Most anyone paying attention to urban development in the Quad Cities is familiar with Dan Carmody. Carmody spent 18 years reinventing and re-energizing Rock Island as director of Renaissance Rock Island. He recently accepted a similar position in Fort Wayne, Indiana. (See "The Man Behind Rock Island Renaissance," River Cities' Reader, October 19, 2005.)

Over the years, the Reader has often written about Carmody's projects and ideas, including the most recently published "Vacation Manifesto: Radical Ideas to Grow the Quad Cities" (River Cities' Reader, June 14, 2006).

Davenport's Third Ward alderman, Keith Meyer, upon reading that "manifesto," requested that the city hire Carmody to speak to city leaders regarding his ideas and other important growth issues.

Subsequently, the City of Davenport Design Center hosted a presentation by Carmody, at the Figge Art Museum inside the Deere Auditorium last Monday evening. The event was billed "A Game of Twenty Civic Questions: a lively, interactive session that considers key questions for successful regional development with emphasis on urban core development and global issues."

Stu Levine has flipped. Things are gonna get crazy real soon.

Levine was a big Republican insider with very close ties to Jim Ryan, Governor Rod Blagojevich's 2002 opponent. Some saw fair-minded bipartisanship when Governor Blagojevich reappointed Levine to both the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) board of directors and the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board. As we soon discovered, the appointments may have been made for entirely different reasons. And now Levine is in a position to create some truly serious trouble for the governor.

Illinois is to be commended for addressing the issue of criminals living in nursing homes, but there is also a need to address the failure of care in far too many nursing homes in this country.

There was a time when a family member who was not considered community-worthy was placed in a back room of the house and left there to live out his or her life. Tragically, too many nursing homes have become the back rooms of our time.

The fear of living in a nursing home looms larger for far too many people than the fear of dying. It shouldn't be this way. It doesn't have to be this way.

"Help! Help! This stranger is not my father!" was the cry of nearly 40 children at summer camp last month.

The children were safe, but the scene is a normal, almost weekly event for Cindy Richard, an AmeriCorps member at the American Red Cross in Moline. She was teaching children the "Stranger Danger" program so they would know how to protect themselves from people who might be trying to abduct them.

Richard helps teach health and safety to both children and adults in the Quad Cities area, on topics ranging from weather safety to HIV/AIDS to first aid.

She's scheduled to end her service in October. So are 23 other AmeriCorps members in the Iowa Quad Cities.