A well-stocked bird feeder is a delight, especially when you are stuck in your house. I have spent many hours watching my feeders. Here are some tips to help you enjoy the view from inside:FOOD There...

CEDAR FALLS — A four-way quarterback competition dominated the preseason headlines for Northern Iowa last August. Walk-on redshirt freshman Will McElvain emerged as the competition’s...

Last week, University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld made some waves when he announced at a Board of Regents meeting UI athletics plans to resume practice on June 1. Monday, the Big Ten announced...

CEDAR RAPIDS — Yes, Mark Carlson is good friends with his father. But make zero mistake here. Cade Littler is a hockey player. That’s the biggest thing and why the Cedar Rapids...

CEDAR RAPIDS — Darren Lewis knows his voice is minimal. And he isn’t looking for a political debate. “I just wanted to spread some hope and some positivity,” he said....

Editor’s note: The Gazette sports staff has compiled lists of its top 15 favorite sports movies. Each day, a different staffer will share some insight into one of their favorites. Some of them...

CEDAR RAPIDS — Tony Paoli announced Thursday that he is stepping down after four years as head coach of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders high school hockey team. Paoli did amazing work, taking...

CEDAR RAPIDS — This was his alma mater, a place he had a ton of success at as a player. The future of the program is clearly bright. But Matt Lesan has a clear plan for his own future, which...

Jeff Koeppel, a North Liberty businessman who played on Iowa’s football team from 1986 to 1989 — was a second-team All-Big Ten defensive lineman for two years — caught COVID-19...

At the turn of the 20th century, a vaccine had been developed for smallpox, a virus that killed millions in the 1800s. Those who survived the disease were often left badly scarred or blind. The...

In normal times, Chew on This focuses on restaurant openings and closings. These are not normal times, with restaurants closed except to carryout, curbside and delivery. We know these businesses...

As death rates from COVID-19 rise, the state is beginning to open back up. And with that the expectation is that Iowans get back to work. Iowans who don’t go back to work will lose...

At the same time Vice President Mike Pence was in Iowa on Friday to discuss the nation’s food supply security, U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack called on the administration to take more measures to...

IOWA CITY — An Iowa City man has been arrested in Texas in connection with the April 20 shooting death of Kejuan Winters. Reginald Little, 44, was taken into custody Friday by the Lubbock...

DES MOINES — More than 20 days after Iowa signed a $26 million contract with a Utah company to expand testing in the state, the machines the firm supplied to run the samples still have not...

A man suspected of a workplace shooting last month at a vinyl window manufacturer in southwest Cedar Rapids turned himself into authorities Friday. Jamal Devonte Edwards, 26, has been wanted since...

ELIZABETH "BETTY" A. ZOBAC
Cedar Rapids


Betty A. Zobac, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, at the Dennis & Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy. She was 92.
Betty was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Oct. 29,
1927. She was the beloved
and only child to Francis
and Mary (Cahill) Sullivan. Betty attended grade school
at Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Cedar Rapids. Then carried on her education at St. Patrick's High School where she graduated in 1946.
It wasn't long after when Betty married the love of her life; Frank Zobac, in August 1947, at the Immaculate Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids. To this union four children were born. Betty and Frank were married for 69 years. Frank passed away on Dec. 15, 2016.
Betty was very proud of her ancestry and Irish heritage. Betty and Frank actually got engaged on St. Patrick's Day 1947. She loved celebrating her culture every year on St. Patrick's Day by cooking corned beef and cabbage for her entire family.
Betty and Frank were a well-liked and social couple. They developed many friendships throughout their years and were always ready to have fun. The two loved to go out on the town dancing. They would often take a weekend trip to Chicago at the Allerton Hotel on Michigan Avenue. While there they would enjoy Broadway style shows, concerts or even a Cubs game. Later in life Betty and Frank would have season tickets to Iowa Hawkeyes football games. They rarely missed a bowl game during the Hayden Fry era. Neither did they miss a Friday night card group, any bingo game in town or an evening of Frank singing karaoke to Betty.
After having four young children, Betty worked the night shift in the pediatric department of Mercy Hospital for three years. Her endless energy and work ethic were remarkable. Betty also was a true fashionista and carried that passion over into her next career. From Killian's to Armstrong's then Coach House Fashions; she worked in retail women's clothing for over 15 years. While still maintaining her voguish taste, Betty's greatest accomplishment of her career began in 1961. As the backbone of the family business; Betty successfully ran the company as general manager of Frank Zobac Construction Co. Frank Zobac Construction Co. was in business for over 60 years.
Betty was the matriarch of her family. Betty loved to cook for and with her family. Like her taste for fashion, she was ahead of her time when it came to preparing meals for her family. Betty's culinary creativity led to many delicious and sometimes interesting meals. Rarely following a recipe; she inspired many. Her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have carried on her passion for cooking to this day. What Betty started in her little kitchen back in 1947 will be passed down throughout her family for generations. Betty also had an extraordinary love for dachshunds. Whether on the couch or in Hy-Vee, it was rare to see Betty not carrying one of her many spoiled dachshunds.
Betty's memory will continue to live on through her four children, Susan (Dennis) Draker of Marion, Mark (Connie) Zobac of Vinton, Kathy (Doug) Klinger of Marion and Debra Zobac of Marion; eight grandchildren, Amy (Clint) Houdek, Jeff (Diana) Draker, Barrett (Kiley) Scorpil, James (Christina) Zobac, Christopher Goodrow, Staci (John) Willems, Traci (Jeff) Chisholm and Michelle Ramirez; and her 16 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at a date to be determined. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House in memoriam of Frank and Betty Zobac. Please mail to: Susan Draker 2845 Hunters Ridge Rd. Marion, IA 52302.
Please leave a message or tribute to Betty's family on our web page, www.cedarmemorial.com, under Obituaries.
"Rest in Peace, Mom"

Tthink about the great relics of human civilization—the pyramids, the magnificent castles of Europe, the Great Wall of China, meticulously detailed sculptures from different eras, the awe-inspiring churches and temples that dot almost every landscape we’ve ever inhabited… All made of stone. All hundreds of years old. All crafted with the intention of permanence and […]

While all of us would love to resume face-to-face classes in the Fall at the three Regent Institutions, the reality of our situation is making that highly unlikely. Let us assume you resume face-to-face classes using the 6-feet social distancing rule. That means classrooms can hold a lot less people. How much less? Suppose you have a lecture auditorium with an area of 8,783 square feet, which has a maximum seating capacity of 760 students under normal conditions. Implementing a social distancing rule would reduce the allowable number of students to 311 students. Size limitations effectively reduces student capacity by more than half. How many students can safely walk down a hallway and use the same exits to leave the building? Is each classroom disinfected between classes?

