Rick Best acknowledges that public television isn't the unique presence that it was in the 1970s and '80s - virtually the only place on the television spectrum to find educational programming and serious shows on science, history, public affairs, and high culture.

"The landscape has changed a lot," said Best, the general manager of the Quad Cities' PBS station, WQPT. "PBS used to use the phrase, ‘If PBS doesn't do it, who will?' You don't hear that phrase being used so much anymore, because it got to the point where there were other answers out there."

Why are we not safe today?

(A) The U.S. Army was reduced in the 1990s by 500,000 active soldiers. Today we only have 417,186 active Army, 305,404 in the National Guard, and 154,047 in the Army Reserves. (These figures are from the September 15, 2006, Federal Executive magazine, page 38.)

(B) In the 1990s, the leadership of the Department of the Army reduced from 26 Army ammunition plants to only eight by 2006. (See History of Ammunition by George Nickolas, dated 2006.)

(C) The civilian production base for military ammunition and equipment reduced in the 1990s because of lack of requirements as reported to a congressional hearing in 2004. (See Federal Executive magazine pages 17 and 18 in the July 2004 issue.)

The slogan for Butterworth Center & Deere-Wiman House, "Where history lives in real time," can be taken literally when it comes to their new Web-site features. The Web site at (http://www.butterworthcenter.com) will now include free, downloadable audio features and mini-video recaps. Angela Hunt, who directs the public-relations program, decided to add the audio features after attending a local workshop about podcasting. The debut audio feature, "Makeover for the Birds," is a 20-minute interview with Program Director Gretchen Small. In the interview, listeners will learn about the historic homes' collection of Audubon's Birds of America prints from the 1860s. Of the 106 prints, the historic sites have 98. Small talks about how the Charles Deere family may have acquired the prints, and the sensitive restoration process that the prints are undergoing. Video recaps are also a high-tech addition to the 1800s-flavored website. The video recaps are two-minute segments and show highlights of past events or programs to background music. The Web site will post different audio topics on a regular basis, from snippets of tours, interviews, or programs.

When Sue Gabel's mother got sick two years ago and had a stroke, the doctor told the family that she would need to move from independent living to assisted living. Gabel and other family members scouted various facilities in the Quad Cities and selected one that told her they had a room for their mother.

When she arrived, though, the situation was different. "They put her in an empty room that had absolutely nothing in it but a bed and a table," Gabel said. They further told her that they still needed to evaluate her mother before placing her, and that they had a room in an Alzheimer unit that would cost an additional $1,000 to $1,200 a month.

"I didn't know what to do," Gabel said. "She is going to go absolutely nuts if she's in that [bare] room any longer."