• Bettendorf Mayor Mike Freemire recently met with the state's Community Attraction & Tourism (CAT) review board in West Des Moines, where he was notified that the downtown riverfront-development project for Bettendorf has been scored and will move toward negotiations sometime in January. Bettendorf is asking for $5.4 million from the state to fund the project, which includes a conference and events center, a 250-room expansion at the Isle of Capri hotel and casino, a 500-slot parking facility, and a skywalk connection from the hotel to the conference and events center.
• Iowa House Speaker Christopher Rants, a Sioux City Republican, has re-appointed Representative Jim Van Fossen, a Davenport Republican, as vice chair of the House Public Safety Committee. Van Fossen will also serve on the Judiciary and Natural Resources committees, as well as the Justice Systems Appropriations subcommittee. The Iowa Legislature convenes on January 10.
• The Komen Quad Cities Affiliate has announced that Milan's Cindy Ashmun, a three-time breast-cancer survivor, will be the Honorary Survivor Chair for the Komen Quad Cities 2005 Race for the Cure. Ashmun was first diagnosed with breast cancer 22 years ago at the age of 28. She developed new cases of breast cancer at the ages of 35 and 41. She was treated first with a lumpectomy and 35 radiation treatments; secondly with a partial mastectomy and 35 radiation treatments; and lastly with a radical mastectomy and tamoxifen. Ashmun, now age 50, has had side effects from her radiation treatments, including a clogged artery and chronic pulmonary disease, and is an advocate for self-exams. The 16th Annual Komen Quad Cities Race for the Cure will be held on Saturday, June 11, at the John Deere Commons area in downtown Moline. Since its inception in 1990, the Komen Quad Cities Affiliate has raised more than $3 million and granted money to provide more than 1,500 mammograms annually to underserved and underinsured women in its eight-county service area. Up to 75 percent of proceeds from the race and other affiliated events benefit women in the greater Quad Cities. At least 25 percent of funds go toward the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Award & Research Grant Program.
• The Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) has announced it will award $10,000 in scholarships to five Iowa high school seniors through the 2005 ISA Student Scholarship program. The scholarship competition is open to high-school seniors who are Iowa residents and plan to attend any ag-related college or university. Strong preference will be given to students who have parents or grandparents who are ISA members. Interested students should ask their guidance counselors for more information or go to ISA's Web site at (http://www.iasoybeans.com) for a downloadable scholarship application and complete scholarship criteria.
• Professionals from several local career options will take part in a career night during the Williams Intermediate after-school program on Wednesday, December 15, as part of a special girls' group for seventh graders that has been meeting for the past eight weeks. The group has addressed issues surrounding body image, self-esteem, developing personal relationship skills, and more - giving girls an opportunity to learn and express themselves in a supportive environment. According to Darcia Mortiboy, school site facilitator for the after-school program at Williams, the group is expecting women representing seven different careers to take part in the December 15 program. Those participating include a detective from the Davenport Police Department, a representative from Translations Unlimited, a St. Ambrose University volleyball player, a licensed plumber, the gallery manager from Quad City Arts, a dance instructor, a singer, and a nurse from Genesis.
• A new policy could get you arrested and thrown in jail for publishing a book. An article located at (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002112639_diss08.html) elaborates further: "In an apparent reversal of decades of U.S. practice, recent federal Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations bar American companies from publishing works by dissident writers in countries under sanction unless they first obtain U.S. government approval. The restriction, condemned by critics as a violation of the First Amendment, means that books and other works banned by some totalitarian regimes cannot be published freely in the United States. Violations carry severe reprisals - publishing houses can be fined $1 million and individual violators face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine." The link for the Office of Foreign Assets Control is located at (http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/).
• Alderman Pat O'Brien has filed petitions placing his name on the ballot for the upcoming Moline mayoral election. O'Brien submitted more than 700 signatures, more than twice the number needed to qualify for the ballot. O'Brien has represented Moline's Second Ward on the city council since 1997.
• On Thursday, December 16, at 7 p.m. at Foster Family Music Center, 2967 State Street in Bettendorf, Therese and Sherry Krogman will be presenting a wide variety of Christmas music on various musical instruments, including the violin, flute, piccolo, piano, and soprano saxophone. The concert is free, but donations will go to the Optica Piave Eye Care in Guatemala to help purchase greatly needed eye-care equipment and eyeglass frames.
• Silver Oaks Communications will be sending roughly 100 copies of its computer word game "Chatterblox" to local troops who are being deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Silver Oaks has lifted the copy protection on its games so that Chatterblox can be shared. Chatterblox is a fast-paced word game developed entirely in-house, from game design and programming to original artwork, characters, and music. Staff at the Rock Island Arsenal Mobilization & Deployment Program of Army Community Service will pack and ship the discs to Fort Dix in New Jersey and Camp Attaberry in Indiana.
