04
Nov
2003
• Bambi might not be safe in Bettendorf anymore. Because of a rapidly growing deer population, city officials are looking at allowing deer hunting on farmland within Bettendorf limits. Some residents have had as many as 25 deer in their backyards at any given time, and property damage in Scott County from deer/vehicle crashes is the third highest in the state. An April aerial count of deer in the City of Bettendorf showed about 151 of them in one two-square-mile area, with Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials expecting the number to grow to 201 by 2004 and 355 by 2006. Riverdale city officials recently passed the first reading of a deer-hunting ordinance, and DNR officials have spoken with management at Alcoa Davenport Works about allowing a hunt to help thin the herd in that area. In LeClaire, bow hunters have been allowed to kill deer within the city limits for the past couple of years. The issue might go before the Bettendorf City Council sometime in mid-November and, if approved, the hunt could begin yet this year. Several details have yet to be ironed out.
• The National Organizaiton for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) reports that according to the FBI's recently released annual Uniform Crime Report, police arrested an estimated 697,082 persons for marijuana violations in 2002. The total is among the highest ever recorded by the FBI, and represented nearly half of all drug arrests in the United States. Of those charged with marijuana violations, 88 percent - some 613,986 Americans - were charged with possession only. The remaining 83,095 individuals were charged with "sale/manufacture," a category that includes all cultivation offenses - including those in which the marijuana was being grown for personal or medical use. The total number of marijuana arrests far exceeded the total number of arrests for all violent crimes combined. For more information, look on NORML's Web site at (http://www.norml.org).
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture had declared 68 Iowa counties as "primary natural disaster areas" due to the drought conditions Iowa farmers have experienced all summer. An additional 31 counties in Iowa have been named "contiguous disaster counties." Family farmers in both "primary" and "contiguous" disaster counties are eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency (FSA). Each loan application is considered individually by FSA, taking into account the extent of losses, security available, and re-payment ability.
• Quad City Arts' Festival of Trees is looking for volunteers to design, bake, decorate and donate a gingerbread house or an item of ginger art. The gingerbread houses and ginger art will be displayed and sold to benefit Quad City Arts. Ribbons will be awarded in the amateur, youth, senior, and professional categories. Participants will also receive four general-admission passes to the Festival of Trees for each house submitted, and two passes for each item of art. Contact Festival of Trees at (309)793-1213 extension 104 or (nstahl@quadcityarts.com) to register your item or for further information. Entries must be delivered to the RiverCenter in Davenport on Sunday, November 16.
• On October 10, the City of Bettendorf was awarded a $150,000 REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection) City Parks & Open Space grant for the Field Sike Greenway & Park project. The funds were requested to complete Phases I and II of the development. The project includes site grading, preparation, seeding, and utilization of best management practices to develop a natural and healthy environment for the watershed. Natural plantings, buffer zones, and filter strips will be incorporated to help control erosion along the stream banks and throughout the greenway corridor. Three storm-water reserves will be constructed to control runoff. The park and greenway design will join the natural and interpretive components with educational and recreational facilities.
• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced that it is working on making it easier to "process" visitors holding visas as they enter the United States. The department hopes to have the system in place by December 31. Titled the US-VISIT program - United States Visitor & Immigrant Status Indicator Technology - the program uses scanning equipment to collect "biometric identifiers" such as fingerprints in an inkless process, along with a digital photograph of the visitor. Together with the standard information gathered from a visitor about identity and travel, the new program will verify the visitor's identity and compliance with visa and immigration policies. All data obtained from the visitor is stored as part of the visitor's travel record. At exit points, visitors will check out at kiosks by scanning their visa or passport and repeating the simple inkless fingerprinting process. The exit confirmation will be added to the visitor's travel records to demonstrate compliance. Land border processing will be introduced in phases in 2005 and 2006. The Department of Homeland Security's Web site can be found at (http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/).
