Thanks Outgoing IDPH Director Dr. Arnold for His Years of Service

CHICAGO - September 30, 2011. Governor Quinn today appointed Dr. Craig Conover as acting director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Jean Ortega-Piron as acting director of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Dr. Conover replaces Dr. Damon Arnold, who is leaving IDPH to create a Master's of Public Health degree program at Chicago State University.

"As he departs to pursue a new opportunity, I want to thank Dr. Arnold for his years of dedicated service to the people of Illinois," Governor Quinn said. "Dr. Conover's experience in a variety of medical fields will ensure that Illinois' public health system continues to protect and improve the health of the people of our great state."

Dr. Arnold's tenure at IDPH has seen the department winning a number of awards and grants, including a $24 million federal grant to implement its "We Choose Health" initiative, announced yesterday. Under his leadership, the department has consistently received top scores from the Centers for Disease Control for public health preparedness, and has transformed its grant tracking and monitoring system to increase accountability. Dr. Arnold also worked to secure public-private partnerships for the state's State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) to improve the health of Illinois residents.

Dr. Craig Conover has held several positions at IDPH since 2002, currently serving as Illinois' chief epidemiologist and medical director of the office of health protection, where he is charged with responding to and preventing disease outbreaks. Before joining IDPH, he served as attending physician at the Emergency Department at the University of Vermont and Chairman of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Provident Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Conover holds a master's degree in public health from the John Hopkins School of Medicine and an M.D. from the University of Rochester.

The Governor also appointed Jean Ortega-Piron to serve as acting director at DCFS. Since 1996, Ortega-Piron has served as Deputy Director, Guardian and Advocacy, acting as guardian for all children committed to DCFS by Illinois' juvenile courts. In that role, she was instrumental in establishing the first-in-the-nation Memorandum of Understanding between a state child welfare agency and Mexico, and also established a system for monitoring psychotropic medications for state wards, described by the Chicago Tribune as the "gold standard" in the country. She has also served as the DCFS chief administrative law judge and administrator of the Appeals and Hearings Unit. Prior to that, she worked as chief legal counsel for the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities. Ms. Ortega-Piron is a graduate of Rosary College and the Chicago-Kent School of Law.

Attributed to resonating message, sizable crowds LAKE JACKSON, Texas - 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul is getting attention - and complimentary frontrunner stature - from GOP newspaper "The Iowa Republican."

Is Ron Paul the New Iowa Frontrunner?
By Kevin Hall

As the rest of the GOP field experiences the highs and lows of the campaign trail, one candidate's support remains constant.  Ron Paul's supporters are the most fervent, the most loyal, and there are plenty of them in Iowa.

A larger than expected crowd of 160 packed Gates Hall in Nevada to hear Paul speak at a Story County GOP chili supper Tuesday evening.  "It's always a good thing when you have to panic right before a fundraiser when you don't know if you have enough tables and chairs," said Story County GOP chairman Cory Adams, who has endorsed Paul.

The Texas congressman's supporters comprised the majority of the crowd.  One of the youngest, Shayla Peters, 11, spoke to the crowd before Paul was introduced.  She read a recent school report written about a person she admired.  Peters chose Ron Paul as her subject.

"He's always clear in his decisions and he's always for the Constitution," the sixth grader told The Iowa Republican.  "He always gives straight answers and that's what I like."

Shayla Peters is hardly alone in her appreciation of Ron Paul's libertarian views.  His message is resonating with a significant contingent of Iowa Caucus goers.  Drawing sizable crowds at every tour stop, the Texas congressman has a motivated and active base.

A link to the full article can be found here.

DES MOINES - Thursday, September 22th, OFA Iowa will hold an office opening party and phone bank for volunteers and supporters in Davenport.

Organizing for America has been engaging and training volunteers and building new supporters since the President was inaugurated.  Since the launch of the re-election campaign in April, OFA Iowa staff and volunteers have held over 100 trainings, planning sessions, house parties, and phone banks.  OFA Iowa volunteers have made over 100,000 calls to supporters and held 2,298 one-on-one conversations. Through these efforts, OFA Iowa has collected over 20,000 "I'm In" commitments from across the state.

OFA Iowa is opening eight campaign offices -- Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Des Moines, Waterloo, Davenport, Iowa City, Dubuque, and Council Bluffs.

WHO: OFA Iowa

WHAT: Davenport Office Opening

WHERE: Scott County Democrats Office, Midtown Plaza, 1706 Brady Street, Davenport, IA 52808

WHEN: Thursday, September, 22, 5:30-7:30 pm

To find out more about the Iowa campaign please visit http://www.barackobama.com/state/ia. Iowans can also connect with the campaign on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/IowaOFA, and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/OFA_IA.