Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack announced that he will speak at a house dedication and ceremony to honor the 20th anniversary of the Quad City Habitat for Humanity in Davenport, TOMORROW, April 20th.  Loebsack will join Habitat leaders and local officials at a house dedication and then at a ceremony.

 

Quad City Habitat for Humanity 20th Anniversary Celebration

 

House dedication

1229 West 8th Street

Davenport

10:00am

 

20th Anniversary Ceremony

Zion Lutheran Church

1216 West 8th Street

Davenport

Around 10:45am (immediately following the dedication)

 

###
MONTICELLO, IA --The annual Camp Courageous Omelet Breakfast and Open House will be Sunday, April 28, 2013. A breakfast of made-to-order omelets served with sausage, toast, coffee, juice, and milk will be served from 7AM to 1PM. Thirty trained omelet cooks will make an omelet with choices like ham, cheese, green peppers, and onions. It is recommended to come early for this wonderful breakfast. The cost is $6.00 for adults and $3.00 for children under 12.

During the breakfast and open house guided tours will be provided of Camp Courageous, or one can go on their own. The Dixie-Notes-Plus will perform live in Sill Barn. They play a variety of 20's, 30's, and 40's big band music. Sets begin at 10 AM, 11 AM, and Noon.

There will be a live reenactment of a train robbery, performed by the Red Cedar Regulators - an old west reenactment group at the Train Depot at 9:00 AM, 9:45 AM, 10:45 AM, and 11:45 AM.

This year's Open House will feature construction-in-progress on the Lake Todd, and progress on the camp's HAVC Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Dehumidification System in the Pool.

An inspiring video presentation about the camp as well as new camp merchandise can be found in the camp's main office.

Camp Courageous is a year round recreational and respite care facility for individuals with special needs. It is run on donations, without government support, without paid fund raisers, and without formal sponsorship. Camp Courageous began serving individuals with special needs during the summer of 1974 with 211 campers served. Today the camp is open year-round and the campers number over 6,000!

The camp is located five miles southeast of Monticello off Highway 151, Exit 65 or Highway 38

Disaster Declaration Issued to Ensure Continued Support for Affected Areas

SPRINGFIELD - Governor Pat Quinn today declared 38 counties state disaster areas after surveying flood damage caused by several days of severe storms and heavy rainfall across much of Illinois. The disaster declaration will accelerate and expand access to state emergency resources as well as allow the state to formally pursue federal relief and support. Flash flooding and rapidly rising rivers and streams have forced evacuations, damaged or destroyed homes and businesses, caused power outages and closed numerous roads.

"Illinois has seen an incredible level of devastation and reports indicate that conditions will get worse in the coming days," Governor Quinn said. "We want to ensure that every county gets the assistance they need and this declaration will give every affected community access to available resources. As we wait for the floods to pass, all Illinois residents should continue to take precautions, and stay off the roads if possible."

Counties included in the Governor's declaration include : Adams, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Fulton, Greene, Grundy, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Marshall, Mason, McHenry, Mercer, Morgan, Peoria, Pike, Putnam, Rock Island, Schuyler, Scott, Tazewell, Whiteside, Will, Winnebago and Woodford.

The state disaster declaration makes available a wide variety of state resources that can help affected communities respond and recover from flooding. The state of Illinois has personnel and assets that can be mobilized to help local government officials with disaster recovery, including trucks, heavy equipment and work crews to speed debris removal, and provide assistance with security and other public safety issues. The state disaster declaration comes after assessments by emergency officials and the governor, and will begin the process of securing federal relief.

On Thursday morning, Governor Quinn was briefed on the state's flood assistance efforts at the State Incident Response Center (SIRC) in Springfield. He later surveyed damage on the ground and met with local officials in Elmhurst, Des Plaines, River Forest and Westchester.

The SIRC was activated Thursday morning and will remain operational as long as necessary. Liaisons from several state agencies are working with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) to coordinate the deployment of state personnel and assets to assist local governments in the affected areas. As of late Thursday, assistance provided in response to requests from local government included water pumps and Illinois Department of Corrections inmates filling sandbags.

For flood safety information and real-time updates, please visit Ready.Illinois.gov. For traffic updates please visit GettingAroundIllinois.com/gai.htm.

The state's response to the floods includes:

·         Illinois Department of Transportation is ensuring public safety through road closures, message boards and other road-closure assistance to affected communities.

·         Illinois National Guard is coordinating with IEMA in the event troops are needed to assist flooded communities.

·         Illinois Department of Central Management Services is monitoring conditions at state facilities to ensure state agencies can continue to provide critical services to the public and is prepared to procure flood-fighting supplies if needed.

·         Illinois Department of Corrections had 30 inmates at the Pittsfield Work Camp in Pike County assist with filling sandbags for local public safety officials.

·         Illinois Department of Public Health is providing local public health departments, hospitals and medical offices in the affected areas with information on tetanus shots.

·         Illinois State Police is assisting motorists stranded by floodwaters and working with local public safety officials on road closures.

