ROCK ISLAND- Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White stopped by Rock Island to endorse Mike Jacobs' (D-Moline) campaign for State Senate of the 36th Senate District.

"Our state is better served when more people participate in our democracy. Mike Jacobs continues to be an advocate for every resident of his district- regardless of their race or socioeconomic background," said White.  "Mike has worked hard to protect everyone's right to vote and I know with Mike in the Senate, we will have an ally who will continue to work in our best interests."

White has continued to be a champion of promoting transparency in government.  Over the years, he has passed a series of reforms to ensure government is working for the citizens of Illinois.

To make voting more accessible to the residents of Illinois, White has spearheaded a number of initiatives to make voting safer and easier this election.

"I urge everyone to take the time to vote- either early vote or on Election Day. I believe that if you don't vote, you lose your right to complain about anything in society," said White. "The streets that you walk on, the food that you buy, the schools that your children attend, someone in our government has had something to say about all those issues. "

Campus-Style Community Designed to Serve Veterans with Families Now Open in Chicago

CHICAGO - Governor Pat Quinn today announced the opening of Hope Manor II, one of the first large-scale housing developments in the nation designed to address the needs of female veterans and veterans with families at risk of homelessness. The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) provided approximately $1 million in funding to finance the development located at 60th and Halsted streets in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood. Today's event is part of Governor Quinn's agenda to make Illinois the most veteran-friendly state in the nation.

"Hope Manor II is not only about housing, it is about helping our veterans get a job, keep a job and provide for their families," Governor Quinn said. "We have a duty on the homefront to take care of our heroes and protect those who protected us especially when it comes to jobs, education and housing. For all they have sacrificed in the name of freedom, Hope Manor II will give our servicemembers the comforts and safety of home they deserve."

Developed by the Volunteers of America of Illinois (VOA), Hope Manor II is designed for veterans and their children. It will be home to more than 100 Illinois heroes and family members who were previously homeless or at risk of homelessness. The development will be an important part of the state's goal to help struggling veterans change and improve their lives over the long-term by promoting self-sufficiency, building new skills, creating strong support networks and integrating veterans more positively into community life.

Services at the campus include employment readiness classes, job training and coaching, computer training, peer support groups, recovery resources, individual and family counseling, mental health screening, emergency assistance for food and household items and case management support. Residents will also have access to the Volunteers of America of Illinois' True North Project which aids veterans who are struggling, in crisis or at risk of serious instability in their lives.

"This is a great day for our veterans, Chicago businesses and for Illinois," Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs Acting Director Rodrigo Garcia said. "We know that employment and stability for families is critical in helping veterans and those at-risk bridge from the military to a thriving civilian life. Hope Manor II will be a great base for our veterans to find great jobs here in Illinois and help businesses thrive."

The campus-style community features a mix of single-family town homes and apartments built around a park, all located on a three-acre site donated by the city of Chicago. In addition to state resources, the development also received a $1.9 million loan and a $3 million tax-increment financing grant from the city of Chicago. All 73 apartments will receive Project-Based Rental Assistance from the Chicago Housing Authority.

"We are excited to partner with the Volunteers of America of Illinois to provide the stability and support our veterans need to transition back into civilian life," IHDA Executive Director Mary R. Kenney said. "Our goal is to provide a comprehensive response to the unique challenges of today's veterans, delivering the tools they can use to change their lives over the long-term."

Women veterans and those with dependent children are the fastest growing demographic in the veteran community, often facing significant challenges as they transition to civilian life. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that approximately six to eight percent of all homeless veterans are women and as many as 175 female veterans, most with children, are homeless in Chicago each night. After IHDA provided federal stimulus funds and federal tax credit financing for Hope Manor I to provide housing and services to single veterans, a community to serve families was the next appropriate step.

Since Governor Quinn took office, Illinois has made it a priority to address the need for affordable housing and supportive services. He is the first Governor in Illinois history to dedicate state capital dollars to supportive housing, creating approximately 2,150 community-based supportive housing units since 2009. IHDA has financed 860 units of affordable housing either reserved or specifically targeted to veterans in that same timeframe.

