I hope I am proved wrong, but it looks like the Isle of Capri (IOC) is going to renege on its $10-million obligation to Bettendorf to help build and operate a $15.8-million events center as part of its development agreement that was included in the city's Vision Iowa grant. This would likely cause Bettendorf to forfeit $4 million because of IOC's nonparticipation. Why should IOC care? It has its new hotel, doesn't it?

By the time St. Ambrose University's May 13 commencement rolled around, students had put in more than 20,000 hours of service to the community during the 2006-7 academic year. SAU student service included a wide range of activities and projects. Ambrosians for Peace & Justice sent 15 students and staff to New Orleans to help in cleanup efforts at facilities for the elderly, logging nearly 600 service hours. Twenty others went to the David School in Kentucky over spring break and worked 800 hours teaching the school's students and cleaning and renovating its grounds. Thirty student mentors in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program spent more than 900 hours with their "littles" in a variety of activities that included pumpkin-carving, visiting the Davenport Fire Department, and attending sports events together. And St. Ambrose's Habitat for Humanity group logged more than 2,800 hours helping to build a house in Davenport and volunteering during spring break in Colorado and Arkansas.

The theme of Lois Deloatch's workshop on June 17 at the River Music Experience is "the singer as an interpreter of music," and the irony is that her first CD (1998's Sunrise) was a collection of her own songs.

But for the North Carolina-based jazz singer - who will also perform a concert that night as part of the Third Sunday Jazz Matinée & Workshop Series presented by Polyrhythms - the line between original work and interpretation is hazy.

Davenport's Eric Schallert should be aware of what's happening all over the country, particularly in exciting cities such as Chicago, Madison, and Seattle, where officials are taking a fresh look at the transportation grid. (See "Bikes and Cars Shouldn't Mix," River Cities' Reader Issue 636, June 6-12, 2007.)