27 Dec 2011

Shake into Shape after the Holidays

By The Moline Club
Shake into shape after the holidays with Ashley from New York! Beginner veils and bellydance for all ages. Great for toning away the holiday fat!  $15.00  Tuesday, December 27th from 6:30pm until 7:45pm at the Moline Club, 513 - 16th St, Moline IL 61265.  Just west of the I-74 bridge.
27 Dec 2011

Hope Creek Care back payments received by Rock Island County

By Shelly L. Chapman

(Rock Island) It is with great pleasure that Rock Island County announces that it is in receipt of back payments from the state of Illinois for Hope Creek Care.  Within the last two weeks, Rock Island County has received a payment of $914,029.24 for Medicaid payments due from July, August and September 2011 and another $1,750,656.80 was received just this week which was due from October 2009.

Receipt of these payments is due largely to the assistance of Representative Pat Verschoore (D), Milan, District 72, from Senator Mike Jacobs (D), Moline, District 36 and from Representative Rich Morthland (R), Port Byron, District 71.  These legislators have supported Rock Island County and our nursing home, Hope Creek Care, for a great number of years.

With the receipt of these funds, Hope Creek Care is on the way to being back on solid financial ground.  We look forward to continued timely payments from the State and appreciate greatly the work Representative Verschoore, Senator Jacobs, and Representative Morthland put forth.

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27 Dec 2011

Rock Island County awarded Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting

By Shelly L. Chapman

(Rock Island) The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial been awarded to Rock Island County by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for its comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR).  The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment be a government and its management.

An Award of Financial Reporting Achievement has been awarded to April L. Palmer, Rock Island County Auditor, as the primarily responsible individual for preparing the award winning CAFR.  Ms. Palmer has been an employee of Rock Island County for over 18 years and has been serving in the capacity of the County Auditor since April of 2011.  She was formally appointed to the office on May 18, 2011 after serving as Chief Deputy to former Auditor Diana L. Robinson prior to that time.

The CAFR has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program including demonstrating a constructive "spirit of full disclosure" to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR.  The GFOA is a non-profit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, DC.

The Rock Island County Board is extremely proud of the accomplishments of Ms. Palmer and commends her for the achievement.  The CAFR is available for review on the Rock Island County website, www.rockislandcounty.org

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27 Dec 2011

Beginner Photography Workshop Jan 21 & 22

By Paula Neuhaus
Maquoketa Art Experience announces a photography workshop for beginners led by MAE Affiliated Artist Sindi Mueller on January 21 and 22 for a two-day workshop exploring the fundamentals of photography in a hands-on environment. This workshop, held on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., will cover the effects of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO (speed and sensitivity to light). Students will learn about shooting modes, auto focus, file-formats, depth-of-field, composition, quality-of-light, critique, and will receive tips a bout choosing equipment. Skills mastered in the workshop can be applied to any genre of photography including portraiture, landscape, abstract, photojournalism, and more.

Sindi Mueller is a Maquoketa Art Experience Affiliated Artist and has permanent gallery space at MAE. She also owns Luxe Photography portrait studio and is the only Certified Professional Photographer within 25 miles of Maquoketa and one of only 55 in the entire State of Iowa. Her love of photography led her to the Chicago Photography Academy where her mentor and teacher, William Benson, inspired her to create photographs that did not look like  photographs. This opened a whole new world of surrealism, abstraction and interpretation for her. She began exploring kinetic photography, which is photography in which the camera is moved while the shutter is open, and her collection of images began growing by leaps and bounds. You can often find Sindi huddled in a dark closet with a collection of lamps, lenses, lights and mirrors feeling her way to the next "perfect shot".

Sindi's kinetic images were featured in her first show, December 2010 in Chicago and unveiled her first collection at a solo exhibit at Maquoketa Art  Experience, Maquoketa, Iowa in April 2011.

In addition to her growing catalog of kinetic and abstract images, Sindi also appreciates the beauty of nature in her home state of Iowa, as well as the magnetism of the Chicago urban landscape. Sindi's landscape images have been published in the Maquoketa Sentinel Press and Bellevue Herald Leader.

Her fine art photography is currently represented by Maquoketa Art Experience.  The cost for the two-session workshop is $150 and is open to adults 18 or older. Registration materials are available at www.maquoketa-art.org. For more information contact Paula Neuhaus at
paula@maquoketa-art.org or call 563.652.9925.

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27 Dec 2011

Salvation Army still $65,000 short of goal

By Holly Nomura
Quad Cities, USA: The Red Kettle Campaign is still $65,000 away from making its 2011 fund raising goal.

