As we all know, SEO is a broad-spectrum umbrella term that is used to describe the measures taken to improve your website and help it to rank higher in search engine results for keywords and phrases related to your business. Local SEO is an effective way to optimize a business for the local audience while...

Email marketing is great for staying in touch with your existing customers and attracting new ones. Also, it’s a very effective method of selling your products. According to email marketing stats, 60% of consumers say they’ve made a purchase as the result of an email marketing message they received. There are certain types of emails...

A study to determine if the sport-related concussion (SRC) rate is lower after a rule change that limited the amount and duration of full-contact activities during high school football practice sessions.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability. Older adults are more likely than younger individuals to sustain TBIs and less likely to survive them. TBI has been called the “silent epidemic,” and older adults are the “silent population” within this epidemic. This study evaluates whether indicators of preinjury health and functioning are associated with risk of incident traumatic brain injury (TBI) with loss of consciousness (LOC) and to evaluate health‐related factors associated with mortality in individuals with incident TBI.

Everybody wants to receive positive feedback for a job well done. That’s one reason why so many businesses include testimonials on their website. Beyond the warm and fuzzy feelings, testimonials...

The post Spread the Word: Beautiful Testimonial UI Examples appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Sometimes all you need is a name. It is a powerful thing. It always has a meaning and, even more, it has a subtext and undertone. A name can speak...

The post 10 Beautifully Designed, Minimal & Name-Centric Business Cards appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

When the world seemingly changed overnight due to COVID-19, it was surreal. Maybe your surroundings looked exactly the same. Your to-do list contained the same projects. Even if things were...

The post Reasons to Be Thankful: Bright Spots for Web Designers appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

There are so many things you need in order to take successful photos, from the correct composition to the best use of light. There is no doubt that your foundations need to be solid, but you can also take your great shots to the next level using online tools. Online tools are also useful for a range of things related to being a photographer, such as marketing yourself online or using your images for various mediums, such as Stickerit stickers. Here are our pick of the top 7 online tools that all photographers should use. Adobe Lightroom Editing and image

The post 7 Online Tools All Photographers Should Use appeared first on Photoshop Lady.

Starting a website can be a fun journey for some of the tech wizards out there, and a relative nightmare for the rest of us. So before you take a leap of faith and jump-start this project, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. 1.   The aim matters This is where it all begins, your vision. What is your website about? What is it that you would like for your website to showcase? What is the call-to-action you hope your website’s visitors to make? As you answer the above questions, you will be able to utilize

The post 5 Things You Should Keep in Mind Before Starting a Website appeared first on Photoshop Lady.

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The post Daftar Judi Pulsa Idn Poker Online Terbaru appeared first on Themegalaxy.

Editor’s note: The Gazette sports staff has compiled lists of its top 15 favorite sports movies. Each day, a different staffer will share some insight into one of their favorites. Some of them...

Iowa athletics director Gary Barta began Thursday’s meeting of the UI’s presidential committee on athletics with two numbers: It’s been 56 days since the coronavirus pandemic shut...

Editor’s note: The Gazette sports staff has compiled lists of its top 15 favorite sports movies. Each day, a different staffer will share some insight into one of their favorites. Some of them...

Summer is going to look a bit different in the Corridor this year as many, long-cherished events are being canceled or postponed. And the organizations that run those events want you to know they...

An Iowa judge has ruled unconstitutional a state law that would have blocked Planned Parenthood of the Heartland from receiving federal money to provide sex education programs to Iowa youth. Fifth...

Immigrants have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 pandemic. They’re more likely than native-born Americans to be laboring to keep our essential services running, especially in the...

REED PAUL SCHAEFER
East Amana

Reed Paul Schaefer, 65, of East Amana, passed away on Monday, May 4, 2020, at the Iowa City Rehab and Health Care Center. Private family graveside services will be held in the East Amana Cemetery in East Amana. Memorials may be contributed in Reed's name to Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center in Iowa City, the Amana Church or the Nature Conservancy.
Reed is survived by his mother, Isabella; a brother, Kirby (Theresa) Schaefer of Amana; a niece, Katherine (Jonathan) Ron of Iowa City; a nephew, Aaron (Shana) Schaefer of Iowa City; four great-nieces and great-nephews; and an aunt, Violet Harman of Amana.
He was preceded in death by his father, Ken, in 2012.
Reed was born Aug. 4, 1954, in Cedar Rapids, the son of Ken and Isabella (Rettig) Schaefer. He graduated from the Amana High School. Reed worked in Santa Fe, N.M., as a landscaper for 15 years. After returning to Iowa, he was employed at the Kloubec Fish Farm. He made friends everywhere he lived and will be remembered by many as a kind and generous man. He enjoyed fishing, mushroom hunting, birding, and many other outdoor activities in the timbers and rivers surrounding the Amana Colonies.
Online condolences may be left at www.klosterfuneralhome.com.

