Baden-Württemberg is a state in southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the border with France. It is Germany's third-largest state, with an area of 11 million inhabitants. Baden-Württemberg is a parliamentary republic and sovereign, federated state, formed in 1952 by a merger of the states of Württemberg-Baden, Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern; the largest city in Baden-Württemberg is the state capital of Stuttgart, followed by Karlsruhe and Mannheim. Other cities are Freiburg im Breisgau, Heilbronn, Reutlingen, Tübingen and Ulm; the sobriquet Ländle is sometimes used as a synonym for Baden-Württemberg. Baden-Württemberg is formed from the historical territories of Baden, Prussian Hohenzollern, Württemberg, parts of Swabia. In 100 AD, the Roman Empire invaded and occupied Württemberg, constructing a limes along its northern borders. Over the course of the third century AD, the Alemanni forced the Romans to retreat west beyond the Rhine and Danube rivers. In 496 AD the Alemanni were defeated by a Frankish invasion led by Clovis I.

The Holy Roman Empire was established. The majority of people in this region continued to be Roman Catholics after the Protestant Reformation influenced populations in northern Germany. In the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, numerous people emigrated from this rural area to the United States for economic reasons. After World War II, the Allies established three federal states in the territory of modern-day Baden-Württemberg: Württemberg-Hohenzollern, Württemberg-Baden. Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern were occupied by France, while Württemberg-Baden was occupied by the United States. In 1949, each state became a founding member of the Federal Republic of Germany, with Article 118 of the German constitution providing an accession procedure. On 16 December 1951, Württemberg-Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Baden voted via referendum in favor of a joint merger. Baden-Württemberg became a state in West Germany on 25 April 1952. Baden-Württemberg shares borders with the German states of Rhineland Palatinate and Bavaria, Switzerland.

Most of the major cities of Baden-Württemberg straddle the banks of the Neckar River, which runs downstream through the state past Tübingen, Heilbronn and Mannheim. The Rhine forms the western border as well as large portions of the southern border; the Black Forest, the main mountain range of the state, rises east of the Upper Rhine valley. The high plateau of the Swabian Alb, between the Neckar, the Black Forest, the Danube, is an important European watershed. Baden-Württemberg shares Lake Constance with Switzerland and Bavaria, the international borders within its waters not being defined, it shares the foothills of the Alps with Bavaria and the Austrian Vorarlberg, but Baden-Württemberg does not border Austria over land. The Danube River has its source in Baden-Württemberg near the town of Donaueschingen, in a place called Furtwangen in the Black Forest. Baden-Württemberg is divided into thirty-five districts and nine independent cities, both grouped into the four Administrative Districts of Freiburg, Stuttgart, Tübingen.

Map Baden-Württemberg contains nine additional independent cities not belonging to any district: The state parliament of Baden-Württemberg is the Landtag. Baden-Württemberg CabinetThe politics of Baden-Württemberg have traditionally been dominated by the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany, who until 2011 had led all but one government since the establishment of the state in 1952. In the Landtag elections held on 27 March 2011 voters replaced the Christian Democrats and centre-right Free Democrats coalition by a Greens-led alliance with the Social Democrats which secured a four-seat majority in the state parliament. From 1992 to 2001, the Republicans party held seats in the Landtag; the Baden-Württemberg General Auditing Office acts as an independent body to monitor the correct use of public funds by public offices. Although Baden-Württemberg has few natural resources compared to other regions of Germany, the state is among the most prosperous and wealthiest regions in Europe with a low unemployment rate historically.

A number of well-known enterprises are headquartered in the state, for example Daimler AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, Carl Zeiss AG, SAP SE and Heidelberger Druckmaschinen. In spite of this, Baden-Württemberg's economy is dominated by medium-sized enterprises. Although poor in workable natural resources and still rural in many areas, the region is industrialised. In 2003, there were 8,800 manufacturing enterprises with more than 20 employees, but only 384 with more than 500; the latter category accounts for 43% of the 1.2 million persons employed in industry. The Mittelstand or mid-sized company is the backbone of the Baden-Württemberg economy. Medium-sized businesses and a tradition of branching out into different industrial sectors have ensured specialization over a wide range. A fifth of the "old" Federal Republic's industrial gross value added is generated by Baden-Württember

Weipa Town is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. It covers the town of Weipa on the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula, it is an unusual local government area as it is not governed and managed by a council elected by residents but rather by the company Comalco through a governing body called the Weipa Town Authority. In June 2018, Weipa Town had a population of 4,240. In 1955, New Zealand geologist Harry Evans discovered bauxite on the western coast of Cape York Peninsula while he was exploring for oil. Further surveys established. In November 1957, the Queensland Government approved a £50 million project of the British Australian Consolidated Zinc group to develop a bauxite mine on the Cape York Peninsula to be operated by its newly created subsidiary, Commonwealth Aluminium Corporation Pty. Limited; as part of the agreement, the government passed legislation to enable a town and treatment works to be established at the company's expense at Kumrunja on the south side of the Mission River.