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MOLINE, IL - A viewing event for an upcoming partial solar eclipse will be held from 4:30-6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23 on the northwest corner of the Western Illinois University-Quad Cities Library, 3300 River Drive, Moline, IL. 

The event is open free to the public. An observation area, with a telescope and viewing glasses, will be set up on the patio outside the library weather permitting, or inside the library to accommodate cooler temperatures.
"After last month's blood moon, when the earth blocked the sun's light, on Oct. 23 the moon is returning the favor and will partially block the sun's light from reaching earth. The solar telescope will also permit viewers to see sun spots and any coronal activity on the sun," according to WIU College of Arts and Sciences Assistant Dean James Rabchuk, who will be in attendance at the viewing to answer any questions.

The event is sponsored by the WIU-QC the Liberal Arts and Sciences Student Organization (LASSO). 

For more information, contact James Rabchuk at ja-rabchuk@wiu.edu.

Bat Boy the Musical opens at the QC Theatre Workshop this Friday, October 24.

The cult hit musical-comedy opens just in time for Halloween. It can be enjoyed at 1930 Wilkes Ave in Davenport

Click here to make your reservations!

Davenport, IA– On October 15th, The Amy Helpenstell Foundation presented River Bend Foodbank with a check for $15,000 to support the Backpack Program. This is the 4th year The Amy Helpenstell Foundation has awarded a grant to River Bend Foodbank.

Tom Laughlin, River Bend Foodbank Executive Director, said, "This is an incredible donation and insures that children will not go hungry on the weekends throughout the school year. We are so thankful for the continued support from The Amy Helpenstell Foundation."

The Backpack Program provides children at risk of hunger with nourishing food to take home on Fridays to get them through the weekend when programs like school breakfasts and lunches are not available.  The Backpack Program targets pre-school, elementary and middle school children who are at risk of chronic hunger.  These children are identified by name by their school staff.  Each child receives a weekly food pack on Fridays to put in their Backpacks and take home for the weekend.  The food is child friendly, easily consumed and vitamin fortified. The bags contain about eight items and include two "entrees" like stew or soup, two servings of fruit, cereal, milk, and juice. The Foodbank partners with the schools to select the children and distribute the food. Currently RBFB serves 47 schools and 1,700 of the neediest children in the Quad City Area.
New ad released as Braley campaigns across Iowa talking about his plans to strengthen Social Security, increase benefits, and call on millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share

Des Moines, IA - This election isn't about Bruce Braley or Joni Ernst, it's about who would be best for Iowa. That's why in a new 30-second ad, titled "Strong," released today, Bruce Braley tells Iowans about his plan to keep Social Security strong and increase benefits, strengthening the program and looking out for all Iowans instead of just the wealthiest few. Under Braley's plan, millionaires would pay Social Security taxes on all of their earned income, just like Iowa's middle class families.

In contrast, state Sen. Ernst's plans would privatize Social Security and put Iowans' guaranteed benefits at risk. At last night's debate, Joni Ernst refused to walk away from privatizing Social Security.

Watch "Strong" here:
Philanthropist Says Money CAN Buy Happiness - But Only When You Give It Away

Many Americans are choosing to hold onto their money these days, a lesson learned from the 2008-09 financial crash.

It's good to have savings - but not to the point of hoarding, says entrepreneur and philanthropist Tim McCarthy, author of "Empty Abundance," (mindfulgiving.org).

Americans are saving at a rate of 5.30 percent, well above the record low of 0.80 percent in 2005, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The world's billionaires are holding an average of $600 million each in cash, which is more than the gross domestic product of Dominica, according to the new Billionaire Census from Wealth-X and UBS. That's up from $60 million the previous year, signaling that the very wealthy are keeping their money on the sidelines and waiting for an optimal investment time.

"All of us could invest part of our 'fortune,' great or small, on something that gives back on a deeper human level, such as non-predatory loans to individuals from impoverished communities,"

McCarthy diverts all of his business profits annually to his foundation, The Business of Good, which invests in socially conscious businesses and scalable nonprofit concepts.

He reviews what everyone has to gain from mindful giving.