PAULINE WYRICK ORRIS
Onslow

Pauline Wyrick Orris, 92, passed away Monday, May 4, 2020, at Shady Rest Care Center in Cascade, Iowa. Pauline was born on a farm north of Baldwin, Iowa, the daughter of Floyd and Elizabeth Hershberger Wyrick on July 6, 1927, where she lived until she married Robert M. Orris on Aug. 14, 1949.
She attended school in Monmouth, Iowa, for 12 years and received a state honorable mention in basketball in 1944 and valedictorian in 1945. She attended Iowa Sate Teacher's College for two years and taught elementary grades in Winthrop and LaPorte City. She substituted in the Midland school district for several years.
Pauline and Bob farmed on farms both north and south of Baldwin for 13 years and in 1963 moved to the farm west of Onslow. Robert passed away on June 6, 2005.
Pauline helped out with 4-H, church choirs, Presbyterian Women's organization, nursing homes, Jones County Historical Society, and RSVP. She was a member for over 50 years of both OES and the Altrurian Women's Club and a member of the Ever Ready Club for over 40 years. She was on the Maquoketa Nursing Home care review committee for over 20 years. She enjoyed the 63 card group and coffee club in Onslow as well as tending to the many berries that she grew and loved to give away. Feeding and watching the birds at her bird feeders gave her great joy.
She is survived by one son, Dennis (Julie) from Center Junction; one daughter-in-law Jane Orris of Dubuque; five grandchildren, Tim (Lindsay) Orris of Bettendorf, Dan Orris of Cedar Rapids, Pam (Jeff) VeDepo of North Liberty, Ray (Laura) Orris of Dubuque and Brittany (Giovanni) Demezier of Dyersville; great-grandchildren, Landon and Kaden Orris, Chelsea and McKenzie VeDepo and Claire Demezier.
Pauline was preceded in death by her parents; son, Kenneth Orris, in 1987; and one sister, Edith Licht, in 2008.
A private graveside service will be held at Monmouth Cemetery, Iowa. Dawson Funeral Services of Wyoming are caring for the family. Memorials may be directed to Camp Wyoming in Pauline's honor.
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.dawsonfuneral.com.

JULIA LOUISE RUPPENKAMP
Riverside

Julia Louise Ruppenkamp, 85, of Riverside, died unexpectedly early Tuesday, May 5, 2020, at Mercy in Iowa City.
According to the wishes of Julia and her family, she will be cremated and a
memorial service will be planned for this fall. Burial will be in St. Stanislaus Cemetery in rural Hills. Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service in Iowa City is handling arrangements.
She was born Aug. 10, 1934, in Red Oak, Iowa, the daughter of John and Mary "Catherine" (Pfeiffer) Ruth. Julia grew up in Cosgrove.
She graduated from Cosgrove High School and graduated from Iowa City Commercial College.
She met Earl Ruppenkamp at a Junior Farm Bureau dance. They were married Sept. 20, 1955, in Cosgrove, and the couple moved to the Riverside area in 1959. Julia provided for her family as both a farmwife and mother to their children. She was constantly baking and her pies were enjoyed by many. Julia loved flowers and grew them in her garden to share with others, especially the residents at Atrium Village.
She was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church and St. Joseph's Altar & Rosary Society in Hills.
Julia is survived by her husband, Earl; children, Mark, Ann and Jane; and a brother, John Ruth.
Her parents preceded her in death.
www.lensingfuneral.com

Watch my video and see why it’s so important to minimize digital waste. Are you aware of how much digital waste your WordPress website is producing? Did you know this waste carries an actual cost for both you and your website’s visitors? Digital waste is an especially poignant topic in open source software (like the […]

I’ve had the pleasure of serving you as sheriff of Johnson County for the past 15-plus years and the job is not one that I or anyone else should or can take lightly. The office of sheriff requires a balance of both politics and leading a very large law enforcement agency which means sometimes those two worlds can collide. In these tough situations it takes someone that believes in their co-workers, trusts their co-workers and asks them to always perform at a high level.

I’m confident that Brad Kunkel is up to the task. The sheriff must also always follow the Constitution and enforce the laws of Iowa, in addition the sheriff is responsible for the operation and oversight of the county jail. Brad’s career experience including his years working in the jail are valuable for safe and efficient jail management.

The office of sheriff requires a thoughtful approach to what is best for the citizens of Johnson County. I have worked with Brad Kunkel for over 20 years and I know he has the temperament, intelligence and integrity to excel in the office of Johnson County sheriff. I wholeheartedly believe he is the best person to take the office into the challenging time ahead.

Join me and vote for Brad Kunkel on or before June for Johnson County sheriff.

Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek

Iowa City

The Gazette recently published an open letter from a group of church leaders regarding Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision to allow in-person gatherings, asking her to reconsider.

Why? Why not let individual churches decide whether to hold services?

The people who signed this letter trust the pastors who are under their purview to teach God’s word to their congregations. Do you not trust them to prayerfully consider whether they should hold in-person services and ask for God’s guidance?

When you have God to guide your decisions, what does it matter whether the government decides a thing is permitted or not?

Pastors who lead those churches should seek God’s guidance on whether to meet in person, not Kim Reynolds.

Kent Christen

Coralville

I grew up on a Heritage farm (150 years in the same family) near Sutliff, and attended K-12 in the Lisbon school system. I am an alumnus of the University of Iowa. I have held several positions in the field of human services, including six years with the Department of Human Services and six years as executive director of the Arc of Johnson County.

