IOWA CITY – A 7,000-year-old archaeological site in Des Moines is so well-preserved and complete that it will provide researchers with exciting insight into the types of tools the people in the village used, the types of animals they kept and ate and the types of seeds they planted, University of Iowa archaeologists said August 18 after the find was announced. The site, nicknamed “the Palace” because of its size and preservation, yielded the remains of two humans, a woman and an infant, that are the oldest human bones to be found in the state. “It’s always fun to find the oldest of something … but the real significance lies in how well-preserved it is,” State Archaeologist John Doershuk said. “This site is important because it was intensively occupied and very quickly river floods sealed the deposits and very quickly preserved items that otherwise could have been lost. It’s all about preservation context, and that’s what this site really has in abundance that other sites don’t.” Because so many items were found together at the site – UI archaeologists gathered more than 6,000 artifacts – it helps researchers put into context the information they learn about how the villagers lived, what they ate and how they were developing as a people, Doershuk said. “It’s all the archaeological questions that anthropologists wish they could answer in more detail but often can’t,” he said. Construction work was ongoing at the site, the future home of a new wastewater treatment facility north of the Des Moines River in southeast Des Moines, when workers moving dirt noted charcoal and burned earth stains, Doershuk said. The Office of the State Archaeologist, based at the UI, was called to the site in December 2010 to monitor the work and investigate interesting findings. The site is owned by the Des Moines Metropolitan Wastewater Reclamation Authority, made up of 16 metro area municipalities, counties and sewer districts. Anytime a project has federal permitting or federal funding, like this one does, it triggers certain requirements, including archaeological studies, Doershuk said. The UI archaeologists worked through May to collect as much information and as many artifacts as possible before construction work had to return to that portion of the site. They found the remnants of four oval-shaped deposits, possibly houses, as large as 800 square feet with hearths.
http://thegazette.com/2011/08/18/ui-archaeologists-find-7000-year-old-site-in-des-moines/

America has a new poet laureate as of August 10, when the Library of Congress named Philip Levine in the one-year position. He succeeds W.S. Merwin in the post. Born in Detroit in 1928, Levine has used his poetry to examine blue-collar life, often embroidering everyday events with a sense of myth. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington called Levine "one of America's great narrative poets. His plainspoken lyricism has, for half a century, championed the art of telling 'The Simple Truth'—about working in a Detroit auto factory, as he has, and about the hard work we do to make sense of our lives."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/08/10/139348573/philip-levine-named-as-americas-new-poet-laureate

See Philip Levine biography, awards and other resources at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Levine_(poet)

earmark noun identification mark on the ear of a domestic animal, a distinctive characteristic or attribute
a distinguishing quality, a distinctive nature, character, or type
earmark verb give or assign a resource to a particular person or cause
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/earmark

Almost 13 years ago, Rep. David McIntosh, R-Ind., directed $375,000 in federal funding "to improve State Road 31" in Columbus, Ind., a city at the edge of his district. The McIntosh "earmark" seemed routine at the time, like almost 2,000 other congressional pet projects that lawmakers inserted into the 1998 highway bill. But there was a problem: "There is no State Road 31 that travels through Columbus, only U.S. 31," says Will Wingfield, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation. The error hurt all of Indiana and has wrapped the earmark in red tape to this day. The money not only remains unspent, but because Congress counts money earmarked for highway projects against a state's share of federal gas tax revenue, the amount of the earmark reduced what Indiana would have received in federal funding — almost dollar for dollar. See a table showing lost money by states at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-01-04-earmarks_N.htm

When the recession squeezed Miami's budget in recent years, officials reached into funds raised for road repairs and other projects to plug the shortfall. In Miami, the Securities and Exchange Commission is wrapping up an investigation into whether the city used funds intended for roads and other purposes to fill budget gaps elsewhere, according to people close to the probe. Bondholders are suing, saying the moves obscured the city's true finances. The city's former budget director is also suing, claiming he was fired for cooperating with the SEC and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In Modoc County, Calif., officials were ordered last year by the state controller to repay more than $13 million they moved, including state and federal tax dollars earmarked for schools, roads, welfare programs and other projects. The county, as late as 2008, channeled some of those restricted funds into its main hospital. When Ecorse, Mich., ran into a financial crunch in 2008 and 2009, the city used more than $2 million intended for schools and other areas to fill budget shortfalls, according to a state audit. Portland, Ore., over the past five years used money raised for water and sewers to pay for other purposes, including remodeling a building for the nonprofit foundation that runs the city's Rose Festival, according to a March report by the city auditor.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203503204577035931801712666.html

Q: I read there's a place in Ohio with 18 covered bridges.
A: It's Ashtabula County, which also claims the nation's longest and shortest covered bridges. The longest, at 613 feet, was dedicated three years ago. The shortest, just 18 feet, replaced an old bridge in Geneva in August. A bus passing through looks like a hot dog in a bun. Associated Press
Q: Does the Constitution prohibit members of certain religious denominations from becoming president?
A: It says "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office of public Trust under the United States." U.S. Archives http://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2011/Nov/JU/ar_JU_111411.asp?d=111411,2011,Nov,14&c=c_13

Find calendars, holidays, moon phases and more at: http://www.calendar-365.com/

Congressional Cemetery - for presidents and residents alike
In 1807 the first burial ground in the new federal city was founded. Because of its close proximity to the seat of government members of Congress, military and government officials were interred, along with a number of ordinary citizens. The Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery maintains and operates the 35+ acres, 14,000 headstones, and burial place of over 55,000 people whose stories are part of our American History.
http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/
Frequently asked questions: http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/faq
Histories of Congressional Cemetery: http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/histories-congressional-cemetery
Find well-known people such as J. Edgar Hoover and John Philip Sousa in the Interment Index: http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/interment-index-0