•  Money buys you happiness - up to $75,000 worth. Life satisfaction rises with income, but everyday happiness - another measure of well-being - changes little once a person earns $75,000 per year, according to a 2010 Princeton study. Another widely published survey by psychologist Roy Baumeister suggested that "happiness, or immediate fulfillment, is largely irrelevant to meaningfulness." In other words, so many who finally achieve financial excess are unfulfilled by the rewards that come with that.

•  Remember the wealth disconnection to overall fulfillment. A Gallup survey conducted in 132 countries found that people in wealthy countries rate themselves higher in happiness than those in poor countries. However, 95 percent of those surveyed in poverty-stricken countries such as Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan and Sierra Leone reported leading meaningful lives, while less than 60 percent reported the same in wealthier countries.

"While more investigation to wealth, happiness and well-being is certainly in order, I think it's clear that while money is important, it cannot buy purpose, significance or overall satisfaction," McCarthy says.

•  Giving money reliably equals happy money. Two behavioral scientists, Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, explore in their recent book, "Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending," what makes people engage in "prosocial behavior" - including charitable contributions, buying gifts and volunteering time. According to Dunn and Norton, recent research on happiness indicates that the most satisfying way of using money is to invest in others.

In 2010, multi-billionaires Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates co-founded The Giving Pledge, a long-term charitable effort that asks the wealthiest among us to commit to giving more than half of their fortunes to philanthropy. Among the first to join, Michael R. Bloomberg wrote in his pledge letter: "If you want to do something for your children and show how much you love them, the single best thing - by far - is to support organizations that will create a better world for them and their children."  To date, 115 of our country's 495 billionaires have pledged.

•  Anhedonia, amnesia and the fallacy of consumption. Anhedonia is the inability to enjoy activities that are typically found pleasurable.

"After making my wealth, I found that I suffered from anhedonia," McCarthy says. "Mindful giving - intelligent and conscious giving to those who need it - turned out to be my best therapy."

Everybody has experienced the limits of consumption, the economic law of diminishing returns. One cookie is nice and so, too, is your first $1 million. But at some point, your ability to enjoy eating cookies or earning millions diminishes more with each successive one.

"Everyone learns this lesson, yet the horror is that so many of us succeed in forgetting it," McCarthy says. "I think that, in every moment, we need to remind ourselves that continually reaching for the next 'cookie' is not in our best interest."

About Tim McCarthy

Tim McCarthy's first business, WorkPlace Media, eventually built a permissioned database of 700,000 gatekeepers who reach more than 70 million employees with incentives for clients such as Coca-Cola, Lenscrafters and McDonalds. He sold the company in 2007 and recently bought it back. In 2003, he partnered with his son, Tim Patrick McCarthy, to open Raising Cane's of Ohio, which had 13 stores with over $30 million in revenue in 2013. McCarthy, author of "Empty Abundance," (mindfulgiving.org), earned his bachelor's in political science and MBA from Ohio State University. In 2008, he received the Fisher Alumnae Community Service Award and was named an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Amana- Christopher Durang's new comedy, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, opens October 30 and runs through November 16 on the Old Creamery's Studio Stage, with shows on Thursdays and Sundays at 2:00 pm and on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm.

Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play, the master of contemporary absurd comedy tells the tale of comically dysfunctional siblings who wait....and wait, for something exciting to happen. Enter their movie star sister and her much younger boy toy, ready for a costume party that could change their lives forever.

The cast includes: Patrick du Laney, Natalie Schmit, Marquetta Senters, Hannah Spina, Nina Swanson, and Jim Vogt. The show is directed by Tim Butterfield who holds a B.A. in Theater from Brooklyn College, an M.F.A. in Directing from Yale's New School for Drama and works regularly as a director, writer, and fight choreographer. He has worked Off-Broadway, Off-off Broadway, and regionally.

Tickets are $28 for adults and $18.50 for students. Special $12 student rush tickets are available thirty minutes before performances. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is Rated Theatre R for strong language. Call the box office for tickets and information 319-622-6262 or visit us online at www.oldcreamery.com.

The Old Creamery Theatre is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1971 in Garrison, Iowa. In 2014, the company is celebrating 43 years of bringing live, professional theatre to the people of Iowa and the Midwest.

