harkin said.

In an opinion piece dubbed “Iowa Congressman Steve King is heartless and proud of it,” the staff at The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune takes particular offense to U.S. Rep. Steve King’s (R-Kiron) latest comment for a series published by The Hill that typically serves as a light-hearted glimpse of the nation’s elected officials.
In short, King is quoted [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS — Craig Fugate, who was confirmed as the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in May, received his first in-person look at the remaining damage in a Cedar Rapids flood zone Tuesday when he toured sections of Time Check Neighborhood with local officials.

Chipped wood debris, possibly from flood-damaged Linn County homes, will soon be used to create energy at a Wisconsin biomass facility.
The contract, approved Tuesday by the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency, states that at least 6,000 tons of chipped wood debris will be sold to Michigan-based DTE Energy Services for use in a modified [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS — Roughly 100 flood-impacted residents and business gathered at the Marriott here Wednesday night to hear from officials from several agencies involved in the city’s flood recovery efforts.
The event, which was billed as a forum, was set up a bit like a job fair. Presenters provided remarks in a large crowd setting and [...]

The Iowa Department of Human Services announced this week that those affected by the 2008 natural disasters can receive no-cost professional mental health services.
The Ticket to Hope Program, funded through a social services emergency disaster relief appropriation by the 2009 legislature, provides services to people who are uninsured, whose insurance does not cover mental health [...]

The first $45.5 million in grants associated with Gov. Chet Culver’s I-JOBS infrastructure plan were handed out Monday morning by the program’s governing board.
The money, part of the $830 million program designed to help the state rebuild after last year’s tornado and flooding disaster, includes $20 million for projects in Cedar Rapids, one of the [...]

A 30-year-old Cedar Rapids woman has been sentenced to two months in federal prison for lying to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in an application for flood disaster relief.

Even the worst of times can be teaching moments. That’s the thinking behind a collection of advice and best practices developed and distributed by the Iowa Association of School Boards.