To assist with final donations of the year, NorthPark and SouthPark Malls will allow The Salvation Army to continue collecting donations in the four-foot tall red kettles through the end of the year. The kettles can both be found at or near Younkers Court.

Holly Nomura, Development Director states, "Please help us make this goal. If you make your tax-deductible, year-end gift to The Salvation Army by check or credit card, you can trust that your donation will doing the most good assisting people who have lost hope. I witness it every day."

The 2011 Red Kettle Campaign goal is $700,000. This may not be The Salvation Army's final plea to the community for red kettle donations.

There are many ways to share your blessings with others:

An online gift to: www.usc.salvationarmy.org/quadcities

Call to 1-800-SAL-ARMY for a credit card donation.

27 Dec 2011

Treasurer Fitzgerald Tapped for Chair for College Savings Plans Network

By Karen Austin

DES MOINES, IA (12/27/2011)(readMedia)-- Iowa State Treasurer Michael L. Fitzgerald was elected by his peers to serve as the new Chair of the College Savings Plans Network (CSPN). "It is an honor to accept the position as CSPN Chair," said Fitzgerald, who is also the administrator of College Savings Iowa and the Iowa Advisor 529 Plan. "As Chair, I will work to preserve the federal tax exemption on 529 plans. Billions of dollars are invested in these plans nationally and CSPN is the primary voice for families saving for college."

CSPN, a non-profit association that advocates for 529 college savings plans, provides a great online resource for families as they determine the best way to save for college. Affiliated with the National Association of State Treasurer's (NAST), CSPN brings together state administrators of 529 savings and prepaid plans as well as their private sector partners and is dedicated to framing national policy affecting 529 plans. Fitzgerald will begin his leadership role on January 1, 2012.

Treasurer Fitzgerald has been the administrator of College Savings Iowa, Iowa's 529 plan, since 1998. "With over $2 billion invested in College Savings Iowa, we're very proud of our program," stated Fitzgerald. "We've continually received high marks from organizations rating 529 plans across the nation, including savingforcollege.com and Morningstar."

529 plans are a convenient tax-advantaged way for families to save money for their children's future higher education expenses. It usually takes as little as $15 to $25 per month to start a plan, and anyone - parents, grandparents, friends and relatives - can invest in state-sponsored 529 plans on behalf of a child. Investors can withdraw their investment federally tax-free to pay for qualified higher education expenses including tuition, books, supplies and certain room and board costs at any eligible college, university, community college or accredited technical training school in the United States or abroad.

 

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27 Dec 2011

Local Union 25 Makes a Difference this holiday season

By Lou Ann Goral

MOLINE, IL- Local single mom Amanda Cunningham, 25, has never had it easy. As a young child she became a ward of the state when her mother went to prison and her father was absent in her life. After being abused as a child, Cunningham knew she could only count on herself if she was ever going to make it as an adult.

When her pipes recently started leaking in the home she bought on her own after years of working, and there were signs of possible mold that could make her five-year old daughter ill, she knew she had to do something. "I didn't even know exactly what was wrong with the plumbing, but I knew I couldn't afford to have the work done," said Cunningham.

United Way of the Quad Cities was initially contacted by Skip-a-Long  Child Development Services where Cunningham's daughter attends pre-kindergarten. They were willing to pay for all the supplies needed to address the plumbing issues, but needed to find a qualified plumber to make the repairs. That's where Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 25 immediately stepped in to help. Plumbers Dave Keefer and Chuck McKnight heard her story and volunteered their time, expertise and services to fix the issues. "We put in a new garbage disposal, reworked the plumbing under the kitchen sink and bathrooms, installed two new toilets and had the drains snaked," says Keefer.

For more than 111 years Local Union 25 has guaranteed the professionalism of its journeymen, and the value of their work through a training program that is thoroughly unique in the plumbing and pipefitting industries. Local 25 has continually shown their commitment to the community through charitable efforts such as golf tournaments in support of Big Brothers Big Sisters and donating time and services to help people like Cunningham.

Cunningham currently works full-time and goes to school online towards her Bachelor's degree in behavioral science. "I never ask or expect help from anyone, so to have the plumbers at Local Union 25 donate their time to help me is the perfect Christmas present. They are caring professional people who have made my life a little easier this holiday season."

For more information on Local Union 25 please visit: www.lu25.org.

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27 Dec 2011

Ron Paul Signs Personhood Pledge; Personhood USA Questions Commitment

By Jennifer Mason

ARVADA, Colo. -- 12/26/2011 -- Texas Congressman Ron Paul became the fifth Republican presidential candidate to sign the Personhood Presidential Candidate Pledge on Thursday.  Personhood USA received a signed copy of the pledge along with a statement attempting to clarify his position on the personhood rights of the preborn.

