HILLSDALE, Ill. - State Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, visited the Rock River Gardens Nursing Home on June 15 as part of his effort to remain accessible to older adults and responsive to the needs of constituents with developmental disabilities.

"Spending time with seniors and those with disabilities is one of the most rewarding parts of my job as a public servant, and I'm committed to fighting for their needs as I represent this community in Springfield," Smiddy said. "I was happy to have a chance to visit with area residents with disabilities and understand their needs to more effectively fight for them in the Capitol." 

Smiddy met with residents and staff during the visit to discuss current events and suggestions for potential legislation to improve the state. Residents expressed concerns over Governor Rauner's proposed cuts to the state's Human Services budget and the impact of reductions in care. During the spring legislative session, Smiddy supported legislation requiring nursing homes and senior centers to allow residents to use an audio or video recording device to monitor for abuse. The bill passed both houses of the General Assembly with bipartisan support, and Smiddy hopes this will be another tool to make sure that those requiring care are as safe and comfortable as possible.

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Davenport, Iowa (June 19, 2015) - Building a Masterpiece, Celebrating 90 Years. The Figge Art Museum will celebrate the 10^th anniversary of its opening and the 90^th anniversary of the opening of its predecessor, the Davenport Municipal Art Gallery, on August 6, 2015. Anniversary events begin on Saturday, June 20 with the kickoff of free museum admission for all visitors. Thanks to the generous support of the Riverboat Development Authority everyone will have access to the museum free of charge until September 20, 2015.

During the three months of free admission, over 50 museum events are planned with the majority being free of charge. Events will include an opening reception and curator talk for American Moderns on Paper: Masterworks from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art on June 25; the Figge's  10^th Birthday Celebration on August 6, an all-day event filled with special activities, performances and art projects, a September 10 special evening with Figge Architect Sir David Chipperfield; and a number of artist talks, tours, opening receptions, curator talks, PechaKucha nights, the Figge's in-house outreach series, art films and more. For detailed descriptions and a complete list of events visit: www.figgeartmuseum.org.

For the first day of free admission on Saturday, the museum will hostI Heart Figge Family Day sponsored by MidAmerican Energy, Quad-City Times and Riverboat Development Authority with planned activities from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. inspired by the American Moderns on Paper: Masterworks from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art exhibition opening Saturday on the third and fourth floor galleries and the I Heart Figge exhibition currently on view in the Mary Waterman Gildehaus Community Gallery. Activities will include drawing, painting, creating storybooks, collage art and more.

Visitors and those passing by the museum Friday, June 19 - Sunday, June 21, will have the opportunity to view the Muscatine River Monster, an inflatable sculpture installation and interactive character, on the Bechtel Plaza in front of the museum. The monster will be up during business hours and all are invited to stop by and experience the sculpture first-hand.

"We are thrilled to partner with the Riverboat Development Authority to make world-class art available to everyone in the Quad Cities this summer, free of admission fees," said Executive Director Tim Schiffer. "We hope to see many new faces, along with our regular visitors who come for our programs and special events."

Exhibitions on view during the free admission period will include : American Moderns on Paper: Masterworks from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (through September 20), I Heart Figge (through September 13), Terry Rathje: Allinittogether (through September 1), The Model Museum (through September 20), Corn Zone (June 30-October 11) and A Gift for the Quad Cities: The Figge Art Museum 10^th Anniversary Exhibition (July 5-October 4, 2015).

The museum is also partnering with Live Uncommon, a nonprofit supporting community involvement and fitness, who will present a special summer series of family-friendly events on the Bechtel Plaza at the Figge. The first event in the series is The Figge 5Kickoff at 1 p.m. Saturday followed by live music until 4 p.m. Other events in the series will include dance, yoga, Zumba, 5ks, school yard workouts and more! The series will culminate with the Figge Finale 5k on September 5. For a complete list of Summer Series Uncommon on the Figge Plaza visit www.liveuncommon.org.

Visit the Figge this summer and take advantage of free admission and the free anniversary events so you can see for yourself how the museum is Building a Masterpiece, Celebrating 90 Years and bringing art and people together.

About the Muscatine River Monster 

A Story of Invention and Re-invention of America's Heartland. The Muscatine River Monster is an inflatable sculpture installation and interactive character. The purpose is help people think about the stories their communities are living - and to amaze and delight anyone who experiences it.  Through highlighting Muscatine's incredible and ongoing story of innovation, the "Legend of the Kraken" shows how cities across the Midwest can be great places for creative and enterprising people to build their dreams. The River Monster character interacts with fans through its social media channels.  The online voice of the River Monster is described as an "enthusiastic supporter of creative and innovative ideas." 

History of the Figge Art Museum

The museum first opened in October 1925 in the former Battery B Armory building on fifth Street in downtown Davenport, with a collection of 334 paintings donated by former mayor Charles August Ficke. In order to accept the gift, the city persuaded the State of Iowa to pass a law allowing it to open and maintain a municipal art gallery.

