Currently we are witnessing around the country if not around the world a movement that has been given the name "Occupy Wall Street" after the focus of the very first gathering that seems to have begun this movement that now encompasses over 80 cities in the United States. At its core this is a movement that is calling the nation to think again about justice for all citizens. The Preamble to the US Constitution begins with these words: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice,..." The call for justice, fairness between people was at the core of our coming together.

Yet as a faith based group we also must look at the unique tradition coming from the Holy Scriptures and understand that the call for justice is again central to our mission. When the Prophet Amos was speaking to the leadership of the Northern Kingdom of Israel his message from God was again for justice for many were being ignored by that same leadership. In the 5th chapter of that book and in the 24th verse we find these words, "Let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" Amos was calling for the nation to remember that it needs to see that justice falls on all of its citizens.

In the New Testament in the Gospel of Luke we find Jesus reading from the Prophet Isaiah as he stands before the congregation of his home town. He says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free. To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

This then is our directive, to bring good news to the poor and to proclaim release to the captives. As we look at our current society we see a nation where the wealth has been denied to many, where the advances of health care have been denied to many, where  opportunity for worthwhile employment has been denied to many.

Occupy Wall Street and the other occupy manifestations around the country are reminding us that justice is at our core as a people and as a faith community we need to take this opportunity to reiterate that not only is this at the core of the Republic but it is a directive in the center of our faith.

Churches United of the Quad City calls upon the Christian Church to remind the community through word and deed that justice and working for justice is at the center of the faith. We must use this opportunity to lift up the call from the Jesus that we follow and remember those that often get forgotten. Let this be the moment in history when the people of faith say this society must offer compassion to all, fairness to all, justice to all.

"Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family you did it to me."(Matthew 25:40)

Voted by Churches United of the Quad City Area Board of Directors 10/27/2011

MILWAUKEE, WI - With the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity and other health problems, it's important that parents encourage and teach kids about nutritious food options and physical activity.  The National PTA's (Parent Teacher Association) Healthy Lifestyles Month this November is an opportunity to use creative events and activities to show that living healthfully can be fun.  TOPS Club, Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), the nonprofit weight-loss support organization, provides advice to promote wellness at home and get involved with the PTA Healthy Lifestyles initiative.


The facts

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children and adolescents should participate in 60 minutes of physical activity each day.  Today, there are more video games, less homemade meals, and a reduction of physical education and sports programs at school - trends that have contributed to a growing problem of decreased physical activity among children.  One in three children and adolescents are overweight or obese, and according to the American Diabetes Association, one in every 400 children has diabetes.

Although there has been an increase in childhood obesity, there has also been a rise in initiatives to temper this trend.  Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign, a program that TOPS supports, is one such plan that ties into the goals and message of Healthy Lifestyles Month.


It starts at home

It's important to develop healthy habits at home, so children can go to school, friends' houses, and other places, ready to make sensible, healthy choices.

1. Physical activity - Get moving as a family and demonstrate to kids the necessity of exercise, which can also boost self-esteem and confidence and reduce stress.

• Take a group walk or bike ride around the neighborhood after dinner.
• Find free or low-cost physical activity areas in your community, such as a playground, bike trail, tennis court, or park.
• Take on active chores as a family, like raking leaves or shoveling snow.
• Use pedometers and have a contest to see who takes the most steps in a given week.
• Go to the gym as a family.  Many fitness centers offer discounted memberships.

2. Nutrition - While parents typically decide what their children eat, kids will often eat what is available to them.  Surround kids with healthy snacks and homemade meals to ensure that they're making good choices.

• Serve fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables.  Consider more unique snack ideas like homemade smoothies, a fruit salad, or vegetables and hummus dip.
• Offer water, fat-free milk, or 100 percent fruit juice with no sugar added.
• Since nuts and trail mix are often high in calories, serve them in small portions along with another healthy snack.
• Don't force kids to clean their plates if they are full.

3. Grocery shopping - Before going to the store, make a list of groceries your family needs.  Explain to the kids that you will only buy what's on the list to avoid unhealthy options slipping into the cart.  When making your way through the store, focus on the perimeters.  These areas contain healthier options, such as produce and dairy.  Also, never shop with an empty stomach, so you aren't vulnerable to buying extra foods.


