Central Community High School alum Elliott Beenk and his band, Chasing Shade, return to his alma mater Friday, Aug.16, to present a back-to-school concert at 7 p.m. at the Central Performing Arts Center at the high school in DeWitt.

This indie-beach-blues group based in Iowa City has shared the stage with some of the top acts in the country including Bon Jovi, Pepper, G. Love & Special Sauce, Rusted Root, Lissie and Mason Jennings.

The band is made up of University of Iowa graduates and a current student. Griffen Harris is the lead vocalist and plays drums and acoustic guitar; Beenk plays lead guitar and is backup vocalist; Trent Harrison plays trumpet; and Jonathan Birdsall, saxophone. The band also will have a bass player, to be named, for the DeWitt concert.

Chasing Shade is not a typical college rock band. Its members create a sound that digs deeper than the usual Iowa City rock group.

"I think we identify as indie folk rock," Harris says. "We definitely have rock, we definitely have folk, but we also have a lot of blues influences, harmonies, and we dig jazz drumming."

Chasing Shade recently completed a solar-powered tour across Iowa via bicycles during RAGBRAI (The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa). The band was self-contained, transporting all of its instruments via bicycle trailers and generating sustainable power from active solar panels on their trailers. The tour included impromptu shows during the ride in addition to nightly shows at overnight stops. The goal of the tour was to promote the harmony of cycling, music and the environment.

Chasing Shade also is committed to giving back to the community and promoting sustainability. The band has contributed to and performed at fundraisers benefiting Amnesty International, Habitat for Humanity and Engineers for a Sustainable World. In addition, Chasing Shade tries to be environmentally conscious with everything it does. The band recently led the "greening" of a music festival called Camp Euphoria.

 

The future of Chasing Shade is exciting. Soon the group plans to leave Iowa City, Beenk says. "We will move to Colorado or California or Europe or anywhere

. . . just somewhere we can grow and expand as musicians."

"We're going to chase the dream," Harris adds.

Tickets are $5 each and will be available at the door. Doors open at 6 p.m.

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NEWTON, Iowa - Open communication between patients and their anesthesia providers prior to surgery or other procedures helps ensure patient safety, according to the Iowa Association of Nurse Anesthetists (IANA), the professional association representing more than 350 nurse anesthetists in Iowa. The IANA is committed to promoting patient safety through patient education and robust patient-provider communication.

When preparing for surgery or other procedures involving anesthesia, patients often feel nervous and find they are unable to ask questions or share information when discussing their health and medical treatment with their surgeon or Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). In some cases, this occurs because patients feel afraid to contradict what they consider to be their provider's authority. CRNAs throughout Iowa are making an effort to remove such deterrents that often hinder candid communication between a patient and provider.

"It is imperative that patients realize they have a voice and providers are there to listen and meet their needs. One of the largest components in patient safety and education is open communication," said IANA President Troy Anderson, CRNA. "As CRNAs, everything we do is driven by patient safety. Patients should always feel comfortable discussing their presurgical questions and concerns with their CRNA, whether the topic pertains to types of anesthetics, course of treatment, pre-and post-surgical anesthesia expectations, or anything else that comes to mind regarding their anesthesia care."

CRNAs are the sole anesthesia professionals in 75 percent of Iowa's hospitals, making them a vital healthcare resource to patients across the state. In addition, CRNAs are the sole providers of chronic pain management in 52 percent of Iowa's hospitals, enabling pain patients to receive treatment close to home rather than having to travel great distances for care.

Since 2001, Iowa CRNAs have practiced without physician supervision, establishing a superior record of anesthesia safety and high-quality patient care that was confirmed by the 2010 study titled, "No Harm Found When Nurse Anesthetists Work Without Supervision By Physicians," published in Health Affairs, the nation's leading health policy journal. As advanced practice registered nurses, CRNAs work in every type of setting where anesthesia is delivered, and have the authority to prescribe medications used before, during, and after the administration of anesthesia. They are equipped to oversee every detail pertaining to a patient's anesthesia care.

