09
Sep
2003
• The Bettendorf City Council has unanimously approved establishing a stormwater utility to pay for a federally mandated stormwater- discharge permit. The federal government now requires municipalities to regulate the amount of pollution discharged in stormwater and monitor and inspect facilities that release stormwater. The city plans to charge $1.50 per month per "Equivalent Residential Unit" (ERU) for all properties. An ERU equals 2,500 square feet of impervious surface, such as rooftops, sidewalks, driveways, and awnings. While everyone must pay for at least one ERU per month, the ordinance states that no property will be charged more than five ERUs - or $7.50 - per month. Stormwater service charges began accruing July 1 and will be billed periodically, possibly quarterly, except when exemptions and credits apply. Residents and business owners can earn credits by taking action to prevent water pollution and stormwater flooding.
• AIDS Project Quad Cities (APQC) needs 10 to 20 volunteers to assist the Riverssance Art Fest Committee with gate admissions, booth setting, courtesy bus, and concessions on Saturday and Sunday, September 20 and 21. The organization is requesting a two- to four-hour commitment, for which volunteers will receive a Riverssance T-shirt. The organization is also seeking 12 to 18 additional volunteers for Sunday to collect and catalog donations of artwork at the festival. To volunteer, please call Anne Lewis at (563)391-7196.
• U.S. Treasury Department investigators posing as taxpayers found that Internal Revenue Service (IRS) centers established to help people prepare their tax returns gave incorrect answers or no answer at all to 43 percent of the tax questions asked. The investigators concluded that half a million taxpayers might have been given wrong information between July and December 2002. The IRS disputed the results and, using the raw numbers gathered by Treasury investigators, re-calculated the error rate by ignoring any instance in which a taxpayer was denied service or told to do his or her own research; the IRS then claimed that 67 percent of questions were answered accurately. The auditors said they had a better chance of getting a correct answer when IRS employees walked them through relevant material and asked probing questions. The questions most commonly answered incorrectly dealt with the earned income tax credit, education credit, and dependents. The IRS hopes to improve its track record and answer 80 percent of the questions correctly this year, and 85 percent correctly next year.
• The East Moline Centennial Committee is taking orders for a 500-page history of the city, compiled in honor of the city's centennial celebration. The $15 book details how East Moline was founded and talks about its mayors, churches, schools, businesses, organizations, and events. It includes photos and information submitted by residents. Orders can be placed at the city hall annex where centennial memorabilia is on sale.
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released a survey showing that 27.3 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the past five years, including 9.9 million people in the past year alone. According to the survey, last year's identity-theft losses to businesses and financial institutions totaled nearly $48 billion, and consumer victims reported $5 billion in out-of-pocket expenses. For all forms of identity theft, the average loss to business was $4,800 and the loss to consumers was $500. The FTC maintains the nation's primary identity-theft Web site, which provides critical resources for consumers, businesses, and law enforcers at (http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft). Consumers can download a consumer-education book, "Identity Theft: When Bad Things Happen to Your Good Name" in English or Spanish. Copies of the reports are available from the FTC's Web site at (http://www.ftc.gov) and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington D.C. 20580.
• The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to approve $250,000 for the Scott County Housing Council to expand affordable-housing opportunities for families in Scott County. The funds will be allocated by the Senate Veterans Affairs - Housing & Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, of which Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is a member. Funds will be used to provide for the construction and rehabilitation of moderate-income family-owned housing as well as support for the homeless. Both the House and Senate must approve the measure before it becomes law.
• Prostate Cancer Awareness Week is September 14 through 20. It is estimated that 220,900 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed this year in the United States. Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in men. This year alone it is estimated that the disease will claim the lives of 28,900 men. Early detection is the key to fighting prostate cancer. Men age 50 and older who have at least a 10-year life expectancy should talk with their health-care provider about having a digital rectal exam and a prostate-specific antigen blood test every year. Men who are at high risk for prostate cancer, especially black men or men who have a family history of prostate cancer, should consider beginning these tests at an earlier age. Eighty-three percent of all prostate cancers are discovered in the local or regional stages. According to the American Cancer Society's Cancer Facts & Figures 2003 book, the five-year survival rate for patients whose tumors are diagnosed at these stages is 100 percent. Over the past 20 years, the survival rate for all stages combined has increased from 67 percent to 96 percent. For more information, contact your doctor or call the American Cancer Society at (800)227-2345 or look on the Web at (http://www.cancer.org).