Get involved at school

There are numerous ways to become engaged at your child's school.  Joining your local PTA can help you and other parents impact what's served at lunch, emphasize the importance of physical activity during the school day, and plan activities to promote health and wellness.  Here are some PTA program and activity ideas that will keep families moving and promote wellness:

• Create a document for parents about physical activity areas and resources within the community.
• Host a fundraiser for new fitness equipment.  Skip the candy bars and cookies and sell services, magazines, candles, cookbooks, or other alternatives to sweets.
• Plan a 5K run/walk or walk-a-thon event for the school district and encourage families to participate. 
• Hang up posters and other educational materials in the cafeteria to make students aware of the importance of a nutritious meal.
• Hold a seminar for parents with a health and wellness expert.
• Organize a healthy Family Fun Night with nutritious snacks, games in the gymnasium, such as basketball or kick ball, a dance, food trivia, and more.

It's also important to find out if your local school district has a wellness policy.  This should include nutrition education goals, physical activity objectives, guidelines for food available at school, opportunities for parents and students to get involved with the policy development, and plans for evaluation.  The best place to begin inquiring about a school wellness policy is at the district office.

TOPS Club Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) is the original weight-loss support and wellness education organization.  Founded more than 63 years ago, TOPS is the only nonprofit, noncommercial weight-loss organization of its kind.  TOPS promotes successful weight management with a "Real People. Real Weight Loss." philosophy that combines support from others at weekly chapter meetings, healthy eating, regular exercise, and wellness information.  TOPS has about 170,000 members - male and female, age seven and older - in nearly 10,000 chapters throughout the United States and Canada.

Visitors are welcome to attend their first TOPS meeting free of charge.  Membership is affordable at just $26 per year, plus nominal chapter fees.  To find a local chapter, view www.tops.org or call (800) 932-8677.

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Davenport, Iowa - Local Chiropractic students volunteer time and find an effective way to raise money for local charities and food shelters in what seem the least likely places - the streets!

Every November for the last two years, as part of their local Chiropractic club (Maximized Living), students have spent Friday nights and Saturday mornings near the corner of 14th and Brady. They are asking for selfless donations of change and spare blankets from drivers at stoplights, as part of their annual blanket drive.

"I grew up in a home where there was always food on the table and a blanket to cover up with when it was cold" says club Co-President Cassie Kelley. " Being involved with the blanket drive for 3 years now has taught me to be more thankful for what I have."

Last year the student's collected over $2,000 which was donated to a local church, The Center, to help fund their food drive program for the homeless and needy.

"Children under the age of 18 accounted for 39% of the homeless population and 42% of these children were under the age of five. The Blanket Drive is not ultimately a cause to raise money and blankets, but this event is about human beings who need our help," says Kelley.

As part of their Chiropractic training, the Maximized Living club has focused on helping and giving back to their community. They have demonstrated the importance of giving not only their money, but their time through various activities. The club mentors students at the Lydia Home, works with Kids Against Hunger, volunteers to help at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, and makes donations to various organizations and individuals.

"As humans, we take many things for granted. I believe in not only giving money and material things, but giving of myself and my time," says Kelley. "As a club, we are excited to have the opportunity to serve our community and those in need to a much greater capacity. It's a great example of how a group of students working together within the community can make a substantial difference in the lives of many."

The blanket drive will begin Friday, November 11th at 4pm and continue through that Saturday at noon. Donations of blankets and spare change will be collected at the stoplights of 14th and Brady.

The club is part of a larger organization called Maximized Living which consists of hundreds of Doctors of Chiropractic worldwide that seek to change the way people view and manage their health through the inside-out. They do this by educating and delivering the Five Essentials of Health: Mindset, Nervous System, Nutrition, Exercise, and Detoxification.

For more information, visit www.MaximizedLiving.com.

Springfield, IL...State Representative Rich Morthland (R-Cordova) filed legislation today that will close the pension loophole that allowed two teachers union lobbyists to earn huge state pensions once they served a single day as substitute teachers.

 

A Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV investigation found that two lobbyists with no prior teaching experience were allowed to count their years as union employees towards state teacher pensions after subbing for a single day in 2007.