About the Iowa Association of Nurse Anesthetists
Founded in 1940, the IANA represents more than 350 CRNAs and student registered nurse anesthetists. In 2001, Iowa became the first state to "opt out" of the Medicare physician supervision rule.

Washington, D.C. - August 1, 2013 - Today, United States Trade Representative Michael Froman and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced that the European Union (EU) will continue to provide U.S. beef producers with significant access, at zero duty, to the EU market for high-quality beef produced from non-hormone-treated cattle. The United States and the European Union are planning to extend for two years Phase 2 of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2009 in connection with the United States' long-running dispute with the European Union over its ban on beef from cattle treated with certain growth-promoting hormones.

In the year since Phase 2 began, U.S. beef shipments under the quota were an estimated $200 million, up 300 percent from the value of exports in the year before the MOU entered into force. Under the extension, the EU would maintain until August 2, 2015 its duty-free tariff rate quota for high-quality beef, established pursuant to the MOU between the United States of America and the European Commission Regarding the Importation of Beef from Animals not Treated with Certain Growth Promoting Hormones, at the Phase 2 quantity of 45,000 metric tons per year.

"I am very pleased that American ranchers and meat processors will be allowed to ship substantial quantities of high-quality U.S. beef into a market worth millions of dollars to their bottom lines," said Ambassador Froman. "Before the memorandum of understanding was signed, the EU's beef market had been largely closed for far too long. The substantial market access that we have achieved since 2009 shows what we can accomplish with practical, problem-solving approaches to trade barriers."

"Since 2009, this agreement has greatly expanded opportunities for U.S. beef producers to export high-quality products to the European Union," said Vilsack. "By working together with our EU partners to extend this agreement, we have maintained access to a key market for beef products, and set the stage for further progress. USTR and USDA will continue working closely with our trading partners around the world, including the EU, to further expand trade access for U.S. agricultural products."

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).

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DES MOINES, IA (08/01/2013)(readMedia)-- Fairgoers can enjoy special half-price savings and extended hours for DART bus service between Park & Ride lots and the Iowa State Fair. Park for free at any of the three Park & Ride locations and catch the bus for a quick and easy direct trip to the Fair. "Nothing Compares" to saving time and money with DART Park & Ride. The Iowa State Fair is set August 8-18.

Show your advance admission ticket at one of DART's three State Fair Park & Ride locations and receive half off the roundtrip fare. Parking is free at all locations. Discounted roundtrip fares with advanced admission tickets are $1 for adults and 50 cents for the seniors (ages 65+), disabled persons, Medicare card holders and children (ages 6-10). Children ages 5 and younger ride for free. Regular roundtrip fares are $2 for adults and $1 for seniors (ages 65+), disabled persons, Medicare card holders and children (ages 6-10). All buses are wheelchair-accessible. Cash only; exact fare required.

DART offers three convenient Park & Ride locations where Fairgoers can park for free:

• Center Street Park & Ride (7th and Center St., enter on 7th St.)

• Southeast Polk Schools (N.E. 80th St. and Highway 163)

• State Capitol (East 12th and Grand Ave.)

The hours are 8:30 a.m. to Midnight every day of the Fair at all Park & Ride locations. Call DART at 515-283-8100 for more details.

Buses from Southeast Polk Schools will drop off and pick up Fairgoers on Dean Avenue south of the Swine Barn. Buses from the Center Street and State Capitol Park & Ride stops will continue to drop off and pick up Fairgoers near Gate 10.

All buses are wheelchair-accessible. For more information, call DART at 515-283-8100 or go online to ridedart.com or iowastatefair.org.

Parking in the Fair's North, Sims and Northeast Lot is $10 per vehicle.

Fair advance admission tickets are on sale through August 7 while supplies last at participating Hy-Vee, Hy-Vee Drugstores, Dahl's Food, Fareway stores and the State Fair Ticket Office, located on the Fairgrounds. Or purchase your tickets online at iowastatefair.org and print them at home, fee free.

"Nothing Compares" to the 2013 Iowa State Fair, August 8-18. The Fairgrounds are located at East 30th and East University Avenue, just 10 minutes east of downtown Des Moines. For more information, call 800/545-FAIR or visit www.iowastatefair.org.

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