• Iowa House Speaker Christopher Rants, a Sioux City Republican, has re-appointed Representative Jim Van Fossen, a Davenport Republican, as vice chair of the House Public Safety Committee. Van Fossen will also serve on the Judiciary and Natural Resources committees, as well as the Justice Systems Appropriations subcommittee. The Iowa Legislature convenes on January 10.
• The Komen Quad Cities Affiliate has announced that Milan's Cindy Ashmun, a three-time breast-cancer survivor, will be the Honorary Survivor Chair for the Komen Quad Cities 2005 Race for the Cure. Ashmun was first diagnosed with breast cancer 22 years ago at the age of 28. She developed new cases of breast cancer at the ages of 35 and 41. She was treated first with a lumpectomy and 35 radiation treatments; secondly with a partial mastectomy and 35 radiation treatments; and lastly with a radical mastectomy and tamoxifen. Ashmun, now age 50, has had side effects from her radiation treatments, including a clogged artery and chronic pulmonary disease, and is an advocate for self-exams. The 16th Annual Komen Quad Cities Race for the Cure will be held on Saturday, June 11, at the John Deere Commons area in downtown Moline. Since its inception in 1990, the Komen Quad Cities Affiliate has raised more than $3 million and granted money to provide more than 1,500 mammograms annually to underserved and underinsured women in its eight-county service area. Up to 75 percent of proceeds from the race and other affiliated events benefit women in the greater Quad Cities. At least 25 percent of funds go toward the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Award & Research Grant Program.
• The Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) has announced it will award $10,000 in scholarships to five Iowa high school seniors through the 2005 ISA Student Scholarship program. The scholarship competition is open to high-school seniors who are Iowa residents and plan to attend any ag-related college or university. Strong preference will be given to students who have parents or grandparents who are ISA members. Interested students should ask their guidance counselors for more information or go to ISA's Web site at (http://www.iasoybeans.com) for a downloadable scholarship application and complete scholarship criteria.
• Professionals from several local career options will take part in a career night during the Williams Intermediate after-school program on Wednesday, December 15, as part of a special girls' group for seventh graders that has been meeting for the past eight weeks. The group has addressed issues surrounding body image, self-esteem, developing personal relationship skills, and more - giving girls an opportunity to learn and express themselves in a supportive environment. According to Darcia Mortiboy, school site facilitator for the after-school program at Williams, the group is expecting women representing seven different careers to take part in the December 15 program. Those participating include a detective from the Davenport Police Department, a representative from Translations Unlimited, a St. Ambrose University volleyball player, a licensed plumber, the gallery manager from Quad City Arts, a dance instructor, a singer, and a nurse from Genesis.
• A new policy could get you arrested and thrown in jail for publishing a book. An article located at (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002112639_diss08.html) elaborates further: "In an apparent reversal of decades of U.S. practice, recent federal Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations bar American companies from publishing works by dissident writers in countries under sanction unless they first obtain U.S. government approval. The restriction, condemned by critics as a violation of the First Amendment, means that books and other works banned by some totalitarian regimes cannot be published freely in the United States. Violations carry severe reprisals - publishing houses can be fined $1 million and individual violators face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine." The link for the Office of Foreign Assets Control is located at (http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/).
• Alderman Pat O'Brien has filed petitions placing his name on the ballot for the upcoming Moline mayoral election. O'Brien submitted more than 700 signatures, more than twice the number needed to qualify for the ballot. O'Brien has represented Moline's Second Ward on the city council since 1997.
• On Thursday, December 16, at 7 p.m. at Foster Family Music Center, 2967 State Street in Bettendorf, Therese and Sherry Krogman will be presenting a wide variety of Christmas music on various musical instruments, including the violin, flute, piccolo, piano, and soprano saxophone. The concert is free, but donations will go to the Optica Piave Eye Care in Guatemala to help purchase greatly needed eye-care equipment and eyeglass frames.
• Silver Oaks Communications will be sending roughly 100 copies of its computer word game "Chatterblox" to local troops who are being deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Silver Oaks has lifted the copy protection on its games so that Chatterblox can be shared. Chatterblox is a fast-paced word game developed entirely in-house, from game design and programming to original artwork, characters, and music. Staff at the Rock Island Arsenal Mobilization & Deployment Program of Army Community Service will pack and ship the discs to Fort Dix in New Jersey and Camp Attaberry in Indiana.