• More than 1,000 used coats are needed for needy students in the Davenport Community Schools and other surrounding public and private schools. The Dr. David E. Lane Memorial "Coats for Kids" program has provided more than 5,000 coats during the past four winters. Donations of winter coats (new or used) may be taken to any Burke Cleaners location in the Iowa Quad Cities. The greatest need is for coats in children's sizes. Donations are also welcomed in infant, toddler, and adult sizes. In its fifth year, the Coats for Kids program is operated by volunteers from participating schools, businesses, and the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency.
• The National Organizaiton for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) reports that according to the FBI's recently released annual Uniform Crime Report, police arrested an estimated 697,082 persons for marijuana violations in 2002. The total is among the highest ever recorded by the FBI, and represented nearly half of all drug arrests in the United States. Of those charged with marijuana violations, 88 percent - some 613,986 Americans - were charged with possession only. The remaining 83,095 individuals were charged with "sale/manufacture," a category that includes all cultivation offenses - including those in which the marijuana was being grown for personal or medical use. The total number of marijuana arrests far exceeded the total number of arrests for all violent crimes combined. For more information, look on NORML's Web site at (http://www.norml.org).
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture had declared 68 Iowa counties as "primary natural disaster areas" due to the drought conditions Iowa farmers have experienced all summer. An additional 31 counties in Iowa have been named "contiguous disaster counties." Family farmers in both "primary" and "contiguous" disaster counties are eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency (FSA). Each loan application is considered individually by FSA, taking into account the extent of losses, security available, and re-payment ability.
• Quad City Arts' Festival of Trees is looking for volunteers to design, bake, decorate and donate a gingerbread house or an item of ginger art. The gingerbread houses and ginger art will be displayed and sold to benefit Quad City Arts. Ribbons will be awarded in the amateur, youth, senior, and professional categories. Participants will also receive four general-admission passes to the Festival of Trees for each house submitted, and two passes for each item of art. Contact Festival of Trees at (309)793-1213 extension 104 or (nstahl@quadcityarts.com) to register your item or for further information. Entries must be delivered to the RiverCenter in Davenport on Sunday, November 16.
• On October 10, the City of Bettendorf was awarded a $150,000 REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection) City Parks & Open Space grant for the Field Sike Greenway & Park project. The funds were requested to complete Phases I and II of the development. The project includes site grading, preparation, seeding, and utilization of best management practices to develop a natural and healthy environment for the watershed. Natural plantings, buffer zones, and filter strips will be incorporated to help control erosion along the stream banks and throughout the greenway corridor. Three storm-water reserves will be constructed to control runoff. The park and greenway design will join the natural and interpretive components with educational and recreational facilities.
• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced that it is working on making it easier to "process" visitors holding visas as they enter the United States. The department hopes to have the system in place by December 31. Titled the US-VISIT program - United States Visitor & Immigrant Status Indicator Technology - the program uses scanning equipment to collect "biometric identifiers" such as fingerprints in an inkless process, along with a digital photograph of the visitor. Together with the standard information gathered from a visitor about identity and travel, the new program will verify the visitor's identity and compliance with visa and immigration policies. All data obtained from the visitor is stored as part of the visitor's travel record. At exit points, visitors will check out at kiosks by scanning their visa or passport and repeating the simple inkless fingerprinting process. The exit confirmation will be added to the visitor's travel records to demonstrate compliance. Land border processing will be introduced in phases in 2005 and 2006. The Department of Homeland Security's Web site can be found at (http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/).
• More than 1,000 used coats are needed for needy students in the Davenport Community Schools and other surrounding public and private schools. The Dr. David E. Lane Memorial "Coats for Kids" program has provided more than 5,000 coats during the past four winters. Donations of winter coats (new or used) may be taken to any Burke Cleaners location in the Iowa Quad Cities. The greatest need is for coats in children's sizes. Donations are also welcomed in infant, toddler, and adult sizes. In its fifth year, the Coats for Kids program is operated by volunteers from participating schools, businesses, and the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency.
