On June 26, Palmer College of Chiropractic received a letter from Kresge Foundation President and CEO John E. Marshall III announcing that the college had been awarded a $750,000 challenge grant for bricks-and-mortar funding from the foundation. The grant is being awarded to assist the college in reaching its capital-campaign goal of $35 million. Including the Kresge grant, the college has raised more than $31 million in cash and pledges, and the campaign was on-track to reach its $35-million goal by the end of the year. The Kresge funds will be dedicated solely to the construction of the Chiropractic Learning Resource Center (CLRC) on the Davenport campus. The CLRC will be a three-story building (with approximately 50,000 square feet of space) located on the east side of Brady Street on the Palmer campus. The new CLRC and its progressive-clinic facility will further enhance the education students receive at Palmer College of Chiropractic and offer expanded chiropractic-clinic services to patients in the community. Work is scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2007.
The City of Rock Island has announced that there is now wireless-Internet access in The District. The city council chose as one of its priorities adding wireless-Internet access via Wi-Fi technology and security cameras to enhance the downtown. During the design of the camera system, additional fiber-optic cable was installed to support both initiatives. The area of service is the Great River Plaza (Second Avenue) from 17th to 19th streets. Currently, there is no charge to access the system The Service Set Identifier (SSID) for the network is RIFI. Two 802.11g wireless access points have been installed outdoors; these units are connected to City Hall, and then to the Internet. Current back-end bandwidth is set at 3 megabits per second.
The Quad Cities are coming together to host the First Day Project: Quad City-Wide Student Supply Drive. Quad Cities-area residents can leave school-supply donations by their mailboxes. U.S. Postal carriers will pick up the supplies during their routes. The supplies will then be sorted and distributed to students in need. Supplies may also be placed in drop boxes available at Kohl's in Davenport and Moline, as well as at area post offices. The collection day for Colona, East Moline, Milan, Rock Island, and Silvis is Saturday, July 15 . Saturday, August 5, is the collection day for Bettendorf, Blue Grass, Buffalo, Coal Valley, Davenport, LeClaire, Moline, Pleasant Valley, and Walcott. Postcards are being delivered to residents a week to 10 days prior to their respective collection days. Needed items include notebook paper, pens, tissues, backpacks, spiral notebooks, crayons, pencil boxes, dry-erase markers, colored pencils, pencils, scissors, watercolor paints, pocket folders, glue erasers, washable makers, and composition notebooks. Residents may also write a check as a way of donation. Checks may be sent care of the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, Suite 710, 111 East Third Street, Davenport Iowa 52801. Monetary donations can be designated to a particular school district if noted on the check.
The U.S. Senate Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee has approved $173,000 for a flood-control project in Davenport. The bill is expected to be approved by the full Senate Appropriations Committee. It would then need to be approved by both the House and Senate to become law. The funds would be used to complete the pre-construction engineering and design activities for flood protection to a water-treatment facility in Davenport.
On
June 24, the Second Annual West Music Parking Lot Jam in Moline
celebrated the musical partnerships between West Music teachers,
local musicians, and West Music students. More
than a dozen young musicians took the stage to rock out with their
teachers before an audience of 250. West Music instructors and local
musicians who performed included Tony Carducci, Rick Ely, James
Harding, Jim Harker, Luke Hull, Andy Roush, and Matt Sullivan. West
Music's conservatory program now serves more than 3,000 students
weekly throughout eastern Iowa and western Illinois. Participation in
music has been shown to increase learning capacity in children and
adolescents and has recently been proved to reduce stress in adults.
The Iowa Railway Finance Authority has awarded more than $760,000 to the City of Davenport for developing rail service to the Eastern Iowa Industrial Center (EIIC) in the northwest part of the city. This new funding will provide new rail access to the EIIC through a connection to the Iowa, Chicago, and Eastern Railroad Corporation branch line. The total cost to extend the rail to the EIIC is estimated at $4.66 million, with $4.16 million for construction and $500,000 for land acquisition. The remaining funds for the project have already been secured, with $2.7 million awarded through a 2005 federal transportation bill and allocations from the City of Davenport and Scott County of $600,000 each.
