Rock Island, IL: Baseball. Soccer. Hockey. Bowling. Rowing. People around the country are drawn to compete in these sports and more. Still more gather on the sidelines to cheer for their favorite athletes and teams. Nowhere do Americans more closely connect to sports than in their hometowns. The Rock Island Public Library, in cooperation with the Illinois Humanities Council, will celebrate this connection as it hosts "Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America," a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program. "Hometown Teams" will be on view  Saturday, Sept. 13 to Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014 at the Rock Island Library's Main Branch, 401 19th Street, Rock Island.

Rock Island Library and the surrounding community have been expressly chosen by the Illinois Humanities Council to host "Hometown Teams" as part of the Museum on Main Street program?a national/state/local partnership to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations. The exhibition's Illinois tour, encompassing six communities, began March 1 and will continue through December 14. The exhibit's final Illinois stop after Rock Island is with the Friends of Hancock County, Carthage, IL, from Nov. 1 to Dec. 14. A short video about the exhibition can be viewed at http://s.si.edu/1bSRDZd.

"Hometown Teams" will capture the stories that unfold on the neighborhood fields and courts, and the underdog heroics, larger-than-life legends, fierce rivalries and gut-wrenching defeats. For more than 100 years, sports have reflected the trials and triumphs of the American experience and helped shape the national character. Whether it is professional sports or those played on the collegiate or scholastic level, amateur sports or sports played by kids on the local playground, sports are everywhere in America.

"We are very pleased to be able to bring 'Hometown Teams' to our area," said Lisa Lockheart, Rock Island Library spokesperson. "It allows us the opportunity to explore this fascinating aspect of our own region's sports history, including the role we played in the very beginnings of national sports franchises. We hope that it will inspire many to become even more involved in the cultural life of our community."

"Allowing all of our state's residents to have access to the cultural resources of our nation's premiere museum is a priority of the Illinois Humanities Council," said Matt Meachum, IHC program coordinator for access. "With this special tour, we are pleased to be working with Rock Island Library to help develop local exhibitions and public programs to compliment the Smithsonian exhibition. We've been fascinated to learn about the important developments in sports history that have happened in the Quad Cities, and it's a privilege to collaborate with the library's staff and volunteers."

To officially open the exhibit on Saturday, Sept. 13, the Rock Island Library will offer a celebration of high school sports, featuring an official tape break with area high school athletes, pep bands, and a hot dog "tailgate" celebration in the library's parking lot off 20th Street. The 11:00 amto 1:00 pm opening celebration also includes an 11:00 am baseball story time in the Main Library Children's Room with Rascal the River Bandit. The opening ceremony is free and open to the public.

Other free events include programs at the Rock Island Main Library on the Rock Island Independents NFL and the Tri-Cities Blackhawks NBA teams, a guided tour of historic stadiums, history presentations on Quad City auto racing, women in baseball, professional baseball, and a panel discussion on advances of women in local sports following the advent of Title IX. In a special program, the library will bring in author Neal Rozendaal to speak on the pioneering role of NFL star Frederick "Duke" Slater. The Clinton, Iowa,resident and University of Iowa graduate played for the Rock Island Independents in 1922, making him the first black lineman of the NFL. Slater enjoyed a stellar career both in football, and in later life as a Chicago judge.

Rock Island Library is also partnering with other cultural organizations during the six-week run of Hometown Teams. Moline Public Library will offer a display and program on the rise of professional golf in the Quad Cities, while Karpeles Manuscript Museum and the Rock Island County Historical Society will offer displays on professional baseball. Evenings at Butterworth, a program of the William Butterworth Memorial Trust, is also dedicating its fall series to Hometown Teams. Programs include women in boxing, the Turners Society physical training movement, and a look at sports in art.

Museum on Main Street invites the public to share their local sports stories through the "Stories from Main Street" website at www.storiesfrommainstreet.org, or through the free mobile app available from the Mac App Store or the Google Play Store. Both platforms record and map the location reflected in the submission and will accept written and audio stories as well as videos and photos. Selected submitted stories to "Stories from Main Street" will be featured on the website and app. The archived stories will serve as a searchable record of the unique experiences of life in American small towns. Each story can be searched via location or by topic.

"Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America" is part of Museum on Main Street, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils across the nation, and local host institutions. To learn more about Museum on Main Street exhibitions, visit www.museumonmainstreet.org.

Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress. Local sponsors include the Illinois Humanities Council, Modern Woodmen of America,  Rock Island Public Library Foundation, and Sedona Staffing, along with media sponsorships from WHBF TV/CBS 4, Townsquare Media  (ESPN Quad Cities 93.5, The HAWK 104.9, 97X WXLP, and B100 ), Mickle Communications, The Dispatch/Rock Island Argus and the River Cities Reader. In kind support has been received from Bill's Moving and Storage, Victory Enterprises, and Midwest Graphics Management.

SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than 60 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science, and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. For exhibition description and tour schedules, visit www.sites.si.edu.

