Copyright law is arcane enough, but a debate bubbling in Congress and among artists, libraries, and museums is important despite its obscurity.

The issue is "orphan works" - writing, photographs, paintings, and music whose copyright-holders are difficult (or impossible) to locate or contact.

Corynne McSherry, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the result is that a library or museum will not make the material available to the public because of the potential penalty of statutory damages - which have a ceiling of $150,000 per copyrighted item.

A museum is "worried that it might get sued," McSherry said. "So the material stays locked away."

The Bettendorf Chamber of Commerce and the City of Bettendorf are bringing public art to the downtown corridor. This month, three sculptures will be placed, with an additional three pieces of art scheduled in 2009. The chamber is asking for donations to fund the art project and has raised $2,550 toward the $9,400 goal. A charitable not-for-profit foundation has been set up at the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend. Tax-deductible contributions can be made to Bettendorf Chamber Public Art, 2117 State St., Bettendorf IA 52722.

The LeClaire RAGBRAI Committee has won $1,000 from Our Iowa magazine in its Best Bloomin' Towns in Iowa contest. Plans for LeClaire include beginning a "downtown makeover" with barrels along the main street with planted flowers. Barrels with wave petunias will be in place by early June. LeClaire is the ending point for this year's RAGBRAI ride. On Saturday, July 26, more than 15,000 cyclists will be riding from Tipton to LeClaire. For more information about RAGBRAI in LeClaire, visit (http://www.leclaireragbrai.com).

Many of the lighter moments in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning film Schindler's List came when the industrialist Oskar Schindler protested to German officials that children and people with disabilities were essential to his wartime manufacturing effort.

Leon Leyson, who will speak Monday at the i wireless Center in Moline, was the youngest person in Schindler's factory, and one of roughly 1,200 Jews that he saved from the Nazi death camps.