Steve Banks has a jovial intensity, and while he takes his art seriously, it's not too seriously. When I tried to maneuver around one painting to avoid damaging it, Banks said, "You're not going to hurt anything but yourself.

Rapid Rip-Off

With the filing deadline for income taxes in less than three weeks, a lot of people are turning to professional tax preparers to assist with their returns. But those services can come at a steep cost, and a recent study found that they're also steering hundreds of millions of dollars away from recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
A rich Quad Cities cultural history was restored last weekend. Thanks to Homefolks Communications and Ebony Expressions and their Jazz & Blues Restoration Project, three of the Quad Cities' greatest born-and-bred musicians were invited to provide workshops and concerts March 7 through 9: saxophonist Franz Jackson, drummer Francis Clay, and pianist and educator Bill Bell.
In the name of security, Iowa-American Water Company has asked for and received a rate hike without going through the normal rate-case process - and without customers knowing what they're paying for. Between the terrorist attacks of September 11 and November, Iowa-American spent approximately $900,000 on security measures, according to K.
Now in their sixth year, the River Cities' Reader's Best of the Quad Cities awards have become an institution, and some of our winners are approaching that status, too. Biaggi's, for example, swept the major restaurant categories and ended up with five awards, in only its second year of operation.
In its 20-year history, Mississippi Valley Neighborhood Housing Service stayed focused on a single east-Davenport neighborhood. When it was awarded Community Development Financial Institution status by the U.S. Treasury in August, its mission and target area grew to seven counties, extending north to Clinton and south to Keokuk and reaching across the river to Rock Island County.
Some Iowa legislators are targeting lenders who change outrageous fees and interest rates (typically higher than 12 percent annually). A handful of bills in the Iowa General Assembly have been or are about to be introduced, and some might have a decent chance of passage.
Last year, the City of Davenport developed and submitted its Vision Iowa application to the state and received a $20 million grant for various components. This weekend, the public will get its first real opportunities to guide portions of the massive downtown-revitalization project.
While the process has not been as public as those to develop a concept for the River Music Center and to choose a firm for the skybridge, the city's effort to develop new plans for its property at 53rd Street and Eastern Avenue is moving forward.
The ThinPrep 2000 System, which prepares the ThinPrep® Pap Test, is intended as a replacement for the 50 year old Pap smear, the most widely used cancer screening test. More than 100 million Pap tests are performed annually worldwide.

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