Under the Commonwealth Aluminium Corporation Pty. Limited Agreement Act the area for the town was excised from Shire of Cook and Comalco became the manager of the new town. In 1964 the first housing was constructed in the new township of Weipa at Rocky Point. In 1967 the Township of Weipa was opened by the Queensland Premier Frank Nicklin. In 1993, Comalco held elections to form a Citizens Advisory Committee to assist in the administration of the town. In 1997 the committee evolved into the present Weipa Town Authority. Unlike most local government areas in Queensland, Weipa Town consists of two disconnected areas; the first covers the town of Weipa with a narrow connecting road to the harbour area. The second area covers the Weipa Airport. Having been excised from Shire of Cook, Weipa Town is still surrounded by the Shire. However, the Napranum Aboriginal Shire and Shire of Aurukun are close by and, although split in a number of disconnected areas are neighbouring local government areas. Weipa is the only town in this local government area.

The residential area of Weipa comprises three localities. The harbour area is within the locality of Evans Landing; the airport area is the locality of Weipa Airport. While Rio Tinto remains responsible for the administration of the town, it discharges this obligation through the Weipa Town Authority; the Authority has seven members: four elected by the residents, two appointed by Rio Tinto, one appointed by the Alngith indigenous people. Weipa Town is a gazetted local government area and the Weipa Town Authority undertakes the duties of a typical local government, such as: town planning and community development providing infrastructure and services making and enforcing local laws levying local government rates and chargesServices provided by the authority include road maintenance, water supply, garbage collection, sports ovals, public swimming pools; the authority provides the Hibberd Library in Rocky Point. However, the Weipa Town Authority is not a true local government authority as defined in the Local Government Act because it is part a corporation.

This has implications in relation to loan and budget requirements and Services Tax on rates, the development of land, changes to the town boundaries. Unlike other local governments in Queensland, the Weipa Town Authority has a chairman rather than a mayor. In 2017, the chairman is Michael Rowland. In 2016, discussions took place in regard to "normalising" Weipa Town into a true local government authority; the three options under discussion were to make Weipa Town a normal local government authority with its present boundaries, to absorb Weipa Town back into the Shire of Cook, or to create a new Western Cape Region centred on Weipa. Local Government Act

Isaac Lee "Ike" Patterson, was the 18th Governor of Oregon from 1927 to 1929. An Oregon native, he served in the Oregon Legislative Assembly from 1918 to 1922, was a farmer in the Willamette Valley. Patterson was born on September 17, 1859 on his family's Kings Valley estate in rural Benton County, Oregon, his parents, Francis A. and Caroline were emigrants to the Oregon Territory, having made the overland trip from their previous home of Bellevue, Illinois. Until he reached the age of 18, he worked his father's farm, he attended Monmouth's Christian College, for one year. Patterson supported himself as a grocery clerk in Independence earning his way into a position there as a business partner, his participation in the grocery store would last for 22 years. On May 12, 1886 he married the former Mary Elizabeth Woodworth, they would have two children. In 1898, Patterson entered politics, gaining election to a seat in the Oregon State Senate representing Marion County. At the time, he was one of the youngest State Legislators elected, having been sworn in at age 32.

President William McKinley appointed Patterson to the post of Collector of Customs, Portland District in 1898, was reappointed by Theodore Roosevelt in 1902, serving there until 1906. In 1899, Patterson sold off his share in the grocery store, purchased a 300-acre ranch in rural Polk County; the farm would prove profitable, paved the way for Patterson's venture into a successful wool and hide business in Portland. After serving out his term as collector of customs, Patterson managed his business affairs and kept working politically inside the Republican Party. In 1918, the citizens of Benton and Polk Counties elected him to represent their district, returning him to the state senate. In the senate, he served as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Patterson attempted to secure the Republican nomination for governor in 1922, coming in a distant third in the primary in a five-man race. Despite this poor showing, Patterson had strong ties with the party's old guard, he won the chairmanship of the Oregon State Republican Party Central Committee in 1924, going on to chair Calvin Coolidge's Presidential campaign in Oregon.

His profile statewide rose, this secured him the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1926. He would go on to defeat Walter M. Pierce in that year's general election. Using President Coolidge as an inspiration, Governor Patterson would govern the state in a financially conservative manner. By 1920, the state balanced its budget for the first time in its history, his administration notably continued improving state roads and highways, established the state's system of higher education, directed the state prison system to house adult and juvenile criminals separately. He was considered a popular and well-respected figure by rivals and supporters alike, but died in office of pneumonia on December 21, 1929, was buried in Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum in Salem. Klooster, Karl. Round the Roses II: More Past Portland Perspectives, pg. 126, 1992 ISBN 0-9619847-1-6 Oregon State Archives: I. L. Patterson Administration-Photo and some public speeches of Governor I. L. Patterson. Oregon State Library