The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center received a $100,000 Legacy Grant Award from Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in support of the center’s Campaign for Hope and Healing. “After thorough review of this year’s Legacy Grant applications, the board of directors unanimously voted to provide a Legacy Grant to the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center, which provides valuable services to the people of Central Iowa,” said Gary Palmer, Prairie Meadows president and CEO, in a release. “Their new facility will be a true asset to the Des Moines area and the children and adults that it will serve.” The Campaign for Hope and Healing is a $3.3 million project to construct a new facility to house the counseling center.

Teams from nearly all the schools of the Big 12 Conference will compete at Iowa State University’s Gerdin Business Building in the fourth annual Big 12 M.B.A Case Competition. Groups of four M.B.A students will analyze a Harvard-style general business policy case and present their finding and recommendations to a panel of judges composed of business executives. The judges include Suku Radia, Bankers Trust Co. president and CEO, and Ralph Eucher, Principal Financial Group Inc. senior vice president of human resources and corporate services, among others.

The Radio Television Digital News Association named CBS affiliate KCCI the winner of two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for Best Newscast and Overall Excellence. Best Newscast was awarded for the 6 p.m. newscast on April 3, 2009, for coverage of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Iowa. The Overall Excellence award was for best overall effort, including breaking news coverage, videography, storytelling and community involvement. These are the association’s top two awards. KCCI competed against television stations in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. A complete list of winners, and the accompanying audio and video, is available at www.rtdna.org.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded 13 competitive grants totaling $1.25 million to Iowa fire departments through the Assistance to Firefighters Grants’ Operations and Safety and Vehicle Acquisition programs. The Des Moines Fire Department will receive $451,712 and Grimes Fire and Rescue will receive $8,004.