WAVERLY, IA (09/24/2015)(readMedia)-- Fifteen Wartburg students have been accepted into the college's Teacher Education Program.

Those accepted include :

Brooke Chapman, a music education major from DeWitt

Audrie Aden, a elementary education major from Davenport

Andrea Weiss, a music therapy and music education major from DeWitt

Students had to demonstrate effective reflective components in teaching, pass the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators exam and complete several other requirements to be considered for the program.

Admission to the Teacher Education Program allows students to begin professional education courses in their field.

Wartburg, a four-year liberal arts college internationally recognized for community engagement, enrolls 1,661 students. Wartburg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and named after the castle in Germany where Martin Luther took refuge disguised as a knight during the stormy days of the Reformation while translating the Bible from Greek into German.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley made the following statement after the Justice Department failed to provide a substantive response to a Sept. 14, 2015, letter sent by Grassley and Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson.  Grassley and Johnson asked Attorney General Loretta Lynch for answers about whether the Justice Department would deem a proffer session as a waiver of a witness's Fifth Amendment rights and whether the department has an ongoing criminal inquiry related to the witness.  The Justice Department's response failed to address any of the senators' questions.

Here is Grassley's statement.

"The Justice Department is giving us less information than normal when they should be giving us more, so that we can make an informed decision about whether to seek an immunity order.  You know it is getting a little absurd when someone at the Justice Department is apparently leaking details to the press about an investigation that the department officially refuses to admit to Congress that it is conducting.

As the last out was recorded Monday evening by the Champion West Michigan Whitecaps in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Midwest League closed a record setting 2015 season.

• The Midwest League set a regular season attendance record during 2015 drawing 4,233,904 fans breaking the previous record set in 2010, of 4,184,843 fans. This total was (i) 10% of all fans who attended every Minor League Baseball ("MiLB") game throughout all MiLB  Leagues, and (ii) exceeded every other League except for the Class AAA Leagues, International and Pacific Coast.

• The post-season saw an additional 32,479 fans through the turnstiles, the highest since 2010 when the playoffs brought in 34,686 fans. Without question the enthusiasm of the fans at the playoff games exceeded anything experienced before.

• A number of clubs either continued record streaks or set new attendance records:

1. Dayton continued its consecutive home sell out streak which began in 2000 and once again was the number 1 Class A team in attendance; exceeded every Class AA team; and number 8 in all of MiLB

2. South Bend and Quad Cities set attendance records-South Bend exceeding 300,000 fans for the first time in its history by drawing 348,000 fans.

3. Fort Wayne had its highest per game average attendance and would have set an all time attendance record had it not had 3 rain outs during the season.

4. Kane County finished in the top 30 in attendance in MiLB, and second in the Midwest League.

5. The remainder of Midwest League Clubs had very strong results which helped to contribute to a League wide record setting season.

President Dick Nussbaum, completing his first year in this role commented: "The Sixteen (16) Midwest League Clubs have shown they are the very best in Minor League Baseball, and as we congratulate our champion, the West Michigan Whitecaps, all Clubs can take a bow for this record setting season.  The 2016 Season can not come soon enough."

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Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack today applauded a new report from the White House Broadband Opportunity Council that details coordinated steps to expand access to high speed internet in poorly connected areas over the next 18 months. The report says more than 25 percent of US households do not have high speed internet because of income or geography. The Broadband Opportunity Council is chaired by Penny Pritzker, Secretary of the US Department of Commerce and Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture.

Earlier this summer, Loebsack joined with fellow Members to call on the Council to modernize regulations for Rural Utility Service's (RUS) Telecommunications Program to better facilitate high speed rural broadband development. The report calls for the RUS program to revise their regulations, which will open additional funding opportunities. Loebsack is a member of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over broadband issues.

"Ensuring everyone has access to high speed internet, no matter where they live, is important for rural economic development, education, job growth, businesses, farmers, and families across Iowa," said Loebsack. "I have met with many small businesses, farmers, and rural telecommunication companies who have stressed the importance of expanding high speed internet to rural areas. Broadband also gives small and rural schools the power to vastly expand their educational options, providing students with a cutting-edge 21st Century education regardless of geography.

"I am pleased President Obama, along with Secretaries Pritzker and Vilsack, laid out this plan to make sure Iowans and others in rural areas are not left behind. Expanding broadband is critical for all Iowans."

Moving forward, the federal government has made four specific commitments in response to the report to expand high speed internet, including:

·         Changing federal programs to allow broadband as an eligible expense in communities participating in the programs;

·         Creating an online inventory with details on federal assets such as telecommunications towers;

·         Streamlining applications for broadband to allow faster deployment and boost competition;

·         Creating an online information hub for communities to learn about federal broadband loan programs.