ARCTIC OCEAN – U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy, homeported in Seattle, arrived at the North Pole Sept. 5, 2015, becoming the first U.S. surface ship to do so unaccompanied. This is also only the fourth time a U.S. surface vessel has ever reached the North Pole, and the first since 2005.

Healy's crew and science party, totaling 145 people, departed Dutch Harbor, Alaska Aug. 9, in support of GEOTRACES, an historic, international effort to study the geochemistry of the world's oceans. This National Science Foundation funded expedition is focused on studying the Arctic Ocean to meet a number of scientific goals, including the creation of baseline measurements of the air, ice, snow, seawater, meltwater and ocean bottom sediment for future comparisons.

The United States is an Arctic Nation and the Coast Guard has operated in the Arctic since the 1860s.  Reaching the North Pole serves as a testament to the Coast Guard's continued ability to provide access and presence throughout this increasingly important and operationally challenging region of the world.

Healy is the United States' newest high-latitude vessel. It is a 420-foot, 16,000-ton, 30,000-horsepower icebreaker, capable of breaking over ten feet of ice. In addition to performing the Coast Guard's other statutory missions such as law enforcement and search and rescue, Healy is a research platform with extensive laboratory spaces, multiple oceanographic deck winches, and berthing for 50 scientists.

As the Arctic region continues to open up to development, the data gathered onboard Healy during this cruise will become ever more essential to understanding how the scientific processes of the Arctic work, and how to most responsibly exercise stewardship over the region.

Please click here for video of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy crew operating in the Arctic Ocean during a search and rescue exercise July 14, 2015.

Please click here for video of Capt. Jason Hamilton, commanding officer, Coast Guard Cutter Healy, talking about the cutter's missions in the Arctic this year.

Please click here for the latest blogs about Healy's voyage. You can read mission reports from the Healy here.

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Rock Island, IL - Christian Care is pleased to announce it has received a $500 grant from the Junior Board of Rock Island. This grant will provide direct therapy to children over two years old who arrive at the domestic violence shelter with their mother. As victims or witnesses to domestic violence, children and youth are affected emotionally, socially, physically, and behaviorally during the formative years of their lives. Without some type of intervention, such as Christian Care's Awakening Children to Empowerment Program, both boys and girls are susceptible to carrying the negative effects of domestic violence well into adulthood.

Christian Care is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization operating two facilities?a domestic violence shelter for abused women and children and a rescue mission for homeless men. It serves homeless individuals, victims of domestic violence, veterans, men and women coming out of prison, and those with mental illnesses.

Christian Care's community meal site is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner on weekdays Monday through Friday, and for breakfast and dinner on Saturday and Sunday. Breakfast is served at 6:30 a.m., lunch at 12:15 p.m., and dinner at 6:30 p.m. If you know of someone in need, call Christian Care's crisis hotline any hour of the day at (309) 788-2273 or visit online at christiancareqc.org.

In a call with Iowa radio broadcasters this morning, Sen. Chuck Grassley said the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama Administration is an example of leading from behind on foreign policy that emboldens dangerous nations and weakens the strong leadership the United States has held in brokering global security since World War II.   You can listen here: Grassley on the Iran Nuclear Deal

Des Moines, September 8, 2015– The Iowa Supreme Court today announced its 2015-2016 adjudicative term calendar, including two special evening sessions in Des Moines and four special sessions to hear oral arguments in communities around the state. The court's adjudicative term is from September 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016.

The court will hear special evening sessions of oral arguments in Newton, Harlan, Ames, and Clinton. The evening sessions are scheduled for the convenience of members of the public who wish to attend. Drake University School of Law and the University of Iowa College of Law will also host oral arguments with limited seating for the public. There will be two special evening session in Des Moines, one in the West Des Moines Valley High School Performing Arts Center, November 16, 2015, and the second in the Judicial Branch Building, February 16, 2016. The special sessions are for central Iowa residents who may not have been able to attend the court's regular morning and afternoon sessions.

"The court looks forward to hearing oral arguments at Valley High School this fall," Chief Justice Mark Cady said. "In the past three years, the Iowa Supreme Court has visited 17 communities for evening oral arguments and public receptions. Going forward, we plan to add a central Iowa school to our schedule every fall. It will be one more opportunity for Iowans to learn more about the value of its court system and for the supreme court to learn what members of the community expect from their court system as we continue to build for the future."

The 2015-2016 adjudicative term will also mark the second year the supreme court has live streamed and archived its oral arguments on the Iowa Courts YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL6EU7W8kqDKnKPUzMdxr_g

The court's special sessions schedule:

September 25, 2015

University of Iowa College of Law

10:30 a.m.

October 14, 2015

Newton High School

7:00 p.m.

November 4, 2015

Harlan High School

7:00 p.m.

November 16, 2015

West Des Moines Valley High School

7:00 p.m.

February 16, 2016

Iowa Judicial Branch Building, Des Moines

7:00 p.m.

March 2, 2016

Ames High School

7:00 p.m.

March 31, 2016

Drake University Law School

9:30 a.m.

April 14, 2016

Clinton High School

7:00 p.m.

The court will continue its regular schedule of oral arguments in Des Moines during the adjudicative term. All supreme court oral arguments are open to the public.

Between May, 2011, and April, 2015, the supreme court heard oral arguments in Cedar Rapids, Mason City, Carroll, Council Bluffs, Bettendorf, Ottumwa, Waterloo, Sioux City, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Burlington, Clarinda, Toledo, Iowa City, Storm Lake, Creston, and Decorah. Coinciding with each visit, the justices met with high school and college government and American history classes.

The court's complete calendar for its 2015-2016 term is on the Iowa Judicial Branch website at http://www.iowacourts.gov/wfData/files/Calendar/2015-16%20web%20calendar%20sept%208.pdf

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