By Senator Tom Harkin

A growing number of governors, including many Republicans, are choosing to expand Medicaid in their states, taking advantage of the extremely generous terms in the Affordable Care Act.

Under the Affordable Care Act, if states expand Medicaid to everyone up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line, the federal government pays the full cost of those newly eligible beneficiaries for the first three years and no less than 90 percent of the costs after that.  That is a great deal for our state, or for any state - which is exactly why so many governors are signing on.

There is no question that Medicaid expansion is the right choice for Iowa.  It would provide coverage for tens of thousands of uninsured Iowans.  And the more than 60,000 Iowans currently covered by IowaCare would get much better benefits and improved access to doctors and hospitals.

One Iowan told me in a letter how Medicaid enabled her to receive many mental health and rehabilitative services for a disability, and that this helped her to go to school, obtain a degree, and rejoin the workforce.  Another Iowan told me that IowaCare is not sufficient because the program does not cover mental health services.

Iowa's hospitals and providers, which are eager to save untold millions in uncompensated care, are also encouraged by an expansion of Medicaid.

Expanding Medicaid is also the right choice for our state's fiscal health.  Under the expansion, independent analysts project that Iowa Medicaid spending would decrease by 2.6 percent, and state and local governments would save more than $530 million over the next decade.

No wonder so many governors are signing up for Medicaid expansion.  Gov. Rick Scott of Florida said, "While the federal government is committed to paying 100 percent of the cost, I cannot in good conscience deny Floridians that needed access to health care."  Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona argued that the savings to her state from expanding Medicaid would free up general-fund money for higher education.

Last November, Iowans voted to reelect President Obama and rejected the candidate who would have repealed the Affordable Care Act.  Since then, a growing number of governors have said that Medicaid expansion is not about "liberal" or "conservative," it's about common sense.

I could not agree more.  It's time to bring the full benefits of the Affordable Care Act to all Iowans.

For more information, please visit http://www.harkin.senate.gov/ or follow Senator Harkin on Facebook and Twitter.

A PDF version of this article is available by clicking here.

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The Thirty-seventh Annual Rock Island Fine Arts Exhibition, an annual juried competition co-sponsored by the Rock Island Art Guild and Augustana College, will be displayed at the Augustana College Art Museum through April 21, 2013. The competition was open to visual artists working in any media except video, and residing within a 150-mile radius of the Quad Cities. There were 100 participating artists. Juror Pamela Blotner quipped "It may be snowy and cold outside, but the Augustana College Art Museum radiates with color and energy. Inside the galleries one finds a 'patchwork quilt' of the Quad City area, its cityscapes, rivers, forest and farmlands." Blotner selected 50 art works from 41 artists for the final exhibition More than $3,500 in awards will be presented at the reception on Friday, April 5, at 5:40 p.m

The awards include :

First Prize ($1000): Pam Echeverria (Cedar Falls, IA), Qutang Gorge, acrylics

Second Prize ($500): Teresa Mesich (Rock Island, IL), Bird Circus, acrylic on canvas

Founder's Award ($300) for 2013 in Honor of Mr. and Mrs. G. Pierson (Pete) and Ruth Brauch:

Tom Voss (Bettendorf, IA), East by West, wood?black walnut and American chestnut

Sally MacMillan Watercolor Award ($500): Rosalie Waranius Vass (Batavia, IL), Spinning, opaque watercolor

Two-dimensional Entry Award in Memory of Bernice and Stanley Harris ($500): Peter Xiao (Rock Island, IL), Six Heads to be Hatted, oil on canvas with wood

Three-dimensional Freestanding Entry Award in Memory of Zeivel Harris ($500): Dean Kugler (Davenport, IA), Blind Control, resin

4 Honorable Mentions, Each $100:

Peter Van Ael (Montgomery, IL), Swimmingly, reduction woodcut montage

Richard Ankeney (Galesburg, IL), Lobster Buoys, digital photograph

Jane L. Koski (Rock Island, IL), "Stillness" on a Cool Summer Morning, watercolor

George Olson (Woodhull, IL), Prairie Study: White Vervain, watercolor

During the exhibition visitors can vote on the People's Choice and Children's Choice awards of $50 each. Hours for this exhibition are noon to 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays, and Sundays in April excepting the Easter break of March 29-April 3.

The 2013 juror is San Francisco Bay Area artist and curator Pamela Blotner. Over the last 20 years, much of Blotner's work has been informed by her experiences as an Illustrator/Mission Specialist on missions for Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights, and the Human Rights Center at the University of California at Berkeley. Blotner is an adjunct professor at John F. Kennedy University and St. Mary's College, on the faculty of Pixar University at Pixar Animation Studios, a member of the Women Environmental Artists Directory, and an advisor to the board of Artist's Rescue Mission in Houston, Texas. She concludes "The artists in this exhibition draw upon their native surroundings, but they take us to worlds beyond our borders. And it is a wonderful journey."

For more information, contact 309-794-7231 during weekday business hours.

Dear Friends,

{First, a brief update: The Great March for Climate Action is off and running . . . okay, walking. Please "like" our Facebook Page, and keep abreast of new developments as they occur . . . there's at least one newsworthy item to share each day.}

A big "CONGRATULATIONS!" to Tom Ahart for being selected as the next superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools. A "rose" to four of seven School Board members for "shopping local" and going with a known quantity who's already proven himself. A "thistle" to the entire board for cloaking the process in secrecy.

Not that secrecy is uncommon in government anymore. Officials at all levels are acting with greater disregard for public input and observation. This is not a good thing for those of us partial to democracy, freedom and an open society.