Social distancing practice dictates that no student could share a dorm room. Are universities expected to run these facilities at a financial loss? How long is that sustainable? Will each student get their own shower?

In a time when political pressures seem to be fighting against science and facts, it is incumbent upon our institutions of higher learning to stay levelheaded. In absence of widespread testing and immunization, it is simply irresponsible for the Board of Regents, the governor or university presidents to pretend that we’ll go back to a face-to-face learning environment in the fall. It is better to simply make the decision now about continuing with an online curriculum until it is safe for everyone.

David Johnson

West Branch

Like everyone, U.S. oil companies have been hit hard by the pandemic, and they are looking for relief. . Oil companies have requested special access to a $600 billion lending facility at the Federal Reserve, and the administration seems keen to deliver. The president just announced that the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury would make funds available, and the Department of Energy is also floating a $7 billion plan to pay drillers to leave oil in the ground.

Unfortunately, at least one faction of the industry — a group of refiners that traditionally profit when crude feedstocks are cheap — is angling for much more than a financial bailout. They are using the pandemic as cover to cannibalize markets vital to U.S. biofuel producers and farmers.

Their plan, outlined in letter from several oil-patch governors, would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to halt enforcement of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). It would allow refiners to stop offering biofuel blends at the fuel pump, eliminating the market for U.S. ethanol and biodiesel and decimating demand for billions of bushels of corn and soybeans used to make renewable motor fuel.

With half the nation’s 200-plus biofuel plants already offline, thousands of rural workers facing layoffs, and millions of U.S. farmers on financial life support, the destruction of the RFS would be an economic death knell for rural America.

It’s hard to imagine why refiners would expect the Trump administration to take the request seriously. The misguided plan would inflict incredible collateral damage on our economy, our energy security, and to the President’s prospects with rural voters. Notably, the courts rejected similar abuse in 2016. Even former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who scorned American farmers, rejected a similar plan back in 2017.

Nevertheless, refiners saw the current health crisis as a political opportunity and went for a kill. Fortunately, farm state champions are pushing back. Governors from Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota condemned the oil-backed plan. They wrote, “Using this global pandemic as an excuse to undercut the RFS is not just illegal; it would also sever the economic lifeline that renewable fuels provide for farmers, workers and rural communities across the Midwest.”

Aside from the sheer audacity, the refinery-backed plan also suffers from a major flaw — it wouldn’t change the economic situation of a single refinery. They claim that lifting the RFS would eliminate the costs associated with biofuel credits known as RINs, which are used to demonstrate compliance with the nation’s biofuel targets. Refiners that refuse to produce biofuel blends can purchase RINs from those that blend more ethanol or biodiesel into the fuel mix. In turn, when they sell a gallon of fuel, that RIN price is reflected in their returns. The oil industry’s own reports show that “there is no economic harm to RIN purchasers, even if RIN prices are high, because those costs are recouped in the gasoline blend stock and diesel.”

Even in a fictional scenario where costs aren’t automatically recouped, a detailed EPA analysis found that “all obligated parties, including the small refiners subject to the RFS program, would be affected at less than 1 percent of their sales (i.e., the estimated costs of compliance with the rule would be less than 1 percent of their sales) even when we did not consider their potential to recover RIN costs — with the estimated cost-to-sales percentages ranging from -0.04 percent (a cost savings) to 0.006 percent.”

Clearly, a 0.006 percent savings isn’t going to protect any refinery jobs, but refineries are betting that DC policymakers don’t know the difference between RINs values and compliance costs. They open one side of a ledger and hope that no one asks to see the next page.

Meanwhile, the nation’s biggest oil lobby, American Petroleum Institute, is calling on the EPA to simply cut 770 million gallons of biofuel out of the 2020 targets. Earlier this year, regulators approved a modest bump in biofuels to addresses a small fraction of the four billion gallons lost to secretive EPA refinery exemptions. The courts have since sided against the handouts, but the EPA has refused to implement the decision. Now, API says the agency should rip away the few gallons clawed back by U.S. farmers. It’s a baseless argument with one goal: blocking competition at the fuel pump.

Keep in mind, collapsing demand for motor fuel is just as hard on the nation’s biofuel producers. RFS targets enforced by the EPA are based on a percentage of each gallon sold — so if refiners make less fuel, their obligations under the law shrink at an equal rate. Meanwhile, biofuel producers across the heartland are closing their doors, as even their modest 10 percent share of the market has been cut in half.

Biofuel advocates are focused on their own survival. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley summed it up, saying “[T]here ought to be parity for all liquid fuels. So I look forward to working with (Agriculture) Secretary (Sonny) Perdue to make sure that our biofuels industry gets through this crisis so that we can continue to use America’s (home) grown energy in our gas tanks.”

Parity makes sense, but refinery lobbyists want more. The Trump EPA should reject the latest anti-biofuel pitch because it’s bad policy, but more than that, it’s an insulting attempt to capitalize on a health crisis to make an end run around the truth.

Former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent spearheaded the Renewable Fuel Standard in 2005. He currently serves as co-chair of Americans for Energy Security and Innovation.

Another day, another devastating new uptick in Iowa’s COVID-19 figures.

Several times in the past few weeks, Gov. Kim Reynolds has announced a new daily high in Iowa’s positive COVID-19 tests or deaths. On Tuesday, yet another striking record — 19 deaths in a 24-hour period, or nearly 10 percent of the state’s total COVID-19 deaths to date.

For a governor who says she is staking her pandemic response on data and metrics, those grim numbers don’t seem to weigh heavily on Reynolds’ decision-making.

“The fact is we can’t prevent people from getting the COVID-19 virus,” Reynolds said at her Tuesday news conference. “If we weren’t testing in these areas, people would still have the virus and without being tested, diagnosed and isolated it could spread even further.”

In one breath, Reynolds tells Iowans we are helpless to stop the virus’s spread. In the very next breath, she explains how testing and isolation can help prevent the spread.

It’s just one example of the confusing guidance Iowans are getting from the governor and her team. Iowans looking for answers about how to protect themselves and their families are finding seemingly conflicting answers.

They report we have reached the peak, only to backtrack. They say we’re in this together and there’s a statewide plan to confront the outbreak, but then they tell us it’s really about “personal responsibility.” They tell us to stay home as much as possible, then pivot to emphasizing the need for people who feel sick to stay home.

Sometimes, it almost feels as if Reynolds is blaming Iowans for getting sick.

Early on, Reynolds used a regional strategy to track the virus, based on factors such as hospitalizations and health care resources in six multicounty regions across the state. That approach has been brushed aside with little explanation to the public.

