In 2011 alone, about 230,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer. In theses cases, 39,520 deaths have occurred.  Through the years, Breast cancer has become the second leading killer of women in the United States.  Doctors are now recommending women in their early 20′s begin to perform monthly examinations of themselves in order to gain an understanding of their bodies, so when something does not feel right, they can contact health providers right away. Women in their 40′s are also recommended to receive routine mammograms in order to lower the chances of finding this deadly disease to late.

“Once the cancer spreads, it is a very fetal disease, if we catch it early which is the earliest form of DCIS  —– it can almost always be cured.” Dr. Michael Maiers, of Mercy Hospital Radiology department.

The sooner the cancer is found in breast cancer, the better chances of survival are. The earlier form of breast cancer is called Ductal Carcinoma in situ. This is when cells with thin the breast,  loose their regulation but they are still confined into the breast which means they haven’t broken through the actual breast duct yet to get to a blood supply.

Presently, it seems as though more cases of breast cancer are surfacing, but many of these cases are in the early stages of breast cancer, thanks to new technology that has helped find it in the DCIS state.

Images and Information hosted a style show this past week, in order to raise awareness about Breast Cancer. The event featured a silent auction, where all proceeds went to families in need of financial assistance due to the troubles Breast Cancer, as well as a style show.

Greeters and models who participated in the style show all have survived this horrifying disease.  Commentators also informed the audience about different ways one is able to prevent getting this disease, and getting it caught right away if the disease is present in your body.

Survivors, families, friends, and the community all were able to participate in this event, as well as hear some truly inspiring stories.

Two weeks ago,  it was announced that four post offices in the Jackson County area may be closing due to post office cuts that are being made all across the nation. On Tuesday, members of the Dubuque postal service as well as members of the community gathered in Washington Square in downtown Dubuque to host a rally to talk about why they opposed these post office cuts.  It is the last thing that many of these small towns want.

“This so-called debt crisis is phoney” Bruce Clarke, President of the Dubuque local and Iowa State American Postal Workers Union.

Although, it may seem as though these cuts are being made just because of financial reasons. There is actually a lot more that goes into the cuts (or prospective cuts) then meets the eye.

“We are looking at the number of retail actions because what the numbers are telling us is that people aren’t using these post offices as frequently as they used too….We then want you [district office] to take a look at this and do a review, we are not saying to close it, we just want you to review it based on our numbers have dropped.” Said Richard Watkins Spokesperson for the Postal Service Des Moines/Hawkeye District.

In July a list was announced of what post offices may be looked at into getting cut in the Iowa area. At the beginning of July this list was only 91 post offices deep, but by July 26th, the list had grown to a staggering 178 post offices.

Although this may seem like a large cut, Iowa actually has a large number of post offices compared to most states. Out of all 32,000 [retail district] post offices in the United State,  Iowa has about 990 post offices out of that 32,000 making Iowa have around 2.88% of the post offices in the United States.

As of right now, there has been no decision made about the four Jackson County Post Offices that maybe closing, but many residents of the community, fear that they might be loosing something that is so valuable to their town.

“It’s just really sad ,we have a lot of elderly people in the community..You know you go in and a lot of elderly people live by themselves and they can go in and talk our post master.” Jodi Hingtgen of St. Donatus explains.