I am married to Dr. Melissa Fath, a research scientist at the University of Iowa and a volunteer pharmacist at the Free Medical Clinic. We have three adult children — Rachel, Jordan and BJ, and have served as foster parents for another 50+ children.

I am a member of several community organizations, including: St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Iowa Foster & Adoptive Parent Association, NAMI, Center for Worker Justice, ACLU Hawkeye Chapter, AFT Local 716, and Iowa City Federation of Labor. I also served four years as chairman of the Johnson County Democratic Party.

Some of the accomplishments of which I am proud:

• Leadership during the COVID-19 crisis.

• Leadership during 2008 floods.

• Raising the minimum wage — the first county in Iowa to do so.

• Passed a Human Rights Ordinance — the first county in Iowa to do so.

• Passed a Sensitive Areas Ordinance — the first county in Iowa to do so.

• Passed the Conservation Bond Initiative — the first county in Iowa to do so.

• Passed the Community ID Program — the first county in Iowa to do so.

• Started 1105 Project with gift of old Public Health building.

• Saved Sutliff Bridge after 2008 floods.

• Started trails funding.

• Created the Free Tax Help project.

• Created the Livable Community for Successful Aging.

• Added outdoor warning sirens to unincorporated Johnson County.

• Created the Local Foods Policy Council.

• Heritage AAA Outstanding Elected Official — 2009.

If reelected, my goals are:

1. Continue community recovery from COVID-19;

2. Begin serving people at the GuideLink Center;

3. Improve affirmative action results;

4. Renegotiate six union contracts to the benefit of all.

I am grateful for your past support, and I thank you for your future consideration. I promise to never take this position for granted! I respectfully request your vote on or before June 2.

Rod Sullivan is a candidate in the Democratic primary for Johnson County Board of Supervisors.

Immigrants have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 pandemic. They’re more likely than native-born Americans to be laboring to keep our essential services running, especially in the food processing sector that has been ravaged by the pandemic.

And yet immigrants living here illegally — including many food industry workers, their family members and people who have been living here since they were children — do not get the same coronavirus relief that legal citizens do, such as the $1,200 federal payment millions of Americans are receiving.

To remedy the situation, Iowa could coordinate direct cash payments to undocumented immigrants who were left out of the federal program. California announced such a program last month, offering $500 payments to thousands of undocumented Californians.

The public health crisis is tightly bound to the immigration crisis. It has exposed disparities in the workforce and also given rise to protectionists who want to restrict migration.

Iowa’s meat processing industry has been slammed by the virus, with at least one plant in Iowa reporting more than half of its workers have tested positive. Those production lines are heavily populated by immigrants. Well over 1,000 combined cases have been reported at four major packing facilities.

Nationally, 28 percent of agriculture workers and 29 percent of food processing workers are foreign-born, according to the pro-immigration New American Economy Research Fund.

Most immigrant workers have legal status, but many don’t. Some of those who are legal have family members who are undocumented. An influx of cash would help bring some stability to struggling families so they can weather the crisis.

At the same time we are asking essential workers to risk their health to sustain us, the anti-immigration lobby has used the pandemic as an opportunity to ramp up their campaign to cut off the flow of workers across borders. As one recent example, four GOP senators — including Iowa’s Sen. Chuck Grassley — sent a letter this week to the Trump administration, asking for guest worker visas to be suspended until next year.

In the pandemic, the idea of giving people money quickly gained political support. Direct payments are not mucked up by the corporate cronyism that plagues traditional economic development, a la checks to companies and targeted tax breaks. When politicians and bureaucrats pick certain businesses to stimulate, they do a bad job.

As long as the government is doing stimulus, the best avenue is writing checks to individuals. People need to buy stuff and as long as the economy limps on, they can buy stuff with money. Immigrants are people, even if they came here illegally. They are also workers, caretakers and taxpayers.

Direct payments would not be a special kickback or a reward for people living in the country illegally. It would be just like the $1,200 direct deposit I got from the government. It comes with a recognition that they are the same as us, important contributors of our culture and economy who are victims of an unworkable legal system.

If the federal government won’t do it, Iowa should.

adam.sullivan@thegazette.com; (319) 339-3156

My litmus test for a sheriff is someone who understands the community, partners well with different levels of government and law enforcement and stands up for the powerless. Brad Kunkel has been coordinating with all levels of local government as part of the Johnson County Emergency Operations Center pandemic meetings. He knows his community, and I’m confident he will continue to work hard for the most vulnerable, especially victims of domestic violence and at-risk children. That’s why I am voting Brad Kunkel for Johnson County sheriff. I hope you will, too.

Janice Weiner

Iowa City

Wondering why you should hire a web design company? If so, click here for five reasons why you should hire a web design company now! More

Multisite is a powerful tool that will help you create a network of sites to fulfill a variety of purposes, and which you can customize to make life easier for your users and help your network run more efficiently and make you money.