Instead, Iowa now has “open” and “closed” counties — 22 where significant restrictions remain intact, and 77 where businesses can open in a limited manner. After less than a week under the county-by-county strategy, there are early signs that the 77 counties are seeing an uptick in confirmed COVID-19 cases.

• Gov. Reynolds is disrupting her own virus response plan

Reynolds’ response in this phase of the pandemic is just as crucial as the initial phase, to prevent a deadlier wave. Shifting to the personal responsibility path also decentralizes leadership, which creates more uncertainty.

If Iowa’s “open” counties see a surge, will Reynolds relent and reimpose restrictions?

We have reason to doubt it. Just this week, Reynolds co-authored a Washington Post guest column with other governors, arguing “our approach worked.”

In Reynolds’ mind, she has already defeated the virus, so she’s retreating from the fight. That’s bad news for Iowans who are still very much on the front lines of this pandemic.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com

Serving as state representative of House District 85 for the past few years has been a privilege and an honor. I have worked hard to stand for the people of my district fighting for issues that are important to them and to the voters of Iowa City. I want to continue that advocacy and am running for another term in the Iowa House and ask for your vote.

I vigorously support adequate funding for education from pre-school to our community colleges and universities. Our young people are Iowa’s future and deserve the best start available through our excellent education system in Iowa. But we need to provide the dollars necessary to keep our teachers in the classroom so our children are prepared for whatever may lie ahead of them.

I have advocated for the fair treatment of workers in Iowa and support their right to organize. I have worked on laws for equal pay for equal work and whistle blower protection.

I am for essential funding for mental health services for Iowans of all ages. Children and adults who are struggling with mental health issues should have services available to them no matter where they live in this state.

I have fought to keep government open and accessible to Iowans. I support open records and open meetings laws to ensure that availability and transparency to all Iowans.

Keeping voting easy and accessible to voters has been a priority of mine. I support a fair and balanced redistricting system for voting in Iowa.

I have advocated to keep the bottle deposit law in place and expand it to cover the many new types of containers available.

I have worked on oversight legislation after several investigations into defrauding government which involved boarding homes, government agencies and pharmacy benefit managers (the “middleman” between pharmacies/Medicaid and the healthcare insurance companies.)

I cannot avoid mentioning the challenge of the coronavirus in Iowa. It has impacted our health, jobs, families and businesses. No one could have predicted this pandemic but as Iowans, we need to do our best to limit contact and the spread of this disease. My sincere appreciation goes to those workers on the frontlines of this crisis: the healthcare workers, store owners, businesses, farmers, teachers and workers who show up every day to keep this state moving forward. Thank you all!

There is still much work to be done to keep Iowa the great place where we live, work and raise our families. I am asking for your vote to allow me the privilege of continuing that work.

Vicki Lensing is a candidate in the Democratic primary for Iowa House District 85.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has put Iowa on the map, and not in a good way. Sioux City and Waterloo/Cedar Falls are now on the list of communities in America with exploding cases of COVID-19. Both communities are now fighting to protect meatpacking workers and the community because company efforts to protect their workers have failed.

The alarms started going off at Iowa’s meatpacking plant in Tama and Columbus Junction in late March. Packing plants in those communities closed on April 6 due to rampant worker sickness from the deadly virus. Now, after repeated complaints, state OSHA inspectors were finally forced to visit Tyson’s plant in Waterloo. Sadly, however, they still have not conducted a single in-person inspection of any other Iowa plants to make sure that workers have protective equipment and are practicing effective infectious disease control.

Instead, Gov. Reynolds has repeatedly praised company executives for their efforts. trust packing plant CEOs without independently verifying what they were doing is now causing sickness, death and supply chain calamity.

Her ideologically motivated decision to block state inspectors from visiting and helping the plants has thrown Iowa livestock farmers into financial and management turmoil.

Now the president says all packing plants must remain open. This is a disaster. Forcing Iowa workers to work in unsafe conditions without state enforceable protections is cruel and will make all Iowans unsafe while further delaying our economic recovery.

Iowans deserve better.

State Sen. Joe Bolkcom

Iowa City

As death rates from COVID-19 rise, the state is beginning to open back up. And with that the expectation is that Iowans get back to work. Iowans who don’t go back to work will lose unemployment benefits, leaving thousands of workers forced to expose themselves and their families to a potentially deadly virus, which experts say could have a second wave in the fall.

The rush to reopen the state has left many questions about the health and safety of Iowans unanswered. Among those questions, “Who will watch the children?” is especially crucial.

Schools are closed for the rest of the year. The future of summer camps is uncertain. Half of the child care centers in America currently are closed. Using elderly parents for child care can be risky since grandparents are in the age bracket with the highest risk for death and complications from COVID-19.

This leaves families, mothers especially, at risk of losing their jobs and unemployment benefits.

Nationwide, women still carry the heavy burden of child care, despite the fact that most families are dual income homes. Two-thirds of minimum wage workers in America are women which puts them at risk for unemployment and illness because of exposure to the virus.

Already, the child care gap for women contributes to the wage gap. Women earn 80 cents to the male dollar. And the inequality is compounded when segmented by race.

Congress has tried to pass a paid leave policy, but those attempts have failed. And Iowa’s governor has so far not commented on the looming child care crisis as she declares victory over the virus and opens up the state.

Before the pandemic, a quarter of Iowa families lived in a child care desert, and child care in the state does not even come close to meeting the national definition of affordable. Experts estimated that the Iowa economy loses more than $1 billion each year because of a lack of child care. And with the reality of the pandemic sinking in, it will only get worse.

The Department of Human Services received $31.9 million in aid from the federal CARES Act that was dispersed to child care centers to help care for the children of essential workers. But as more people go back to work, that aid will be spent very quickly. Leaving the children of everyone else without answers to this fundamental question. If Reynolds wants to open up the state, her team needs to formulate a comprehensive plan that addresses the lack of child care and offers paid leave and works to reopen child care centers.

But rushing to open an economy when there is no child care is an attack not just on families but specifically mothers.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com

With the throng of websites on the internet vying for people’s attention, it will be hard to stand out if you don’t have an appealing or dependable business website. Investing in building your own website and acquiring a reliable domain and web hosting provider are some of the things you must do right to make […] More

Recent advances in technology have helped both small and large companies to automate their business process to improve productivity. In fact, experts have also emphasized that productivity has stalled over the last couple of years. Numerous large-scale businesses also complained that their productivity was in decline despite implementing innovative workplace guidelines to improve the workflow. […] More

How does a single plugin become the basis of a thriving technology ecosystem? Partly by leveraging the extensibilitythat WordPress’s event-driven Hooks system makes possible.

