Nobody expected Ghostlight Theatre's transition from unpredictable, infrequent troupe to respectable company to be smooth, and it hasn't been. Yet as it approaches the final show of its 2004-5 season - The Will Rogers Follies, running July 21 through 31 at Davenport North High School - Ghostlight can claim a few major accomplishments that count for quite a lot: It's still around, and it's made its budget.

BRAC Attack

In 1995, community backers of a military base in a very arid part of the country offered to take drastic measures to satisfy the U.S. military, which had difficulty getting the water it needed and as a result wanted to shift some functions to different military bases.
Judith DeSarno does not want to be part of the never-ending abortion debate. "I'm the birth-control gal," said DeSarno, president of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association in Washington, D.

Blueprint 2010

When the Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce unveiled the findings of its Blueprint 2010 study last week, they had a familiar ring. The Quad Cities area doesn't have enough young professionals, the study found, there's a pervasive pessimism among residents, and the community doesn't market itself effectively to the outside world, particularly to businesses looking to re-locate.
Lon Bozarth would seem to have a lot of talents, with his extensive background in the live-music scene of Austin, Texas. Being gentle, politic, and modest aren't among them. Neither is making small plans. In those ways, Bozarth is a stereotypical Texan - straight-talking and thinking big.
Neko Case has an enviable career. She is a siren whose seductive voice might be the single most alluring instrument in music today - clear, robust, sexy, self-possessed, and expressive, with an endearing hint of nasally imperfection.

Doctor Dash

The Genesis Illini Medical Center in Silvis has lost 25 physicians in the past 24 months. That's roughly 10 percent of the hospital's doctors. These aren't the losses that one would expect, such as planned retirements.

The Enigma

Lyle Lovett put the bottle of water to his lips. He drank, and he drank, and he drank. The audience started to titter, although I'm sure some people wondered when he would come up for air. He continued sucking down the water.

Room to Grow

For the record, Amie Sassano is not the luckiest person in the world. She didn't get a multi-million-dollar record deal when a label executive heard her humming on the street. But the fledgling singer and songwriter from the Quad Cities area has certainly had quite a few things break her way.
At the first session for public input on the proposed Rhythm City Casino hotel and parking ramp on the riverfront, Clayton Lloyd greeted roughly 400 attendees with candor. "We're very pleased and somewhat overwhelmed at the response," said Lloyd, Davenport's director of community and economic development.

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