En ces temps de confinement, l’heure est à l’évasion de l’esprit. Nous vous proposons aujourd’hui de découvrir le joli travail de l’illustratrice russe Darya Shnykina. Elle est l’auteure d’une série de créations intitulée Places I’d Love To Live In.  Elle a imaginé représenter d’adorables petites maisonnées solitaires en pleine nature. Des petits havres de paix où chacun […]

In the last post “Creating a custom widget” I showed you how to create a custom widget. Well in this post I will show you how I used my custom widget to display all post with a certain custom field from outside the WordPress loop. In the last post I used this tag: <?php include(TEMPLATEPATH […]

The post Pulling custom fields from outside the loop appeared first on WPCult.

Darren Rowse from Pro Blogger wrote a great article of a collection of different article to get the beginning blogger of his/her feet. Head over and check this one out!

The post Useful articles for beginers to start a blog right appeared first on WPCult.

Hongo is a creative and responsive, search engine optimised and fast loading, highly flexible and powerful, feature-rich and easy to use WooCommerce WordPress theme which comes with all necessary settings and tools which will help you to create a great … Continued

The post Hongo – The Ultimate WooCommerce WordPress Theme appeared first on WeLoveWP.

Summer is going to look a bit different in the Corridor this year as many, long-cherished events are being canceled or postponed. And the organizations that run those events want you to know they aren’t any more happy about it than you are.

The organizers of these events are having to make unprecedented, tough decisions.

“Cancellation is not a good word in our business,” said Chuck Swanson, Building a Legacy executive director of Hancher. “It is something that we really don’t want to do and it takes a lot for us to come to that.

“We live for the live performance and bringing the artists and audiences together. That’s the happiest time for me, so none of these decisions have been easy.”

Hancher has had to cancel numerous upcoming events in the past few months that would have brought to Iowa City in artists from all over the country and the world. It also is holding off announcing its upcoming season — which it typically would be doing at this time of year.

this isn’t something the staff has faced since the floods of 2008 and because they book events so far in advance they are confronting additional challenges.

“You know there’s so much that goes into a show before it happens,” Swanson said. “I just think of all the anticipation, booking the artists, advancing the show, setting ticket prices, advertising and then ticket sales.

“It’s like a farmer who does all this work to get his crops ready and then at the end of the season ends up with nothing to harvest.”

He noted Hancher has been reaching out to its booked performers and, in some cases, have had performers reach out to them to cancel upcoming shows.

The significant time and resources that go into planning large-scale events is the main factor in necessitating cancellation discussions and decisions at many organizations.

“Many logistical items have to be coordinated, from renting shuttles to scheduling volunteers and staff. Initial planning for some events begins as early as 12 to 18 months in advance and proceeds all the way up to the day of the event,” said John Myers, Indian Creek Nature Center executive director.

Citing the center’s annual Maple Syrup Festival, he noted food represents a significant cost and often cannot be saved or reused.

“We have had to be mindful of the financial resources available to us and ensure that we wisely manage those to ensure (the center) can emerge from this pandemic as a functioning and healthy organization,” he said.

“None of the decisions to cancel events or how to handle subsequent financial losses are easy and they challenge everyone,” Myers added. “As our whole lives have been upended, it makes even the simplest of decisions harder and that takes an impact on morale.”

He acknowledged staff members aren’t the only ones feeling the strain.

“We have a significant core of volunteers who are no longer able to give their time, which also creates a strain on morale and increases the amount of work that needs to be done when we return,” he pointed out.

Another primary factor is what is allowed and considered safe by the city, state and Iowa Department of Public Health.

“At this point, only allowing groups of 10 or less is a far cry from the thousands or people we usually see at the Iowa Arts Festival,” said Lisa Barnes, executive director of Summer of the Arts in Iowa City, which produces the Iowa Arts Festival.

“The governor has announced that reopening the state will be done in stages, and based on what we’ve found from other events around the country, concerts and large festivals will be the last to open,” he noted.

Summer of the Arts announced just last week that the Iowa Arts Festival would not take place this year, a month in advance of the event.

“We needed to make a decision so that we can move forward with alternative plans,” Barnes said, noting the organization has had questions about the Iowa City Jazz Festival, scheduled for July 3 through 5 and added a decision regarding that festival and July programming will be made by mid-late May.

“We also needed to make the decision far enough out to be able to work with our performers and cancel the agreements,” she said.

On Wednesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds loosened some but not all of the social-distancing restrictions for the remaining 22 counties she had put in place.

Discussions about the future of these events have been happening for weeks for many organizations, highlighting they are not taken lightly.

Carissa Johnson, executive director of the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival, said conversations about the future of this year’s event started in mid-March, right around the time the Cedar Rapids SaPaDaPaSo Parade announced its cancellation for 2020.

“We plan year ’round for the two- to three-week festival,” Johnson explained.

“Our planning really ramps up in April and May, and we have many more costs associated with producing the festival the closer we get to the start. In order to protect our time and resources, we elected to cancel before we had more costs and variables to consider.”

As for who is making the final decision, organizations said many stakeholders are involved. Barnes said the decision on the Iowa City Arts Festival, for example, included staff, the board of directors, festival planning committees, the city of Iowa City and Johnson County Public Health, along with input from some of the vendors, artists and performers.

Tapping into experts in those public health field has been key as well.

“We have these assets, people, at the University (of Iowa), that have been really helpful as we make these decisions about canceling and as we prepare to think about reopening,” Hancher’s Swanson said.

