Quad-Cities-based Bucktown Revue to hold fundraising performance in Tipton

TIPTON, IOWA?The Davenport-based music and comedy variety show Bucktown Revue will bring its Travelin' Show to the Tipton stage on Friday, July 18, to benefit Tipton's Hardacre Theater Preservation Association (HTPA). The show is appropriate for all ages and will be held in the Tipton High School auditorium.

This is the third in a series of 2014 fundraising events presented by the HTPA, the nonprofit organization that purchased the theater in February with donor funds. The group is now raising money to renovate and update the theater. All proceeds from this event will benefit the theater's renovation.

"One of our biggest 2014 goals is to communicate our vision for the Hardacre Theater as a venue for all kinds of entertainment?not just movies," said Greg Brown, HTPA president. "The Bucktown Revue is just the kind of unique entertainment we want to bring to downtown Tipton. The Bucktown Revue has gained a huge following in the Quad-Cities as a one-of-a-kind live entertainment experience. We think audiences of all ages will love it."

The Bucktown Revue is an old-fashioned radio-style variety program, performed live in front of an audience. In the tradition of such radio programs as "A Prairie Home Companion" and the Grand Ole Opry, the family-friendly Bucktown Revue show celebrates Mississippi River Valley folk music and culture through a combination of music, storytelling, poetry and humor. Each show features a variety of regional musicians, with comic sketches and monologues, to offer an eclectic night of entertainment. The show is performed monthly at the Nighswander Junior Theater in Davenport.

The Bucktown Revue's Tipton show will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, July 18, at Tipton High School. Tickets are $12 each.

"It's always fun to take the Bucktown Revue on the road," said Michael Romkey, producer of the Bucktown Revue. "The show is very Midwestern in its approach and values. The entertainment is casual, down-home and delivered with a sense of humor. We're real fans of the Hardacre Theatre and delighted to be able to help the cause. The Hardacre is one of those wonderful old theaters?just a gem. We're happy to know an effort is being made to preserve it for other generations."

For more information about this event, go to the HTPA website at thehardacre.org. To find out more about the Bucktown Revue, go to bucktownrevue.com.

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CHICAGO - May 15, 2014. Whether it's eating healthy, getting active or quitting smoking, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon is encouraging women across Illinois to make their health a priority during National Women's Health Week.

"By making a couple of small lifestyle changes, women can greatly improve their health," said Simon. "Simple things like wearing a helmet while biking, getting more sleep or getting a breast cancer screening are easy ways to improve wellness. I hope women throughout the state will celebrate National Women's Health Week by making their health a priority."

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Women's Health Week is an observance with the goal of empowering women to make their health a priority. National Women's Health Week also serves as a time to help women understand what it means to be well. Simon will recognize the week at a Prentice Women's Hospital luncheon at noon on Thursday.

To promote wellness, the HHS Office on Women's Health recommends taking steps to improve physical and mental health by visiting health care professionals to receive regular checkups and preventative screenings, getting active and getting healthy. For more information helpful tips and statistics about women's health please visit http://www.womenshealth.gov/.

QC Students Divert Trash from Local Landfills, Create Work of Art for their School

Project Made Possible by Grant from Waste Commission of Scott County

Plastic bottle caps are one of the top 10 items found during marine debris clean-ups and are the second most littered item after cigarette butts. Thanks to a grant from the Waste Commission of Scott County, Rivermont Collegiate students in Bettendorf are doing something about that!

Rivermont students in Kindergarten through 12^th Grade, under the direction of Visual Art Teacher Colleen Tomlinson, have created a 6' x 8' Collaborative Bottle Cap Mural, which will be displayed at the school. Over 2,300 plastic caps were repurposed in the mural and diverted from local landfills!  The project was made possible by an educational grant from the Waste Commission of Scott County.

The collaborative project took place from August 2013 through April 2014. As the entire Rivermont Community (students, parents, faculty, and staff) collected plastic bottle caps (pop bottles, laundry detergent, yogurt cups, shampoo bottles, etc.) students saw firsthand how quickly small items of trash accumulate, even within a small school community. At the same time, students explored how artists use trash as a medium to encourage environmental awareness and change. From graphing the variety of bottle cap colors collected to studying contemporary artists who repurpose trash, the project not only spanned Kindergarten through 12^th Grade, but also across disciplines.

The mural theme was inspired by Regionalism and Midwest landscapes created by Grant Wood. It will be permanently displayed at Rivermont. In fact, students have enough leftover bottle caps that they have started a second mural!

For additional information, contact:  Brittany Marietta - Rivermont Collegiate - (563) 359-1366 ext. 308 or marietta@rvmt.org

Des Moines, May 15, 2014–The Iowa Supreme Court has approved more than $282,000 in grants to non-profit programs that provide legal assistance to low-income Iowans with civil legal problems. The court awarded grants to fifteen different organizations throughout Iowa. The grants are funded by the Interest on Lawyers' Trust Account (IOLTA) program. With this year's grants, the supreme court has awarded more than $24 million in IOLTA grants since the program began on July 1, 1985.

