30
Sep
2003
• Bettendorf artist Steve Sinner won a special citation and trophy in the 2003 International Cheongjui Craft Biennale held in September in Cheongjui, South Korea. His winning work, entitled Dancers & Warriors II, is a 27-inch-by-9¼-inch-diameter maple vessel featuring figures of dancers and warriors in silver leaf and patina. It represents the continual struggle between opposing elements of human nature. Competition was open to artists worldwide. Over 200 artists were chosen in 10 categories, and 23 were from the United States. For more information on the competition, point your Web browser to (http://www.cheongjubiennale.or.kr/main/htm/contest-finaljudging.htm). Sinner's work is featured at MidCoast Fine Arts Gallery West in Rock Island through October.
• The Bush administration, flooded with messages over administration policies, has been accused of re-engineering the e-mail system at (http://www.whitehouse.gov) to make it more difficult to use. In a July New York Times article, it was revealed that e-mailers were required to navigate nine Web pages and fill out a detailed form that starts by asking if the sender supports or opposes White House policy. After the Times article appeared, the White House changed the system again to acknowledge receipt of e-mail messages and to make its privacy policy more prominent. By the way, it took me 20 minutes to find where to e-mail President Bush (president@whitehouse.gov) on the Web page (http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/).
• The Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency has received a $492,366 grant from the U.S. Department of Education for the Emergency Response Plans for School Safety Initiative. The funding will be used to strengthen emergency-response and crisis-management plans, including training school personnel, students, and parents in emergency-response procedures and coordinating with local government, law enforcement, public safety, health, and mental-health agencies. The Department of Education anticipates that the grant will be continued for a total of two years.
• Almost 1,300 people attended the WQPT Brew Ha Ha event in Davenport's LeClaire Park. The tasting event featured over 150 beers, root beers, and cheeses, as well as comedy performances by Comedy Sportz and live music. Attendees voted for Best Brew and Best Home Brew. The winners of People's Choice Best Brew were Blue Cat Brew Pub Big Bad Dog Old English Ale (first place); Bent River Brewing Company Jalapeno Pepper Beer (second), and Blue Cat Brew Pub Off the Rail Pale Ale (third). The winner of the Best Homebrew Competition was the Galesburg Home Brewers Association's Viking Apple Pie.
• The Community Foundation of the Great River Bend celebrated reaching $20 million in assets at its 2003 Annual Celebration on Tuesday, September 30. Since 1964, area residents have been turning to the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend to "plant the seed of giving" in our community. The Community Foundation is a collection of endowed funds established by individuals, organizations, and corporations - a community of donors. This year the Community Foundation expects to award more than $925,000 in grants. Community not-for-profit organizations will benefit from more than $230,000 granted from the Community Impact Fund, along with more than $135,000 in scholarships to area students. Individuals through their donor-advised funds distributed more than $560,000 in grants to charities. For more information, write to: Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, 111 E. Third St., Suite 710, Davenport IA 52801. You can also get information by calling (563)326-2840 or via the Web at (http://www.cfgrb.org).
• Illini Hospital and Community Health Care (CHC) of Davenport have joined together to create a new, not-for-profit community health clinic in Colona. The proposed clinic will fill the gap left by the closure of the former Colona Illini Family Clinic and provide residents with a new place to receive primary health care on a sliding-fee scale. CHC is one of 825 federally funded community health centers in the nation. These centers serve patients in more than 3,400 clinic locations. Patients of the former Colona Family Clinic who have not yet requested a transfer of their records can contact Genesis Health Group at (309)792-1717 for assistance. Patients who are in need of a health-care practitioner can call Genesis on Call at (563)421-2000 or Community Health Care's Moline Clinic at (563)327-2000.
• The Iowa Department of Public Health will receive more than $5.4 million from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to help Iowa hospitals prepare for and respond to bio-terrorism and other public-health emergencies. The funding will be used to improve state and local hospital preparedness, such as the planning for and staffing of hospitals to meet possible high-volume cases of infectious-disease exposure. The funding was included in the Fiscal Year 2003 Labor, Health & Human Services, & Education appropriations bill and is part of the $2.9 billion included to upgrade the nation's public-health infrastructure in response to bio-terrorism.
• Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has proclaimed that September is College Savings Month in recognition that tuition and student debt are still on the rise, and that Iowans need to begin saving early for their children's educations. The average costs at a four-year public college rose 9.9 percent in 2002-2003 according to the College Board, and tuition at Iowa's state schools rose 17.6 percent this year. College Savings Iowa enables anyone - parents, grandparents, relatives, or friends - to invest in college on behalf of a child. Contributions to the plan can be used to pay for qualified education expenses including tuition, fees, books, supplies, and room and board at any public or private college, university, community college, or accredited technical training school in the United States. Withdrawals from the plan for qualified higher-education expenses are free from federal income taxes and Iowa income taxes. Iowa residents who participate in College Savings Iowa also may take a state tax deduction of up to $2,230 per account on their contributions. For more information about College Savings Iowa, call (888)672-9116 or visit (http://www.collegesavingsiowa.com).
