Modern Woodmen will present the award at the Race to Knock Out Hunger

On Saturday, Sept. 20, Angie DeHamer, Sherrard, Ill., received Modern Woodmen of America's Hometown Hero Award. DeHamer was recognized for countless hours of service to the community. The recognition took place in a pre-race ceremony for Modern Woodmen's Race to Knock Out Hunger.

President Kenny Massey presented DeHamer with the Hometown Hero award and a $100 grant, to be presented to the charitable organization of her choice. DeHamer was recognized for her devotion and involvement with the Viager Family of Sherrard.

In 2013, the Sherrard community member lost his wife, daughter, two nieces, a friend and his home in an early morning fire. DeHamer made it her mission to help. She worked with countless others to have a new home built at minimal costs.

"The Hometown Hero program allows us to thank those who give back to the community and encourage others to volunteer," says Kenny Massey, President and CEO of Modern Woodmen.

Coordinated by local Modern Woodmen members, chapters provide opportunities to take part in social activities and community service projects to meet local needs.

As a tax-exempt fraternal benefit society, Modern Woodmen sells life insurance, annuity and investment* products not to benefit stockholders but to improve quality of life for our members, their families and their communities. This is accomplished through social, charitable and volunteer activities. In 2013, Modern Woodmen and its members provide more than $20 million and more than 507,600 volunteer hours for community projects nationwide.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2014 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the reappointment of four individuals to serve on the National Genetic Resources Advisory Council (NGRAC), a subcommittee of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board. The newly appointed and returning members of the NGRAC will meet from Sept. 23 through Sept. 25 in Ames, Iowa.

The NGRAC is made up of nine voting members and eight ex-officio members. Two-thirds of voting members are selected from the scientific community and one-third from the general public. The following members have been reappointed to a 3-year term effective October 1, 2014:

Scientific Members

• Dr. Jane Dever, Professor of Plant Breeding at Texas A&M AgriLife Research.
• Dr. Karen Moldenhauer, Professor and Rice Industry Chair for Variety Development, University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture.
• Dr. Mulumebet Worku, Animal Scientist/Professor/Biotechnologist, Department of Animal Sciences, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

General Public Members

• Matthew Dillon, Senior Manager Agricultural Programs and Director of Seed Matters, Clif Bar & Company.

Originally established by Congress in 1992, the NGRAC was re-activated in 2012 as a subcommittee under the NAREEE Advisory Board to formulate recommendations on actions and policies for the collection, maintenance, and utilization of genetic resources; to make recommendations for coordination of genetic resources plans; and to advise the Secretary of Agriculture and the National Genetic Resources Program (NGRP) Director of new and innovative approaches to genetic resources conservation. More recently, the NGRAC was charged with advising USDA on ways to ensure that the NGRP serves the needs of all farmers for high-quality and diverse seed for their particular farming operations and how the department can develop a broad strategy for maintaining plant biodiversity available to agriculture, and strengthening public sector plant breeding capacities.

The Council operates under the auspices of the NAREEE Advisory Board and the USDA Research, Education, and Economics (REE) Mission Area.

The NGRAC is holding a publicly open meeting beginning on the afternoon of September 23 through the afternoon of September 25, 2014 at the Seed Science Center, Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. The NGRAC will focus the meeting on further formulation and development of advice and recommendations to help ensure that the USDA serves the needs of all farmers by making sure that high-quality and diverse seed is available for farming operations of all types.

The meeting's agenda includes featured experts in genetic sciences within food and agriculture. Among those invited to speak are: Dr. Catherine Woteki, USDA Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics (REE); Dr. Michael Schechtman, Biotechnology Coordinator and Executive Secretary Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21); Dr. Charles Brown, Chair, Organic Seed Committee, American Seed Trade Association; and Leslie Wheelock, Director, USDA Office of Tribal Relations.

Meeting Location:

Seed Science Center

191 Seed Science Building

Ames, Iowa 50011

All NGRAC meetings are open to the public.

You must register as an attendee by contacting Shirley Morgan-Jordan at shirley.morgan@ars.usda.gov or calling (202) 720-3684. A draft agenda will be sent upon request. At the end of each meeting day, the floor will be open for public comment, or interested individuals may provide written comment for the public record postmarked by Oct. 9, 2014.

For additional information, please contact Michele Esch, Executive Director, REE Advisory Board Office, Room 332A, Whitten Building, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-0321, Telephone: 202-720-3684, Fax: 202-720-6199, or e-mail: michele.esch@usda.gov.

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Washington, D.C. - Today, Representatives Dave Loebsack (IA-02) and Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), along with 16 other members of Congress, introduced H.R. 5559, the Bridge to a Clean Energy Future Act of 2014. The bill would extend critical incentives to provide market certainty and to strengthen investment in clean energy such as extending Production Tax Credit for wind energy through 2016, offering parity with the Investment Tax Credit enjoyed by solar energy investments, and granting the solar industry the same access to credits at the start of a project's construction that the wind industry has. For additional information, click here.

Wind and solar energy are clean, renewable, and American.  Creating a tax landscape for renewables that allows them to compete fairly in the market with other energy sources benefits the country by creating a healthier environment and thousands of jobs. It also puts renewable energy on an equal footing with traditional fossil fuels, giving consumers real choice about how they want to power their homes and their lives.