Paul joins Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and Texas Governor Rick Perry in signing the organization's Personhood Republican Presidential Candidate Pledge.

Paul, well known for his defense of liberty, authored an addendum to the signed pledge in which he stated, "You can't have Liberty without Life."

"I don't just believe life begins at conception; I know it as a scientific certainty," he writes.

Upon receiving the signed pledge with the addendum, Personhood USA requested clarification from the Paul campaign for inconsistencies between the accompanying statement and the pledge language.

The pledge requires that the candidates "stand...with the Republican Party platform in affirming that [they] "support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and endorse legislation to make clear that the 14th Amendment protections apply to unborn children."

Regarding the latter, Rep. Paul stated that "The Fourteenth Amendment was never intended to cancel out the Tenth Amendment. This means that I can't agree that the Fourteenth Amendment has a role to play here, or otherwise we would end up with a 'Federal Department of Abortion.'"

The 14th amendment, which protects individual liberties from state encroachment, requires that:  "No State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

"We should allow our republican system of government to function as our Founders designed it to: protect rights at the federal level, enforce laws against violence at the state level," writes Paul.

"The United States suffered through a terrible civil war precisely because the federal government left it to the states to decide whether an entire class of people were to be considered persons or property," explained Personhood USA Legal Analyst Gualberto Garcia Jones, J.D.

"If Rep. Ron Paul believes that the preborn are persons under the law, why wouldn't they be protected under the 14th amendment?" asks Garcia Jones.  "Rep. Paul's vague statement on the duty of the federal government to 'protect rights' is without effect if there is no mechanism for guaranteeing those protections."

"Personhood USA understands and agrees with Rep. Paul, that crimes, including murder, are to be prohibited by state laws," continued Garcia Jones.  "However, pro-lifers are left wondering how a President Paul would seek to protect the right to life in states that would choose to continue to allow abortion after Roe vs. Wade is overturned."
27 Dec 2011

People's Caucus

By Ed Fallon

Dear Friends,

As you know, the official Iowa Caucus is on January 3rd. Well, the Peoples Caucus is tomorrow at 7:00 pm at the Occupy Caucus Headquarters, 504 E Locust in Des Moines. You should definitely plan to attend.

The Peoples Caucus is modeled after the Iowa Caucus. Resolutions will be offered and participants will break into candidate "preference" groups. But the twist is folks will indicate preference not for the best candidate but for the worst one, the candidate whose headquarters they want to visit over the next few days as part of the Occupy Caucus campaign. (And to reiterate: THERE WILL BE NO DISRUPTION OF THE JANUARY 3rd CAUCUS!)

Now, to be clear, if one were to overstay one's welcome at a candidate's campaign headquarters, one could possibly be arrested. But simply visiting candidates' headquarters to deliver a message about the grievances of the Occupy Wall Street movement is an important action to take. If you feel that corporate power is out of control in America, come tomorrow night and let your voices be heard. A big turnout will send a big message to Wall Street and K Street.

Monday, Charles Goldman and I talk with peace activist Tom Hayden.

Tuesday, attorney Kimberly Graham fills-in for me to discuss divorce law.

Wednesday, John Nichols of The Nation is my guest.

Thursday, comedian Bob Zany joins me. What, you don't think the caucuses have provided ample comic material? Think again.

Bob's funniness is known coast-to-coast, and he'll be in Des Moines for some pre-caucus laughs on January 1st, 8:00 pm at Java Joe's Fourth Street Theatre. I'm hosting the show, though it remains to be seen whether I can be funny for a full ten minutes. Tickets are $15 at (515) 282-5282. Thanks to Open Sesame, Tinker Heating and Cooling, and Tally's Restaurant Bar & Catering for sponsoring.

Also, I want to make a plug for "Building the Progressive Movement Inside and Outside the Democratic Party." It's a forum organized by Progressive Democrats of America, National Nurses United and The Nation Magazine. Three local folks - Jay Howe, Jeff Cox and myself - will offer our perspectives during panel discussions. National leaders are participating too, including Rep Barbara Lee, Tom Hayden, John Nichols and Jean Ross. It's free, open to the public and at the Unitarian Church in Des Moines, 1800 Bell Ave, 1:30-5:30 pm.

So, join the conversation from 7:00-8:00 pm, Monday - Thursday at 98.3 WOW-FM and online. You can download the Fallon Forum as a podcast, too. Thanks!