The Freedom Festival include staff and board members in discussions, with recommendations from Linn County Public Health and the city of Cedar Rapids, factoring in the health, safety and well-being of the community.

“We are just as heartbroken as the rest of the community, but this decision was to protect our community as much as possible,” Swanson said.

“This community is a family and we will all get through this together and come back stronger next year.”

Myers noted organizations such as the Indian Creek Nature Center are also rely on advice from national associations, such as the American Alliance of Museums, and discussions among the leadership of many local cultural groups.

“For many events, we have also reached out to participants to gather their input and comfort level of attending once we are able to reopen,” Myers said.

The financial effects of having to cancel is stressful for organizations, too.

“Financially, this has been a hard time for the Nature Center to endure,” Myers pointed out. “We’ve had over 100 different programs, events and facility rentals canceled between March 15 and April 30, and our losses are currently over $250,000. As we approach the summer, there are a number of other events we continue to review, including our popular summer camps.”

The Nature Center has postponed a national conference to be held there in September — due to indications of low participation — for peers from around the nation who run not-for-profit and government nature centers.

“We are losing thousands of dollars in vendor fees and sales receipts because we had to cancel,” said Barnes, of Summer of the Arts.

“We have sponsors tied to certain events, like the Iowa Arts Festival, that in some cases want to carry over their support to next year, which impacts our fundraising for this year and next.”

She noted her group already has been made aware of funding that won’t be coming in from some sponsors next year due to the financial impact those organizations are facing as well.

And that can be tough.

“When we cancel, our whole staff is involved — from the box audience and public engagement folks to the technical production team and our front-of-house staff,” Swanson said.

“Our communication is key in talking through it all and then sharing clear messages with our audiences, especially in terms of refunds. But we’ve been encouraged by so many generous friends of Hancher donating their ticket purchase price back to us.”

While disappointment still is thick in the air, organizations don’t plan to abandon their missions and is keeping an eye on serving the public.

“This is a challenging time for everyone, and our board and staff is committed to finding creative and non-traditional solutions to ensure the Freedom Festival’s return,” Johnson said. “The community and our stakeholders have been tremendous supports of the Freedom Festival and we believe they will continue to do so in the future.

“We ask for understanding and patience as we try to navigate this crisis and what we can still provide for our community.”

Freedom Festival buttons will be sold this year as they’ve already been made, and “It’s a way the community can show their support,” Johnson said.

Barnes agreed and noted the Iowa Arts Festival committee is working on ways to support the performers, artists and vendors they had scheduled by trying to develop some virtual opportunities for engagement.

While the show, or events, might not go on, organizers said they very much want to remain connected to their audiences and attendees.

“I want to make sure everybody knows we care about them and that we’re trying to find ways to stay connected because I think we’re all in this together and the arts are one of the best ways for people to get through difficult times,” Swanson said.

Myers agreed.

“Indian Creek Nature Center will be ready to welcome guests and visitors back to our events as soon as we are able to do so safely,” he said.

“In the meantime, we hope everyone finds peace in nature by taking a hike or bike ride, having a picnic or just enjoying time outside.”

An Iowa judge has ruled unconstitutional a state law that would have blocked Planned Parenthood of the Heartland from receiving federal money to provide sex education programs to Iowa youth.

Fifth Judicial District Judge Paul Scott on Wednesday ruled the law “has no valid, ‘realistically conceivable’ purpose that serves a legitimate government interest as it is both irrationally overinclusive and under-inclusive.”

“The act violates (Planned Parenthood of the Heartland’s) right to equal protection under the law and is therefore unconstitutional,” Scott ruled in issuing a permanent injunction to prevent the law’s implementation.

House File 766, passed in 2019 by the Republican-controlled Iowa House and Senate, excluded any Iowa organization that “provides or promotes abortion” from receiving federal dollars that support sex education and related services to Iowa youth.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and ACLU of Iowa challenged the law, filing a lawsuit shortly after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the bill into law.

Polk County District Court issued a temporary injunction blocking the law, which was to go into effect July 1, allowing Planned Parenthood to continue providing sex education programming throughout the past year.

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling.

In its lawsuit, Planned Parenthood and ACLU argued that by blocking the abortion provider from the two federal grants — the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) and the Community Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (CAPP) — the law violated protections of free speech, due process and equal protection.

“The decision recognizes that the law blocking Planned Parenthood from receiving grants to provide this programming violated the constitutional requirement of equal protection,” ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen said in a statement Thursday.

Though Planned Parenthood would be excluded, the law did allow “nonprofit health care delivery systems” to remain eligible for the federal funding, even if they are contracted with or are affiliated with an entity that performs abortions or maintains a facility where abortions are performed.

By doing so, the law effectively singles out Planned Parenthood, but allows other possible grant recipients to provide an array of abortion-related services, according to the court documents.

“The carved-out exception for the ‘nonprofit health care delivery system’ facilities undermines any rationale the State produces of not wanting to be affiliated with or provide funds to organizations that partake in any abortion-related activity,” Scott ruled. .

In fiscal year 2019, Planned Parenthood received about $265,000 through the federal grants, including $85,000 to offer PREP curriculum in Polk, Pottawattamie and Woodbury counties.

