• The Quad City Audubon Society contributed to the preservation of a local historic landmark and wilderness area with a bequest left to the society by member Ann Barker. The $5,000 donation, which was made at the March meeting of the Audubon Society, will benefit the Schuetzen Park Historic Site in west Davenport. The funds will be used for the purchase of environmentally sensitive woodlands adjacent to the historic site. The Schuetzen Park project includes the consolidation of former Schuetzen Park land as well as adjacent woodlands and grasslands. When completed, the site will contain more than 20 acres. The project to preserve and maintain the site for current and future generations of humans and wildlife is being undertaken by the Schuetzenpark Gilde. Information regarding the Schuetzen Park woodlands-preservation project can be obtained by calling (563)323-4225 or by e-mail at (SchuetzenPark@aol.com).
• Applications are now being accepted for visual-arts-education grants from the Isabel Bloom Art Education Fund, established by Isabel Bloom, L.L.C., through the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend. The fund provides extra financial support to visual-arts programs within the primary and secondary schools of Scott and Rock Island counties, and is intended to further the education of local children and art instructors, foster greater appreciation of the visual arts, and help enhance the quality of life in the Quad Cities. All 2003 grant applications must be at the foundation office or postmarked by April 15. Applications and more information are online at (http://www.cfgrb.org).
• Because of Iowa Senate File 127, recently signed into law by Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, breast-cancer-awareness license plates will be available by July 1, and money raised from their sale will go toward breast-cancer screening. The Department of Transportation will work with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to create the new license plates, which will feature a pink ribbon. Regular plates will cost $35 plus a special fee of $10, while personalized plates will be $60 plus a special fee of $15. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated that 500 to 1,000 license plates would be sold, generating about $30,000. Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among women in Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. By the way, the number-one killer of women is heart disease, which causes more deaths than cancer, accidents, and diabetes combined.
• The Dingo is a new Quad Cities-based humor publication. The people behind the anthology plan to publish it twice a year and distribute it nationwide as well as in bookstores throughout the Quad Cities. The first issue will be released March 28 during four events incorporated into the Gallery Hop! in The District of Rock Island. For more information, contact Sean Leary at (seanleary@qconline.com) or (ferris@qconline.com).
• The Center for Active Seniors, Inc. (CASI) received national accreditation through the National Institute of Senior Centers (NISC) at a recent conference in Chicago. Accreditation is the official recognition that a senior center is meeting its mission in a nationally accepted professional fashion. It is based on compliance with nine standards of senior-center operations developed by NISC. Accreditation lasts for a five-year period and can be renewed. CASI began its quest for accreditation in May 2002 and completed the submission of documents in November. For more information, call (563)386-7477 or look on the Web at (http://www.casiseniors.com)
• Iowa House File 388 and Senate File 242 would impose a 5-percent tax on a credit union's equity, with the intent of creating tax equity between banks and credit unions. The Iowa Bankers Association lobbied for the tax change with the help of hundreds of supporters, while credit-union members turned out in force to show their opposition. The proposed tax was drafted after the University of Iowa Community Credit Union made an unsuccessful bid to acquire a bank in Iowa City.
• Illinois lawmakers were considering a plan to register Illinois gun owners in the same manner that sex offenders are cataloged, but the measure died this past week in a Senate committee. The proposal was part of a sweeping statewide gun-control effort introduced by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in mid-February. Governor Rod Blagojevich was on-record supporting the package - including the gun-owner-registration component.
• The Riverboat Development Authority announced at the Bix Beiderbecke centennial birthday celebration that it will match any funds raised - up to $50,000 - to support an exhibit on the lives and music of Quad Cities music legends as part of the River Music Experience. Scheduled to open in downtown Davenport's Redstone Building in June 2004, the River Music Experience will explore and celebrate the music and musical heritage of the Mississippi River.
• Applications are now being accepted for visual-arts-education grants from the Isabel Bloom Art Education Fund, established by Isabel Bloom, L.L.C., through the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend. The fund provides extra financial support to visual-arts programs within the primary and secondary schools of Scott and Rock Island counties, and is intended to further the education of local children and art instructors, foster greater appreciation of the visual arts, and help enhance the quality of life in the Quad Cities. All 2003 grant applications must be at the foundation office or postmarked by April 15. Applications and more information are online at (http://www.cfgrb.org).
• Because of Iowa Senate File 127, recently signed into law by Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, breast-cancer-awareness license plates will be available by July 1, and money raised from their sale will go toward breast-cancer screening. The Department of Transportation will work with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to create the new license plates, which will feature a pink ribbon. Regular plates will cost $35 plus a special fee of $10, while personalized plates will be $60 plus a special fee of $15. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated that 500 to 1,000 license plates would be sold, generating about $30,000. Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among women in Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. By the way, the number-one killer of women is heart disease, which causes more deaths than cancer, accidents, and diabetes combined.
• The Dingo is a new Quad Cities-based humor publication. The people behind the anthology plan to publish it twice a year and distribute it nationwide as well as in bookstores throughout the Quad Cities. The first issue will be released March 28 during four events incorporated into the Gallery Hop! in The District of Rock Island. For more information, contact Sean Leary at (seanleary@qconline.com) or (ferris@qconline.com).
• The Center for Active Seniors, Inc. (CASI) received national accreditation through the National Institute of Senior Centers (NISC) at a recent conference in Chicago. Accreditation is the official recognition that a senior center is meeting its mission in a nationally accepted professional fashion. It is based on compliance with nine standards of senior-center operations developed by NISC. Accreditation lasts for a five-year period and can be renewed. CASI began its quest for accreditation in May 2002 and completed the submission of documents in November. For more information, call (563)386-7477 or look on the Web at (http://www.casiseniors.com)
• Iowa House File 388 and Senate File 242 would impose a 5-percent tax on a credit union's equity, with the intent of creating tax equity between banks and credit unions. The Iowa Bankers Association lobbied for the tax change with the help of hundreds of supporters, while credit-union members turned out in force to show their opposition. The proposed tax was drafted after the University of Iowa Community Credit Union made an unsuccessful bid to acquire a bank in Iowa City.
• Illinois lawmakers were considering a plan to register Illinois gun owners in the same manner that sex offenders are cataloged, but the measure died this past week in a Senate committee. The proposal was part of a sweeping statewide gun-control effort introduced by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in mid-February. Governor Rod Blagojevich was on-record supporting the package - including the gun-owner-registration component.
• The Riverboat Development Authority announced at the Bix Beiderbecke centennial birthday celebration that it will match any funds raised - up to $50,000 - to support an exhibit on the lives and music of Quad Cities music legends as part of the River Music Experience. Scheduled to open in downtown Davenport's Redstone Building in June 2004, the River Music Experience will explore and celebrate the music and musical heritage of the Mississippi River.
