Growing Along the River - Focus on Fall Gardening Conference benefits all gardeners, both novice and seasoned, with an opportunity to learn, mingle, and share ideas on all aspects of gardening in the Quad-Cities. This year's conference will be held Saturday, October 3, 2015 at Scott Community College, 500 Belmont Road, Bettendorf, Iowa from 8:00am-4:00pm.

Keynote speakers are Jason Delaney and Laura Christensen. Jason is the Bulbs Collection Specialist at the Missouri Botanical Garden and will speak on "Success with Bulbs in Midwest Gardens." Laura is a landscape architect and owns her own business, Design with Nature, in Wheaton, Illinois and will be presenting "A Landscape Love Affair: A 25-Year Relationship with My Garden."

In addition to the keynote speakers, four breakout sessions will be offered with participants choosing from 20 additional gardening topics presented by Iowa State University (ISU) professors, horticulturalists, and local experts. The cost is $40 and includes lunch.

The conference is presented by ISU Scott County Extension Master Gardeners. Complete conference information is online at www.eicc.edu/focusonfall and search course #159012. You can also find us on Facebook at ISU Scott County Extension and Outreach and on the web at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/scott or call 563-359-7577 for more information.

Henríquez will speak about the concept of identity and address common narratives about immigration as she gives the Luther College Opening Convocation Lecture "Finding Ourselves in Stories," Thursday, Sept. 3. Convocation begins at 9:40 a.m. in the Center for Faith and Life Main Hall on the Luther campus and is open to the public with no charge for admission.

"The Book of Unknown Americans" is a New York Times Notable Book of 2014 and appears on many other Best of 2014 book lists. Henríquez's lecture is sponsored by Luther College's Paideia program, which chose her book as this year's all-campus summer reading. Offering a new definition of what it means to be American, the book tells stories of men and women who have come to the United States from Central and South America.

Henríquez' inspiration came in part from her father's tale of immigrating from Panama as well as stories of others living in Delaware, where she grew up. The Washington Post's review called the book, "Vivid... Striking... A ringing paean to live in general: to the love between man and wife, parent and child, outsider and newcomer, pilgrims and promised land."

Henríquez has said that her book relates stories that people might not otherwise hear in hopes that more people will feel comfortable sharing their immigration stories. To further this dream, she has created a webpage at unknownamericans.tumblr.com, which shares stories posted using the hashtag #UnknownAmerican.

In addition to "The Book of Unknown Americans," Henríquez is the author of "Come Together, Fall Apart," a collection of stories about family bonds and generational conflicts in Panama, and "The World in Half," a novel telling the story of Miraflores piecing together life after finding a father she never knew.

Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The American Scholar and The Atlantic, and she has been a guest on National Public Radio. She earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Henríquez teaches at Northwestern University.

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Ferrell and Deetz lead Quad Cities to first doubleheader sweep since July 6, 2014

DAVENPORT, Iowa (August 20, 2015) - Justin Ferrell pitched six shutout innings in the first game of the double header, allowing four hits and striking out six with one walk, and Dean Deetz followed with five solid innings in the second game, allowing one run on four hits with five strikeouts and two walks, as the Quad Cities River Bandits swept a doubleheader from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers by scores of 3-2 and 8-1 in a pair of seven-inning games in front of 2,562 at Modern Woodmen Park Wednesday night.

Ferrell (4-2) was sharp early in the first game, striking out five batters in the first three innings. Of the four hits he allowed, all came in different innings, and the first three came in innings with the bases empty and two outs.

Quad Cities (32-19 second half, 77-42 overall) scored right away against Angel Ventura (6-6), rallying for runs in both the first and second innings. With two away and nobody on base in the first, third baseman Nick Tanielu singled on an 0-2 pitch, keeping the inning alive for center fielder Ramon Laureano, who drew a walk. Second baseman Jose Fernandez followed by drawing a free pass as well, and the rally culminated with the third straight base on balls, issued to designated hitter Bryan Muniz, bringing Tanielu in to score.

A run in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Laureano gave the Bandits a third run, one that proved to be valuable when the Timber Rattlers (17-33, 40-80) came to hit in the seventh, and final scheduled, inning against Angel Heredia. Right fielder Elvis Rubio singled, followed by a strikeout of left fielder Mitch Meyer. A one-out double by catcher Natanael Mejia advanced Rubio to third. Center fielder Omar Cotto struck out, and first baseman Alan Sharkey drove in both runners with a base hit, narrowing the gap to just one run. Heredia then got shortstop Blake Allemand to ground out to end the game, leaving the tying run on base for Heredia's team-high eighth save.

In the second game, Wisconsin got out to the early lead, scoring a run in the top of the first against Deetz (2-1). Alleman singled with one out and advanced to third on a groundout by third baseman Sthervin Matos. With two outs, designated hitter Tucker Neuhaus doubled down the right-field line, scoring Allemand and giving the Timber Rattlers their first lead of the doubleheader.

In the bottom of the first inning, however, the River Bandits struck back with three runs of their own against Kodi Medeiros (4-3). Left fielder Drew Ferguson led off the inning with a double. After Tanielu struck out, Laureano walked and Muniz was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Fernandez, who drew a bases-loaded walk - the second of the night for Quad Cities - to tie the game, 1-1. Right fielder Ryan Bottger followed with a fly ball to right field, deep enough to score Laureano and the River Bandits the 2-1 lead. Medeiros' second wild pitch of the inning scored Muniz to make it 3-1, more than enough of a lead for the rest of the night.

The River Bandits added a single run in the third inning and three in the fourth on a bases-clearing double by Muniz, busting the game wide open and vaulting Quad Cities to a 7-1 lead.

The sweep of Wisconsin in the doubleheader is the first for the River Bandits since July 6, 2014, when Quad Cities also swept the Timber Rattlers at Modern Woodmen Park. In its first seven doubleheaders since that date, the River Bandits had split six and lost one.

SPRINGFIELD - Governor Bruce Rauner has issued the following statement on the Senate's decision to override his veto of SB 1229:

"Every Senator who voted to overturn our veto chose special interests over the taxpayers. They made it abundantly clear that they'd rather raise taxes than stand up to the politically powerful. It is now up to House members to take the responsible, pro-taxpayer position and uphold our veto."