In the wake of the Katrina disaster, anybody who uses petroleum has had to rethink their family budgets. All of a sudden those Prius hybrids are starting to look pretty cool. And I'm once again getting a lot of e-mail about my Grease Car.
Paul Tabor and his wife Martha officially opened Tabor Home Vineyards & Winery in 1996, but Paul, a professor of microbiology at the time, was growing and experimenting with grapes for five years before that. When he managed to get his harvest to survive the harsh Iowa winters, he knew he was ready for business and quit his day job.
• On Saturday, September 10, Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities dedicated its 34th home overall and the 16th Habitat home built in Davenport. The house is located at 907 LeClaire Street and will become home to Roxie Grady and her family.
They're both 58 years old, and they've both been creating artwork professionally for decades. They're linked by this weekend's Riverssance Festival of Fine Art in Lindsay Park but have very different attitudes toward the life of a professional artist.
If you go to Saturday's Brew Ha Ha event in LeClaire Park, make sure to talk to some of the people serving in the home-brewing area, booths 37 through 39. These folks could be your new best friends, and not just because they're handing you samples of their beer.
• Enhancing patient care through increased nurse retention and satisfaction is the purpose of a five-year, $723,600 U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) grant awarded to St. Ambrose University.
The Great American Thing is, in some ways, a victim of its own success. The exhibit, the first major show at the new Figge Art Museum, opens on September 17 and focuses on modern American art from 1915 to 1935, the "modernist" period roughly coinciding with the interval between the two world wars.
• Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has signed a law that could pave the way for the relocation of Casino Rock Island. The legislation allows the Illinois Gaming Board to approve the relocation of any casino on the Mississippi River.
If you hear the phrase "underutilized asset," your eyes probably start to glaze over. But if that underutilized asset is the wind, and if using it more means it costs less to power your home, you might want to pay attention.
• Amid the festivities and continuing-education sessions, Palmer College of Chiropractic announced a challenge gift and two leadership gifts totaling more than $3 million for its "Building the Future Fountainhead" capital campaign during Palmer Homecoming 2005, August 11 through 13.

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