A state Senator from Bettendorf, Linda Miller, asks why we do not have a vote on banning gay marriage in Iowa. We do not need a "Defense of Marriage" act. Marriage does not need to be defended from all the wonderful, caring, loving gay and lesbian adults I know in the eastern Iowa who are in long-term relationships, many of them raising children, and simply living their lives as are heterosexuals.

While the bankruptcy law that went into effect in October 2005 was opposed by consumer groups and supported by credit-card companies (and their campaign contributions), those things don't automatically make it bad public policy.

The Davenport Police Department held a ribbon-cutting for its new headquarters last week. Among the environmental aspects of the 97,200-square-foot, $20.3-million facility are geothermal heating and cooling, low-consumption plumbing, rain gardens, a roof with soil-less plants, and high-efficiency windows. A skywalk connected to the courthouse will be completed soon, and a parking ramp will be finished in April.

There is nobody like Andrew Bird in the world, a songwriter and a performer who makes his whistling, his glockenspiel, and his violin at home with guitars, drums, and vocals in detailed, pitch-perfect pop songs that never seem precious or forced, as eccentric as they are.

But when you're as idiosyncratic as Bird is, that means there aren't many people whose vision matches your own. That was one reason that the gestation of The Mysterious Production of Eggs - Bird's breakthrough from 2005 - took so long, with so many false starts.