En ces temps de confinement, l’heure est à l’évasion de l’esprit. Nous vous proposons aujourd’hui de découvrir le joli travail de l’illustratrice russe Darya Shnykina. Elle est l’auteure d’une série de créations intitulée Places I’d Love To Live In.  Elle a imaginé représenter d’adorables petites maisonnées solitaires en pleine nature. Des petits havres de paix où chacun […]

I talked about Disabling search engine on search pages in a previous post using the meta tag. Today lets go over the web bots Cached copy of your site. If you are working on builder your blog, or have a temporary site up, use the following code: <meta name="robots" content="noarchive"> This will tell any bot […]

The post Disable caching of your site or post appeared first on WPCult.

Ever wanted to display the title of a post somewhere but limit the amount of characters that are shown? For instance, this post has a very long title, and if I were to use <?php echo the_title() ?> it would show as follows: Limit the characters that display on the_title. That may not fit well […]

The post Limit the characters that display on the_title appeared first on WPCult.

Benefits include the Black Canvas theme, unlimited theme support answered by our experts, customization techniques with our detailed theme tutorials and professional design services available by our list of recommended designers.

The post Revolution Two: Black Canvas appeared first on WPCult.

If you own an AirPort base station, you can use the Timed Access feature to control the days and times when users access the Internet. This could come in handy in a variety of situations. For example, if you own a cafe and provide free wi-fi access, you can configure the AirPort to block all access to the Internet when your business is closed. And if you have children, you can set time limits for specific devices in your home.

There are two ways to use the timed access feature. You can create a default allow policy to allow all devices to access the Internet at any time, and then specify custom schedules for specific devices. Or you can create a default deny policy to prevent all devices from accessing the Internet according the schedule you specify, and then exempt specific devices by creating custom schedules.

Here's how to control AirPort network access with time limits:

1. Open the AirPort Utility application. (It's in Applications → Utilities.) The window shown below appears.
   
   
2. Click the AirPort Extreme's icon. The status pop-up window appears.
   
   
3. Click Edit. The settings window appears.
   
   
4. Select the Network tab. The window shown below appears.
   
   
5. Select the Enable Access Control checkbox.
   
   
6. Click Timed Access Control. The window shown below appears.
   
   
7. Select the Unlimited (default) option. By default, this allows all of the devices connected to your AirPort to access the Internet all day, every day, but you can change this to block Internet access for all devices (except the ones you specify later) during the times you set.
   
   
8. If you'd like to limit the days and times that a specific device can access the Internet, click the + button under the Wireless Clients field. The window shown below appears.
   
   
9. Enter a name for the device in the Description field.
   
   
10. Enter the device's MAC address in the MAC Address field. You can use the following tutorials to find the device's MAC address.
    
    • How to Find Your Mac's MAC Address
    • How to Find Your iPad's MAC Address
    • How to Find Your iPhone's MAC Address
    
    
11. Use the + button under the Wireless Access Times field to create a schedule for this device's Internet access.
    
    
12. Once you've added all of your devices and customized the schedules, click Save.
    
    
13. Click Update. The AirPort will restart to apply the changes.

Congratulations! You have successfully set time limits for the devices connecting to your AirPort network. The schedule you created is effective immediately.

Meet Your Macinstructor

Matt Cone, the author of Master Your Mac, has been a Mac user for over 20 years. A former ghost writer for some of Apple's most notable instructors, Cone founded Macinstruct in 1999, a site with OS X tutorials that boasts hundreds of thousands of unique visitors per month. You can email him at: matt@macinstruct.com.

At the turn of the 20th century, a vaccine had been developed for smallpox, a virus that killed millions in the 1800s. Those who survived the disease were often left badly scarred or blind.

The vaccine’s protection, though, lasted only five years and had to be renewed. And people forgot to do that, leading to occasional epidemics, including a serious outbreak on the Meskwaki Settlement near Tama.

In February 1901, three dozen Iowa communities reported smallpox outbreaks. When Des Moines reported 200 smallpox cases in late February, the mayor closed the schools and prohibited public gatherings. Still, no one died. That would not be the case at the Meskwaki Settlement.

On Oct. 22, 1901, an area resident told Dr. Benjamin Thompson of Tama, “I believe the Indians have the smallpox.”

Thompson went to the nearby Meskwaki Settlement, home to 309 people, to investigate.

He learned that an Indian from the Winnebago tribe had visited the settlement Sept. 23. He had become ill, but no doctor was called and he continued meeting with tribe members.

Two weeks later, the Meskwaki were becoming ill.

Thompson went back to the settlement with Dr. George Carpenter of Toledo. The first wickiup they visited had four active smallpox cases and three people recovering from the virus. Two Meskwaki who’d lived there had died.

The doctors found another five cases and were told of two other deaths.

The doctors that night reported to a joint meeting of the boards of health in Tama, Toledo and Montour.

William Malin, the Interior Department’s Indian agent for the settlement, insisted there was no problem. But after another medical visit to the settlement, the three cities quarantined themselves.

By Nov. 2, 70 Meskwaki had smallpox, and nine members of the tribe had died. Two weeks later, the totals had risen to 90 Meskwaki with smallpox and 35 deaths.

To complicate matters, the Meskwaki declined offers to go to the hospital, they refused smallpox vaccinations and they refused to stay on the settlement. If they became sick, they would hide from the doctors.

The Tama Herald reported, “It looks as though the disease must run its course through the tribe, carrying off the aged and the infirm and weakening the constitution of those who may survive.”

The Iowa governor appealed to Interior Secretary Ethan Hitchcock for authority to enforce the quarantine among the Meskwaki. Hitchcock complied, giving the state the authority to “take any necessary action.”

National Guard hospital tents and cots were shipped to the settlement. The Meskwaki were vaccinated, and they acquiesced to the quarantine.

The local towns began raising money for medicines and provisions not covered by the federal government.

Meanwhile, Congress appropriated $50,000 — more than $1 million in today’s dollars — to eradicate smallpox on the settlement. The bill gave the Interior Department the authority to quarantine the village and, if necessary, burn Meskwaki wickiups and clothing to halt the contagion.

The state of Iowa chipped in another $7,000 to burn the clothing, blankets, wickiups and other property belonging to the Tama tribe and to provide replacements for the Meskwaki.

The money paid for disinfectants — formaldehyde gas and corrosive sublimate fluid — to bathe tribal members and their dogs. Members of the tribe were forced to move to a camping ground while their village was decontaminated.

Malin, the Indian agent, reported to the Interior Department it took seven days to clean and renovate “the Indian camp.”

