22 Oct 2015

Iowa's AIM Workforce Index at Healthy Level: Big Gains for Transportation Jobs

By Levi Thiele
September Summary
  • The state's workforce index (WFI) fell for September as the number of Iowa online job openings sank by 10.2 percent offsetting a decline in the number of unemployed.
  • Iowa's WFI for September was the fourth best in the nation.
  • Transportation jobs, distribution positions and general business openings recorded the largest percentage gains in online openings from August to September.
  • Healthcare positions outside of nursing, nursing jobs, and retail openings suffered the largest percentage losses from August to September.
  • In absolute numbers, the greatest numbers of online job openings were in healthcare, other than nursing, followed by management, and then sales.
  • As a percent of Iowa employment, the largest numbers of online openings were in finance, followed by engineering, and then insurance.

Iowa WFI.  AIM's September workforce Index (WFI) decreased to 80.4 from August's revised 90.6. Online job openings fell by 10.2 percent and more than offset a 2,200 decrease in the number of unemployed.  The WFI is a statistically based measurement tool produced by AIM, a nonprofit organization in Des Moines, Iowa. The index is a ratio of unique online job postings and the number of unemployed in Iowa (not seasonally adjusted). The WFI ranges between 0 and 100. A WFI below 50.0 indicates short-term job contraction while an Index above 50.0 indicates job expansion.
Fading and improving areas. The areas showing the greatest percentage improvements in online job openings from August to September were:  Transportation positions, distribution jobs, and general business positions.  The areas recording the largest percentage declines from August to September were: healthcare outside of nursing, nursing positions, and retail openings.

For more information on Iowa's Work Force Index and other state rankings, visit: http://aimforbrilliance.org/workforce-index/iowa.

About the AIM WorkForce Index
AIM and the Creighton University College of Business produce the AIM WorkForce Index each month to track the relationship between the WFI and the changes in the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. This type of information is of value to both the employer and the job applicant as they develop plans and strategies for participation in the local and regional labor market. For more information on previous WFI reports, please visit http://aimforbrilliance.org/workforce-index,http://business.creighton.edu/economicoutlook, or dol.nebraska.gov.

About AIM
AIM is a not-for-profit community organization that promotes technology to empower people, enhance organizations, and create brilliant communities. AIM's signature services include : Careerlink - the region's leading career development website, Infotec - the Midwest's premier business and IT conference, and Hatchfund - a crowdfunding source for artists. For more information about our services - training, youth programs, research and more - visit www.aimforbrilliance.org.
22 Oct 2015

Fall Rock Show

By Kellie Moore
Oct 31 and Nov 1:  Black Hawk Gem and Mineral Club fall Rock, Gem and Jewelry Show, Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, 2815 W Locust St., Davenport.  Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sun. 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.  The show will feature rocks, minerals, fossils, agates, geodes, tumbled stones, carved stones, beads, silver and beaded jewelry, spheres, arrowheads and much more. There will be demonstrations on Flint Knapping. Learn to make arrowheads. Crack Geodes. Admission is $1 for adults, Kids 12 and under are free. For information call (563) 445-3034
22 Oct 2015

"Salva una Mujer Mas" Save One More Woman

By Rick Martin

Featuring Dr. Colette Hostetler

MUSCATINE, IA - NOVEMBER  2015 -Gilda's Club is hosting its Hispanic Breast Cancer Awareness Luncheon entitled "Salva Una Mujer Mas" or "Save One More Woman" on Saturday, November 14, 2015 at noon at Flickinger Learning Center.

The luncheon will provide educational information on breast health, screening and care. Attendees will be presented with screening guidelines, breast self-awareness and available resources to make their screenings more affordable.

Presenters include :

  • Dr. Colette Hostetler

  • Maria Ricaurte- Romza, MSW, Gilda's Club

  • Helen Bolton, Flickinger Learning Center

Also in attendance will be representatives with: Care for Yourself, The Voucher Program, Pink Pass and Komen Quad Cities.

For more details and to register, please call Gilda's Club at 563-326-7504 or email kelly@gildasclubqc.org.

