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On Aug. 8, Gov. Culver held his annual Lifesaving Awards
Ceremony at the Iowa State Fair.
Among those honored were Mark Petersen of North Liberty
and Cory Rath of Cedar Rapids. They received the Lifesaving with Valor
award for helping to save a mother and her two children after she lost
control of her vehicle on an icy road and plunged into the Iowa
River on December 14, 2007.
Also honored was Adrianna Boettcher of Mt. Vernon. She received a Meritorious Award for
assisting elderly Iowans in distress on two separate occasions in November
and December 2007.
Every legislator wants to keep their promises, but only
those that pay close attention to the budget have a good chance of
succeeding.
That’s why I’ve pushed the Legislature to adopt solid
budgeting practices in the last few years.
These reforms are now helping us keep our promises to Iowa’s students,
families and communities despite the current nationwide economic
slowdown.
The fact that we are now making better budget decisions is
one reason Iowa’s
economy is much stronger than the nation’s as a whole. The state budget is balanced, obeys the
state’s expenditure-limitation law, and fully funds our emergency savings
accounts.
According to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency, Iowa’s
rainy day funds will grow to $620.3 million in the next year, the largest
amount ever in the state’s savings account. At the same time, we’ve repaid nearly all
of the funds that earlier Legislatures had borrowed.
Our strong state budget means we can re-allocate funds for
flood and tornado recovery while keeping promises to improve student
achievement and teacher quality, create good-paying jobs, make health care
more accessible, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
By making tough budget decisions, we have improved Iowa’s financial
standing, are honoring our commitments to Iowans, and continue to make our
state a better place to live, work and raise a family.
The Iowa Arts Council has received a $100,000 grant from
the National Endowment for the Arts for Iowa artists and arts organizations
recovering from storm damage.
Some of the dollars will go to the 2008 Emergency Arts
Relief program, which provides up to $500 for immediate recovery needs.
Others will be used for larger grants and stipends generally ranging from
$3,000 - $6,000.
Disaster-affected Iowa
artists and Iowa
arts organizations that are nonprofit, federally tax-exempt, and located in a
state- or federally-declared disaster area are eligible to apply. Complete information and applications are available
at www.iowaartscouncil.org.
Working with Iowa
young people can be a great win-win opportunity for local businesses. The Iowa Student Internship Program is now
accepting applications from local businesses interested in providing
internships to Iowa
college students.
Companies are eligible to apply for up to three internships,
which are worth $3,100 each. The program is available to Iowa-based companies
that:
Have fewer than 500 employees, with a significant portion
employed within Iowa
in biosciences, advanced manufacturing or information technology.
Offer internships to students of Iowa community colleges, private colleges,
or regent institutions within two years of graduation.
Create a substantive working experience for interns in research
and development, engineering, process management and production, product
experimentation and analysis, product development, market research, business
planning and administration.
For more information, visit www.iowalifechanging.com/business/innov&comm.html
The Iowa Utilities Board is coordinating a community-based
initiative to weatherize homes for Iowans in need before the winter heating
season.
A community grant of up to $5,000 is available for
communities with a population of 10,000 or less to educate residents on
weatherization and energy efficiency.
The Utilities Board is also offering matching grants of up
to $500 to organizations throughout Iowa.
These grants are to be used to weatherize homes and provide educational
materials for Iowa’s
low-income families, elderly or disabled individuals.
More information is available at www.state.ia.us/iub.
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