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11/02/2009
KLEM UPDATE-PM
(DES MOINES)--A TOP ADMINISTRATOR IN THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES IN NORTHWEST IOWA IS BEING HONORED FOR HER EFFORTS INVOLVING CHILD WELFARE.
HUMAN SERVICES SPOKESMAN ROGER MUNNS SAYS AREA HUMAN SERVICES ADMINISTRATOR PAT PENNING OF LE MARS LED AN EFFORT TO REDUCE DISPARITY OF NATIVE AMERICAN CHILDREN IN THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM.
MUNNS SAYS "THERE'S NO EVIDENCE TO SHOW THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE OF ONE RACE OR ANOTHER THAT YOU ARE A BETTER OR WORSE PARENT." MUNNS SAYS. "SO PAT, HAS TAKEN IT ON HERSELF TO DO THE PROJECT IN WOODBURY COUNTY TO REDUCE THE DISPARITY OF KIDS--TO SQUEEZE THE BIAS OUT OF THE SYSTEM."
HERE'S BEEN AN EFFORT TO MAKE SURE DECISIONS IN WOODBURY COUNTY ARE BASED ON CHILD WELFARE EVIDENCE.
"TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE RESPOND TO COMPLAINTS OF ABUSE OR NEGLECT, TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE EVALUATE THE FAMILY TO SEE IF THERE IS ABUSE OR NEGLECT AND WHEN WE MAKE THE DECISIONS WHERE TO PLACE THAT ALL THESE DECISIONS ARE MADE STRICTLY ON THE EVIDENCE OF ABUSE OR NEGLECT AND NOTHING, NO DECISION ARE BASED ON OTHER CRITERIA," MUNNS SAYS.
MUNNS EXPLAINS THE SUCCESS PENNING FOSTERED LED TO THE GOLDEN DOME AWARD.
"FIRST OF ALL, THE EVIDENCE IN THE FIRST YEARS WAS JUST SORT OF ANECDOTAL PEOPLE WERE SAYING 'GOODNESS THE DEPARTMENT'S ATTITUDE TOWARDS NATIVE PEOPLE HAS CHANGED AND WE APPRECIATE IT' AND THEN CAME THE DATA TO SHOW THAT THE DISPARITY HAS STARTED TO NARROW. THEN, LAST WEEK, A RICHLY DESERVED AWARD,A NICE HONOR FOR HER, THE GOVERNOR'S AWARD, THE GOLDEN DOME," MUNNS EXPLAINS.
THE GOLDEN DOME AWARD RECOGNIZES STATE EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS TO IOWA CITIZENS AND COMMUNITY BETTERMENT.
(REMSEN)--A TRANSPORTATION OPTION IS BEING OFFERED TO INCOME ELIGIBLE PERSONS THROUGH MID-SIOUX OPPORTUNITY OF REMSEN.
MID-SIOUX IS WORKING WITH SIOUXLAND REGIONAL TRANSIT SYSTEM AND REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION VOUCHERS. THE VOUCHERS ARE FOR THOSE WHO ARE AT OR BELOW 200 PERCENT OF THE FEDERAL POVERTY GUIDELINES.
THEY'RE GOOD FOR ONE-WAY RIDES IN LE MARS, CHEROKEE, IDA GROVE, SIOUX CENTER, HAWARDEN AND ROCK RAPIDS.
INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE FROM THE LOCAL MID-SIOUX OUTREACH OFFICE.
YANKTON, S.D. (AP) Yankton's longtime police chief is retiring this month.
Sixty-two-year-old Duane Heeney says he has spent 43 years in law enforcement, and it is time to start a new chapter in his life and spend more time with his family.
Heeney has been with the Yankton Police Department since 1989 and has been the chief since 1995.
City Manager Doug Russell says the effort to find a successor will get under way soon.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) A TransCanada Keystone Pipeline official says one of the biggest challenges in building a crude oil pipeline in western South Dakota is that it goes through remote areas with sparse populations.
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission began a formal hearing Monday in TransCanada's application for a construction permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline through western South Dakota. It would run 313 miles through western South Dakota as part of a project to deliver crude oil from Alberta tar sands to Gulf Coast terminals and refineries in Texas.
A lawyer representing landowners along the route says he will not present witnesses because landowners are mostly interested in safety issues that will be handled by federal agencies, not the state commission.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) A judge has cut a $1,000 state fine down to $50 against a former city administrator who used the Norfolk computer system in 2006 to send a single e-mail about a proposed cap on state spending.
District Judge Karen Flowers called the violation ``a trifle' but upheld the law as it stood in 2006 and said Mike Nolan should not have used the city system.
Nolan had appealed the fine from the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission. It said Nolan violated state law prohibiting the use of public resources to campaign about a ballot issue.
This spring the Legislature passed a law giving public employees and officials some leeway for inadvertent use.
Nolan and his attorney did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press on Monday.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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© 2002 KLEM.
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