Monday, Des Moines attorney Alfredo Parrish discusses racial disparity in Iowa's prisons. And yeah, it's bad. Read Alfredo's recent opinion piece in the Des Moines Register for a primer on just how bad - and why. Also today, we discuss several aspects of the climate crisis, including the linchpin upon which all eyes rest: the Keystone Pipeline. We also talk about Tom Ahart's selection as Des Moines Public Schools' new superintendent, and the issue of government secrecy.

Tuesday, I'm still hammering out the details, but we start the conversation with Guns, God, and Gays. That should bring my right-wing audience out of the woodwork.

Wednesday, Charlie Bruner, executive director of Iowa Family and Policy Center, and Anne Kinzel, former coordinator of Iowa Legislative Health Care Coverage Commission, discuss Medicaid and IowaCare. With the issue front and center at the Statehouse, and with Governor Branstad digging in his heels against expanding Medicaid, this is an important conversation. Check out Charlie's recent opinion piece here and Anne's here.

Thursday, State Rep Dan Kelley provides us our weekly inside look at the Iowa Statehouse. And Nakisha Phillips charts her journey through pregnancy with a doula and a midwife.

Friday, Aaron Todd discusses the tremendous progress made on revitalizing one of Des Moines most blighted corridors: Sixth Avenue. Also, Heather Ryan joins us for another weekly feature: "Ryan's Rants."

So, Monday-Friday, join the conversation online from 12:00-1:00 pm on the Fallon Forum website. Call-in at 244-0077 or toll free (855) 244-0077 and add your voice to the dialogue. If you miss a show, video and audio-only podcasts are available later in the day. Thanks!

With a cast of 80 and a complete orchestra, Moline High School students are putting on the ever-popular Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

(Moline, IL)  Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat] is a popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. The show has little spoken dialogue; it is completely sung-through. Its family-friendly storyline, universal themes and catchy music have resulted in numerous productions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  This month, 42 Moline High School student actors along with 38 elementary and middle school students, a supporting crew of dozens of students, and an orchestra of 15 will produce four shows for local audiences.  Dates of the show are March 14, 15 and 16 and the media will get a sneak preview of the show this week.

WHO:  Moline High School Students and the children's choir
WHAT:  Media Preview of the MHS spring musical
WHEN:  Tuesday, March 12,  7:00 pm
WHERE: MHS Auditorium

There will be 4 performances-- Thursday, March 14 @ 7:30 PM; Friday, March 15 @ 7:30 PM; Saturday, March 16 @ 2 PM and 7:30 PM.   $6.00 for students; $8.00 for adults. Tickets are available at the door or in advance at the MHS bookstore. 309-743-8833
This show was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly. Joseph was first presented as a 15-minute pop cantata at Colet Court School in London in 1968 and was recorded as a concept album in 1969. After the success of the next Lloyd Webber and Rice piece, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph received stage productions beginning in 1970 and expanded recordings in 1971 and 1972. While still undergoing various transformations and expansions, the musical was produced in the West End in 1973, and in its full format was recorded in 1974 and opened on Broadway in 1982. Several major revivals and a 1999 straight-to-video film, starring Donny Osmond, followed.

Musical Theatre Productions by the Moline High School Music Department

1961    Pajama Game
1962    Bells Are Ringing
1963    My Fair Lady
1964    Bye, Bye Birdie
1965    South Pacific
1966    The Music Man
1967    The Sound of Music
1968    How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
1969    Carousel
1970    Li'l Abner
1971    Guys & Dolls
1972    Pajama Game
1973    Hello Dolly
1974    No, No Nanette
1975    The Music Man
1976    Mame
1977    How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
1978    The King & I
1979    Hello Dolly
1980    Oklahoma
1981    Irene
1982    Li'l Abner
1983    Funny Girl
1984    Little Mary Sunshine
1985    The Sound of Music
1986    Hello Dolly
1987    The Music Man
1988    South Pacific
1989    Guys & Dolls
1990    How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
1991    Bye, Bye Birdie
1992    Oklahoma
1993    Cabaret
1994    West Side Story
1995    Mame
1996    Damn Yankees
1997    Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
1998    The Sound of Music
1999    Bye, Bye Birdie
2000    Once Upon A Mattress
2001    Grease
2002    Godspell
2003    Phantom
2005        Oliver
2006        A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
2007        King And I
2008        Cabaret
2009        Beauty and the Beast
2010        The Music Man
2011        Bye Bye Birdie
2012        The Sound of Music
2013        Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Joseph Director, Ron May, has been involved in musical theatre for more than 40 years.  His experience began upon the recommendation of his college advisor.  May was urged to become more knowledgeable about musical theatre if he wanted to be a high school choral director.  Immediately after college, May was cast as Thomas Jefferson in the Quad City Music Guild's production of "1776" and since then has performed additional leading roles in "Damn Yankees", "Cabaret", "Evita", "Godspell", among others.  As an educator, he has directed/produced more than 50 productions.  In addition to educational and community theatre settings, he has served as musical director for professional productions of "Hairspray", "Legally Blonde-the musical", "Whodunit? The musical" (world premiere at Circa 21), "The World Goes Round", and countless other reviews and industrial musical shows.


It was doing a community theatre production of "The Sound of Music" where May met his wife of 36 years.  He and Cindy (a freelance choreographer) have collaborated in nearly all of his educational musical theatre productions.  They are both collaborating on this production.
Students of Mr. May have gone on to successful careers in professional theatre.   Former students have performed in "Miss Saigon", "The Full Monty", and "The Drowsy Chaperone" on Broadway and in national tours of "Peter Pan".  Many former students are currently pursuing a career in musical theatre across the country.   Some current seniors are exploring acting, musical theatre and/or directing in part because of Mr. May's influence.


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