April 16, 2014

Des Moines - Iowa GOP gubernatorial primary challenger Tom Hoefling today charged that incumbent Governor Terry Branstad and his campaign are deceiving Iowa Republicans about Branstad's ongoing support for the Common Core national standards.

Tom Hoefling said today, "I don't know why they think they can get away with this, frankly. It is obvious to any honest observer that Terry Branstad continues to support Common Core, and that he has done nothing of any real substance in this legislative session to stop it. It is also clear that the Branstad executive order from last October that they constantly cite did nothing to stop the implementation of Common Core. That was, to put it simply, a political smokescreen, and everybody who has looked into this question closely knows it."

Hoefling added, "Support for the Common Core standards, which amount to the final blow against any remaining vestige of local control of our schools, is bad enough. But when the Governor and his campaign staffers go out on the campaign trail and try to deceive the people of this state, that takes things to a whole new level. It is now more than just a disagreement over public policy. It is a question of honesty and integrity."

The Hoefling campaign pointed to a report from the statewide group "Iowans for Local Control," which can be found here:

http://iowansforlocalcontrol.com/2014/01/no-governor-branstad-did-not-reject-the-common-core/

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Temple Emanuel has arranged for a special Passover Seder to be held exclusively for Non-Jews.  This Seder will be held on Thursday, April 24th, starting at 6:00 p.m.

Due to limited seating, advanced reservations are required.  Reservations can be made by calling the Temple Emanuel office at 563-326-4419.  The charge for this Seder experience will be $36.00 per person.

It will include a complete Seder service and a full catered meal, including all the symbolic Passover foods, similar to a typical Temple Emanuel Congregational Passover Seder observance. However, this event will be geared far more to a Non-Jewish audience, being more instructional in nature.  The Seder service will be led by Rabbi Henry Jay Karp, with music being provided by Sheryl Hassell-Bennett, Temple Emanuel's cantorial soloist, who leads the congregation's musical worship when Cantor Gail Posner Karp is not available.

Rabbi Karp explained that Temple Emanuel decided to host this special Seder in response to all the interest in Passover expressed over the years by Non-Jews, and especially church groups.  We thought that it would be far more instructive for us to provide an actual Seder experience to the Non-Jewish community than simply going around to various groups in the community, doing presentations about Passover, as we have done in years past.

The Moline Public Library welcomes Dr. Nancy Huse, as she presents Ida B. Wells: Our Fearless American Foremother on Wednesday, April 23rd at 7:00 p.m.  This event is presented as part of the six-week series Created Equal and Changing America, which explores our nation's civil rights history through film, exhibition, and presentations.  The program is free and no registration is required.  More information can be found online at molinelibrary.com/createdequal, by visiting the library at 3210 - 41st Street, or by calling 309-524-2470.

This first-person, Chautauqua-style program enacts the words of Ida B. Wells-Barnett.  Her effective writing in pamphlets and articles - work that helped to end the practice of lynching - will be demonstrated, and a brief, diary-based reflection on youth and old age will be offered.  A discussion of Wells as an American foremother will link the present with Wells' work and with ideas central to our history as Americans, such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Nancy Huse holds a PhD in English from the University of Chicago.  She has published numerous articles and delivered many presentations on American and children's literature.  She was the Children's Literature Association President, as well as a member of the Illinois Council of Teachers of English.  Her interests include children's and young adult's literature, African American literature, and women and gender studies.

Created Equal: America's Civil Rights Struggle is made possible through a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

Changing America is presented by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of American History in collaboration with the American Library Association Public Programs Office. The traveling exhibition is made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.

Local support for Created Equal and Changing America has been provided by Friends of the Moline Public Library, WQPT, and The Moline Dispatch/Rock Island Argus/QCOnline.