“During this process, a large number of the wickiups, where the disease had been prevalent, also large quantities of clothing, bedding and other infected property, were committed to the flames and new goods of similar character supplied,” he reported.

“Twenty-four new board houses, built of good lumber, and some 2,700 square yards of very heavy duck for tents, to those who preferred tents to houses, were given in lien of the wickiups destroyed. ... The Indians emerged from the trying ordeal through which they had passed and came out into the world again, after having been confined to the limited area of their camping grounds ... with a higher and better conception of the white man’s civilization.”

That assessment aside, the Meskwaki Settlement survived and grew. It now covers 8,000 acres and is home to 800 of the tribe’s 1,300 members.

It wasn’t until 1980 that smallpox was declared eradicated worldwide.

l Comments: d.fannonlangton@gmail.com

In normal times, Chew on This focuses on restaurant openings and closings. These are not normal times, with restaurants closed except to carryout, curbside and delivery. We know these businesses still need support from the community to survive, so each week we are going to highlight five local restaurants.

These are just a few of the many places offering barbecue; look up your favorite restaurants on Facebook or call to find out what they have.

If you don’t want to leave the house, try a delivery service like Chomp, GrubHub or MyTown2Go. Check with the restaurant to make sure they’re affiliated with a delivery service before ordering.

124 Second Ave. NW, Mount Vernon; (319) 535-1060, facebook.com/bigsbbq

Get a growler of house-brewed beer to pair with your barbecue. Every Wednesday features a wings special; check the Facebook page for additional daily specials.

6677 16th Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids; (319) 378-4777, facebook.com/austinbluesbbq

Call in advance orders from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday to Friday and pickup from the food truck parked in the parking lot or stop by the truck parked at Cassill Motors, 2939 16th Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays.

1940 Lower Muscatine, Iowa City, (319) 354-7427 and 745 Community Dr., North Liberty, (319) 665-2486; jimmyjacksribshack.com

This Iowa City staple has classic dishes like ribs, smoked chicken and brisket and can even please vegetarians with a portobello sandwich.

525 S. Gilbert St., Iowa City, (319) 338-1419 and 125 E. Zeller St., North Liberty, (319) 626-4227; mosleysbarbecue.com

Try a family-style meal for curbside pickup, featuring four sandwiches or a slab of ribs, plus sides and cornbread, or order off the menu.

288 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids; (319) 206-3806, willieraysqshack.com

This tiny establishment was made for social distancing, with drive-through the only option for service even before the pandemic. Get one of the daily specials or order a la carte.

Comments: (319) 398-8339; alison.gowans@thegazette.com

At the same time Vice President Mike Pence was in Iowa on Friday to discuss the nation’s food supply security, U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack called on the administration to take more measures to protect workers in food processing plants.

Loebsack also questioned the decisions to reopen the economy being made by the Trump administration and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

“I don’t think we’re ready for that yet, quite honestly,” the Iowa City Democrat said.

“Ready” will be when adequate protections are in place for the people processing America’s food, Loebsack said.

Workers are showing up on the job, but “they fear for their families, they fear for themselves, they fear for everybody,” Loebsack said. “They don’t know if they’re going to catch this thing or not. But they’re there.”

Of particular concern are workers in food processing, such as those in meatpacking plants in Iowa where more than 1,600 cases of COVID-19 have been reported.

“I really believe that we should not open the plants if we do not ensure worker safety,” Loebsack said.

He called for President Donald Trump to use the Defense Production Act, which the president invoked to keep meatpacking plants open, to ensure an adequate supply of personal protective equipment for packing plant workers.

If Pence and the president are concerned about the nation’s food supply, then they need to “keep those workers safe and, therefore, keep those processing plants running” to avoid meat shortages at the grocery store, Loebsack said.

“We can’t have those plants running if workers are not protected. It’s that simple,” he said. “It’s not just the workers, it’s the families, it’s the community at large.”

With unemployment at 14.7 percent — probably higher, Loebsack said, Congress should extend federal coronavirus-related unemployment benefits of $600 a week beyond their current July end date.

He’s also pleased that the last relief package fixed a Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan program to allow farmers to apply for assistance.

Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com

IOWA CITY — An Iowa City man has been arrested in Texas in connection with the April 20 shooting death of Kejuan Winters.

Reginald Little, 44, was taken into custody Friday by the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, according to Iowa City police.

Little faces a charge of first-degree murder and is awaiting extradition back to Iowa City.

The shooting happened in an apartment at 1960 Broadway St. around 9:55 a.m. April 20. Police said gunfire could be heard during the call to police.

Officers found Winters, 21, of Iowa City, with multiple gunshot wounds. He died in the apartment.

Police said Durojaiya A. Rosa, 22, of Iowa City, and a woman were at the apartment and gave police a description of the shooter and said they heard him fighting with Winters before hearing gunshots.

Surveillance camera footage and cellphone records indicated Little was in the area before the shots were fired, police said.

Investigators also discovered Little and Rosa had been in communication about entering the apartment, and Rosa told police he and Little had planned to rob Winters.

Rosa also faces one count of first-degree murder.

The shooting death spurred three additional arrests.

Winters’ father, Tyris D. Winters, 41, of Peoria, Ill., and Tony M. Watkins, 39, of Iowa City, were arrested on attempted murder charges after confronting another person later that day in Coralville about the homicide, and, police say, shooting that person in the head and foot.

Police also arrested Jordan R. Hogan, 21, of Iowa City, for obstructing prosecution, saying he helped the suspect, Little, avoid arrest.

First-degree murder is a Class A felony punishable by an automatic life sentence.

Comments: (319) 339-3155; lee.hermiston@thegazette.com

DES MOINES — More than 20 days after Iowa signed a $26 million contract with a Utah company to expand testing in the state, the machines the firm supplied to run the samples still have not passed muster.

A time frame for completing the validation process for the Test Iowa lab machines is unknown, as the process can vary by machine, University of Iowa officials said Friday.

The validation process is undertaken to determine if the machines are processing tests accurately. To this point, the lab has processed the Test Iowa results using machines the State Hygienic Lab already had, officials told The Gazette.

Running side-by-side testing is part of the validation process. The lab then compares whether the machines yield the same results when the sample is run, officials said Friday. The side-by-side testing means the Test Iowa samples are being run at least twice to compare results.

The state does not break out how many of the 331,186 Iowans who by Friday have completed the coronavirus assessment at TestIowa.com have actually been tested. Test Iowa was initiated last month to ramp up testing of essential workers and Iowans showing COVID-19 symptoms. The state’s fourth drive-though location where people with appointments can be tested opened Thursday at the Kirkwood Continuing Education Training Center in Cedar Rapids.