Staff Sgt. Maurice L. Fevold to be laid to rest Monday at Blossom Hill Cemetery in Badger, Iowa

 

(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry Branstad has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in Iowa from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, October 20, 2014, in honor of Staff Sgt. Maurice L. Fevold, formerly of Badger/Eagle Grove, Iowa.

The Governor's directive applies to all U.S. and state flags under the control of the state. H.R. 692, signed in 2007, requires federal government agencies in the state to comply with the Governor's Executive Order that the U.S. flag be flown at half-staff in the event of the death of a member of the Armed Forces.

Flags will be at half-staff on the State Capitol Building and on flag displays in the Capitol Complex, and upon all public buildings, grounds, and facilities throughout the state. Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly the flag at half-staff for the same length of time as a sign of respect.

Fevold, a 21-year old Badger/Eagle Grove, Iowa native was assigned to the 599th Bomber Squadron, 397th Bomber Group (Medium), U.S. Army Air Corps. On Dec. 23, 1944, the first day of aviation operations for the Battle of the Bulge, Fevold, along with five other crew members, took off from Saint Quentin, France onboard a B-26G Marauder bomber aircraft to attack an enemy-held railroad bridge in Eller, Germany. Their aircraft was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire near Seffern, Germany, which borders Belgium. A total of 10 U.S. aircraft were recorded as lost in the vicinity of Seffern during this specific mission.

Fevold, the aircraft's armorer-gunner, and the entire crew were officially declared deceased on Dec. 23, 1944, but their remains were never recovered. In November 2006, the Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command - Central Identification Laboratory (JPAC) received information of a possible aircraft crash site near Allmuthen, Belgium. In March 2007, a JPAC Investigation Team surveyed the purported crash site, where human remains and physical evidence were recovered in 2012 by JPAC personnel.

In 2014, JPAC's Research and Analysis Group concluded a historical association existed between the artifacts and human remains recovered at the Belgium excavation site and Missing Air Crew Report #11985 from World War II. Mitochondrial DNA testing positively identified the remains as belonging to Fevold and other crew members from the missing aircraft.

Maurice Fevold was born Feb. 21, 1923 near Badger, Iowa to John and Carrie (Thorson) Fevold. He grew up in the Badger/Eagle Grove, Iowa area and was a 1941 graduate of Eagle Grove High School.

Fevold enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 12, 1943, and transferred into the U.S. Army Air Corps in June 1943. Fevold attended armament training at Lowry Field, Colo., aerial training at Ft. Myers, Fla., and then B-26 flight training at Barksdale Field, La.  He left the U.S. for duty in the European theater in April 1944 and was assigned to the 599th Bomber Squadron, 397th Bomber Group, Medium, U.S. Army Air Corps.

His military awards and honors include the Purple Heart (posthumous), Air Medal (11 awards), Army Good Conduct Medal (posthumous), European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (with one silver service star), World War II Victory Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, and Enlisted Aircrew Member Wings.

He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Jeanette Prime. He is survived by great nephews and great nieces: William Bushman of Missouri; Robert Sweeney of Hawaii; Michael Sweeney of Washington; Vicki Riley of Iowa; and Shelly Everheart.

Visitation will be held on Sunday, Oct. 19 from 5-7 p.m. at Bruce Funeral Home, 923 1st Ave. South, Fort Dodge, Iowa. A memorial service will be held on Monday, Oct. 20 at 2 p.m. at Bruce Funeral Home, followed by interment at the Blossom Hill Cemetery, Badger, Iowa (located northeast of Badger on 110th St. and Racine Ave.), with full military honors provided by the Iowa National Guard. The public is welcome to attend the visitation, funeral, and graveside service.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the family in care of Bruce Funeral Home, 923 1st Ave. South, Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501. Contact the funeral home with any questions at 515-576-5117.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The goal is to raise awareness about the importance of early detection in treating breast cancer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women. The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that about 1 in 8 women born in the U.S. today will get breast cancer at some point. It is important that all women, especially those with a higher risk of breast cancer, get screened and know when to start getting mammograms.

Read the entire article: www.tricare.mil/EarlyDetection101714.

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