What was previously unofficial became official on Tuesday.
The Defense Department alerted 3,500 Iowa Army National Guard soldiers that they are part of the rotation that will deploy to Afghanistan next year.
Members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division are expected to be called to duty next year. The Iowa brigade would begin deploying in the fall of 2010 and be part of ongoing operations battling the Taliban.
In the tri-state area, about 200 soldiers from the Dubuque-headquartered Alpha and Delta companies of the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry, and Det. 1, Company E (Brigade Support Co.), Brigade Support Battalion, are affected.
The mobilization is historic, projected to be the largest single call-up for the Iowa National Guard since World War II.
Several 1-133rd soldiers have deployed to Afghanistan before.
2 arrested in human trafficking case
Police arrested two northeast Iowa women on human trafficking charges Thursday, alleging they transported a 13-year-old Dubuque female to Chicago for prostitution.
Breanne M. Morgan, 18, of Dubuque, and Shelby R. Johnson, 18, of Postville, Iowa, were arrested on a warrant charging enticing away a minor.
Johnson and Morgan are accused of travelling to Chicago in November 2008 with a then-13-year-old runaway from a residential facility. A confidential informant told police that they overheard the women talking about the teen having sex with multiple men while drugged, according to court documents.
A man told police that Johnson and Morgan visited his suburban Chicago home with a "young girl." They took her into the city and left her there, forcing her to find her own way back to the suburb.
The women face up to 10 years in prison on the charge.
5 finalists named for police chief
Five finalists will compete for the Dubuque police chief position.
Of the finalists, Capt. Mark Dalsing is the only internal candidate. Dalsing heads the Criminal Investigation Division in the department. The remaining candidates include a captain, lieutenant and police chief from Iowa, and a former Terrell, Texas, police chief. Every candidate has Iowa ties.
There will be a two-day interview process next month, with input from city department managers, police senior managers, the Dubuque Community Advisory Panel, neighborhood association presidents, the Multicultural Family Center and other community leaders.
City Manager Mike Van Milligen will make a decision in late December and will submit it for approval by the City Council.
Candidates debate Section 8, crime
Bill Hammel prefaced his statement by acknowledging it isn't a popular subject, but the 1st Ward City Council candidate believes Dubuque needs to review its Section 8 housing policy as part of any comprehensive crime strategy.
At-large City Council candidate Marcos Rubinstein has no problem with a Section 8 review, but he heard something more in Hammel's remarks Tuesday night during a candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
"Too many people use Section 8 or 'those people from Chicago' to refer to African-Americans," Rubinstein said. "If you are running for City Council, you should be more careful than that. I was shocked."
Hammel, a rental-property owner, isn't a fan of an ordinance the city might enact regarding landlord-tenant relationships. Like many landlords, he believes the ordinance would unfairly make property owners liable for the criminal acts of their tenants.
"The thing to take a look at instead of punishing the landlords is to maybe take away Section 8 housing for that building," Hammel said. "Why punish all landlords if there are only a few bad ones?"
In Rubinstein's mind, singling out the federally subsidized housing program isn't based in fact, but merely fear-mongering in an attempt to attract votes.
City collars big event
Dubuque is going to the dogs next year, and it's worth $1.5 million as the city will be hosting the 2010 DockDogs National Championships.
Dubuque received the news Oct. 17, at the 2009 Cabela's National DockDogs Championships in Mason, Ohio. Also bidding to be the 2010 host city were Milwaukee, Atlanta and Harrisburg, Pa. The 2010 championships are scheduled for Oct. 15-17.
DockDogs has hosted regional events in Dubuque every year since 2005 as part of the America's River Festival.
Students celebrate top honor
A sea of blue T-shirts filled the schools' gymnasiums.
Students at Earlville, Iowa, and Resurrection elementary schools wore blue T-shirts in celebration of their school's 2009 Blue Ribbon Awards.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, celebrated the awards with students at school assemblies Monday. He presented each school with the Blue Ribbon plaque and a flag that had been flown over the Capitol.
"When I found out about this amazing honor at Resurrection, I decided I had to do everything I could to make it here because it's such exciting news," he said. "But I also know that an award like this just doesn't drop down out of thin air. It's the result of a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication."
The program, started in 1982, rewards schools with students who score in the top 10 percent in state assessments.