On Friday, Iowa posted a fourth straight day of double-digit deaths from coronavirus, with the latest 12 deaths reported by the state Department of Public Health bringing the statewide toll to 243 since COVID-19 was first confirmed March 8 in Iowa.

State health officials reported another 398 Iowans tested positive for the respiratory ailment, bringing that count to 11,457 of the 70,261 residents who have been tested — a positive rate of more than 16 percent.

One in 44 Iowans has been tested for COVID-19, with 58,804 posting negative results, according to state data. A total of 4,685 people have recovered from the disease.

During a Thursday media briefing, Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters a backlog of test results that occurred due to validation of Test Iowa equipment had been “caught up,” but some Iowans who participated in drive-through sites set up around the state indicated they still were awaiting results.

Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett confirmed Thursday that “a very small percentage” of coronavirus test samples collected under the Test Iowa program could not be processed because they were “potentially damaged,” resulting in incomplete results.

There were 407 Iowans who were hospitalized (with 34 admitted in the past 24 hours) for coronavirus-related illnesses and symptoms with 164 being treated in intensive care units and 109 requiring ventilators to assist their breathing.

Health officials said the 12 deaths reported Friday were: three in Woodbury County, two in Linn County and one each in Black Hawk, Dallas, Dubuque, Jasper, Louisa, Muscatine and Scott counties. No other information about the COVID-19 victims was available from state data.

According to officials, 51 percent of the Iowans who have died from coronavirus have been male — the same percentage that tested positive.

Iowans over the age of 80 represent 46 percent of the COVID-19 victims, followed by 41 percent between 61 and 80.

Of those who have tested positive, state data indicates about 42 percent are age 18 to 40; 37 percent are 41 to 60; 14 percent are 61 to 80 and 5 percent are 81 or older.

Counties with the highest number of positive test results are Polk (2,150), Woodbury (1,532), Black Hawk (1,463) and Linn (813).

Earlier this week, state officials revamped the data available to the public at coronavirus.iowa.gov, with the new format no longer listing the age range of Iowans who died from coronavirus and providing information using a different timeline than before.

The governor did not hold a daily media briefing Friday due to scheduling conflicts created by Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to Iowa. Garrett said Reynolds would resume her COVID-19 briefings next week.

John McGlothlen and Zack Kucharski of The Gazette contributed to this report.

A man suspected of a workplace shooting last month at a vinyl window manufacturer in southwest Cedar Rapids turned himself into authorities Friday.

Jamal Devonte Edwards, 26, has been wanted since two men were shot at Associated Materials, 3801 Beverly Rd. SW, the morning of April 9.

Cedar Rapids police had indicated Edwards was wanted in particular for the shooting of Mark Robertson, 36.

Edwards faces charges of attempted murder, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, going armed with intent and willful injury.

The U.S. Marshals Service helped locate Edwards, distributing a photo of Edwards along the Gulf Coast. He was located in Mobile, Ala. when his father brought him to the Mobile police department so he could turn himself in, according to a Cedar Rapids police news release.

The April 9 shooting was reported at 5:03 a.m. after two employees were shot at Associated Materials. Both suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Police said at the time it appeared the shooter knew the two men.

Shawn Hardy, senior vice president of integrated products for Associated Materials, confirmed Edwards worked at the Cedar Rapids business, which gave him access to the building, but said he had been employed through a temp agency.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Like other members of the United States House, the “new normal” for Rep. Dave Loebsack involves a lot of time on the phone and in video conferences.

Although the Senate returned to Washington this past week, the House may not return to the Capitol until mid-May. As representatives work from their districts, many face the same challenges as their constituents who are working from home via various phone and video meeting platforms.

“They’re clunky, difficult, frustrating at times,” the 2nd District Democrat said after a 90-minute Energy and Commerce Committee teleconference meeting, “but we can get a lot of things done that way without necessarily going into Washington. It’s not the same by any means ... but I think we can get a lot of our work done that we have to get done even though were not there.”

If there’s an upside to the telecommuting downside, it’s that the poor connections, dropped calls and sometimes spotty internet signals highlight an issue Loebsack has been working on — Congress and the country need better broadband connectivity. A member of the Communications and Technology subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over telecommunications issues, Loebsack also serves as a co-chair of the Rural Broadband Caucus.

In one meeting, Loebsack said, a fellow committee member was unable to ask questions because the Wi-Fi signal at his home outside of a southwestern city was so poor.

“So I think we’re going to make some progress” convincing congressional colleagues of the need to connect all Americans to reliable and affordable broadband internet, Loebsack said.

“In times like these, when families are at home, millions of K-12 students do not have access to the high-speed internet needed to take classes and complete their assignments online,” he said in an announcement with House Majority Whip James Clyburn and others of a House Democratic plan to connect all Americans to high-speed internet.

When the transmission of COVID-19 slows, the need for high-speed internet connectivity will remain as well as the need for Congress to provide incentives for internet service providers to close the “broadband gap” by extending service to the las mile in rural areas and eliminate what he called “internet deserts” that exist in cities.

The plan calls for an investment of $80 billion over five years for internet infrastructure and another $5 billion over five years for low-interest financing of projects.

With more reliable connectivity, Congress could consider remote voting at times like this when members don’t want to gather in Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been cool to the idea, but Loebsack thinks members are “more open” to voting remotely.

“But we have to make sure that it’s completely secure, that the system can’t get hacked, and that votes are recorded properly,” he said.

Remote voting may be a may be a generational issue, “but I think this is doable.”

“I’m not making that prediction, but I would not be shocked if we move in that direction, especially the longer this (isolation) goes on,” Loebsack said.

Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com

Announcement of the Members - ACF Integration plugin, which creates custom capabilities for the Advanced Custom Fields plugin.

Bricks are better black. ◾️ (at Toronto, Ontario)

Lights, camera, action. ????
—
A few more days left to get 50% off my custom Lightroom presets! Link in profile. (at Toronto, Ontario)

Today we released free updates for the Auphonic Leveler Batch Processor and the Auphonic Multitrack Processor with many algorithm improvements and bug fixes for Mac and Windows.

