11
Jun
2002
· Scott County voters lost out on a chance to direct the future of the state, local, and federal governments with a rather pathetic voter turnout in the June 4 primary election. Of the 109,078 registered voters in Scott County, merely 12,597 - approximately 12 percent - cast ballots. Registered Republicans (with 7,899 of 29,579 registered, or 27 percent) did better than Democrats (4,396 of 27,229, or 16 percent). The Green Party did better, with 929 registered voters and 302 voting, for almost 33 percent. The Scott County Auditor's Office has all of this information in an easy-to-read and -understand format on its Web site at (http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/auditor/election_returns.html), along with other voter resources, including a voter registration card.
· A key finding in a report published in the May 24 issue of the Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report is that almost 48 percent of the 167,364 stroke deaths in 1999 in the U.S. occurred before transport to a hospital or emergency department. Another key finding, that about 25 percent of stroke deaths among people younger than age 65 happened before transport to a hospital, also has the Centers for Disease Control concerned. This suggests that the under-65 age group might view stroke as a problem of the elderly and does not seek medical attention promptly. If you have sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body; sudden confusion; trouble speaking or understanding; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sudden trouble walking; dizziness; loss of balance or coordination; or sudden severe headache with no known cause, call 9-1-1, as treatment can be more effective if given quickly. A good resource to start learning about stroke, which killed almost 10,000 people in Iowa and Illinois in 1999, is the National Stroke Association at (http://www.stroke.org).
· Some Illinois patients who use cannabis as medicine should be legally protected by Section 11 of the Cannabis Control Act. Under this section of the code, the Illinois Department of Health & Human Services, with written approval by the Illinois State Police, may authorize the use of cannabis for the "treatment of glaucoma, the side effects of chemotherapy or radiation therapy in cancer patients, or such other procedure certified to be medically necessary." Currently, the Department of Health & Human Services has no system in place to help the thousands of patients in Illinois who use medical marijuana. You can find out more by starting with the Illinois Cannabis Control Act at (http://www.legis.state.il.us/ilcs/ch720/ch720act550.htm) and then looking at (http://www.safeaccessnow.org) and (http://www.Illinoisnorml.org) for efforts in Illinois.
· Iowa will receive $10.3 million in federal funds to help strengthen its capacity to prepare for and respond to bio-terrorism and other public-health emergencies. In total, Iowa is receiving $12.9 million in bio-terrorism-preparedness funding, of which 20 percent was received in January. The funds will be used to implement comprehensive bio-terrorism-preparedness plans, upgrade infectious-disease surveillance and investigation, enhance hospitals' ability to deal with large numbers of casualties, expand public-health laboratory and communications efforts, and improve communication between state, city, and local public-health departments.
· The Moline Foundation, founded in 1953, is a community-based not-for-profit organization providing grants to health, human-services, education, community-development, arts, and other charitable organizations that will benefit the citizens of Moline and the surrounding area. More than $62,000 in grants have been awarded to 22 programs, including Moline High School Hall of Honor, River Action, Alley Cat Boxing Club, Oak Glen Home, Ballet Quad Cities, the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging, and Black Hawk College. The next grants allocation will be Friday, August 30. For more information, call (309)736-3800, fax (309)736-3721, or e-mail (molinefounation@aol.com).
· Financial grants totaling $3,735 were awarded to Quad City-area schools by the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, administrator of the newly endowed Isabel Bloom Art Education Fund. Fillmore Elementary received $2,000 to start the Prairie Life Circle project allowing students and staff to work with artist Rob Lipnick in creating a visual representation of the Iowa prairie. The B.L.O.O.M. in Art (Bright Learning Opportunities in Mediums in Art) project at Riverdale Middle School, Port Byron, received $1,735 to help students gain a greater appreciation of the visual arts by researching, creating sculpture, and also attending field trips to the Davenport Museum of Art and Isabel Bloom.
· Family Resources has recently launched a drive to raise $2.75 million for renovations to the Annie Wittenmyer Youth Campus at 2800 Eastern Avenue. The 153-year-old agency is looking to meet the increasing needs of children and families in this community. One way to do this is by consolidating resources on the 10-acre piece of property on Eastern Avenue that it has leased from Davenport since 1974. The money raised will rehabilitate two historic buildings, the greenhouse, and the Sanders Building. The money will also pay for the construction of two 5,000-square-foot additions to the Sanders building to house 32 children and will cover for the demolition of an unused building. For more information and even how to donate, contact Carolyn Wettstone, director of development, at (563)323-8005.
· Some critics of the new Farm Bill, recently signed into law by President George W. Bush, are saying that it would be cheaper for the government of buy the agriculture industry outright. Brian Riedl of the Cato Institute notes: "Congress could guarantee every full-time farmer a minimum income of 185 percent of the federal poverty line ($32,652 for a family of four) for 'only' $4 billion per year - one-fifth the cost of the direct subsidies in the new bill." Also, despite claims the bill is to "protect family farms," two-thirds of the subsidies are earmarked for large corporate farms and wealthy agribusiness. Indeed, a majority of American farmers don't receive any federal subsidies. And currently, 40 percent of net farm income is provided by the federal government. The 2002 Farm Bill increases those subsidies by an incredible 76 percent and adds thousands of new farmers to the dole. Consumers for World Trade (CWT), a pro-free-trade organization, sums it up in appropriately agricultural language: "Does it [the Farm Bill] make sense to you? It does if you're a cynical, pork-loving legislator shooting for re-election. To those of us footing the bill, however, it stinks like pig poop on a hot summer day." This quote and others about the bill can be found at CWT's Web site at (http://www.cwt.org/news/articles/May2002/Farm.htm). The Cato Institute's take on the Farm Bill can be seen at (http://www.cato.org/pubs/tbb/tbb-0203.html).
