City Circle Acting Company will present the Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts.

Performances are December 13 and 20 at 7:30 pm and December 14,15,21,22 at 2:00 pm.

This year's production of A Christmas Carol has been adapted from the original Charles Dickens' novella by the director, Josh Sazon, and is very true to Dickens' original text. This re-envisioned staging of the timeless classic will delight and brighten your holiday season with its timeless message of hope, peace, and love.

Tickets are $12-$27 and can be purchased online at www.coralvillearts.org, by calling 319.248.9370, or in person at the CCPA box office at 1301 5th Street and at the Coralville Recreation Center at 1506 8th Street.

ASL interpreters will be translating the performance on Sunday, December 15 at 2:00 pm. Please call 319.248.9372 to request seating in the ASL section before December 12.

(DES MOINES) - Gov. Branstad used his weekly news conference this morning to announce two new programs as part of the Home Base Iowa initiative: Home Base Iowa Businesses and Home Base Iowa Communities.

The governor noted that while Home Base Iowa was announced just three weeks ago, the program has already made great progress, drawing interest from across the country.

Two weeks ago, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Gen. Timothy Orr met with White House officials to brief them on the program and explore potential partnerships. Additionally, several state of Iowa officials participated in a National Governors Association policy academy to study veterans licensing issues.

Branstad also noted that the University of Iowa was recently named by U.S. News & World Report as the 6^th-best university for veterans.

Branstad says the Home Base Iowa initiative has led to dozens of calls and correspondence from veterans interested in calling Iowa their new home.

"Though we haven't yet spent a dime on advertising or marketing, our phones started ringing," said Branstad. "Iowa Workforce Development has fielded dozens and dozens of calls, and is working to place a number of veterans already."

With the new roll-out of Home Base Iowa Businesses and Communities, Branstad says it is a great opportunity for Iowans to showcase the best they have to offer.

"We want veterans to know that Iowa can provide them with not just a job, but a career in a caring, welcoming community," said Branstad. "Businesses and communities can demonstrate how much they value our nation's veterans by pursuing these designations."

To be a Home Base Iowa Business,

o   the company must pledge to hire a specific number of veterans.

o   They must also post their jobs on the Home Base Iowa website,

o   and become members of the existing Skilled Iowa program.

To be a Home Base Community,

o   10% of the businesses in the designated area must be Home Base Iowa Businesses.

o   The community must provide a unique welcome and incentive package to attract veterans to their community,

o   They must provide a plan to prominently display their designation,

o   And they must get a resolution of support from the local governing body.

During the tugs of war that crop up in Washington during political debates and policymaking, it's not surprising the act of legislating has often been compared to the art of sausage making.  The give-and-take that has long characterized the legislative meat grinder on Capitol Hill has been put on the chopping block.

Consider an analogy attributed long ago to George Washington. He compared the bicameral functions of the upper and lower chambers of Congress to a cooling saucer and hot coffee.  America's first president suggested the Senate "cools" legislation passed by the more tumultuous House of Representatives.

Skip ahead two centuries and regrettably, heated tempers were not allowed to cool in the deliberative senatorial saucer during a recent rule change in the U.S. Senate.  Instead of cooling his heels, the Majority Leader booted the institutional traditions and decorum associated with the upper chamber of Congress.  His cavalier power grab leaves a stain on the world's greatest deliberative governing body, weakening its tradition for civility and consensus.

Despite the discouraging setback that meddles with the constitutional principles of the Senate's advice and consent authority, important legislative and oversight work continues  as we near the end of the calendar year. Unfinished business includes the budget blueprint and the farm and food bill.

Working under the shadow of a $17 trillion national debt, lawmakers need to come to grips with the fact that Washington cannot tax-and-spend its way to prosperity.  As a member of the budget conference tasked with a Dec. 13 deadline, I want the committee to reach an agreement that will set spending parameters for the federal government through the next fiscal year.  So far, big spenders keep trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole, hooked on a utopian mindset that Big Government can solve all our problems.  Just look where that's gotten us:  unsustainable spending, broken promises and a cynical American public.

Washington also keeps kicking the can down the road on the farm and food bill. Rural America, the nation's food producers and the taxpaying public deserve better, long-term certainty than yet another short-term extension.  This important piece of public policy sets into place farm and nutrition safety nets, conservation incentives and rural development programs.  A big sticking point hinges on how much savings to extract from the food stamp program.  All sides agree enrollment has soared.  The expiring farm and food bill spent 80 percent of its budget on nutrition programs, including food stamps.  In September, 15 percent of the population, or about 47 million Americans, received food stamp benefits.