Changelog

• Linear Filtering Algorithms to avoid Asymmetric Waveforms:
  New zero-phase Adaptive Filtering Algorithms to avoid asymmetric waveforms.
  In asymmetric waveforms, the positive and negative amplitude values are disproportionate - please see Asymmetric Waveforms: Should You Be Concerned?.
  Asymmetrical waveforms are quite natural and not necessarily a problem. They are particularly common on recordings of speech, vocals and can be caused by low-end filtering. However, they limit the amount of gain that can be safely applied without introducing distortion or clipping due to aggressive limiting.
• Noise Reduction Improvements:
  New and improved noise profile estimation algorithms and bug fixes for parallel Noise Reduction Algorithms.
• Processing Finished Notification on Mac:
  A system notification (including a short glass sound) is now displayed on Mac OS when the Auphonic Leveler or Auphonic Multitrack has finished processing - thanks to Timo Hetzel.
• Improved Dithering:
  Improved dithering algorithms - using SoX - if a bit-depth reduction is necessary during file export.
• Auphonic Multitrack Fixes:
  Fixes for ducking and background tracks and for very short music tracks.
• New Desktop Apps Documentation:
  The documentation of our desktop apps is now integrated in our new help system:
  see Auphonic Leveler Batch Processor and Auphonic Multitrack Processor.
• Bug Fixes and Audio Algorithm Improvements:
  This release also includes many small bug fixes and all audio algorithms come with improvements and updated classifiers using the data from our Web Service.

About the Auphonic Desktop Apps

We offer two desktop programs which include our audio algorithms only. The algorithms will be computed offline on your device and are exactly the same as implemented in our Web Service.

The Auphonic Leveler Batch Processor is a batch audio file processor and includes all our (Singletrack) Audio Post Production Algorithms. It can process multiple productions at once.

Auphonic Multitrack includes our Multitrack Post Production Algorithms and requires multiple parallel input audio tracks, which will be analyzed and processed individually as well as combined to create one final mixdown.

Upgrade now

• Auphonic Leveler Download
• Auphonic Multitrack Download

Please let us know if you have any questions or feedback!

Facebook is not only a social media giant, the company also provides valuable tools for broadcasting. Today we release a connection to Facebook, which allows to use the Facebook tools for video/audio production and publishing within Auphonic and our connected services.

• Use Facebook for live streaming, then import, process and distribute the audio/video with Auphonic.
• Post your Auphonic audio or video productions directly to the news feed of your Facebook Page or User.
• Use Facebook as a general media hosting service and share the link or embed the audio/video on any webpage (also visible to non-Facebook users).

Connect to Facebook

First you have to connect to a Facebook account at our External Services Page, click on the "Facebook" button.

Select if you want to connect to your personal Facebook User or to a Facebook Page:

It is always possible to remove or edit the connection in your Facebook Settings (Tab Business Integrations).

Import (Live) Videos from Facebook to Auphonic

Facebook Live is an easy (and free) way to stream live videos:

We implemented an interface to use Facebook as an Incoming External Service. Please select a (live or non-live) video from your Facebook Page/User as the source of a production and then process it with Auphonic:

This workflow allows you to use Facebook for live streaming, import and process the audio/video with Auphonic, then publish a podcast and video version of your live video to any of our connected services.

Export from Auphonic to Facebook

Similar to Youtube, it is possible to use Facebook for media file hosting.
Please add your Facebook Page/User as an External Service in your Productions or Presets to upload the Auphonic results directly to Facebook:

• Distribution Settings
  • Post to News Feed: The exported video is posted directly to your news feed / timeline.
  • Exclude from News Feed: The exported video is visible in the videos tab of your Facebook Page/User (see for example Auphonic's video tab), but it is not posted to your news feed (you can do that later if you want).
  • Secret: Only you can see the exported video, it is not shown in the Facebook video tab and it is not posted to your news feed (you can do that later if you want).
• Embeddable
  Choose if the exported video should be embeddable in third-party websites.

It is always possible to change the distribution/privacy and embeddable options later directly on Facebook. For example, you can export a video to Facebook as Secret and publish it to your news feed whenever you want.

If your production is audio-only, we automatically generate a video track from the Cover Image and (possible) Chapter Images.
Alternatively you can select an Audiogram Output File, if you want to add an Audiogram (audio waveform visualization) to your Facebook video - for details please see Auphonic Audiogram Generator.

Auphonic Title and Description metadata fields are exported to Facebook as well.
If you add Speech Recognition to your production, we create an SRT file with the speech recognition results and add it to your Facebook video as captions.
See the example below.

Facebook Video Hosting Example with Audiogram and Automatic Captions

Facebook can be used as a general video hosting service: even if you export videos as Secret, you will get a direct link to the video which can be shared or embedded in any third-party websites. Users without a Facebook account are also able to view these videos.

In the example below, we automatically generate an Audiogram Video for an audio-only production, use our integrated Speech Recognition system to create captions and export the video as Secret to Facebook.
Afterwards it can be embedded directly into this blog post (enable Captions if they don't show up per default) - for details please see How to embed a video:

It is also possible to just use the generated result URL from Auphonic to share the link to your video (also visible to non-Facebook users):
https://www.facebook.com/auphonic/videos/1687244844638091/

Important Note:
Facebook needs some time to process an exported video (up to a few minutes) and the direct video link won't work before the processing is finished - please try again a bit later!
On Facebook Pages, you can see the processing progress in your Video Library.

Conclusion

Facebook has many broadcasting tools to offer and is a perfect addition to Auphonic.
Both systems and our other external services can be used to create automated processing and publishing workflows. Furthermore, the export and import to/from Facebook is also fully supported in the Auphonic API.

Please contact us if you have any questions or further ideas!

The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union will be implemented on May 25th, 2018. We used this opportunity to rework many of our internal data processing structures, removed unnecessary trackers and apply this strict and transparent regulation also to all our customers worldwide.

Image from pixapay.com.

At Auphonic we store as few personal information as possible about your usage and production data.
Here are a few human-readable excerpts from our privacy policy about which information we collect, how we process it, how long and where we store it - for more details please see our full Privacy Policy.

Information that we collect

• Your email address when you create an account.
• Your files, content, configuration parameters and other information, including your photos, audio or video files, production settings, metadata and emails.
• Your tokens or authentication information if you choose to connect to any External services.
• Your subscription plan, credits purchases and production billing history associated with your account, where applicable.
• Your interactions with us, whether by email, on our blog or on our social media platforms.

We do not process any special categories of data (also commonly referred to as “sensitive personal data”).

How we use and process your Data

• To authenticate you when you log on to your account.
• To run your Productions, such that Auphonic can create new media files from your Content according to your instructions.
• To improve our audio processing algorithms. For this purpose, you agree that your Content may be viewed and/or listened to by an Auphonic employee or any person contracted by Auphonic to work on our audio processing algorithms.
• To connect your Auphonic account to an External service according to your instructions.
• To develop, improve and optimize the contents, screen layouts and features of our Services.
• To follow up on any question and request for assistance or information.

When using our Service, you fully retain any rights that you have with regards to your Content, including copyright.