· A key finding in a report published in the May 24 issue of the Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report is that almost 48 percent of the 167,364 stroke deaths in 1999 in the U.S. occurred before transport to a hospital or emergency department. Another key finding, that about 25 percent of stroke deaths among people younger than age 65 happened before transport to a hospital, also has the Centers for Disease Control concerned. This suggests that the under-65 age group might view stroke as a problem of the elderly and does not seek medical attention promptly. If you have sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body; sudden confusion; trouble speaking or understanding; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sudden trouble walking; dizziness; loss of balance or coordination; or sudden severe headache with no known cause, call 9-1-1, as treatment can be more effective if given quickly. A good resource to start learning about stroke, which killed almost 10,000 people in Iowa and Illinois in 1999, is the National Stroke Association at (http://www.stroke.org).
· Some Illinois patients who use cannabis as medicine should be legally protected by Section 11 of the Cannabis Control Act. Under this section of the code, the Illinois Department of Health & Human Services, with written approval by the Illinois State Police, may authorize the use of cannabis for the "treatment of glaucoma, the side effects of chemotherapy or radiation therapy in cancer patients, or such other procedure certified to be medically necessary." Currently, the Department of Health & Human Services has no system in place to help the thousands of patients in Illinois who use medical marijuana. You can find out more by starting with the Illinois Cannabis Control Act at (http://www.legis.state.il.us/ilcs/ch720/ch720act550.htm) and then looking at (http://www.safeaccessnow.org) and (http://www.Illinoisnorml.org) for efforts in Illinois.
· Iowa will receive $10.3 million in federal funds to help strengthen its capacity to prepare for and respond to bio-terrorism and other public-health emergencies. In total, Iowa is receiving $12.9 million in bio-terrorism-preparedness funding, of which 20 percent was received in January. The funds will be used to implement comprehensive bio-terrorism-preparedness plans, upgrade infectious-disease surveillance and investigation, enhance hospitals' ability to deal with large numbers of casualties, expand public-health laboratory and communications efforts, and improve communication between state, city, and local public-health departments.
· The Moline Foundation, founded in 1953, is a community-based not-for-profit organization providing grants to health, human-services, education, community-development, arts, and other charitable organizations that will benefit the citizens of Moline and the surrounding area. More than $62,000 in grants have been awarded to 22 programs, including Moline High School Hall of Honor, River Action, Alley Cat Boxing Club, Oak Glen Home, Ballet Quad Cities, the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging, and Black Hawk College. The next grants allocation will be Friday, August 30. For more information, call (309)736-3800, fax (309)736-3721, or e-mail (molinefounation@aol.com).
· Financial grants totaling $3,735 were awarded to Quad City-area schools by the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, administrator of the newly endowed Isabel Bloom Art Education Fund. Fillmore Elementary received $2,000 to start the Prairie Life Circle project allowing students and staff to work with artist Rob Lipnick in creating a visual representation of the Iowa prairie. The B.L.O.O.M. in Art (Bright Learning Opportunities in Mediums in Art) project at Riverdale Middle School, Port Byron, received $1,735 to help students gain a greater appreciation of the visual arts by researching, creating sculpture, and also attending field trips to the Davenport Museum of Art and Isabel Bloom.
· Family Resources has recently launched a drive to raise $2.75 million for renovations to the Annie Wittenmyer Youth Campus at 2800 Eastern Avenue. The 153-year-old agency is looking to meet the increasing needs of children and families in this community. One way to do this is by consolidating resources on the 10-acre piece of property on Eastern Avenue that it has leased from Davenport since 1974. The money raised will rehabilitate two historic buildings, the greenhouse, and the Sanders Building. The money will also pay for the construction of two 5,000-square-foot additions to the Sanders building to house 32 children and will cover for the demolition of an unused building. For more information and even how to donate, contact Carolyn Wettstone, director of development, at (563)323-8005.
· Some critics of the new Farm Bill, recently signed into law by President George W. Bush, are saying that it would be cheaper for the government of buy the agriculture industry outright. Brian Riedl of the Cato Institute notes: "Congress could guarantee every full-time farmer a minimum income of 185 percent of the federal poverty line ($32,652 for a family of four) for 'only' $4 billion per year - one-fifth the cost of the direct subsidies in the new bill." Also, despite claims the bill is to "protect family farms," two-thirds of the subsidies are earmarked for large corporate farms and wealthy agribusiness. Indeed, a majority of American farmers don't receive any federal subsidies. And currently, 40 percent of net farm income is provided by the federal government. The 2002 Farm Bill increases those subsidies by an incredible 76 percent and adds thousands of new farmers to the dole. Consumers for World Trade (CWT), a pro-free-trade organization, sums it up in appropriately agricultural language: "Does it [the Farm Bill] make sense to you? It does if you're a cynical, pork-loving legislator shooting for re-election. To those of us footing the bill, however, it stinks like pig poop on a hot summer day." This quote and others about the bill can be found at CWT's Web site at (http://www.cwt.org/news/articles/May2002/Farm.htm). The Cato Institute's take on the Farm Bill can be seen at (http://www.cato.org/pubs/tbb/tbb-0203.html).
