In Rock Island County, the Democratic primary is almost always the toughest battle, with the general-election result nearly a foregone conclusion. There hasn't been a Republican sheriff in Rock Island County in 20 years, and that makes the March 19 primary for the office especially important.
Whether or not someone supports House File 2288 has absolutely no bearing on whether or not they "support the arts." (See "March for Cultural Trust Fund," River Cities' Reader Issue 362, February 20-26, 2002.
When the Davenport School Board (DSB), in its usual display of arrogance and disrespect for students, parents, and the public at large, voted 6-1 to close Grant and Johnson elementary schools this past January, concerned parents decided to appeal the school board's decision to the Iowa Board of Education.
Editor's note: This story went to press before the Davenport Community School District agreed to re-visit at its March 11 meeting the issue of closing Johnson and Grant schools. The hearing on the appeal was continued to April 5.
Central High School's Scholastic Journalism Week (SJW) is an imaginative program that began in 1995, thanks to the vision of Central's preeminent journalism teacher, Deb Buttleman Malcom, and her dedicated students.
Housing starts were up last quarter, which is good news for everyone who's been living on canned soup and sending their résumés to Monster.com. Economists say that signals the beginning of the end of the recession, which is just in time.
The congressional investigation of the Enron debacle is frustrating, to say the least. Both House and Senate participants are clearly unqualified to probe the complex financial and political issues that characterize Enron's dirty dealings.
As if the economy, the Enron debacle, and those crooked Olympic judges weren't enough, there's another crisis brewing: We're running out of macho names for cars. It's been happening over the past few years.

Trust Us

Supporters of cultural organizations will descend on Des Moines this week to lobby Iowa legislators for a $10 million trust fund that could be a long-term - albeit relatively minor - funding source for arts groups.
The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs (IDCA) has articulated a brilliant concept in the form of a bill currently before the state legislature to provide funding for arts and culture. The IDCA is asking legislators to appropriate $1 million annually for the next 10 years to help seed a new "cultural trust" for operational support of arts/culture-related organizations throughout Iowa.

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