08
Jul
2003
• Iowans can now buy breast-cancer-awareness license plates from their county treasurer's office. The plates bear an image of a pink ribbon and the words "Breast Cancer Awareness" and "Early Detection Saves Lives." On the pink ribbon is a graphic of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The Komen Foundation is the largest private source of funding for breast-cancer research and community programs. Komen affiliates in Des Moines, the Quad Cities, and Ottumwa lobbied the Iowa legislature to pass the bill authorizing the plates. The bill was signed into law by Governor Tom Vilsack on March 12. Ten dollars from the annual license-plate fee will be granted to Iowa Komen affiliates or similar not-for-profit organizations to be used for breast-cancer screening for women and men who meet eligibility requirements. For more information about the Komen Quad Cities affiliate, or the Komen Quad Cities Race for the Cure, call 421-2873 or (877)921-2873, or log on to the local Web site, (http://www.qcraceforthecure.org).
• Grand Victoria Foundation has announced it will contribute $12 million over the next five years to communities around Illinois. The foundation is forging partnerships with 18 community foundations, including the Moline Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, both local organizations that will receive $530,000. The purpose of this initiative is to help local community foundations improve the economic and environmental health of communities where they are located. Grand Victoria Foundation has donated more than $28 million to Illinois not-for-profits since its launch in 1996.
• Individuals can now enroll in the national telemarketing do-not-call registry (DNC), which was unveiled at a recent White House Rose Garden ceremony. In the opening moments of the DNC Web site, the Federal Trade Commission reported that it was receiving more than 100 enrollments per second. The list has now grown to more than 12.5 million phone numbers. The popularity of the DNC registry has spawned additional proposals for national opt-out databases. On Capitol Hill, opt-out databases are being considered for spam, direct-mail, and credit-card solicitations. The telemarketing industry has reacted strongly, claiming that it will initiate a barrage of direct-mail and spam solicitations to fill the void created by the new limits on telemarketing. The national do-not-call registry can be found at (http://www.donotcall.gov).
• The world's first state-of-the-art mobile medical scanner has arrived at Trinity Medical Center. The scanner, a blend of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT), allows physicians to pinpoint the exact location of a tumor and obtain information about the body's chemistry and cell function. The new technology combines a CT's structural information with PET's metabolic information into one set of images. Trinity has one of only eight PET/CT units of its type in the world. The machine's images can diagnose new cancers, spreading cancers, or recurrence of previous cancers, and are considered a breakthrough in oncology imaging. The CT portion produces detailed pictures of structures inside the body by directing a series of X-rays through the body that are then analyzed by a computer. When the PET and CT images are overlaid, they allow physicians to know precisely where to treat a malignant mass. Testing done by the PET/CT scanner does require a physician referral. Trinity contracts with Medical Outsourcing Services of Naperville, Illinois, for the $3.5-million piece of equipment that travels to Trinity's Seventh Street campus on a weekly basis via specialty coach. The next closest location served by the mobile scanner is Waterloo, Iowa.
• Iowa communities will receive $360,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice Bulletproof Vest Partnership program to purchase 1,102 bullet-resistant vests. The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2000 authorized $25 million a year for the program. More than 5,700 awards will be made this year, all to jurisdictions with populations under 100,000. More information on the program is available at (https://vests.ojp.gov). Local communities served by this grant include Bettendorf ($3,500.35 for 22 vests) and Blue Grass ($683.31 for three vests).
• The Quad City Botanical Center needed $600,000 to complete the original $5.7 million Point of Pride Capital Campaign. The Doris & Victor Day Foundation presented a challenge to the community: It would donate $200,000 if the community would match it two-for-one, with a June 30 deadline. The Bechtel Trust Foundation came on board with a $200,000 grant. Another $170,000 was donated by individuals, businesses, and foundations, with the final $30,000 coming as a grant from the Figge Foundation. The Quad City Botanical Center is located at 2525 Fourth Avenue, Rock Island. For more information, call (309)794-0991.
• The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled two-to-one to invalidate an October 2001 Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) "Interpretive Rule" criminalizing the possession and manufacture of edible hemp-seed or -oil products that contain trace amounts of THC. The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) and seven hemp food companies had filed a pair of lawsuits urging the court to strike down the DEA regulations, claiming that the minute amounts of THC in hemp products are nonpsychoactive and insignificant. The federal appeals court did not rule on the merits of the hemp-foods ban but determined it to be "procedurally invalid" because the DEA failed to give sufficient advance warning or allow for public comment before imposing the rule. The court has yet to rule on the legality of the DEA's "final rule," which also calls for a ban on hemp foods. More information on the HIA lawsuit is available online at (http://www.votehemp.com).
• Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has announced that his office now has an upgraded Web-based e-mail system to make communications easier. With 90 percent of all correspondence received via e-mail, the system will allow Iowans to more quickly relay comments and concerns to Harkin. Point your Web browser to (http://harkin.senate.gov) and click on the link marked "Contact Information." This pulls up a Web-response form that can be filled out. All e-mail messages will receive a written response from the senator.
• Grand Victoria Foundation has announced it will contribute $12 million over the next five years to communities around Illinois. The foundation is forging partnerships with 18 community foundations, including the Moline Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, both local organizations that will receive $530,000. The purpose of this initiative is to help local community foundations improve the economic and environmental health of communities where they are located. Grand Victoria Foundation has donated more than $28 million to Illinois not-for-profits since its launch in 1996.
• Individuals can now enroll in the national telemarketing do-not-call registry (DNC), which was unveiled at a recent White House Rose Garden ceremony. In the opening moments of the DNC Web site, the Federal Trade Commission reported that it was receiving more than 100 enrollments per second. The list has now grown to more than 12.5 million phone numbers. The popularity of the DNC registry has spawned additional proposals for national opt-out databases. On Capitol Hill, opt-out databases are being considered for spam, direct-mail, and credit-card solicitations. The telemarketing industry has reacted strongly, claiming that it will initiate a barrage of direct-mail and spam solicitations to fill the void created by the new limits on telemarketing. The national do-not-call registry can be found at (http://www.donotcall.gov).
• The world's first state-of-the-art mobile medical scanner has arrived at Trinity Medical Center. The scanner, a blend of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT), allows physicians to pinpoint the exact location of a tumor and obtain information about the body's chemistry and cell function. The new technology combines a CT's structural information with PET's metabolic information into one set of images. Trinity has one of only eight PET/CT units of its type in the world. The machine's images can diagnose new cancers, spreading cancers, or recurrence of previous cancers, and are considered a breakthrough in oncology imaging. The CT portion produces detailed pictures of structures inside the body by directing a series of X-rays through the body that are then analyzed by a computer. When the PET and CT images are overlaid, they allow physicians to know precisely where to treat a malignant mass. Testing done by the PET/CT scanner does require a physician referral. Trinity contracts with Medical Outsourcing Services of Naperville, Illinois, for the $3.5-million piece of equipment that travels to Trinity's Seventh Street campus on a weekly basis via specialty coach. The next closest location served by the mobile scanner is Waterloo, Iowa.
• Iowa communities will receive $360,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice Bulletproof Vest Partnership program to purchase 1,102 bullet-resistant vests. The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2000 authorized $25 million a year for the program. More than 5,700 awards will be made this year, all to jurisdictions with populations under 100,000. More information on the program is available at (https://vests.ojp.gov). Local communities served by this grant include Bettendorf ($3,500.35 for 22 vests) and Blue Grass ($683.31 for three vests).
• The Quad City Botanical Center needed $600,000 to complete the original $5.7 million Point of Pride Capital Campaign. The Doris & Victor Day Foundation presented a challenge to the community: It would donate $200,000 if the community would match it two-for-one, with a June 30 deadline. The Bechtel Trust Foundation came on board with a $200,000 grant. Another $170,000 was donated by individuals, businesses, and foundations, with the final $30,000 coming as a grant from the Figge Foundation. The Quad City Botanical Center is located at 2525 Fourth Avenue, Rock Island. For more information, call (309)794-0991.
• The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled two-to-one to invalidate an October 2001 Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) "Interpretive Rule" criminalizing the possession and manufacture of edible hemp-seed or -oil products that contain trace amounts of THC. The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) and seven hemp food companies had filed a pair of lawsuits urging the court to strike down the DEA regulations, claiming that the minute amounts of THC in hemp products are nonpsychoactive and insignificant. The federal appeals court did not rule on the merits of the hemp-foods ban but determined it to be "procedurally invalid" because the DEA failed to give sufficient advance warning or allow for public comment before imposing the rule. The court has yet to rule on the legality of the DEA's "final rule," which also calls for a ban on hemp foods. More information on the HIA lawsuit is available online at (http://www.votehemp.com).
• Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has announced that his office now has an upgraded Web-based e-mail system to make communications easier. With 90 percent of all correspondence received via e-mail, the system will allow Iowans to more quickly relay comments and concerns to Harkin. Point your Web browser to (http://harkin.senate.gov) and click on the link marked "Contact Information." This pulls up a Web-response form that can be filled out. All e-mail messages will receive a written response from the senator.
