Word: iowa
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...year after the city's worst flooding disaster. "We've become stronger - more of a family," says Toni Grimm, the home's owner, talking about her neighborhood, Czech Village, a historic ethnic area bordering the now tranquil Cedar River. Last June, the river swamped 10 square miles of Iowa's second largest city (metro-area pop. 255,000). There are signs of life in the downtown business district, with factories and shops reopened. But whole swaths of neighborhoods along the river remain eerily lifeless, with one abandoned, waterlogged shell of a house after another, some spray-painted with warnings...
...Czech Village gathering, which drew a handful of neighbors, is among several commemorations being held this month in Cedar Rapids and across eastern Iowa to mark the one-year anniversary of flooding that deluged cities large and small, upending many lives and causing an estimated $10 billion worth of damage ($6 billion in Cedar Rapids alone). Eighty-eight of Iowa's 99 counties were declared a natural disaster area as a result of last year's flooding and two deadly tornadoes. While progress has been made to recover from Iowa's worst disaster, many frustrated homeowners still await government help...
State leaders hope the Department of Housing and Urban Development will grant their request to develop a "disaster track" that would temporarily ease restrictions so the money can reach residents and communities faster. They're also hopeful that Iowa will receive more overall federal and state disaster aid. To date, over $3 billion has been allocated, with $638 million spent. "It's the timeliness of the money that frustrates us all," says Lieut. General Ron Dardis, a former Iowa National Guard commander who is executive director of the state's Rebuild Iowa Office, created soon after last June's disaster...
...this year - and it shows in the chaos that surrounds the panel as it begins to try to turn his long-held dream of universal health coverage into reality. "As we always say around here, if you want to get a bill through, give it to Kennedy," says Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a senior member of the panel. "He just knows how to get the deals and get everybody working together." (Read "Cost, Not Coverage, Drive Health-Care Debate...
...There are very few drugs approved for use in the first trimester of pregnancy," says Dr. Jennifer Niebyl, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Iowa. "But this study could lead to metoclopramide getting approved to treat morning sickness because this is good data with big numbers...