 

"These guys were lobbyists masquerading as teachers," Morthland said. "They took advantage of a pension loophole that allowed them to receive a teacher's pension after subbing for just one day in the classroom. That's a slap in the face to hard working teachers across Illinois. We need to block this loophole so lobbyists cannot weasel their way into a pension plan for which common sense dictates they should not qualify."

 

According to the Tribune report, Steven Preckwinkle, the political director of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, and fellow IFT lobbyist David Piccioli were the only people who took advantage of a small pension window opened by state lawmakers just a few months earlier. The law allowed union officials to get into the Teachers' Retirement System and count their previous years as union employees after quickly obtaining teaching certificates and working in a classroom. Preckwinkle and Piccioli could collect nearly $3 million in pension payouts, based on their union salaries and years of union credit.

"Illinois' pension systems face serious financial problems, with more than $85 billion in unfunded liability," Morthland said. "So while these lobbyists' pensions may only be a drop in the bucket, they are stinking up the whole bucket. What they did was shameful and I intend to put a stop to it."

 

Morthland's legislation, House Bill 3870, would require Preckwinkle and Piccioli to make their entire pension contributions immediately in order receive their teacher pensions. The legislation is an effort to prevent the lobbyists from receiving the pensions they earned through the previously-established pension loophole.

 

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What: Free Presentation on Financial Aid for College presented by ICAN (Iowa College Access Network)

When: Wednesday, 11/9 - 7:00 p.m.

Where: Rivermont Collegiate - Becherer Hall Auditorium - 1821 Sunset Drive, Bettendorf, IA 52722

Open to the public!  Bring your questions!

To spend LESS on college... spend an evening with us!

A college education is one of the most important investments you will make in a lifetime. Educate yourself on the resources available to you!

What: Free Presentation on Financial Aid for College presented by the Iowa College Access Network (ICAN).  This presentation is open to the public! Join us!

When: Wednesday, November 9th - 7:00 p.m.

Where: RIVERMONT COLLEGIATE - Becherer Hall Auditorium, 1821 Sunset Drive - Bettendorf, IA 52722 (located directly off 18th Street, behind K&K Hardware)

• Completing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
• Important deadlines
• Types of financial assistance available
• Scholarships & scams

Bring your questions!

This presentation is very helpful for high school students and parents who are unsure exactly what is involved in the financial aid process & filing the FAFSA. It can be confusing and discouraging! Make the process clear, ensure accuracy, and smooth the way - join us!

Contact: Bonnie Campbell - (563) 359-1366 ext. 304 - campbell@rvmt.org

RIVERMONT COLLEGIATE is the Quad Cities' only private, independent, nonsectarian college prep school, serving preschool through grade 12.  For more information on RIVERMONT COLLEGIATE, please contact Brittany Marietta - Director of Admission
(563) 359-1366 ext. 302 - marietta@rvmt.org.  www.rvmt.org

CHICAGO, IL (10/27/2011)(readMedia)-- The following area students have enrolled this fall as freshman at DePaul University in Chicago:

Alyssa Phelan of Bettendorf

Catherine Bush of Davenport

Elizabeth Knowlton of Port Byron

About DePaul

With more than 25,000 students, DePaul University is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the largest private, non-profit university in the Midwest. The university offers approximately 275 graduate and undergraduate programs of study on three Chicago and three suburban campuses. Founded in 1898, DePaul remains committed to providing a quality education through personal attention to students from a wide range of backgrounds.

This week's Fox News national poll confirms presidential candidate Herman Cain's staying power with 24 percent of Republican primary voters choosing him as their first choice for the nomination.  Cain's momentum in the polls has quadrupled since late August with a jump of 18 percentage points.

"Herman Cain's solutions and ideas are not just for one segment of America but for the benefit of all Americans.  Herman's message of inclusion and his straight forward problem solving approach are attracting many supporters," said Mark Block, Chief Operating Officer for Friends of Herman Cain. 

The Fox News poll is the second major national poll to be released since last week's CNN debate showing Cain's lead of the Republican field.