It was awarded $182,000 this year to offer CAPP curriculum in Linn County, as well as in Dallas, Des Moines, Jasper, Lee, Polk, Plymouth and Woodbury counties.

The grants are administered by the Iowa Department of Human Services and the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Planned Parenthood has provided sex education to students in 31 schools and 12 community-based youth organizations in Iowa using state-approved curriculum since 2005, according to a new release.

The focus has remained “on areas with the highest rates of unintended pregnancies and sexually-transmitted infections,” the news release said.

“Today’s decision ensures that teens and young adults across Iowa will continue to have access to medically accurate sex education programs, despite the narrow and reckless policies of anti-abortion lawmakers,” said Erin Davison-Rippey, executive director of Planned Parenthood North Central States.

Comments: (319) 368-8536; michaela.ramm@thegazette.com

CEDAR RAPIDS — A 32-year-old Cedar Rapids man, who received probation for a high-speed chase that he bragged about as “fun” and attempted to elude again in March, is heading to prison.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Lars Anderson on Friday revoked probation for Travis McDermott on the eluding charge from June 9, 2019, and sentenced him to five years in prison.

McDermott was convicted Tuesday for attempting to elude in March and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, which was run concurrently to the five-year prison sentence.

First Assistant Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks told the judge that McDermott has a “significant violent history,” including assaults, assault on a peace officer, domestic assault, interference with official acts and child endangerment with bodily injury.

He continues to assault others and “show blatant disregard for authority figures,” the prosecutor noted.

In the eluding incident from last June, McDermott “risked lives” in a southwest neighborhood leading police on chase that began on when police saw his vehicle speeding on Rockford Road SW and run a stop sign at Eighth Avenue SW, Maybanks said Friday. McDermott drove 107 mph in a 30 mph zone and drove the wrong way on a one-way street at Third Street and Wilson Avenue SW.

McDermott ran into a pile of dirt at a dead end, jumped out of his car and led officers on a foot chase, Maybanks said. He wouldn’t stop, and officers used a Taser to subdue him.

McDermott was laughing when police arrested him, saying “how much fun” he had and appearing to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Maybanks said.

McDermott demanded a speedy trial, but the officer who conducted the sobriety test wasn’t available for trial. A plea was offered, and the drunken driving charge was dropped.

Maybanks also pointed out McDermott wouldn’t cooperate with the probation office on a presentencing report, which was ordered by a judge. He picked up an assault charge last November and was convicted before his eluding sentencing in January.

Maybanks said after McDermott received probation, he didn’t show up at the probation office for his appointment, didn’t get a substance abuse test as ordered and reported an invalid address to community corrections.

McDermott also has a pending charge in Dubuque County for driving while barred March 3, according to court documents.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com

Today we released free updates for the Auphonic Leveler Batch Processor and the Auphonic Multitrack Processor with many algorithm improvements and bug fixes for Mac and Windows.

Changelog

• Linear Filtering Algorithms to avoid Asymmetric Waveforms:
  New zero-phase Adaptive Filtering Algorithms to avoid asymmetric waveforms.
  In asymmetric waveforms, the positive and negative amplitude values are disproportionate - please see Asymmetric Waveforms: Should You Be Concerned?.
  Asymmetrical waveforms are quite natural and not necessarily a problem. They are particularly common on recordings of speech, vocals and can be caused by low-end filtering. However, they limit the amount of gain that can be safely applied without introducing distortion or clipping due to aggressive limiting.
• Noise Reduction Improvements:
  New and improved noise profile estimation algorithms and bug fixes for parallel Noise Reduction Algorithms.
• Processing Finished Notification on Mac:
  A system notification (including a short glass sound) is now displayed on Mac OS when the Auphonic Leveler or Auphonic Multitrack has finished processing - thanks to Timo Hetzel.
• Improved Dithering:
  Improved dithering algorithms - using SoX - if a bit-depth reduction is necessary during file export.
• Auphonic Multitrack Fixes:
  Fixes for ducking and background tracks and for very short music tracks.
• New Desktop Apps Documentation:
  The documentation of our desktop apps is now integrated in our new help system:
  see Auphonic Leveler Batch Processor and Auphonic Multitrack Processor.
• Bug Fixes and Audio Algorithm Improvements:
  This release also includes many small bug fixes and all audio algorithms come with improvements and updated classifiers using the data from our Web Service.

About the Auphonic Desktop Apps

We offer two desktop programs which include our audio algorithms only. The algorithms will be computed offline on your device and are exactly the same as implemented in our Web Service.

The Auphonic Leveler Batch Processor is a batch audio file processor and includes all our (Singletrack) Audio Post Production Algorithms. It can process multiple productions at once.

Auphonic Multitrack includes our Multitrack Post Production Algorithms and requires multiple parallel input audio tracks, which will be analyzed and processed individually as well as combined to create one final mixdown.

Upgrade now

• Auphonic Leveler Download
• Auphonic Multitrack Download

Please let us know if you have any questions or feedback!

We are pleased to announce a new Audio Inserts feature in the Auphonic API: audio inserts are separate audio files (like intros/outros), which will be inserted into your production at a defined offset.
This blog post shows how one can use this feature for Dynamic Ad Insertion and discusses other Audio Manipulation Methods of the Auphonic API.

