This year, WQPT viewers will be able to ring in the New Year from one of the most famous musical streets in the world, Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, the home of the Blues and the birthplace of Rock & Roll.

"I decided that since we have a large Blues audience here in the Quad Cities and surrounding region and with the Mississippi Valley Blues Fest as one of our areas biggest events, that this special would be a great addition to ring in the new year," said Jerry Myers, WQPT Programming Director.

WQPT will present LIVE! Beale Street on New Year's Eve, from 11:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., providing a unique look at the rich history of Beale Street with live interviews and lots of great music to welcome 2012.

The broadcast includes a traditional countdown to midnight with fireworks and the dropping of the Giant Guitar. Revelers will also be invited to "come bury your blues" by dropping mementos and notes into a symbolic coffin. (Viewers at home will be able to bury their blues by emailing buryyourblues@bealestreet.com). The celebration continues after midnight.

Viewers are also invited to like the "Beale Street on New Year's Eve" Facebook page and post comments and questions during the broadcast. Some of the comments will be mentioned on the air.

LIVE! Beale Street on New Year's Eve is sponsored by Performa Entertainment, Budweiser, Beale Street Merchants Association, and The City of Memphis.

This unique New Year's Eve celebration captures the flavor, the sounds, and the story of Memphis' Beale Street. Viewers will be treated to live reports from the street, a survey of the acts currently performing on Beale, and an introduction to the Legends of Beale.

"We welcome this opportunity to share the culture, the music, and the excitement of Beale Street this New Year's Eve," said Michael J. LaBonia, WKNO's President and CEO. "And we're proud to be able to share this live experience with viewers across the region."

WQPT is a media service of Western Illinois University in Moline, Illinois.

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with U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

Q:        When will the public have access to information about payments made by drug and device makers to doctors?

A:        The public is a step closer to learning just how much money and travel expenses pharmaceutical company and medical device makers give to doctors.  This month, a federal agency finally put out proposed guidance for the companies that will have to disclose the payments under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which I co-authored and saw through to enactment last year.  If implemented as designed, the sunshine law will require a drug company to disclose whether it pays a doctor to attend a conference in Hawaii.  A medical device maker will have to list whether it keeps a doctor on paid retainer for medical advice.  Fees paid for consulting, speeches and expert advice will be reported.  In 2013, the public will have access to this information through a user friendly website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  This fall, the federal agency responsible for launching the program missed a key deadline for putting out the Sunshine Act guidance.  Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and I pressed the agency to explain the delay and encouraged it to move forward.  The day before an agency witness was supposed to testify on the issue at a Senate hearing, the agency issued the guidance.  So riding herd worked.

Q:        Why did you push for a disclosure requirement?

A:        For a number of years, I've been digging into pharmaceutical and medical device industry payments to continuing medical education, taxpayer-funded medical research, medical schools, medical journals, and advocacy organizations.  Among research doctors, my oversight work found a number of cases where highly influential research doctors were receiving payments vastly greater than what had been reported by them or understood by their prestigious universities.  Discrepancies ran as high as millions and tens of millions of dollars.  In direct response to this exposure, the National Institutes of Health, which distributes $32 billion a year in federal research dollars, proposed new disclosure guidelines for federal grant recipients.  I'm still working to see this agency act more aggressively in this area as a steward of tax dollars.  Separately, a number of drug companies began disclosing financial relationships voluntarily.  More than 40 universities nationwide took up revisions of their disclosure policies.  My oversight work also built the case for enactment last year of the reform bill - the Sunshine Act -- that Senator Kohl and I had been promoting since 2007.

Q:        What do you hope to accomplish?

A:        The well-regarded Institute of Medicine issued a report in 2009 endorsing transparency and stating that protections against conflicts can be established without inhibiting productive relationships between medicine and industry to improve medical knowledge and care.  My argument has been that the transparency of these financial relationships is appropriate so that patients and their doctors can be informed and because taxpayers pay billions of dollars each year for prescription drugs and medical devices under Medicare and Medicaid.  The goal is to let the sun shine in and make information available to foster accountability.

(Davenport, IA) - FRESH DELI by Nostalgia Farms will open in early 2012 as the first business within the Food Hub at the Freight House in downtown Davenport; however, fans of locally grown food don't have to wait for a ribbon cutting to support the cause.  The deli is already selling Customer Supported Agriculture Vouchers (CSAV's) via phone and email.  The vouchers can be redeemed throughout the year for discounted food purchases at the deli; meanwhile, the money raised through the sale of the vouchers will also provide funding to help cover the typical costs associated with launching any new small business.

"Nostalgia Farms has utilized the sale of CSAV's to successfully launch and sustain our current business over the years," said Ed Kraklio, co-owner of Nostalgia Farms and FRESH DELI.  "Although it's uncommon to see CSAV's sold by a restaurant, our unique nature as a significant provider and supporter of locally grown food makes the sale of the vouchers a perfect fit for the deli, too.  Customers get a great discount as well as an opportunity to show their support for local agriculture and the Quad Cities economy."

Customers can buy vouchers in $200 increments towards food purchases over the next twelve months, which provides an overall discount of $40 per year.

FRESH DELI will be carrying made-to-order items off the grill, prepared sandwiches, as well as soups and salads featuring the deli's own dressing lines and mustards.  Customers can expect to find a large selection of "Take -n- Bake" items such as soups, pies, casseroles, and lasagnas, too.  Vegetarians will be pleased to hear that FRESH DELI by Nostalgia Farms will also have a large selection of vegetarian dishes.

FRESH DELI isn't just using produce and meats from Nostalgia Farms, though.  The restaurant will be utilizing products from many local producers including Sawyer Beef, Geest Farms, Winters Bison, Avante Cheese, Behnke Poultry, Happy Hollow, Oak Hill Acres, and more.  Krarklio plans to have FRESH DELI partner with as many local producers as possible throughout the Quad Cities region.

"We're still finishing construction on the space; however, we encourage those who support local agriculture and fresh local food to purchase a CSAV today," noted Kraklio. "Purchasing a CSAV is a great opportunity to take advantage of for individuals and companies alike."

Karklio plans to have the deli open six to seven days a week; more details regarding hours will be revealed upon its grand opening.  FRESH DELI accepts Debit, Credit, (Visa, MasterCard) EBT, Cash and Checks.  The deli will also offer delivery to a limited area in down town Davenport and Rock Island.

To purchase a CSAV or to ask additional questions, please call 563-940-0634 or email freshdeli@nostalgiafarms.com.

"If the (Justice) Department's ongoing investigation uncovers illegal actions, criminal prosecution should be pursued without hesitation ... we urge federal agents to use every legal resource available," the senators' letter said.

Grassley has participated in oversight hearings of the Senate Committee on Agriculture seeking information and accountability for the loss of up to $1.2 billion in customer funds, including money from Iowa farmers, grain coops and brokers.

"Establishing the specifics of what happened is key to figuring out how the system failed and how to fix it going forward.  That's in addition to the immediate task of helping to minimize the damage for farmers and other investors caught in the MF Global debacle," Grassley said.  "Both the brokerage firm that's now in bankruptcy and top federal officials in charge of enforcing commodity trading and securities law, including the Commodity Futures Trading Corporation, need to be held accountable."

Today's letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. was signed by Senators Max Baucus of Montana, John Thune of South Dakota, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Grassley, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, John Barasso of Wyoming, Jon Tester of Montana, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Mike Johanns of Nebraska, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Dan Coats of Indiana, John Hoeven of North Dakota, and Tim Johnson of South Dakota.

Click here to read the letter.