The Des Moines Register announced five newsroom layoffs to staff yesterday. Editor Carolyn Washburn addressed the newsroom staff in an e-mail that stated, “This week we have to say goodbye to five colleagues: Jane Norman, Jeff Bash, Steve Dinnen, Mike Malloy and Carl Benskin.” The e-mail said new assignments will be made internally to account for the work, and a new organizational flow chart will be prepared by next week.

The board of Lee Enterprises Inc. declared a quarterly cash dividend of 19 cents per share. The company said the dividend is payable Oct. 1 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 2.

Principal Financial Group Inc. has named 2008’s 10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security. This is Principal’s seventh annual release of the list and includes: 1st United Services Credit Union, Pleasanton, Calif.; A.Y. McDonald Manufacturing Co., Dubuque; CENTRIA, Moon Township, Pa.; Jewelers Mutual Insurance Co., Neenah, Wis.; N.J. Sullivan Co. Inc., Dulles, Va.; NORCAL Mutual Insurance Co., San Francisco; North Island Credit Union, San Diego; SAE International, Warrendale, Pa.; The Spiratex Co., Romulus/Monroe, Mich.; and Torch Technologies Inc., Huntsville, Ala.

The board of Meredith Corp. declared a quarterly cash dividend of 21.5 cents per share. The company said the dividend is payable Sept. 15 to shareholders of record as of Aug. 29.

SmartTalk Media LLC, the creator of the lecture series formerly known as the Smart Talk Women’s Lecture Series, announced a formal relaunch of the series for the 2009 season and beyond, retitled as, SmartTalk Connected Conversations. The series will conduct its lecture in Des Moines on Jan. 15, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. Due to the huge demand of the previous Smart Talk Women’s Lecture Series, tickets for the 2009 series will be sold as a complete series only.

Iowa Congressman Tom Latham announced that the federal government has given $3,268,150 to the Iowa Department of Justice to help victims of crime. The funds are being awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime.