WEST DES MOINES- April 16, 2013 - The Marshalltown 1 Envirothon Team beat out 13 teams from around the state to win the 18^th annual Iowa Envirothon title at Springbrook State Park in Guthrie Center on Monday.  The Marshalltown team receives an expense-paid trip to participate in the Canon National Envirothon competition held at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, August 4-9.

Team members of the Marshalltown team include (from left to right): Sean Finn, Adam Willman, Joe Metzger, Emma Runquist, Abby Snyder and Coach Susan Fritzell.

The Envirothon is a program for Iowa high school students who want to learn more about natural resources and current environmental challenges. Teams are tested in wildlife, aquatics, forestry, soils and current issues. This year's current issues oral competition theme was grazing and rangeland management: livestock, grazing and long-term management for absentee land owners in Iowa.

Participating teams included: Des Moines FFA, Decorah Supafly, Nodaway Valley FFA, Alburnett FFA, Decorah Eagles, Waverly Shell Rock Sharptails, Marshalltown 2, Iowa City High Benthos, Columbus Junction FFA, Mediapolis, Glenwood 3, Charles City FFA Blue and Muscatine FFA.  The top FFA team title went to Des Moines FFA.

The Iowa Farm Bureau has sponsored the Iowa Envirothon since the program began in 1996.  Today Iowa Farm Bureau works in cooperation with several farm organizations to offer Iowa high school students the opportunity to compete and increase knowledge and awareness of our natural resources.

For the complete results, visit https://sites.google.com/a/cfu.net/iowa-envirothon/.

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About Iowa Farm Bureau

The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation is a grassroots, statewide organization dedicated to enhancing the People, Progress and Pride of Iowa.  More than 153,000 families in Iowa are Farm Bureau members, working together to achieve farm and rural prosperity.  For more information about Farm Bureau and agriculture, visit the Newsroom page on the IBF website at www.iowafarmbureau.com.

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today pressed the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to account for recent media reports stating that agency internal documents say agents have the ability to access taxpayer emails without warrants, despite a court opinion to the contrary.  Grassley questioned Steven T. Miller, acting commissioner, at a Finance Committee hearing this morning.   The media reports indicate the IRS has taken the position that it can access taxpayer emails without a warrant under the Electronic Communication Privacy Act.   While the Act does allow federal agencies to obtain electronic communications from a remote computing service without a search warrant, provided they are older than 180 days, this position is contrary to the 6^th Circuit's decision in U.S. v. Warshak. In Warshak, the court held that a search warrant is necessary to obtain any content of an email, regardless of age.  The Department of Justice has extended this policy to all circuits.   Grassley has long worked to expand taxpayer rights, winning approval of the first-ever Taxpayer Bill of Rights in 1988 and a sequel enacted in 1996.  The legislation codified rights and protections for taxpayers in dealing with the IRS after a series of abuses came to light and were the subject of congressional hearings.

Grassley made the following comment on the IRS' email access policy.

"The IRS has a very high burden to treat taxpayers within legal bounds and without abusive intrusion of privacy.  The agency's written materials suggest agents have the ability to access taxpayer emails without warrants.   Acting Commissioner Miller said today this isn't the agency position.  If it's not agency policy or practice, the IRS needs to clarify the true policy in writing, agency-wide.  That's critical.  But it's not enough.  The IRS also needs to explain its aggressive stance in internal documents about accessing electronic communications and whether it in fact accessed electronic communications without search warrants and if so, when and why.  The IRS has to take this issue seriously, and a casual explanation is inadequate.  I'll ask Acting Commissioner Miller follow-up questions on this issue to be answered in writing for the hearing record, as a start."

Not too long ago - just after World War II - few people in the United States brushed their teeth with any regularity. Now, the mere thought of going an entire day or night without brushing one's teeth is simply out of the question for most.

Hopefully, someday in the near future, a similar attitude will prevail regarding mental well-being, says Dr. Matt Mumber, an oncologist and author of "Sustainable Wellness: An Integrative Approach to Transform Your Mind, Body, and Spirit," (www.sustainablewellnessonline.com), coauthored by Yoga therapist Heather Reed.

"Human happiness and well-being are rudderless without awareness, which I define as the quality of paying attention to what's going on in the present moment from an inquisitive, nonjudgmental and focused perspective," he says.

An easy way to think of optimal wellbeing might be to envision a three-legged stool, says Reed.

"The three legs include physical activity, nutrition and that underappreciated component missing from too many Americans' lives - stress management, or a healthy mental state," she says.

After checking off a healthy diet and exercise from the list, how does one go about ensuring a healthy mind? Mumber and Reed say the key is mindfulness, which they define as paying attention on purpose, non-judgmentally and as though your life depended on it. Framed another way, mindfulness means focusing on something without trying to change it, like the sky holding passing clouds without clinging to them.

They describe the states necessary for attaining mindfulness:

• Beginner's mind is the ability to see things with new eyes. The Bible warns against putting new wine in old wine skins - doing so risks tainting the new stock. A beginner's mind opens people to the world of possibilities that exist in the present moment. That does not mean throwing away good ideas from the past; rather, it means to entertain new ideas with a truly open sensibility.

• Trust: Believe in your authority to know your own body, thoughts and feelings. We need to have the confidence necessary to trust that our thoughts and feelings at any given moment have value.

• Non-judging is the ability to see things for what they are, to hold an open and neutral place for whatever comes up within and around you, without thinking of anything as categorically better or worse than anything else.

