Iowa City Downtown District Working on Butt Problem: Iowa City Daily News Links, July 10

Finally a little less humid today.

On to the Links!

Quentin Misiag of the Daily Iowan reports that the Partnership for Alcohol Safety is still working on more alcohol free options downtown.

Aly Brown of the Iowa City Press-Citizen profiles the "Get Ready for Kindergarten" program at Willowwind. (Press-Citizen)

Embrace Your Geekness day, eh? I approve. (Press-Citizen)

Only two Iowa units remain deployed in Afghanistan writes Lee Hermiston of the Gazette. 

Iowa City is trying to solve its problem of cigarette butts discarded in the wrong place. (KCRG)

The Red Cross is in need of blood donors. (KCRG)

Regulators have abandoned taking action against a UI doctor accused of abusing alcohol. (KCRG)

The University of Iowa ranks high as being a good place for research postdocs. (Daily Iowan)

No depraved intent, eh? The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that Zachary Meerdink didn't have "depraved intent" when he killed the 7-month-old Boston Terrier in 2011 outside his girlfriend's Davenport home. (Press-Citizen)

Daily Links Excerpt of the Day

For more than four years, the Partnership for Alcohol Safety, a joint project between University of Iowa and Iowa City officials, has mulled ideas to bring new alcohol-free and alternative options to Iowa City’s downtown and North Side Marketplace.

“We’re working so that excessive drinking doesn’t appear to be the normal thing to do,” said Kelly Bender, the UI community harm reduction initiatives coordinator, said.

“In the past, we haven’t taken a position because we are so diverse, she said about the board’s makeup and individual opinions on the 21-ordinance. “We don’t want that issue to be a wedge [in moving forward].”

Bender and panel members have long advocated that with the 21-ordinance in place, alongside a number of city exemptions, not only is the Downtown District a safer and more vibrant area, the decline percentage of students drinking and the amount of alcohol consumed has yielded a healthier young person demographic.