"The Production Tax Credit has helped the still-growing U.S. wind energy industry employ 80,000 Americans, including thousands of Iowans," said Loebsack. "Like all businesses, the wind energy sector needs stability and predictability so long term investments and business decisions can be made. The continued expiration of the PTC causes slow-downs at manufacturing facilities and could lead to additional lay-offs. For our nation to move towards energy independence and continued job growth, we need to prioritize clean energy like wind and act immediately to pass this extension of the PTC."

"I'm eager to push this across the finish line this Congress," said Blumenauer. "My state of Oregon is a leader in renewable energy technologies, and Dave's state of Iowa is the second largest wind energy producer in the nation, so we understand the importance of stability and security in the clean energy sector. His help will be important in advancing this legislation. Making sure these energy sources are on an even playing field with the fossil fuel industry is essential to lowering carbon emissions, creating a cleaner environment, and creating good, non-exportable American jobs."

In addition to developing domestic sources of clean energy, strengthening the finance environment for the construction and development of renewable energy installations strengthens the US economy by employing American workers, and supporting American manufacturers. From a strong base at home, American clean energy firms are also able to export this technology around the world, creating new markets for American expertise.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2014 - U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, joined U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to announce a competition to designate a new round of Promise Zones. These Promise Zones are part of the President's plan to create a new pathway to the middle class by partnering with local communities and businesses to create jobs, increase economic security, improve educational opportunities, and reduce violent crime.

Urban, rural, and tribal communities nationwide will be invited to put forward a plan to partner with local business and community leaders to make evidence-based investments that reward hard work and expand opportunity. In exchange, these designees will receive priority access to federal investments that further their strategic plans, federal staff on the ground to help them implement their goals, and five full-time AmeriCorps VISTA members to recruit and manage volunteers and strengthen the capacity of the Promise Zone initiatives.

"The Promise Zones initiative allows us to work directly with local leaders and organizations to meet a community's specific needs," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "In the current Promise Zones, especially in rural and tribal areas, we are seeing how effective it can be when we work in a coordinated way to address economic and social challenges. We've seen economic recovery strategies like this create jobs and opportunity through USDA's community-based StrikeForce Initiative and Promise Zones build on this success."

"As a former mayor of an urban Promise Zone community, I have a unique appreciation for the talent, passion and the vision that local leaders offer when working to turn their communities around," said HUD Secretary Julian Castro. "Promise Zones are about giving folks who have been underserved for far too long the opportunity to build stronger neighborhoods and more prosperous lives. At HUD, we're honored to give other communities the opportunity to transform their futures so this work can continue across the country."

"As a former mayor, I know the difference that can be made when federal agencies work together to cut through red tape and deliver strategic solutions that address a community's needs," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "The Department of Transportation is proud to work alongside other agencies to make sure communities not only offer good homes, thriving businesses and a clean environment, but an efficient transportation system so its people can enjoy them all, too."

Education Secretary Arne Duncan added, "At the heart of every strong community is a great school, but schools can't do it alone - it takes the whole community to help improve outcomes for students in school and in life. Promise Zones create real pathways to success for families in our most impoverished communities across the country by attracting private investment, increasing affordable housing, improving educational opportunities and assisting local leaders in cutting through red tape. I am excited to join our interagency partners in announcing this new opportunity for communities to become a Promise Zone."

Each Promise Zone selected will have demonstrated that local leaders, business leaders, state, tribal and local officials; faith-based and non-profit organizations; children and parents are collaborating effectively to ensure that hard work leads to a decent living for every American, in every community.

In 2009, after a generation of sometimes counterproductive and often contradictory federal engagement that was creating obstacles to greater shared prosperity, local communities across the country demanded a more effective and responsive federal government partner to create new pathways to the middle class. To meet this demand, the Obama Administration adopted a variety of unprecedented place-based efforts to promote economic opportunity and accelerate economic growth by explicitly connecting key federal programs that support such growth, such as education, housing, economic development, and infrastructure, with locally-devised strategies for broadly shared regional growth.

In January of this year, President Obama announced the first five Promise Zones: San Antonio, TX, Los Angeles, CA, Philadelphia, PA, Southeastern Kentucky Highlands and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The work being done in these communities is already helping to move the needle in key areas. For example, graduation rates have reached 90 percent in the San Antonio Promise Zone; 2,000 kids in Los Angeles were able to find a summer job through a youth employment initiative; 900 unemployed people in Southeastern Kentucky have been connected to a job; and over 700 households and 50 businesses in remote southeast Oklahoma will soon have access to clean, safe drinking water for the first time. Today's announcement of a new Promise Zone competition will help bring similar success to high-poverty communities across the country.

Any community meeting the qualifying criteria can apply for a designation, regardless of whether it has a previous federal grant. HUD and USDA will designate at least 8 Promise Zones across urban, rural and tribal communities. The deadline for submitting Promise Zone applications is November 21, 2014.

HUD in close collaboration with USDA will convene three distinct webcasts for urban, rural, and tribal to discuss the second round of the Promise Zone Initiative with interested communities.

Dates and times are as follows:

• Tribal Webcast, September 29th, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
• Rural Webcast, September 29th, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
• Urban Webcast, October 1, 2014, 3:00pm - 4:00pm

More information about the Promise Zone initiative and how to apply is available at: www.hud.gov/promisezones.

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