• Patience is a willingness to continue with the process of paying attention on purpose even when it appears that no progress is being made. Learning and growing through mindful practice happens with time, and we can't force the outcome.

• Acceptance refers to allowing whatever comes up in the moment to be held in our field of awareness. This is not the same as giving up or being passive; acceptance is merely acknowledgement.

• Letting go is refusing to attach to specific thoughts, feelings or behaviors. This can feel like losing something, but every time we let go, we open ourselves to something new and, potentially, deeper.

• Non-striving: In our goal-oriented society, this may seem counterintuitive. However, non-striving refers only to practicing mindfulness without expectation of some future goal or dream, which helps us better live in the now.

"By having our three-legged stool firmly planted in awareness, we can drop into what we typically call a sense of spiritual wellbeing,' says Mumber.

About Matt Mumber, MD & Heather Reed

Matt Mumber, MD, is a practicing board-certified radiation oncologist with the Harbin Clinic in Rome, Ga. He completed his radiation oncology residency at Wake Forest University Bowman Gray School of Medicine and graduated from the Associate Fellowship Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. Dr. Mumber is past president of the Georgia Society of Clinical Oncology. He founded Cancer Navigators Inc, a non-profit organization offering cancer patients access to nurse navigation, social services and educational programs to support and augment the clinical care they receive. Dr. Mumber received the Hamilton Jordan Founders Award for involvement in statewide oncology activities and in 2008 he was named a Health Care Hero by Georgia Trend magazine.

Heather Reed has been teaching Yoga since 1996. She expresses an integrative, adaptive approach and specializes in using Yoga and meditation techniques for people living with cancer, post-polio syndrome and other chronic illnesses. Heather received an Experienced Teacher Certification from Esther Myers Yoga Teacher Training Program and has had extensive training with senior staff of the Commonweal Cancer Help program and Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease. She developed Yoga classes for cancer patients at The Wellness Community, Atlanta. Since 2008, she has been Yoga teacher and co-facilitator for the Residential Retreat Program for Cancer Navigators of Rome, Ga.

Governor's Clean Water Initiative Helped Draw World's Largest Water Pump Manufacturer to Illinois

DOWNERS GROVE - As part of his agenda to create jobs and drive Illinois' economy forward, Governor Pat Quinn today was joined by Grundfos officials to break ground on the global water pump manufacturer's new North American headquarters in Downers Grove, Illinois. Denmark-based Grundfos, the world's largest water pump producer, will create 40 new jobs at the headquarters. The Illinois Clean Water Initiative - which was launched by Governor Quinn in 2012 to overhaul the state's water infrastructure - was cited by the company as a key reason why they chose Illinois.

"I am pleased that Grundfos has chosen Illinois as the location for their North American headquarters," Governor Quinn said. "Illinois continues to be one of the best places to do business in the world. My Clean Water Initiative has made Illinois a hub for water technology and even more attractive for international businesses like Grundfos. Today's announcement will grow our economy and create jobs."

Governor Quinn and Downers Grove Mayor Martin Tully joined Grundfos executives Jes Munk Hansen, Grundfos North America president and Søren Sorensen, Grundfos Group Executive Vice President and Chairman of the Grundfos North American Board, to kick-off construction by using sledgehammers to knock down a wall in the existing structure. Grundfos already employs about 100 people at its Aurora location, and the new headquarters will add an additional 40 jobs over the next several years.

Grundfos representatives recently participated in the governor's trade mission to Mexico, along with other Illinois water technology firms. The Mexican market for water technologies is estimated to grow three percent during 2013, and Grundfos may benefit from heightened Mexican demand and the country's strong economic ties with Illinois. In addition, Grundfos is pursuing LEED certification at its new 10,871 square-foot facility, which will utilize Energy Star-rated equipment and the latest technology in lighting and controls, as well as sustainable building materials for the office's furniture, flooring and fixtures.

"The Chicago area is emerging as an important hub for the water industry, and is one of the reasons why we're establishing our North American headquarters here," Hansen said. "The State of Illinois has shown commitment to water infrastructure, most recently through a $1 billion initiative to upgrade water infrastructure across the state, and we anticipate playing a major role in the further development of critical water initiatives in the state and around the country."

Governor Quinn launched the $1 billion Illinois Clean Water Initiative in his 2012 State of the State Address to help local governments facing a critical need to overhaul aging drinking water and wastewater treatment plants and distribution and collection systems. The initiative is funded with annual federal grants, funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and additional principal and interest from loan repayments. No new state tax dollars are used. According to the U.S. EPA, it is estimated that total water infrastructure needs in Illinois over the next 20 years will total $32 billion, including $17 billion in wastewater projects and $15 billion in drinking water projects. To learn more about Governor Quinn's Illinois Clean Water Initiative, please visit CleanWater.Illinois.gov.

With an annual production of more than 16 million pumps, Denmark-based Grundfos is a global leader in advanced pump solutions and a trendsetter in water technology. The company specializes in circulator pumps for heating and air conditioning as well as centrifugal pumps for industrial applications, water supply, sewage and dosing. Grundfos also manufactures standard and submersible motors and state-of-the-art electronics for monitoring and controlling pumps. This year, the company celebrates its 40th anniversary in the United States, where it employs nearly 1,300 people. Grundfos North America maintains operations in Illinois, Kansas, Pennsylvania, California, Texas, Indiana, Canada and Mexico.

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