The City of Davenport Historic Preservation Commission, in conjunction with the City of Davenport Design Center, has published a guide to the city's 17 historic districts. The map includes descriptions and photographs of historic structures, as well as the locations of the districts. The maps are free and available at many city offices. If you would like multiple copies for distribution, contact or visit the Design Center at 102 East Second Street, across from the Radisson.

 

660_coverthumb.jpg Here's what the Davenport-based rapper Kuz and his manager want you to know:

His single "Boss Status" is presently number seven on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart - one slot ahead of Beyoncé, and one behind J. Holiday - and peaked at number three. The song reached 15 on Hot Singles Sales, and topped out at 80 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. As of Monday, it topped Jamster's hip-hop ringtones chart.

Kuz appeared as himself in the 2007 horror movie April Fools (an I Know What You Did Last Summer knock-off, he said) alongside Emmy nominee Obba Babatundé and hip-hop artist Lil' Flip. "I didn't get killed," he said of his character.

 

Political blogs have been getting a bad rap in newspapers for years, but they're rapidly coming of age, and they're already making an impact in campaigns throughout Illinois this year.

 

Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich recently announced $1.5 million in bicycle-path grants for communities in northern Illinois. The City of Rock Island received $200,000 to construct 1.2 miles of trail starting at Ben Williamson Park and ending at 31st Avenue.

When Augustana College announced earlier this month that it was eliminating standardized tests as an application requirement for prospective students, it highlighted a trend in higher education.

"There has been an accelerating surge of selective colleges dropping their admissions-testing requirement," said Robert Schaeffer, public education director for the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, also known as Fair Test. "The pace is such that some folks have suggested we're reaching a critical mass or a tipping point."

Driver of the Year Listening to Will Destroy You, Driver of the Year's release from earlier this year, the first thing that popped into my head was Flight of the Conchords, the comedy folk duo from New Zealand that scored an HBO series on which the band's fan base never grew much larger than one.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the central statistic the federal government uses to calculate inflation. The CPI is a statistic used by the government to track the cost of goods and services. Beginning with the Jimmy "I will never lie to you" Carter administration, food and energy were removed from the CPI because of the volatility in pricing of these items, but that has since been extended to include anything that reflects unstable or volatile pricing. This was done because this volatility in pricing interfered with long-range projections concerning inflation.

Dug Pinnick Almost as weird as when kids' TV star Steve from Blue's Clues turned up collaborating with the Flaming Lips back in 2003, sweet and smarmy Hal Sparks, former host of E's Talk Soup, winds up with an A-list lineup of guitarists on a blistering metal release. This coming Tuesday, Doug Pinnick of King's X takes his cosmic blaze to new landscapes of sludgy soul as "Dug" Pinnick. An air guitarist's fantasy album of sizzling leads, the Magna Carta Records' release, Strum Sum Up, is Viagra for aging headbangers. The album features Wally Farkis of Galactic Cowboys, Alain Johannes of Eleven, and the ever-devastating Steve Stevens of Billy Idol fame. Sparks holds his own with the big boys, fronting his own top-notch band, Zero 1. Other players in on the fun include Natasha Shneider of Queens of the Stone Age, Ray Luzier of Army of Anyone, Kellii Scott of Failure, and David Henning of Big Wreck.

LeClaire's new downtown is finished, and the city is attempting to set a world record for the longest ribbon-cutting to celebrate. The event will be held at the MedicEMS building, 107 North Cody Road, from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, November 18. There will be food, fireworks, kids' activities, a $1,000-LeClaire-shopping-spree drawing, and live music by Blue Fuzzy Monkey. For more information: call (563) 289-9970 or visit (http://www.leclairechamber.com).

 

Reader issue #658 A foolish person doesn't recognize that one can learn much from opponents. So liberals have begun to understand that they need God on their side as much as the Christian Right does.

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