• AIDS Project Quad Cities (APQC) needs 10 to 20 volunteers to assist the Riverssance Art Fest Committee with gate admissions, booth setting, courtesy bus, and concessions on Saturday and Sunday, September 20 and 21. The organization is requesting a two- to four-hour commitment, for which volunteers will receive a Riverssance T-shirt. The organization is also seeking 12 to 18 additional volunteers for Sunday to collect and catalog donations of artwork at the festival. To volunteer, please call Anne Lewis at (563)391-7196.
• U.S. Treasury Department investigators posing as taxpayers found that Internal Revenue Service (IRS) centers established to help people prepare their tax returns gave incorrect answers or no answer at all to 43 percent of the tax questions asked. The investigators concluded that half a million taxpayers might have been given wrong information between July and December 2002. The IRS disputed the results and, using the raw numbers gathered by Treasury investigators, re-calculated the error rate by ignoring any instance in which a taxpayer was denied service or told to do his or her own research; the IRS then claimed that 67 percent of questions were answered accurately. The auditors said they had a better chance of getting a correct answer when IRS employees walked them through relevant material and asked probing questions. The questions most commonly answered incorrectly dealt with the earned income tax credit, education credit, and dependents. The IRS hopes to improve its track record and answer 80 percent of the questions correctly this year, and 85 percent correctly next year.
• The East Moline Centennial Committee is taking orders for a 500-page history of the city, compiled in honor of the city's centennial celebration. The $15 book details how East Moline was founded and talks about its mayors, churches, schools, businesses, organizations, and events. It includes photos and information submitted by residents. Orders can be placed at the city hall annex where centennial memorabilia is on sale.
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released a survey showing that 27.3 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the past five years, including 9.9 million people in the past year alone. According to the survey, last year's identity-theft losses to businesses and financial institutions totaled nearly $48 billion, and consumer victims reported $5 billion in out-of-pocket expenses. For all forms of identity theft, the average loss to business was $4,800 and the loss to consumers was $500. The FTC maintains the nation's primary identity-theft Web site, which provides critical resources for consumers, businesses, and law enforcers at (http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft). Consumers can download a consumer-education book, "Identity Theft: When Bad Things Happen to Your Good Name" in English or Spanish. Copies of the reports are available from the FTC's Web site at (http://www.ftc.gov) and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington D.C. 20580.
• The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to approve $250,000 for the Scott County Housing Council to expand affordable-housing opportunities for families in Scott County. The funds will be allocated by the Senate Veterans Affairs - Housing & Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, of which Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is a member. Funds will be used to provide for the construction and rehabilitation of moderate-income family-owned housing as well as support for the homeless. Both the House and Senate must approve the measure before it becomes law.
• Prostate Cancer Awareness Week is September 14 through 20. It is estimated that 220,900 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed this year in the United States. Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in men. This year alone it is estimated that the disease will claim the lives of 28,900 men. Early detection is the key to fighting prostate cancer. Men age 50 and older who have at least a 10-year life expectancy should talk with their health-care provider about having a digital rectal exam and a prostate-specific antigen blood test every year. Men who are at high risk for prostate cancer, especially black men or men who have a family history of prostate cancer, should consider beginning these tests at an earlier age. Eighty-three percent of all prostate cancers are discovered in the local or regional stages. According to the American Cancer Society's Cancer Facts & Figures 2003 book, the five-year survival rate for patients whose tumors are diagnosed at these stages is 100 percent. Over the past 20 years, the survival rate for all stages combined has increased from 67 percent to 96 percent. For more information, contact your doctor or call the American Cancer Society at (800)227-2345 or look on the Web at (http://www.cancer.org).