By the 1950s, the collection had grown through multiple gifts and purchases made possible by support groups such as the Friends of Art, and the armory building had begun to deteriorate. The City Park Commission approved the construction of a new museum campus on a 12-acre tract on West 12^th Street for the art museum and the Davenport Public Museum, now the Putnam Museum. The new gallery opened in May 1963. The museum was accredited by the American Association of Museums in 1983 and was later renamed the Davenport Museum of Art. As the collection and the museum's programs and events continued to expand, the building was no longer adequate. The City of Davenport granted permission ot the museum leadership to select a site in downtown Davenport.

An eight-member selection committee was formed to plan the new facility and choose a project architect and after an international competition with 54 prominent firms responding with materials about their prior work and profiles of their practices, British architect Sir David Chipperfield was awarded the contract for the design. The museum ceased to be a City entity, and transferred to nonprofit status, with the City of Davenport retaining ownership of its collection.

The 114,000 square-foot building was funded through lead gifts from the V.O. Figge and Elizabeth Kahl Figge Charitable Foundation, the Vision Iowa grant program, the City of Davenport, Scott County Iowa and gifts from other foundations, families, individuals, businesses and organizations. The total construction cost was $46 million. The U.S. architect of record was Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck of Des Moines, and the general contractor was Russell Pepper Construction.

About the Figge Art Museum

LINCOLN, NE (06/18/2015)(readMedia)-- The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has announced its Deans' List and Honor Roll for the spring semester of the 2014-15 academic year.

Qualification for the Deans' List varies among the eight undergraduate colleges and the Honor Roll for undeclared students. Listed below are the minimum requirements for each entity and the name of its respective dean or director. All qualifying grade-point averages are based on a four-point scale and a minimum of 12 or more graded semester hours. Students can be on the Deans' List for more than one college.

> College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, 3.75; Dean Steven F. Waller.

> College of Architecture, top 10 percent of the students in the college; Interim Dean Kim Wilson.

> College of Arts and Sciences, 3.7; Dean Joseph Francisco.

> College of Business Administration, 3.6; Dean Donde Plowman.

> College of Education and Human Sciences, 3.75; Dean Marjorie Kostelnik.

> College of Engineering, 3.5; Dean Tim Wei.

> College of Journalism and Mass Communications, 3.7; Dean Maria Marron.

> Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, 3.7; Dean Charles O'Connor.

> Honor Roll for undeclared students, 3.6; Director of Undergraduate Education Nancy Mitchell.

The following is a list of area Deans' List and Honor Roll students. Some international students are listed under their adopted hometowns in the United States.

Geneseo: Garrett Philip Donaldson , senior, Dean's List, College of Arts and Sciences, biochemistry.

Bettendorf: Anna Meilian Fobair , freshman, Dean's List, College of Journalism and Mass Communications, advertising and public relations/broadcasting.

Davenport: Samantha Walton Adrales , senior, Dean's List, College of Arts and Sciences, English.

Bipartisan Bill Will Improve Detection and Prevention of Waste, Fraud and Abuse

WASHINGTON - Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) was joined by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to introduce the Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act of 2015, legislation that targets waste, fraud and abuse through stronger oversight of federal agency travel and purchase cards spending.

This legislation would prevent charge card misuse and abuse by establishing an Office of Federal Charge Card Analytics and Review within the Government Services Administration (GSA) to continuously examine charge card purchases made across the federal government. The legislation would facilitate improved anti-fraud information sharing amongst federal agencies that use purchase and travel cards, in addition to requiring those agencies to share best-practices for detecting and preventing waste, fraud and abuse. The bipartisan bill would also encourage agencies to leverage purchasing power through strategic sourcing.

"Congress has a moral obligation to look into every nook and cranny of government spending and ensure our hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly and effectively. While federal agencies have made real progress in strengthening financial controls and preventing wasteful charge card spending, recent reports revealed that we can and should implement stronger and smarter steps to get better results in these efforts," said Sen. Carper. "This bipartisan bill will help prevent future abuse and misuse of government travel and purchase cards by making effective improvements in agency oversight and coordination. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress on this and other legislation to yield stronger stewardship of our taxpayer dollars across our federal agencies."

"This bill builds on my Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 by adding an additional layer of government-wide oversight to the work of individual agency inspectors general," said Sen. Grassley. "The recent Defense Department inspector general report, which was drafted in response to the 2012 law, highlighted some areas where the Defense Department was not properly implementing the required controls and flagged casinos as a high risk for misuse of charge cards. Our bill will make sure we're looking for similar patterns of misuse across all federal agencies and that agencies are sharing best practices to prevent misuse and identify potential cost savings."

"This legislation is as commonsense as they come: we have tools that can help prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of government-issued charge cards?we should be using them," said Sen. McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor. "My hope is that if federal agencies are all using the best tools available to safeguard taxpayer dollars, the public can rest a little easier and have a little more faith in government."

"The federal government collects huge amounts of data involving the flow of dollars, then rarely looks at it for obvious red flags and opportunities to save money," said Sen. Johnson. "Instructing the GSA to use better techniques to find waste and fraud in the billions of dollars of credit card transactions by federal bureaucrats is a small but important step in improving Washington's stewardship of taxpayers' money."

Last month, a Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Inspector General report detailed how some employees at the Department misused government-issued charge cards to gamble and pay for adult entertainment. This legislation aims to prevent charge card misuse and abuse by implementing more oversight controls for travel and purchase cards across federal agencies.