·         Illinois Emergency Management Agency is coordinating the state's response and has deployed staff throughout the affected areas to assist local officials.

·         Illinois Department of Natural Resources dispatched conservation officers to Sycamore to assist with evacuation of residents in a flooded mobile home park.

·         Office of the State Fire Marshal is coordinating with fire departments throughout the state to assess any flood-related issues they're experiencing.

·         American Red Cross has opened shelters in Roanoke, Oglesby and Lisle and is continuing to assess the need for shelters and other assistance.

###
April 19, 2013

The Friends of the Muscatine Art Center invites the public on a bus trip to the Art Institute of Chicago for the Picasso and Chicago exhibition.

The Art Institute of Chicago has a special connection to Picasso and it was the first art museum in the United States to exhibit the young artist's work at the 1913 Armory Show. The Picasso and Chicago exhibition celebrates the 100-year relationship between the artist and Chicago by bringing together over 250 of the finest examples of the Picasso's paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, and ceramics. Included in the exhibition are pieces from the Art Institute's collection as well as loans from private collections to create the first large-scale Picasso exhibition organized by the museum in almost 30 years.

The Friends' trip is set for Thursday, May 9th with boarding at 6:45 a.m. from the soccer complex on Houser Street and arriving back in Muscatine at 7:00 p.m. The cost for the trip is $85 for non-members and $75 for members of Friends of the Muscatine Art Center. Cost includes round trip transportation and a ticket to the exhibition. The bus is to arrive in Chicago at 10:30 a.m., and the group is free to visit the museum and exhibition and lunch on their own. The bus departs Chicago at 3:30 p.m.

Reservations must be made and paid by Tuesday, April 23, 2013. For reservations call 563-263-8282. Please make checks payable to Friends of the Muscatine Art Center.
SPRINGFIELD, IL - Continuing his efforts to reduce fraudulent use of services and cut wasteful government spending, legislation co-sponsored by state Rep. Mike Smiddy (D-Hillsdale) to curb Medicaid fraud passed the House last week.

"Cutting spending due to fraud is important as the legislature looks to make needed cuts to get state government back on the right track," Smiddy said. "We have to make sure that only those residents who are eligible to receive Medicaid benefits and truly need it are receiving services."

Medicaid provides health care to over three million low-income Illinoisans each year. Other measures approved in recent years have helped to decrease abuse of the system and fraudulent Medicaid claims, but current law only provides for prosecution of the patient who receives the services.

House Bill 71 extends the same criminal penalties, which range from misdemeanors or felonies depending on the value of the fraudulent services received, to those who knowingly help someone else obtain ineligible benefits, conceal information, or provide false information.

"Individuals who enable others to take advantage of the system and abuse taxpayer dollars should be held accountable," said Smiddy. "These crimes are just as serious as those committed by those who fraudulently receive Medicaid benefits. This measure is a positive continuation of the legislature's work to eliminate fraud and cut wasteful government spending."

For more information, contact Smiddy's office at RepSmiddy@gmail.com, (309) 848-9098, or toll free at (855) 243-4988.

###

In observance of National Infertility Week we will be discussing endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOs), within the framework of Chinese Medicine and the high success rate that we see in these cases compared to conventional medicine.

On April 23rd the focus will be on endometriosis, and April 24th will emphasize PCOs.  Both seminars take place between 6pm and 7:30pm, and are hosted by Moline Chiropractic clinic and Healing Lotus Acupuncture at 4300 12th Avenue, Moline, IL.

Seats fill - up fast, so please sign - up today! You can reserve a seat by calling (309) 764.4753 or sending an email to healinglotustcm@gmail.com

###

Notice: The opinions posted on this site are slip opinions only. Under the Rules of Appellate Procedure a party has a limited number of days to request a rehearing after the filing of an opinion. Also, all slip opinions are subject to modification or correction by the court. Therefore, opinions on this site are not to be considered the final decisions of the court. The official published opinions of the Iowa Supreme Court are those published in the North Western Reporter published by West Group.

Opinions released before April 2006 and available in the archives are posted in Word format. Opinions released after April 2006 are posted to the website in PDF (Portable Document Format).   Note: To open a PDF you must have the free Acrobat Reader installed. PDF format preserves the original appearance of a document without requiring you to possess the software that created that document. For more information about PDF read: Using the Adobe Reader.

For your convenience, the Judicial Branch offers a free e-mail notification service for Supreme Court opinions, Court of Appeals opinions, press releases and orders. To subscribe, click here.

NOTE: Copies of these opinions may be obtained from the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Judicial Branch Building, 1111 East Court Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50319, for a fee of fifty cents per page.

No. 10-0214

STATE OF IOWA vs. ISAAC ANDREW BALDON III

No. 12-0036

SAMIR M. SHAMS vs. SONA HASSAN

Monday, June 17 - 8:00 pm

i wireless Center

On Sale Friday, April 26 at 10 am!

