The Quad Cities lost a great writer and friend of the written word with the passing of David R. Collins of Moline on Tuesday, July 17, at the age of 61. The short list of his achieve-ments include writing more than 75 published books and being a founding member of Writers Studio, a founder of the Mississippi Valley Writers Conference, and a much-loved teacher of 35 years.

G-Men

"Welcome to another edition of Blowhard Roundtable - the fast-moving, hard-hitting, fist-banging program where Washington insiders shout at each other while you just sit there and listen." "That's right, Fred.
As readers can see, our cover story this week features the first anniversary of DavenportOne. While congratulations are definitely in order, it was somewhat shocking for me to note the enormous weight DavenportOne gave to the City of Davenport's deal with Sentry Insurance as somehow being a feather in its own cap.
DavenportOne celebrated its first year in business last week, emphasizing a theme that it is not just for the city's big businesses and their leaders. At its annual meeting July 11 - attended by nearly 300 members - the organization rolled out a new Web site (http://www.

McSatire

There's a stack of news clippings here labeled "McDonald's" that is getting so thick we finally had to move the Gary Condit file. Ba-da-boom. But seriously. I spent all week trying to write something funny about America's Most Successful Fast Food Chain, by way of introducing a just-leaked story that spotlights the company's latest misadventure.
At a study session on Monday, July 9, Rock Island City Administrator John C. Phillips gave city-council members a "police-chief profile" culled from surveys filled out by citizens, community leaders, and police officers.
Where oh where is our new Davenport city administrator? It has been over three weeks since Mayor Phil Yerington announced his choice of Craig Malin for the position, amidst some dissention from players at DavenportOne and several of the aldermen, namely Aldermen Sherwood and McGivern.

Bottoms Up!

"All right, let's get started. This meeting of Underage Alcohol Marketers Anonymous will please come to order. And remember, no last names." "Can I go first?" "Fine." "Hello, everybody.
I've known Mike Dassie for well over 20 years. Mike passed away last Thursday, June 28, after 57 years of a truly great presence on this earth. Mike was manager of the Davenport Country Club for thirteen years, owned O'Meara's Pub in downtown Bettendorf for five years, and then went on to operate his own successful catering business.
Q: I hear Congress still can't agree on that patient bill of rights. What's the problem? A: Nothing's more complicated than health care in America. The latest stumbling block was when several Senators realized that checking into a hospital and hiring a prostitute both started with the same question - "How much money do you have?" - and ended with, "All right, lie down and give me your underwear.

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