Para obtener una reservacion por favor habla a: Maria Ricaurte-Romza, Gilda's Club 563-607-1951

CUIDADO DE NIÑOS PROPOCIONADO

About Gilda's Club

Free of charge, Gilda's Club Quad Cities provides support, education and hope to all people affected by cancer.  As a Cancer Support Community affiliate, we are part of the largest employer of psychosocial oncology mental health professionals in the United States.  Our global network brings the highest quality cancer support to the millions of people touched by cancer.


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22 Oct 2015

Loebsack, Biofuels Caucus: Without Significant Changes, RFS will be Further Hamstrung

By Vonnie Hampel

Final EPA rule on RFS expected early next month

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack, along with 16 members of the bipartisan Biofuels Caucus, today called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make significant changes to the proposed renewable fuels volume obligations (RVOs) for the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). The group called on the EPA to use criteria for determining domestic biofuel volumes that are found in statute and follow Congress's intent. Loebsack, a co-chair of the Biofuels Caucus, has helped lead the fight to ensure the RFS is strong and highlight its importance to Iowa.

"It would be a thumb in the eye to Iowa's farmers if the EPA continues to ignore federal statute and sides with Big Oil over rural communities," said Loebsack. "EPA's low blending volumes do not help to advance an industry that was created to become a fuel source of the future. In fact, if the EPA does not act as Congress has intended, it will further harm the advances the homegrown fuels industry has already made. Significant changes to the proposed rule must be made in order to for biofuels to continue creating American jobs, supporting agricultural communities, saving taxpayers hard-earned dollars and reducing dependence on overseas oil."

A copy of the letter from members of the Biofuels Caucus to the EPA can be found here.

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22 Oct 2015

QCSportsNet.com is road-tripping to Michigan with the Rocks!

By Ken Jacoby
For Rocky fans who just can't see making the four-hour-plus trip to St. Joseph, Michigan, for the regular season

football finale, QCSportsNet.com is pleased to announce plans to bring exclusive live play-by-play of the game

this Friday night! The kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m., Central time. Rock Island High School Football on

QCSportsNet.com is presented by Chris Elsberg State Farm Insurance.

With the game being played so far away, fans will be tuning in live via their computers and mobile devices, to

find out if Rock Island (5-3), the Western Big 6 conference champions, can go into the playoffs on a four-game

winning streak. The Rocks' opponents, the Ypsilanti (Mich.) Grizzlies, have a 4-4 record, but finished tied for

their conference championship at 4-1. The game site, St. Joseph, is in southwest Michigan, 159 miles west of

Ypsilanti on the Lake Michigan shoreline. That makes this a neutral site game, despite the 243-mile trip

through suburban Chicago traffic for the Rocks.

Games can be accessed via any desktop, laptop, or mobile device with Internet capability, by going to

QCSportsNet.com, which will contain preview information and a link to the live stream. Or, fans can directly

access the live stream by going to network1sports.com/station/qcsportsnet.

Michigan State University women's basketball/volleyball radio play-by-play announcer Keaton Gillogly will call

the action of Rocky vs. Ypsilanti this Friday night. Gillogly is also the play-by-play announcer for the Class A

Modesto (Calif.) Nuts minor league baseball team. He was formerly in the Midwest League, which includes

the Quad City River Bandits, as an announcer for the Kane County Cougars (2013) and Lansing Lugnuts (2012).

QCSportsNet.com, the Quad Cities' premier producer of live high school sports, will carry all Rock Island

football playoff games. In addition to Chris Elsberg State Farm Insurance, sponsors of Rock Island Rocks

Football are Crawford Company, American Family Insurance - Michael Orth Agency, Wheelan-Pressly Funeral

Homes, Comedy Sportz, Blackhawk Bank and Trust, Hungry Hobo, and Spellbound New Age & Gift Shop.

QCSportsNet.com will soon announce plans for live high school basketball during the 2015-16 season.