How long we store your Information

Your Productions and any associated audio or video files will be permanently deleted from our servers including all its metadata and possible data from external services after 21 days (7 days for video productions).
We will, however, keep billing metadata associated with your Productions in an internal database (how many hours of audio you processed).

Also, we might store selected audio and/or video files (or excerpts thereof) from your Content in an internal storage space for the purpose of improving our audio processing algorithms.

Other information like Presets, connected External services, Account settings etc. will be stored until you delete them or when your account is deleted.

Where we store your Data

All data that we collect from you is stored on secure servers in the European Economic Area (in Germany).

More Information and Contact

For more information please read our full Privacy Policy.

Please do not hesitate to contact us regarding any matter relating to our privacy policy and GDPR compliance!

Last weekend, at the Subscribe10 conference, we released Advanced Audio Algorithm Parameters for Multitrack Productions:

We launched our advanced audio algorithm parameters for Singletrack Productions last year. Now these settings (and more) are available for Multitrack Algorithms as well, which gives you detailed control for each track of your production.

• Fore/Background Settings: keep your music/clip tracks unchanged and set a custom background gain
• Multitrack Leveler Parameters: control the stereo panorama, leveling algorithm, dynamic range and compression
• Better Hum and Noise Reduction Controls for each track
• Maximum True Peak Level setting for the final mixdown
• Full API Support

Please join our private beta program and let us know how you use these new features or if you need even more control!

Fore/Background Settings

The parameter Fore/Background controls whether a track should be in foreground, in background, ducked, or unchanged, which is especially important for music or clip tracks.
For more details, please see Automatic Ducking, Foreground and Background Tracks .

Unchanged (Foreground):

We sometimes received complaints from users, which produced very complex music or clip tracks, that Auphonic changes the levels too hard.
If you set the parameter Fore/Background to the new option Unchanged (Foreground), Level relations within this track won’t be changed at all. It will be added to the final mixdown so that foreground/solo parts of this track will be as loud as (foreground) speech from other tracks.

Background Level:

It is now possible to set the level of background segments/tracks (compared to foreground segments) in background and ducking tracks. By default, background and ducking segments are 18dB softer than foreground segments.

Leveler Parameters

Similar to our Singletrack Advanced Leveler Parameters (see this previous blog post), we also released leveling parameters for Multitrack Productions now.
The following advanced parameters for our Multitrack Adaptive Leveler can be set for each track and allow you to customize which parts of the audio should be leveled, how much they should be leveled, how much dynamic range compression should be applied and to set the stereo panorama (balance):

Leveler Preset:

Select the Speech or Music Leveler for this track.
If set to Automatic (default), a classifier will decide if this is a music or speech track.

Dynamic Range:

The parameter Dynamic Range controls how much leveling is applied: Higher values result in more dynamic output audio files (less leveling). If you want to increase the dynamic range by 3dB (or LU), just increase the Dynamic Range parameter by 3dB.
For more details, please see Multitrack Leveler Parameters.

Compressor:

Select a preset for Micro-Dynamics Compression: Auto, Soft, Medium, Hard or Off.
The Compressor adjusts short-term dynamics, whereas the Leveler adjusts mid-term level differences.
For more details, please see Multitrack Leveler Parameters.

Stereo Panorama (Balance):

Change the stereo panorama (balance for stereo input files) of the current track.
Possible values: L100, L75, L50, L25, Center, R25, R50, R75 and R100.

If you understand German and want to know more about our Advanced Leveler Parameters and audio dynamics in general, watch our talk at the Subscribe10 conference:
Video: Audio Lautheit und Dynamik.

Better Hum and Noise Reduction Controls

Noise Reduction Amount:

Maximum noise and hum reduction amount in dB, higher values remove more noise.
In Auto mode, a classifier decides if and how much noise reduction is necessary (to avoid artifacts). Set to a custom (non-Auto) value if you prefer more noise reduction or want to bypass our classifier.

Hum Base Frequency:

Set the hum base frequency to 50Hz or 60Hz (if you know it), or use Auto to automatically detect the hum base frequency in each speech region.

Hum Reduction Amount:

Maximum hum reduction amount in dB, higher values remove more noise.
In Auto mode, a classifier decides how much hum reduction is necessary in each speech region. Set it to a custom value (> 0), if you prefer more hum reduction or want to bypass our classifier. Use Disable Dehum to disable hum reduction and use our noise reduction algorithms only.

Behavior of noise and hum reduction parameter combinations:

Maximum True Peak Level

In the Master Algorithm Settings of your multitrack production, you can set the maximum allowed true peak level of the processed output file, which is controlled by the True Peak Limiter after our Loudness Normalization algorithms.

If set to Auto (which is the current default), a reasonable value according to the selected loudness target is used: -1dBTP for 23 LUFS (EBU R128) and higher, -2dBTP for -24 LUFS (ATSC A/85) and lower loudness targets.

Full API Support

All advanced algorithm parameters, for Singletrack and Multitrack Productions, are available in our API as well, which allows you to integrate them into your scripts, external workflows and third-party applications.

Join the Beta and Send Feedback

Please join our beta and let us know your case studies, if you need any other algorithm parameters or if you have any questions!

Here are some private beta invitation codes:

8tZPc3T9pH VAvO8VsDg9 0TwKXBW4Ni kjXJMivtZ1 J9APmAAYjT Zwm6HabuFw HNK5gF8FR5 Do1MPHUyPW CTk45VbV4t xYOzDkEnWP
9XE4dZ0FxD 0Sl3PxDRho uSoRQxmKPx TCI62OjEYu 6EQaPYs7v4 reIJVOwIr8 7hPJqZmWfw kti3m5KbNE GoM2nF0AcN xHCbDC37O5
6PabLBRm9P j2SoI8peiY olQ2vsmnfV fqfxX4mWLO OozsiA8DWo weJw0PXDky VTnOfOiL6l B6HRr6gil0 so0AvM1Ryy NpPYsInFqm
oFeQPLwG0k HmCOkyaX9R G7DR5Sc9Kv MeQLSUCkge xCSvPTrTgl jyQKG3BWWA HCzWRxSrgW xP15hYKEDl 241gK62TrO Q56DHjT3r4
9TqWVZHZLE aWFMSWcuX8 x6FR5OTL43 Xf6tRpyP4S tDGbOUngU0 5BkOF2I264 cccHS0KveO dT29cF75gG 2ySWlYp1kp iJWPhpAimF

If you have an invitation code, you can enter it here to activate the Multitrack Advanced Audio Algorithm Parameters:
Auphonic Algorithm Parameters Private Beta Activation