Ed


EVENTS

Ongoing - Occupy Des Moines (Des Moines)
At Stewart Square, East 14th and Grand, all are welcome at a daily assembly at 6:00 pm (2:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday). Lots of regular activities planned. Check the Occupydsm Facebook page for details. Also, check Occupy Iowa's Facebook page for information about other actions around the state.

December 27 - Occupy Des Moines' "Peoples Caucus" (Des Moines)
With so many Americans dissatisfied with the leadership of both major political parties, local organizers have put out a call for people across Iowa and the nation to converge in Des Moines for a Peoples Caucus and an occupation of candidates' campaign head quarters from December 28-30. The Peoples Caucus is from 5:00-10:00 pm on the 27th, 504 E Locust St, and includes a discussion of resolutions central to the occupy movement followed by breaking into "candidate preference groups." For further details, click here.

December 29 - Drinking Liberally (Des Moines)
You don't have to be a card-carrying liberal to enjoy political conversation and excellent libations at AJ's, 419 E Court starting at 8:00 pm every Thursday. If the revolution is going to start anyplace, this is probably it. Contact desmoines@drinkingliberally.org.

December 30 - Building the Progressive Movement (Des Moines)
From 1:30-5:30 pm at First Unitarian Church, 1800 Bell Avenue. Full title of the event is "Building  the  Progressive  Movement  inside/outside  the  Democratic  Party." Organized by Progressive Democrats for America and The Nation. Panelists include John Nichols, Rep Barbara Lee, Tom Hayden and others. Contact Tim Carpenter at pdatimcarpenter@gmail.com.

January 1 - Is This Your Caucus Or Are You Just Glad to See Me? (DM)
An evening of comedy starring Bob Zany (of Bob and Tom fame) with Keith West and The Zanettes. Ed Fallon and his accordion (yup, you read that right) will host the event, which is at Java Joe's 4th Street Theatre, 216 4th St, at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $15. Call (515) 288-5282.

January 5 - Green Drinks (Des Moines)
Join casual conversation with people interested in environmental issues and sustainable energy over something to eat and/or drink. It's from 5:30-7:30 pm at Gateway Market and Cafe, 2002 Woodland Ave. Contact Shari Hrdina at DesMoinesGreenDrinks@gmail.com.

January 7 (and every Saturday) Occupy Decorah (Decorah)
At the Winneshiek County Courthouse steps at 1:00 pm to discuss issues and plan action. Contact Jim Tripp at tripp@mail2jim.com.

January 12 - Cool Congregations Coffee (Ames)
From 7:00-8:30 pm at Bethesda Lutheran Church, 1517 Northwestern Ave for conversation about what faith communities in Iowa are doing to care for the earth. See firsthand what Bethesda Lutheran has done, installing a ground source heat pump system to heat and cool their facility with a goal of reducing their energy use and costs. Contact Sarah Webb at (515) 238-3587 or coolcongregations@iowaipl.org.

January 14 - Forey Fest (Des Moines)
There has been an outpouring of care and concern for Forey, the barefoot runner who was badly beaten recently. This will be an event filled with fun to benefit Forey. Details are still in progress, but the day will include a 5K run/walk and live music at Full Court Press bars and restaurants. See Forey Fest Facebook Page for details.

January 17 - Irish Jam at Open Sesame (Des Moines)
Discover the fusion of Lebanese and Celtic culture every third Tuesday of the month: belly dancing to Irish gigs and reels, Lebanese cooking washed-down with a pint of Guinness. All musicians patrons welcome, at 313 E. Locust St from 8:30-10:30 pm.

27 Dec 2011

Mozart's The Magic Flute by the Des Moines Metro Opera

By Rick Martin

Davenport- The Des Moines Metro Opera will be performing Mozart's The Magic Flute on Tuesday February 7th at 7pm at the Rogalski Center at Saint Ambrose University, located at 518 West Locust St. Davenport, IA.

Mozart's delightful commentary on love, forgiveness, tolerance and the brotherhood of mankind has become one of the most beloved operas in all the repertory. Filled with star-studded queens, dragons, bird-catchers, heroes and heroines and noble priests, The Magic Flute is a spectacular potpourri of worldly and heavenly delights all set with sublime enchantment to some of Mozart's greatest music! One of our most popular shows, The Magic Flute returns to OPERA Iowa after an absence of ten years and is the perfect opera to delight and dazzle audiences of all ages. Sung in English with piano accompaniment. Show lasts approximately 2 hours.

Tickets are $15 for General Admission, $25 for Premium seating, and free for students. Tickets are available at the German American Heritage Center at 563-322-8844 and at 712 West Second St. Davenport, IA. This event is made possible by the Riverboat Development Authority

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