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22 Oct 2015

STATEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL LORETTA E. LYNCH ON DEPARTURE OF NICK KLINEFELDT AS U.S. ATTORNEY OF THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA

By Kevin E. VanderSchel

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch released the following statement on the departure of U.S. Attorney Nick Klinefeldt of the Southern District of Iowa:

"For the last six years, United States Attorney Nick Klinefeldt has rendered exemplary service to the people of Iowa's Southern District and to the nation as a whole," said Attorney General Lynch.  "From our earliest days together as U.S. Attorneys, Nick has approached his responsibilities with unwavering devotion, unassailable integrity and consummate skill.  He has been a courageous leader in criminal justice reform, an innovative pioneer in the reduction of mandatory minimum sentencing, and a vital ally and wise counselor in his work on the Attorney General's Advisory Committee.  In all his efforts, through his hard work and commitment on behalf of his constituents, Nick has materially advanced the cause of justice.  I thank him for his outstanding service, and I look forward to all that he will achieve in the years to come."

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22 Oct 2015

U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt To Step Down

By Kevin E. VanderSchel

DES MOINES, IA–Nicholas A. Klinefeldt announced today that he will step

down as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, effective November

15, 2015. After leaving office, Mr. Klinefeldt will become a partner in the Des Moines

office of an international law firm.

"Serving as United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa has been the

greatest honor and privilege of my career," United States Attorney Klinefeldt said today.

"I am grateful for the trust placed in me by President Obama and appreciate the

opportunity I have had to work with Attorneys General Holder and Lynch and the other

dedicated professionals across the Department of Justice. I have been inspired by the

ongoing commitment to justice displayed by the lawyers and staff in the Southern District

of Iowa. They work hard every day to protect the communities across Iowa, and

vigorously represent the United States."

On September 25, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Mr. Klinefeldt to be

the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. The United States Senate

unanimously confirmed his nomination on November 21, 2009, and he was sworn into

office on November 25, 2009. Prior to his appointment as United States Attorney, Mr.

Klinefeldt practiced white collar criminal defense in Boston, Massachusetts, and then

both civil and criminal law in Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Klinefeldt received his B.A. with

honors and his J.D. with distinction from the University of Iowa. He clerked for U.S.

District Court Judge Robert W. Pratt of the Southern District of Iowa and Chief Justice

Christopher J. Armstrong and Justice Benjamin Kaplan of the Massachusetts Appeals

Court.

As United States Attorney, Mr. Klinefeldt has been a member of the Attorney

General's Advisory Subcommittee on White Collar Crime and co-chair of the Attorney

General's Advisory Subcommittee on Criminal Practice. As co-chair of the

Subcommittee on Criminal Practice, United States Attorney Klinefeldt worked with other

leaders in the Department of Justice, on a national basis, to update and expand discovery

policies to ensure defendants receive all of the information they need to adequately

defend themselves, and revamp sentencing practices to ensure the end result of a

prosecution is fair.

Locally, United States Attorney Klinefeldt developed a comprehensive discovery

policy for the Southern District of Iowa that ensures criminal defendants receive even

more information about the case against them than is required by the rules and that they

receive it quickly. This policy included the development of a Stipulated Discovery and

Protective Order that is now universally used in all criminal cases across the district.

United States Attorney Klinefeldt also changed the way the office utilized mandatory

minimum sentences, to ensure that they were only used when absolutely necessary.

As United States Attorney, Mr. Klinefeldt has served as the chief federal law

enforcement officer for the Southern District of Iowa. He has taken great pride in the

relationships he and the office have developed with their federal, state, and local law

enforcement partners. United States Attorney Klinefeldt emphasized and expanded white

collar crime enforcement in the Southern District of Iowa. Under United States Attorney

Klinefeldt's leadership, the office also brought two major civil rights cases against Des

Moines Police Officers for excessive force.

Mr. Klinefeldt's leadership of the United States Attorney's Office included not

only being extensively involved in each of the cases brought by his office, but also

personally handling and trying to juries several prosecutions himself.

The Southern District of Iowa covers 47 of Iowa's 99 counties, and includes

Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Ames, Iowa City, Davenport, and Burlington. The United

States Attorney's Office, with staffed offices in Council Bluffs, Des Moines, and

Davenport, has 26 Assistant United States Attorneys and is responsible for conducting all

criminal and civil litigation in the district involving the United States government.