2012 Republican Nomination for President
among Republican primary voters

Now

27-Sep-11

31-Aug-11

Herman Cain

24%

17%

6%

Mitt Romney

20

23

22

Newt Gingrich

12

11

3

Rick Perry

10

19

29

Ron Paul

9

6

8

Rick Santorum

3

3

4

Michele Bachmann

3

3

8

Jon Huntsman

-

4

1

Source: Fox New Poll

"An Iowa Christmas Story" with Michael Zahs, Sunday November 20th, 2011 starting at 2p.m. at the German American Heritage Center, 712 West Second St. Davenport, IA 52802 563-322-8844, www.gahc.org. Free with admission.

Celebrate "An Iowa Christmas Story" with Michael Zahs at the German American Heritage Center. Michael is a two time winner of the "Iowa Teacher of the Year" Award and enjoys using stories and artifacts to bring the past to life. He does this so well that in 2010 the NEA named him one of the top 38 teachers in the country! Using his collection of over 30 holiday items, some from his personal 200 year family history in Iowa, you will learn how Christmas has been celebrated in our state since 1808, and how our state has grown and benefitted from its ethnic richness.

WEST DES MOINES, IOWA - Oct. 27, 2011 - A Conrad company focused on providing fresh water for livestock has earned the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation's (IFBF) Renew Rural Iowa Entrepreneur of the Month award.

Ritchie Industries started in Oskaloosa in 1921 when Thomas Ritchie patented his first watering device. He connected underground running water to automatic float-controlled watering equipment. The water was heated with a kerosene lamp, saving farmers time and labor.

As the countryside grew, the business worked with the local rural electric cooperative as it installed electricity to area farms. Even though technology and farming practices have changed, the need for waterers remains strong for livestock farmers. The company was purchased and moved to Conrad in 1943. Today, the company focuses on providing equipment to the beef cattle, dairy and equine industries; selling to customers all over the United States and Canada.

While the company's reach is wide, it remains committed to its 65 employees and local community.

"They (Ritchie Industries) made the investment to stay and grow and be a part of our community and county," said Brian Feldpausch, Grundy County Farm Bureau president, who nominated the company for the award. "They also support ag education in our schools and donate to the library. They're a mainstay and add support for future growth (here)."

Renew Rural Iowa (RRI) is an IFBF initiative supporting new and existing businesses through education, mentoring and financial resources. Registration is open for the Nov. 2 "Business Success" seminar, featuring Curt Nelson, president of the Entrepreneurial Development Center. The register for the seminar, to be held at Iowa Farm Bureau in West Des Moines, go to www.renewruraliowa.com.

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Rock Island, IL...Yesterday, the Illinois Policy Institute released a statement calling the Amazon Tax "all pain, no gain." The group released a YouTube video featuring local businessmen Mike Martin and Jonathan Wallace. Wallace, founder of NoCollarMedia.com, and candidate for State Representative in the Illinois 72nd criticized his opponent Pat Verschoore on the "Amazon Tax."

Wallace is specifically referring to the affiliate nexus law, voted for by State Representative Pat Verschoore earlier in 2011, and signed by Governor Pat Quinn. The law is commonly called the Amazon Tax. The controversial law shifts the complex burden of sales tax collection from individuals to out-of-state retailers who have no physical presence in Illinois. As a result, Amazon and Overstock.com decided to cut ties with business affiliates, thereby driving businesses to Iowa and surrounding regions.

"I think this law is a flashing neon sign to new startups and young entrepreneurs that you aren't welcome in Illinois," said Wallace. "My opponent is an advocate of raising taxes, creating burdens for an already challenging small business environment. Illinois has the potential to be the next Silicon Valley but that potential is continually squandered by politicians like Verschoore."

Wallace continued to discuss the economic impact that this law has on Illinois businesses and jobs, "This is just another part in the entire exodus of the state," referring to small businesses who are leaving or are looking to leave Illinois due to new taxes being imposed and an unfavorable policy environment.

Jonathan Wallace is a candidate for the Illinois State Representative in the 72nd District. Jonathan is a small businessman, entrepreneur, former Township Trustee, and serves as an advisor for State Representative Rich Morthland.

The link to the YouTube video can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d3mzePWxPQ&feature=relmfu

The link to the Illinois Policy Institute brief can be found here:

http://illinoispolicy.org/news/article.asp?ArticleSource=4480

For more information, visit http://www.jonathanwallace2012.com or email jonathanwallace2012@gmail.com

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