• The Bush administration, flooded with messages over administration policies, has been accused of re-engineering the e-mail system at (http://www.whitehouse.gov) to make it more difficult to use. In a July New York Times article, it was revealed that e-mailers were required to navigate nine Web pages and fill out a detailed form that starts by asking if the sender supports or opposes White House policy. After the Times article appeared, the White House changed the system again to acknowledge receipt of e-mail messages and to make its privacy policy more prominent. By the way, it took me 20 minutes to find where to e-mail President Bush (president@whitehouse.gov) on the Web page (http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/).
• The Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency has received a $492,366 grant from the U.S. Department of Education for the Emergency Response Plans for School Safety Initiative. The funding will be used to strengthen emergency-response and crisis-management plans, including training school personnel, students, and parents in emergency-response procedures and coordinating with local government, law enforcement, public safety, health, and mental-health agencies. The Department of Education anticipates that the grant will be continued for a total of two years.
• Almost 1,300 people attended the WQPT Brew Ha Ha event in Davenport's LeClaire Park. The tasting event featured over 150 beers, root beers, and cheeses, as well as comedy performances by Comedy Sportz and live music. Attendees voted for Best Brew and Best Home Brew. The winners of People's Choice Best Brew were Blue Cat Brew Pub Big Bad Dog Old English Ale (first place); Bent River Brewing Company Jalapeno Pepper Beer (second), and Blue Cat Brew Pub Off the Rail Pale Ale (third). The winner of the Best Homebrew Competition was the Galesburg Home Brewers Association's Viking Apple Pie.
• The Community Foundation of the Great River Bend celebrated reaching $20 million in assets at its 2003 Annual Celebration on Tuesday, September 30. Since 1964, area residents have been turning to the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend to "plant the seed of giving" in our community. The Community Foundation is a collection of endowed funds established by individuals, organizations, and corporations - a community of donors. This year the Community Foundation expects to award more than $925,000 in grants. Community not-for-profit organizations will benefit from more than $230,000 granted from the Community Impact Fund, along with more than $135,000 in scholarships to area students. Individuals through their donor-advised funds distributed more than $560,000 in grants to charities. For more information, write to: Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, 111 E. Third St., Suite 710, Davenport IA 52801. You can also get information by calling (563)326-2840 or via the Web at (http://www.cfgrb.org).
• Illini Hospital and Community Health Care (CHC) of Davenport have joined together to create a new, not-for-profit community health clinic in Colona. The proposed clinic will fill the gap left by the closure of the former Colona Illini Family Clinic and provide residents with a new place to receive primary health care on a sliding-fee scale. CHC is one of 825 federally funded community health centers in the nation. These centers serve patients in more than 3,400 clinic locations. Patients of the former Colona Family Clinic who have not yet requested a transfer of their records can contact Genesis Health Group at (309)792-1717 for assistance. Patients who are in need of a health-care practitioner can call Genesis on Call at (563)421-2000 or Community Health Care's Moline Clinic at (563)327-2000.
• The Iowa Department of Public Health will receive more than $5.4 million from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to help Iowa hospitals prepare for and respond to bio-terrorism and other public-health emergencies. The funding will be used to improve state and local hospital preparedness, such as the planning for and staffing of hospitals to meet possible high-volume cases of infectious-disease exposure. The funding was included in the Fiscal Year 2003 Labor, Health & Human Services, & Education appropriations bill and is part of the $2.9 billion included to upgrade the nation's public-health infrastructure in response to bio-terrorism.
• Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has proclaimed that September is College Savings Month in recognition that tuition and student debt are still on the rise, and that Iowans need to begin saving early for their children's educations. The average costs at a four-year public college rose 9.9 percent in 2002-2003 according to the College Board, and tuition at Iowa's state schools rose 17.6 percent this year. College Savings Iowa enables anyone - parents, grandparents, relatives, or friends - to invest in college on behalf of a child. Contributions to the plan can be used to pay for qualified education expenses including tuition, fees, books, supplies, and room and board at any public or private college, university, community college, or accredited technical training school in the United States. Withdrawals from the plan for qualified higher-education expenses are free from federal income taxes and Iowa income taxes. Iowa residents who participate in College Savings Iowa also may take a state tax deduction of up to $2,230 per account on their contributions. For more information about College Savings Iowa, call (888)672-9116 or visit (http://www.collegesavingsiowa.com).