"These grants help low-income and elderly Iowans with serious civil problems have their day in court or obtain advice or the relief they need," Chief Justice Mark Cady said. "Many of these grants go to statewide projects, but others target specific communities from Sioux City to Davenport and from Mason City to Centerville. Without these grants, many Iowans would never find relief from domestic abuse, fraud and other injustices."

IOLTA grant funds are generated entirely from interest earned on certain pooled trust accounts held by Iowa lawyers. Lawyers practicing law in Iowa are required by court order to deposit clients' funds the lawyers hold in interest-bearing accounts. When the funds involved are so small in amount or held for such a brief period of time that it is not possible for the funds to economically benefit the individual client, court rules require that lawyers deposit the funds in pooled interest-bearing trust accounts.

The IOLTA program is managed by a seven-member commission that reviews grant applications and then makes award recommendations to the supreme court. In the 29-year history of the IOLTA program, the supreme court has awarded most of the grants to organizations that assist low-income Iowans with civil legal problems such as divorce, domestic abuse, unsafe housing, and illegal evictions. The court has also presented grants to law-related education projects. IOLTA grants do not support criminal legal defense.

The following grants will be awarded for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2014, and ending June 30, 2015:

Iowa Legal Aid (Des Moines)–$121,530.00

For legal staff in Iowa Legal Aid regional offices for an established program of civil case assistance to low-income Iowans (service area: statewide).

HELP Through Education and Law Program, Inc. (Davenport)–$21,090.00

For legal staff to offer civil legal assistance to indigent and elderly persons, particularly in the areas of domestic relations, community legal education, service to the institutionalized elderly and domestic abused, and administrative advocacy (service area: Scott and Clinton counties).

Muscatine Legal Services–$6,755.00

For legal staff to maintain an existing program of civil legal assistance to low-income residents (service area: Muscatine County).

Legal Aid Society of Story County (Nevada)–$8,270.00

For legal staff support to offset demand for legal assistance for low-income persons (service area: Story County).

Polk County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project (Des Moines)–$30,920.00

For staff for volunteer lawyer referral service in Polk County serving the low-income community (service area: Polk County),.

Sioux County Low Fee Panel, Sioux County Bar Association (Sioux Center)–$1,860.00

Funds civil legal assistance for economically disadvantaged individuals in the Sioux County area (service area: Sioux County).

The Iowa State Bar Association Public Service Project (Des Moines)–$31,330.00

For staff and technical support to increase the participation of attorneys in existing volunteer lawyer projects for indigent Iowans and provide assistance to legal service agencies (service area: statewide).

Civil Legal Assistance Fund, Second Judicial District (Mason City)–$5,900.00

Funds civil legal assistance to low-income fathers, mothers, or children involved in dissolution of marriage or modification cases in which other legal assistance is not available (service area: Second Judicial District).

Know Your Constitution Committee of the Young Lawyers Division, The Iowa State Bar Association (Des Moines)–$2,180.00

Funds for the Know Your Constitution Program, which provides education to Iowa high school students about the United States Constitution (service area: statewide).

Clinical Law Program, Drake University Law School Legal Clinic (Des Moines)–$8,600.00

Funds to continue the Poverty Law Internship Program, a clinical law program in which upper level law students intern with legal service providers throughout the state (service area: statewide).

Iowa Legal Aid (Des Moines)–$20,670.00

For legal staff support to continue the Legal Hotline for Older Iowans (service area: statewide).

Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault (Des Moines)–$5,200.00

Funds law-related education and attorney training specific to the issues of sexual assault on Iowa youth (service area: statewide).

Iowa Justice For Our Neighbors (Des Moines)–$5,900.00

Funds legal services to low-income immigrants involved in removal proceedings or other immigration-law matters (service area: statewide).

Kids First Law Center (Cedar Rapids)–$3,130.00

Funds legal services to children in high-conflict divorce and custody cases when their parents cannot afford counsel[for them (service area: Linn and Johnson counties).

Centerville Community Betterment (Centerville)–$2,950.00

Funds civil legal assistance for economically disadvantaged individuals in the Appanoose County and Monroe County areas (Service area: Appanoose and Monroe counties).

Civil Legal Assistance Fund, Third Judicial District (Sioux City)–$5,900.00

Funds civil legal assistance to low-income fathers, mothers, or children involved in dissolution of marriage or modification cases in which other legal assistance is not available (service area: Third Judicial District).

For further information contact:

Office of Professional Regulation

Judicial Branch Building

1111 East Court Avenue

Des Moines, IA 50319

Telephone: (515) 725-8029

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