20
Nov
2001
• Iowa will continue its lawsuit against Microsoft Corporation for monopolistic behavior. Eighteen states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Deprtment of Justice sued the software giant in 1998 over concerns over Microsoft's Windows operating system. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has announced that he plans to continue Iowa's lawsuit and will not be joining nine other states and the federal government in a settlement in which Microsoft promises to make its operating system more accessible to competition. Miller has said he is concerned that Microsoft will weaken the principles of the settlement during the five years the government has oversight of the company. Because a federal court already ruled Microsoft violated anti-trust laws, Iowa will not have to pay for legal fees associated with the case.
• MetroLINK, the Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District, recently received American Public Transportation Association AdWhell Awards in recognition for outstanding achievement in transit marketing. First prize was awarded in the Electronic Media category for a television commercial that was designed to heighten awareness of transit and offer it as an alternative to higher fuel costs. Also, the 2000 MetroLINK Annual Report received first place in the print media category. The report focused on the organization's achievements, including the additions of RuralLINK, CityLINK, and - for the upcoming year - CNG buses.
• Expansion Management and Transportation & Distribution magazines report that the Quad Cities are among the most logistics-friendly metro areas in the country. The two magazines developed the Logistics Quotient comparing the relative "logistics friendliness" of the various Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). Metro areas that scored best generally had a broad range of logistics-supporting infrastructure (ground, air, water, and rail) in place as well as a plentiful and well-trained workforce in a wide variety of transportation and logistics skills. The Quad Cities area ranked 30th out of 328 metropolitan areas, scoring best in the categories of air service, taxes and fees, road infrastructure and spending, water ports, transportation and distribution industry, climate, and work force and labor.
• The Rock Island Housing Authority, the Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation, Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Northwestern Illinois, and Freddie Mac have announced a new pilot program enabling families receiving public rental assistance to become homeowners by turning their federal housing vouchers into mortgage payments. The Rock Island Housing Choice Home Ownership Initiative will initially help as many as 10 households over the next year use their housing vouchers to cover the monthly payment on a 30-year or 20-year fixed-rate conventional mortgage. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it would allow housing vouchers to be used to help families become homeowners under a federal pilot program. To qualify for the Housing Choice program, eligible borrowers must be able to put down at least two percent of the home purchase price, or $1,000 if the house costs less than $80,000. The Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation is providing participating borrowers with down-payment, closing-cost, and in some cases rehabilitation assistance through federal HOME funds or the Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The Rock Island Housing Choice Home Ownership Initiative is the latest Freddie Mac effort to expand affordable-home-ownership opportunities in the Quad Cities area.
• Iowa's community colleges are lobbying for a change in state law to give them more control over taxes - including the ability to raise property taxes. Tuition and fees are two of the few revenue sources that the schools control. Both have increased double-digit percentages in the face of Iowa's recent budget cuts. State aid is set by lawmakers, and property taxes have been capped at the same level since 1965 - around 20 cents for every $1,000 of assessed valuation. The Iowa Association of Community College Trustees is lobbying for a change that would allow the schools to set their own tax rates and, if necessary, go beyond the 20-cent rate.
• Four Rock Island schools - Edison Junior High School, Grant Intensive Basic, and Hawthorne-Irving and Lincoln elementaries - were placed on a warning list by the Illinois State Board of Education because fewer than 50 percent of their students met baseline goals on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). ISAT, which was taken in the spring, tests students in grades three, five, and eight in reading, math, and writing. Students in grades four and seven are tested in social studies and science. Edison Junior High had 47.7 percent of its students meet or exceed state standards, Grant Intensive Basic had 23.4 percent, Hawthorne-Irving had 20.9 percent, and Lincoln had 44.4 percent. Washington Junior High narrowly avoided being on the list with 50.7 percent meeting or exceeding the standard. Among its 10 elementary and two junior-high schools, the district averaged 52.8 percent of students meeting the baseline. At 84.9 percent, Eugene Field Elementary had the highest percentage of students at or above state standards.
• A recent study that included patients from the University of Iowa shows that aspirin works just as well as Coumadin in helping most patients avoid strokes. Aspirin and Coumadin work by thinning the blood and preventing clots that can block blood vessels leading to the brain. Researchers tested the two drugs on 2,206 patients for two years at 48 hospitals around the country. Almost 18 percent of the Coumadin group died or suffered another stroke, compared with 16 percent of those on aspirin. The difference was not considered statistically significant. Aspirin costs about $10 for a year's worth of treatment; Coumadin and the necessary blood tests can cost several hundred dollars. About 160,00 Americans die each year from strokes, the nation's leading cause of serious long-term disability.
