Our enemy now has a name. And it's not Osama bin Laden. Vice President Dick Cheney told the nation Sunday morning, during his appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, that the United States is focused upon the international terrorist organization known as Al-Qaida.
While the shock of last week's terrorist attacks on the United States are still fresh in the minds of virtually everyone, this weekend will give the community plenty of chances to re-connect with neighbors and friends at a host of social and sporting events.
• Scott County voters will head to the polls on October 23 to decide whether Scott County will commit $5 million to Davenport's River Renaissance project. The vote will happen just weeks before the Vision Iowa Deadline to secure all local funds.
The issue of predatory lending has captured the attention of legislators nationwide. At least 25 states have introduced bills this year to combat abusive lending, and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is pledging to do the same in Iowa.
• A grassroots effort run out of a bar on Sixth and Division has succeeded in forcing a referendum on whether Scott County should contribute $5 million for the River Renaissance revival project. At a press conference, organizers Tom White and Rich Moroney showed off 702 pages of petitions with 11,234 signatures, far more than the 7,057 required to put the measure on a ballot.

The Money Pit

Part one of two On August 13, Greg Hoover, the director of housing and neighborhood development for the City of Davenport, presented a powerful report to the city council painting a disturbing picture of how people with poor credit are being exploited.
• The City of Bettendorf has purchased the former Eagle Store at 2850 18th Street, located across from the Family Museum on Bettendorf Learning Campus Drive. The City has been in negotiations with the building's owner, Stan Coin, for more than one year, and while the building's sale price was $2.
When she began dancing with CMBT two years ago, Erica Christensen found that the company was not well-known in the Quad Cities. "No one even knew there was a ballet company around," she said. At the time, CMBT: Quad Cities Professional Ballet Company had four dancers.
• Patrons of the Bettendorf Public Library checked out 52,202 items in July, including books, audio books, videos, DVDs, compact discs, music tapes, CD-ROMS, DVD-ROMs, and magazines. This is the highest monthly circulation in the library's 75-year history.
Much will undoubtedly be said about what a gifted and popular arts administrator Lloyd Schoeneman was, his many years of service to Quad City Arts, and his dedication to raising the profile of art in this community.

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