API-only Feature

For the general podcasting hobbyist, or even for someone producing a regular podcast, the features that are accessible via our web interface are more than sufficient.

However, some of our users, like podcasting companies who integrate our services as part of their products, asked us for dynamic ad insertions. We teamed up with them to develop a way of making this work within the Auphonic API.

We are pleased therefore to announce audio inserts - a new feature that has been made part of our API. This feature is not available through the web interface though, it requires the use of our API.

Before we talk about audio inserts, let's talk about what you need to know about dynamic ad insertion!

Dynamic Ad Insertion

There are two ways of dealing with adverts within podcasts. In the first, adverts are recorded or edited into the podcast and are fixed, or baked in. The second method is to use dynamic insertion, whereby the adverts are not part of the podcast recording/file but can be inserted into the podcast afterwards, at any time.

This second approach would allow you to run new ad campaigns across your entire catalog of shows. As a podcaster this allows you to potentially generate new revenue from your old content.

As a hosting company, dynamic ad insertion allows you to choose up to date and relevant adverts across all the podcasts you host. You can make these adverts relevant by subject or location, for instance.

Your users can define the time for the ads and their podcast episode, you are then in control of the adverts you insert.

Audio Inserts in Auphonic

Whichever approach to adverts you are taking, using audio inserts can help you.

Audio inserts are separate audio files which will be inserted into your main single or multitrack production at your defined offset (in seconds).

When a separate audio file is inserted as part of your production, it creates a gap in the podcast audio file, shifting the audio back by the length of the insert. Helpfully, chapters and other time-based information like transcriptions are also shifted back when an insert is used.

The biggest advantage of this is that Auphonic will apply loudness normalization to the audio insert so, from an audio point of view, it matches the rest of the podcast.

Although created with dynamic ad insertion in mind, this feature can be used for any type of audio inserts: adverts, music songs, individual parts of a recording, etc. In the case of baked-in adverts, you could upload your already processed advert audio as an insert, without having to edit it into your podcast recording using a separate audio editing application.

Please note that audio inserts should already be edited and processed before using them in production. (This is usually the case with pre-recorded adverts anyway). The only algorithm that Auphonic applies to an audio insert is loudness normalization in order to match the loudness of the entire production. Auphonic does not add any other processing (i.e. no leveling, noise reduction etc).

Audio Inserts Coding Example

Here is a brief overview of how to use our API for audio inserts. Be warned, this section is coding heavy, so if this isn't your thing, feel free to move along to the next section!

You can add audio insert files with a call to https://auphonic.com/api/production/{uuid}/multi_input_files.json, where uuid is the UUID of your production.
Here is an example with two audio inserts from an https URL. The offset/position in the main audio file must be given in seconds:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" 
    https://auphonic.com/api/production/{uuid}/multi_input_files.json 
    -u username:password 
    -d '[
            {
                "input_file": "https://mydomain.com/my_audio_insert_1.wav",
                "type": "insert",
                "offset": 20.5
            },
            {
                "input_file": "https://mydomain.com/my_audio_insert_2.wav",
                "type": "insert",
                "offset": 120.3
            }
        ]'

More details showing how to use audio inserts in our API can be seen here.

Additional API Audio Manipulations

In addition to audio inserts, using the Auphonic API offers a number of other audio manipulation options, which are not available via the web interface:

Cut start/end of audio files: See Docs

In Single-track productions, this feature allows the user to cut the start and/or the end of the uploaded audio file. Crucially, time-based information such as chapters etc. will be shifted accordingly.

Fade In/Out time of audio files: See Docs

This allows you to set the fade in/out time (in ms) at the start/end of output files. The default fade time is 100ms, but values can be set between 0ms and 5000ms.
This feature is also available in our Auphonic Leveler Desktop App.

Adding intro and outro: See Docs

Automatically add intros and outros to your main audio input file, as it is also available in our web interface.

Add multiple intros or outros: See Docs

Using our API, you can also add multiple intros or outros to a production. These intros or outros are played in series.

Overlapping intros/outros: See Docs

This feature allows intros/outros to overlap either the main audio or the following/previous intros/outros.

Conclusion

If you haven't explored our API already, the new audio inserts feature allows for greater flexibility and also dynamic ad insertion.
If you offer online services to podcasters, the Auphonic API would also then allow you to pass on Auphonic's audio processing algorithms to your customers.

If this is of interest to you or you have any new feature suggestions that you feel could benefit your company, please get in touch. We are always happy to extend the functionality of our products!

Last weekend, at the Subscribe10 conference, we released Advanced Audio Algorithm Parameters for Multitrack Productions:

We launched our advanced audio algorithm parameters for Singletrack Productions last year. Now these settings (and more) are available for Multitrack Algorithms as well, which gives you detailed control for each track of your production.

• Fore/Background Settings: keep your music/clip tracks unchanged and set a custom background gain
• Multitrack Leveler Parameters: control the stereo panorama, leveling algorithm, dynamic range and compression
• Better Hum and Noise Reduction Controls for each track
• Maximum True Peak Level setting for the final mixdown
• Full API Support

Please join our private beta program and let us know how you use these new features or if you need even more control!