# # #

Exhibit Venue: Rock Island Main Library: 401 19th Street, Rock Island, IL 61201, 309-732-READ (7323), www.rockislandlibrary.org. Second- floor exhibit space open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm daily, during all scheduled library programs, and by arrangement with first floor service desk at other times. Exhibits close one-half hour before library closing. General library hours of operation are Monday-Thursday, 9:00 am to 8:00 pm, Friday and Saturday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The library is closed on Sundays.

About Rock Island Public Library: Founded in 1872, the Rock Island Public Library serves the area through three locations, which include the Rock Island Main, 30/31 and Southwest Branches, community outreach efforts, and online opportunities that provide resources to enhance personal achievement and stimulate the imagination.

Law Requires Illinois High Schools to Train Athletic Directors and Coaches on Concussion Reduction

OAK PARK - Governor Pat Quinn today signed legislation to help reduce and prevent concussions among high school athletes. The law requires training on concussion awareness and reduction for high school athletic directors and coaches. Today's action is part of Governor Quinn's agenda to protect and improve the health of the people of Illinois.

"Sports play a big role in the lives of many young people across our state," Governor Quinn said. "While we want to ensure all children have the opportunity to play sports, we must also protect the health of our young athletes from potentially life-changing damage. This new law will help ensure that coaches will be better prepared to address and prevent concussions among their student athletes."

House Bill 5431, sponsored by State Representative Carol Sente (D-Lincolnshire) and State Senator Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge), requires the Illinois High School Association to develop and implement an online training program on concussion awareness and reduction for all coaching personnel and athletic directors. The legislation was written in response to recent increases in concussions among adolescents, especially student athletes.

"We appreciate the confidence Governor Quinn and Representative Sente placed in the IHSA to work with respected medical professionals to develop and administer a top-tier program," IHSA executive Director Marty Hickman said. "Risk minimization for student-athletes, especially as it relates to concussions, will continue to be a top priority for the IHSA."

The online training will focus on concussion recognition and prevention, what to do when a player may have a concussion and education on the long-term effects of repetitive head trauma. Completion of the training and certification will be mandatory for all high school coaching staff.  Student athletes will also receive concussion awareness education.  The law goes into effect immediately.

"Today, we know more about the negative impact concussions have on student athletes than ever before," Senator Kotowski said. "We have to ensure that coaches are informed about the consequences of traumatic head injuries and take steps to reduce their frequency and keep our kids safe."

According to the Centers for Disease Control, a concussion can result from a blow to the head or body which causes the head to move violently. It can affect the athlete mentally or physically, causing light and noise sensitivity, concentration problems or confusion, balance problems and other symptoms. It is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI). For more information on recognizing a concussion, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/sports/recognize.html.

Governor Quinn is committed to protecting and improving the health of young people in Illinois schools.  Earlier this month the Governor signed legislation strengthening the Young Adult Heroin Use Task Force originally created by the Governor and the General Assembly in 2013 to address the growing problem of heroin use in Illinois High Schools.

This year the Governor signed legislation allowing trained school personnel to administer potentially life-saving epinephrine injections to help against serious allergic reactions. In June he signed a law that requires CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) training for students in all Illinois high schools.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2014 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service today announced funding for seven international projects through the 2014 Food for Progress Program. In total, more than 1.6 million people will directly benefit from the program this year.

The Food for Progress Program is an important tool in the effort to support sustainable agricultural production in developing nations and promote agricultural trade. The program helps countries increase the value and output of their agricultural economy and build agricultural trade capacity. U.S. agricultural commodities donated to recipient countries through Food for Progress are sold on the local market and the proceeds are used to support agricultural, economic or infrastructure development programs.

Projects funded in fiscal year 2014 will address a wide range of issues, including: the mitigation of crop disease, capacity building to develop national agricultural extension programs and farmer cooperatives, improvement of seed varieties and crop diversification. Commodities USDA is providing this year include dehydrated potato flakes, corn, soybean oil, soybean meal, vegetable oil and wheat.

Examples of this year's Food for Progress efforts include :

USDA will be working with the National Cooperative Business Association to improve El Salvador's coffee sector. Lending to agricultural producers, processors and other actors will be expanded and private-public partnerships will be leveraged to improve marketing and production infrastructure for this important crop. El Salvador's coffee crop has been affected by coffee rust, which threatens to destroy plants, reduce outputs and destabilize coffee prices world-wide.

In Nicaragua, USDA will work with Catholic Relief Services, government ministries and the local university to improve the cacao agroforestry and livestock sectors in the impoverished eastern coast of the country. This project will help small producers not only achieve higher productivity but will also work within the value chain of production, institute processes for quality control and thus expand producers' market reach.

USDA's food aid programs contribute to the goals of President Obama's global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future. Feed the Future is part of a multilateral effort launched at the L'Aquila World Summit on Food Security in 2009 to accelerate progress toward the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and suffering from hunger by 2015. More information on Feed the Future can be found at www.feedthefuture.gov. USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service administers the Food for Progress program.

Food for Progress Program: Fiscal Year 2014 Allocations

*East Africa Regional: Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi

Visit www.fas.usda.gov/programs/food-progress for more information.

#

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).