The legendary pop band Chicago will perform live for one night, Monday, June 17 at the i wireless Center. Ticket prices are $35.00 and $45.00 with a limited number of $65 VIP seats also available and go on sale Friday, April 26 at 10 am.

With their unique blend of jazz, blues, classical, rhythm and blues, and pop Chicago continues to thrill audiences across the world. With a career that spans five decades, they are undoubtedly one of the most successful American rock bands of all time.

Leading the U.S. singles chart in the 1970s Chicago has sold over 100 million albums; with 22 gold, 18 platinum, and 8 multi-platinum albums. They are the first American band to have charted Top 40 albums in five separate decades. They boast 21 Top 10 singles including "Hard Habit to Break," "Saturday in the Park," "If You Leave Me Now," "Hard to Say I'm Sorry," "Look Away," "Old Days" and "You're The Inspiration."

Tickets start at just $35.00 and go on sale Friday, April 26 at 10 am. Tickets are available at the i wireless Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 800-745-3000, or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit www.iwirelessCenter.com and www.chicagotheband.com.

The hottest book publishing trend today: less is the new more.

"The first time I saw a 73-page 'book' offered on Amazon, I was outraged," says New York Times best selling author Michael Levin.  "But I thought about how shredded the American attention span is.  And I felt like Cortez staring at the Pacific."

The trend in books today, Harry Potter notwithstanding, is toward books so short that in the past no self-respecting publisher?or author?would even have called them books.  But today, shortened attention spans call for shorter books.

Levin blames smartphones and social media for what he calls "a worldwide adult epidemic of ADH...ooh, shiny!"

"Brain scientists tell us our brain chemistry has been transformed by short-burst communication such as texting, Tweeting, and Facebook posts," Levin adds.  "Long magazine articles have given way to 600-word blog posts.  And doorstop-size books have been replaced by minibooks."

This sudden change in attention spans changed the way Levin approaches ghostwriting.  "Even five years ago, we aimed for 250-page books.  Today we advise our business clients to do 50-page minibooks to meet impatient readers' expectations for speedy delivery of information."

Levin, who runs the ghostwriting firm BusinessGhost.com and was featured on ABC's Shark Tank, says that people are looking for leadership disguised as a book.  "Today," he asserts, "people don't want you to prove your assertions.  They just want to know that you have legitimate answers to their questions and that they can trust you.  If you can't get buy-in with 50 pages today, you won't get it in 250."

The trend toward shorter books caused Levin to offer what he calls the "Book-Of-The-Quarter Club," which creates four 50-page hardcover minibooks a year for BusinessGhost's clients.  "This allows them to address four different major issues, or four different sets of prospects, and provides quarterly opportunities for marketing events," Levin says.

How short will books eventually run?

"Can you say 'haiku'?" Levin asks.  "We're waiting for a three-line, 17 syllable book.  It could happen."

About Michael Levin

Michael Levin, founder and CEO of BusinessGhost, Inc., has written more than 100 books, including eight national best-sellers; five that have been optioned for film or TV by Steven Soderbergh/Paramount, HBO, Disney, ABC, and others; and one that became "Model Behavior," an ABC Sunday night Disney movie of the week. His new minibook, "The Financial Advisor's Dilemma," teaches how to create trust and distinctiveness in the highly competitive marketplace.

SPRINGFIELD - April 18, 2013. Lt. Governor Sheila Simon issued the following statement regarding House Bill 997 sponsored by Rep. Brandon Phelps (D-Harrisburg). Earlier this month, Simon's Firearms Working Group released a 10-point legislative checklist to help guide debate on pending legislation.

"I appreciate Rep. Phelps' tireless work on crafting a constitutional law, and I thank him for talking with our Firearms Working Group as we worked to gather information from the many stakeholders involved in the concealed carry discussion. However, House Bill 997 as written today does not go far enough to guarantee public safety.

"HB 997, as currently written, relies too heavily on the FOID process to screen for an individual's criminal history, history of domestic violence, and mental health background to determine whether that individual could pose a danger. We know that the FOID screening is underfunded, understaffed, and unable to provide for safety within a short 30 day timeframe. We must include comprehensive background checks in a concealed carry law in Illinois.

"The working group also learned that most teachers and administrators at grade schools, high schools and colleges agree that we should keep guns out of our schools. This is consistent with the gut reaction of horror that parents feel at each school shooting. Concealed carry firearms should be prohibited from school grounds.

"This legislation is a good start, but there is still work to do. I oppose HB997 in its current form and encourage legislators to continue negotiations. I am optimistic that we can reach a timely compromise."

Both gun rights and violence prevention advocates urged the freshmen senators and representatives who comprised the Firearms Working Group to pass reasonable restrictions that balance the constitutional right to keep and bear arms with the responsibility to prevent violence.

Currently Illinois is the only state in the nation with a law that completely bans carrying concealed firearms. The law was declared unconstitutional in December by a three-member panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Illinois now has until June to pass a law that permits people to carry concealed guns in public spaces.

Please visit www.ltgov.il.gov/guns for additional information about the Firearms Working Group and the legislative checklist.

###

Pages