• According to key members of the Iowa Legislature, a priority will be placed on lowering Iowa's legal threshold for drunken driving to .08 percent. Federal law requires states adopt a .08 blood-alcohol limit by the 2004 fiscal year or face losing federal road money. For Iowa this could mean a loss of $47.2 million between 2004 and 2007. Supporters of this measure include the Iowa County Attorneys Association, law-enforcement officials, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and Governor Tom Vilsack.
• MetroLINK, the Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District, recently received American Public Transportation Association AdWhell Awards in recognition for outstanding achievement in transit marketing. First prize was awarded in the Electronic Media category for a television commercial that was designed to heighten awareness of transit and offer it as an alternative to higher fuel costs. Also, the 2000 MetroLINK Annual Report received first place in the print media category. The report focused on the organization's achievements, including the additions of RuralLINK, CityLINK, and - for the upcoming year - CNG buses.
• Expansion Management and Transportation & Distribution magazines report that the Quad Cities are among the most logistics-friendly metro areas in the country. The two magazines developed the Logistics Quotient comparing the relative "logistics friendliness" of the various Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). Metro areas that scored best generally had a broad range of logistics-supporting infrastructure (ground, air, water, and rail) in place as well as a plentiful and well-trained workforce in a wide variety of transportation and logistics skills. The Quad Cities area ranked 30th out of 328 metropolitan areas, scoring best in the categories of air service, taxes and fees, road infrastructure and spending, water ports, transportation and distribution industry, climate, and work force and labor.
• The Rock Island Housing Authority, the Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation, Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Northwestern Illinois, and Freddie Mac have announced a new pilot program enabling families receiving public rental assistance to become homeowners by turning their federal housing vouchers into mortgage payments. The Rock Island Housing Choice Home Ownership Initiative will initially help as many as 10 households over the next year use their housing vouchers to cover the monthly payment on a 30-year or 20-year fixed-rate conventional mortgage. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it would allow housing vouchers to be used to help families become homeowners under a federal pilot program. To qualify for the Housing Choice program, eligible borrowers must be able to put down at least two percent of the home purchase price, or $1,000 if the house costs less than $80,000. The Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation is providing participating borrowers with down-payment, closing-cost, and in some cases rehabilitation assistance through federal HOME funds or the Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The Rock Island Housing Choice Home Ownership Initiative is the latest Freddie Mac effort to expand affordable-home-ownership opportunities in the Quad Cities area.
• Iowa's community colleges are lobbying for a change in state law to give them more control over taxes - including the ability to raise property taxes. Tuition and fees are two of the few revenue sources that the schools control. Both have increased double-digit percentages in the face of Iowa's recent budget cuts. State aid is set by lawmakers, and property taxes have been capped at the same level since 1965 - around 20 cents for every $1,000 of assessed valuation. The Iowa Association of Community College Trustees is lobbying for a change that would allow the schools to set their own tax rates and, if necessary, go beyond the 20-cent rate.
• Four Rock Island schools - Edison Junior High School, Grant Intensive Basic, and Hawthorne-Irving and Lincoln elementaries - were placed on a warning list by the Illinois State Board of Education because fewer than 50 percent of their students met baseline goals on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). ISAT, which was taken in the spring, tests students in grades three, five, and eight in reading, math, and writing. Students in grades four and seven are tested in social studies and science. Edison Junior High had 47.7 percent of its students meet or exceed state standards, Grant Intensive Basic had 23.4 percent, Hawthorne-Irving had 20.9 percent, and Lincoln had 44.4 percent. Washington Junior High narrowly avoided being on the list with 50.7 percent meeting or exceeding the standard. Among its 10 elementary and two junior-high schools, the district averaged 52.8 percent of students meeting the baseline. At 84.9 percent, Eugene Field Elementary had the highest percentage of students at or above state standards.
• A recent study that included patients from the University of Iowa shows that aspirin works just as well as Coumadin in helping most patients avoid strokes. Aspirin and Coumadin work by thinning the blood and preventing clots that can block blood vessels leading to the brain. Researchers tested the two drugs on 2,206 patients for two years at 48 hospitals around the country. Almost 18 percent of the Coumadin group died or suffered another stroke, compared with 16 percent of those on aspirin. The difference was not considered statistically significant. Aspirin costs about $10 for a year's worth of treatment; Coumadin and the necessary blood tests can cost several hundred dollars. About 160,00 Americans die each year from strokes, the nation's leading cause of serious long-term disability.
• According to key members of the Iowa Legislature, a priority will be placed on lowering Iowa's legal threshold for drunken driving to .08 percent. Federal law requires states adopt a .08 blood-alcohol limit by the 2004 fiscal year or face losing federal road money. For Iowa this could mean a loss of $47.2 million between 2004 and 2007. Supporters of this measure include the Iowa County Attorneys Association, law-enforcement officials, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and Governor Tom Vilsack.