Fore/Background Settings

The parameter Fore/Background controls whether a track should be in foreground, in background, ducked, or unchanged, which is especially important for music or clip tracks.
For more details, please see Automatic Ducking, Foreground and Background Tracks .

Unchanged (Foreground):

We sometimes received complaints from users, which produced very complex music or clip tracks, that Auphonic changes the levels too hard.
If you set the parameter Fore/Background to the new option Unchanged (Foreground), Level relations within this track won’t be changed at all. It will be added to the final mixdown so that foreground/solo parts of this track will be as loud as (foreground) speech from other tracks.

Background Level:

It is now possible to set the level of background segments/tracks (compared to foreground segments) in background and ducking tracks. By default, background and ducking segments are 18dB softer than foreground segments.

Leveler Parameters

Similar to our Singletrack Advanced Leveler Parameters (see this previous blog post), we also released leveling parameters for Multitrack Productions now.
The following advanced parameters for our Multitrack Adaptive Leveler can be set for each track and allow you to customize which parts of the audio should be leveled, how much they should be leveled, how much dynamic range compression should be applied and to set the stereo panorama (balance):

Leveler Preset:

Select the Speech or Music Leveler for this track.
If set to Automatic (default), a classifier will decide if this is a music or speech track.

Dynamic Range:

The parameter Dynamic Range controls how much leveling is applied: Higher values result in more dynamic output audio files (less leveling). If you want to increase the dynamic range by 3dB (or LU), just increase the Dynamic Range parameter by 3dB.
For more details, please see Multitrack Leveler Parameters.

Compressor:

Select a preset for Micro-Dynamics Compression: Auto, Soft, Medium, Hard or Off.
The Compressor adjusts short-term dynamics, whereas the Leveler adjusts mid-term level differences.
For more details, please see Multitrack Leveler Parameters.

Stereo Panorama (Balance):

Change the stereo panorama (balance for stereo input files) of the current track.
Possible values: L100, L75, L50, L25, Center, R25, R50, R75 and R100.

If you understand German and want to know more about our Advanced Leveler Parameters and audio dynamics in general, watch our talk at the Subscribe10 conference:
Video: Audio Lautheit und Dynamik.

Better Hum and Noise Reduction Controls

Noise Reduction Amount:

Maximum noise and hum reduction amount in dB, higher values remove more noise.
In Auto mode, a classifier decides if and how much noise reduction is necessary (to avoid artifacts). Set to a custom (non-Auto) value if you prefer more noise reduction or want to bypass our classifier.

Hum Base Frequency:

Set the hum base frequency to 50Hz or 60Hz (if you know it), or use Auto to automatically detect the hum base frequency in each speech region.

Hum Reduction Amount:

Maximum hum reduction amount in dB, higher values remove more noise.
In Auto mode, a classifier decides how much hum reduction is necessary in each speech region. Set it to a custom value (> 0), if you prefer more hum reduction or want to bypass our classifier. Use Disable Dehum to disable hum reduction and use our noise reduction algorithms only.

Behavior of noise and hum reduction parameter combinations:

Maximum True Peak Level

In the Master Algorithm Settings of your multitrack production, you can set the maximum allowed true peak level of the processed output file, which is controlled by the True Peak Limiter after our Loudness Normalization algorithms.

If set to Auto (which is the current default), a reasonable value according to the selected loudness target is used: -1dBTP for 23 LUFS (EBU R128) and higher, -2dBTP for -24 LUFS (ATSC A/85) and lower loudness targets.

Full API Support

All advanced algorithm parameters, for Singletrack and Multitrack Productions, are available in our API as well, which allows you to integrate them into your scripts, external workflows and third-party applications.

Join the Beta and Send Feedback

Please join our beta and let us know your case studies, if you need any other algorithm parameters or if you have any questions!

Here are some private beta invitation codes:

8tZPc3T9pH VAvO8VsDg9 0TwKXBW4Ni kjXJMivtZ1 J9APmAAYjT Zwm6HabuFw HNK5gF8FR5 Do1MPHUyPW CTk45VbV4t xYOzDkEnWP
9XE4dZ0FxD 0Sl3PxDRho uSoRQxmKPx TCI62OjEYu 6EQaPYs7v4 reIJVOwIr8 7hPJqZmWfw kti3m5KbNE GoM2nF0AcN xHCbDC37O5
6PabLBRm9P j2SoI8peiY olQ2vsmnfV fqfxX4mWLO OozsiA8DWo weJw0PXDky VTnOfOiL6l B6HRr6gil0 so0AvM1Ryy NpPYsInFqm
oFeQPLwG0k HmCOkyaX9R G7DR5Sc9Kv MeQLSUCkge xCSvPTrTgl jyQKG3BWWA HCzWRxSrgW xP15hYKEDl 241gK62TrO Q56DHjT3r4
9TqWVZHZLE aWFMSWcuX8 x6FR5OTL43 Xf6tRpyP4S tDGbOUngU0 5BkOF2I264 cccHS0KveO dT29cF75gG 2ySWlYp1kp iJWPhpAimF

If you have an invitation code, you can enter it here to activate the Multitrack Advanced Audio Algorithm Parameters:
Auphonic Algorithm Parameters Private Beta Activation

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