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22 Oct 2015

Smiddy Sponsors Legislation Aimed at Dispersing Promised State Dollars to Local Communities

By Paul Ferrero
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - To help offset the damage of the state's budget crisis, state Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, is sponsoring legislation to release state funds to local cities and prevent those communities from cutting critical services and raising property taxes.
"Local villages, cities and townships have many responsibilities to their residents, and they rely on state dollars when they budget every year," Smiddy said. "Residents in our communities need access to life-saving 911 services and proper maintenance of our infrastructure, and local governments don't have to wait for an end to the budget crisis for the support they were promised."
Smiddy is sponsoring House Bill 4305, which pays local communities their share of funds the state collects from its tax on motor fuels and gambling. These dollars are used by local governments to maintain roads, ensure public safety and emergency services are maintained and provide critical aid to the elderly. Illinois continues to collect money on these items, but Governor Rauner vetoed the state's budget that would have distributed these important dollars. Many communities are considering raising property taxes to offset the damage caused by Illinois' failure support local governments. Instead, this Smiddy backed legislation would release these critical dollars to local governments immediately.
"The residents in our communities already pay too much in taxes on their homes, and there is no reason they should be asked to shoulder a larger burden when the state has this money ready to spend right now," Smiddy said. "Illinois made a commitment to residents and their communities, and these funds should not be ransomed during the ongoing budget debate and give them the tools they rely on to serve their residents."
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22 Oct 2015

Retired minister offers glimpse into the libraries of 13 U.S. presidents

By Randy Stalsberg

Author Leonard V. Kalkwarf shares his experience visiting the official libraries of former presidents

SPRINGFIELD, Va. - Author Leonard V. Kalkwarf shares the joy and passion he experienced visiting the 13 official presidential libraries in "Exploring the Libraries of the U.S. Presidents" (published by WestBow Press).

Kalkwarf states, "There are 13 official libraries of our US presidents and each one has a museum attached to it.  These, through posters, newspaper clippings, displays, relate the story of that particular presidency." These museums also include interesting information about their lives, for example, the museum and library of Abraham Lincoln in Illinois contains a replica of his boyhood cabin, which is smaller than most modern efficiency apartments.

Kalkwarf shares that people can learn a lot about U.S. history by visiting these libraries and museums. People can also learn a lot about the former presidents themselves by visiting the libraries and museums. He hopes to share his passion and enjoyment with readers. Lovers of U.S. history and the history of the presidents can take an in depth look into the libraries of presidents with this book.

"Exploring the Libraries of the U.S. Presidents"

By Leonard V. Kalkwarf

Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 126 pages | ISBN 9781512711226

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 126 pages | ISBN 9781512711219

E-Book | 126 pages | ISBN 9781512711202

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Leonard V. Kalkwarf began his hobby of studying presidential history seriously when he retired. Since 2006, he and his wife, Beverly, have visited all 13 presidential libraries and have also visited historical sites associated with each of the former 43 U.S. presidents. Since January 2010, he has been a White House volunteer in the Presidential Correspondence Department. This is the sixth book that he has written.

22 Oct 2015

QCWE announces 2015-2016 Season and Fall Concert

By Quad City Wind Ensemble

The 30th season of the Quad City Wind Ensemble kicks off Sunday, October 25th at 3:00pm.  Conducted by Brian L. Hughes, the Fall Concert: Inspirations focuses on many varied inspirations of music and its impact on the creator and the listener. The program will include music by Aaron Copland, Robert Jager, John Philip Sousa, Francis McBeth, and Satoshi Yagisawa.  The concert will immediately be followed by a reception with free refreshments and homemade treats. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and FREE for all students through 12th grade.

The 2015-2016 season will also include Holiday (December 13), Winter (February 28, 2016), and Spring (May 1, 2016) concerts, in addition to the Young Performers Competition in March 2016.  All concerts will take place in the Galvin Fine Arts Center, 518 W. Locust St, Davenport, on the St. Ambrose University campus. Dates and times, can be found at www.qcwindensemble.org.

The QCWE was founded in 1987 by Dr. Charles B. DCamp of St. Ambrose University, and has become one of the finest adult bands in the nation. In 2012 the QCWE was the Community Division winner of The American Prize in Band/Wind Ensemble Performance.  For additional information, please visit www.qcwindensemble.org, or http://www.facebook.com/qcwindensemble.  Please contact Tyné Rieck, QCWE Public Relations at info@qcwindensemble.org for further information about the Quad City Wind Ensemble.

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