On the farm side of the spending ledger, I'm championing payment caps that limit how much individual farmers may receive per year.  I'm also working to maintain support for closing a loophole that exploits the taxpaying public.  Currently, general partnerships and joint ventures may qualify for farm payments using "active personal management" guidelines that allow hundreds of millions of tax dollars to flow though this loophole.  The provisions I authored would allow only one off-farm manager to address the abusive practice of multiple non-farming individuals receiving payments without having a significant role in farm management.  It's time to put teeth into the law to keep our farm safety net defensible in an era that calls for serious belt-tightening across-the-board.

If Congress fails to reach an agreement on the farm and food bill, consumers could experience serious sticker shock in January.  Prices for milk could double if current commodity programs expire.  That's because the underlying permanent farm law would trigger the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set the floor price for milk at about $39 per 100 pounds.  Although I'm not serving on the conference committee hammering out the details on a final bill, I'm riding herd on lawmakers to keep the reforms in place that were in both the House- and Senate-passed bills.  It's time to give farmers the certainty they need to make business decisions for the year ahead.

MOLINE, Ill. (December 2, 2013) - Quad City Mallards forward Jeff Lee has been named Oakley Central Hockey League Player of the Week, the Mallards announced today in conjunction with the CHL.

Lee scored four goals and totaled seven points while posting a plus/minus rating of +8 as the Mallards went 2-0-1 in three games last week. Lee scored a game tying shorthanded goal with 1:16 left in regulation and added an assist in the Mallards' 5-4 shootout loss to the Mavericks in Missouri last Wednesday. Last Friday Lee scored a tie-breaking third period goal and picked up another assist in the Mallards' 4-3 win over the St. Charles Chill. One night later Lee rang up two goals and an assist and matched a league season high by turning in a plus/minus rating of +5 in the Mallards' 9-3 thrashing of the Tulsa Oilers.

On the season, the 25-year old Lee has scored eight goals and produced 13 points in 14 games. The 6' 2", 209-pound Lee is the first Mallard to earn a league-wide honor this year.

Lee broke into professional hockey last season with the Rapid City Rush, for whom he scored seven goals and notched 21 points in 55 games. Lee joined the Rush after spending three successful years at the University of New Brunswick. He helped UNB to the 2011 University Cup national title and three straight Atlantic University Sport conference crowns while recording 11 goals and 28 points in 53 career games as a Varsity Red.

Lee arrived in New Brunswick following a season-plus with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the major junior Western Hockey League.  In total, he produced 29 goals and 81 points in 119 Western Hockey League games.  After scoring 22 times and notching 62 points in 72 games for the Oil Kings in 2008-09, Lee got his first taste of pro hockey when he played two games for the American Hockey League's Springfield Falcons in the spring of 2009.

His time at UNB was not Lee's first stint in the intercollegiate ranks.  He played for the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in 2006-07 and at the start of the 2007-08 season after two years in the Alberta Junior Hockey League with the Drayton Valley Thunder and Sherwood Park Crusaders.

The Mallards return to action next Friday night at 7:05 p.m on home ice against the Brampton Beast. Next Friday is another $1 Dog/$1 Beer Night presented by 97X. $1 hot dogs and $1 beers are available at iWireless Center concession stands during each of the Mallards' 11 Friday night home games this season. Next Friday also kicks off Rivalry Weekend presented by Pub 1848. The Mallards will play three straight home games (the Flock will also meet the Brampton next Saturday and Sunday) against the Beast, their newest Central Hockey League rival from north of the border.

Tickets for all Mallards regular season home games can be purchased at the iWireless Center ticket office, Ticketmaster outlets, through ticketmaster.com or through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone toll free at 1-800-745-3000.  The ticket office is open weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and on game days from 10:00 a.m. until the start of the second period.

About the Quad City Mallards
A proud affiliate of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild and the American Hockey League's Iowa Wild, the Quad City Mallards are in the midst of their seventeenth season and their fourth in the Central Hockey League.  One of the winningest teams in all of minor league hockey, the Mallards competed in the United Hockey League from 1995 through 2007 and in the International Hockey League in 2009-10.  The Mallards' proud history has seen them capture the UHL's Colonial Cup Championship three times (1997, 1998, 2001) and secure that league's Tarry Cup four times (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002) for the best overall regular season record.  In 2001, the Mallards made professional hockey history, recording their sixth consecutive season with 50 or more wins, a feat that has yet to be matched.  The i wireless Center provides a unique environment for hockey and features one-of-a-kind seating areas such as the Nest for groups and functions and the exclusive Drake Club.  For more information on the Quad City Mallards or for Mallards tickets go to www.myqcmallards.com.  Fans can also follow the Mallards via Twitter at twitter.com/myqcmallards and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/quadcitymallards.