30
Jul
2002
• The Family Museum of Arts & Science in Bettendorf is now recognized as an official National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Backyard Wildlife Habitat site. The Family Museum's habitat area was organized under the direction of museum Education Coordinator Kathy Wierzba. Thirty Bettendorf Middle School sixth-grade students and three teachers spent May 17 working in the creek area that runs beside the museum. The students made stepping stones that allow access to the creek for classes held at the museum site, and they divided the area into sections and listed the plant and animal species they found living there. The students also planted trees, wildflowers, and grasses, and hung birdhouses. These additions and the information they gathered were used to fill out an application for recognition of the museum grounds as a National Wildlife Federation backyard habitat. The NWF's Web site (http://www.nwf.org) features regularly updated information on habitat projects, wildlife, wild places, and how to help protect these precious natural resources. For more information about the Family Museum of Arts & Science, call (563)344-4169 or visit (http://www.familymuseum.org).
• In the past six months, Davenport has witnessed the closing of three institutions of learning: Grant Elementary, Johnson Elementary, and Marycrest International University. A fourth Davenport school is running out of time as it tries to raise money to stay open. The Marquette Academy, a private pre-kindergarten -through-eighth-grade pilot school, needs to raise $100,000 on or before the end of the end of the month or it will be forced to close. If you want to help, you can send your tax-free donations to Marquette Academy; P.O. Box 3279; Davenport IA 52808. You can also call the school at 322-3723. Marquette representatives will also be collecting donations at the River Bandits game at 7 p.m. on July 31.
• You can reduce the amount of unsolicited e-mail you receive by signing up on a special Web site with the Direct Marketing Association's E-mail Preference Service. The site, at (http://www.e-mps.org) has been created for consumers and businesses to register their e-mail addresses. The service will delete the e-mail addresses of people who don't want to receive such solicitations. Direct-marketing associations in eight other countries have also agreed to use this service. However, marketers do not have to remove the e-mail addresses of their own customers or those individuals who have contacted them requesting information.
• St. Ambrose University has surpassed its fundraising goal for the new University Center and met the requirements for the Kresge Foundation's $850,000 challenge grant. One week before the Kresge Foundation's July 1 deadline, the contributions of friends, alumni, faculty, staff, corporations, and foundations enabled St. Ambrose to surpass the goal of $15.3 million toward the construction and endowment of the new University Center. A university planning committee has been working with architects to put the finishing touches on plans for the 64,000-square-foot center, which will include a ballroom as well as space for lectures, conferences, dinners, meetings, and offices. A groundbreaking is tentatively set for later this year.
• The Rock Island District Corps of Engineers has announced the re-opening of the day-use recreational facilities at Lock & Dam 14 recreation area near Pleasant Valley, Iowa. This area has been closed to the public since the September 11 terrorist attacks. The Smith's Island Nature Trail, picnic shelter area, public restrooms, and shoreline fishing adjacent to Lock & Dam 14 site are open for public use. Access will not be allowed to the lock and dam. For additional information, call (309)794-4527.
• Selected works from the nationally renowned Muscular Dystrophy Association Art Collection are now available for sale as notecards. A total of 10 artworks from the collection - five by adults and five by young artists - have been reproduced on notecards, which are blank on the inside to allow for personalized messages. Each of the 10 artists whose work was selected is affected by one of the more than 40 neuromuscular diseases in MDA's program. The MDA Art Collection, now in its 11th year, includes more than 280 works by artists from ages two to 82 and represents all 50 states. The 5-by-7-inch notecards are available in packages of 20, with envelopes, for $12, plus shipping and handling. MDA has announced that $9 from each package goes directly to its research and health-care-services programs. The notecards can be ordered by mail from Community Programs Department; MDA; 3300 E. Sunrise Dr.; Tucson AZ 85718-3299. They can also be ordered by phone at (800)223-6011 or online at (http://www.mdausa.org/commprog/art).
• According to a 2002 update of a study released by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Iowa consumers continue to enjoy the lowest automobile-insurance rates in the country. The study, which included the District of Columbia, ranked Iowa lowest in the nation for combined average auto-insurance rates. The rank is based on the average cost of personal auto insurance for liability, collision, and comprehensive coverages in each state. The combined average auto insurance premium in Iowa is $557.67. New Jersey topped the list with an average auto-insurance premium of $1,146.39. Last year, Iowa was also cheapest in the nation, with a combined average premium of $543.44.
• As we reported in this space last week, President George W. Bush has proposed a program in which 1 million volunteers would report "suspicious activity" they witness while on the job. But that initiative - which has civil libertarians fuming - is in trouble in Congress. Under the proposed program - dubbed Operation TIPS - the government would recruit utility workers, cable installers, and others whose jobs allow them access to private residences for the program. But Republicans and Democrats have raised objections to the program, and the House was expected to block its implementation as part of authorization of a new Department of Homeland Security. (No similar TIPS-killing measures had yet been proposed in the Senate.) The U.S. Postal Service has said its letter carriers would not participate in the program.
• In the past six months, Davenport has witnessed the closing of three institutions of learning: Grant Elementary, Johnson Elementary, and Marycrest International University. A fourth Davenport school is running out of time as it tries to raise money to stay open. The Marquette Academy, a private pre-kindergarten -through-eighth-grade pilot school, needs to raise $100,000 on or before the end of the end of the month or it will be forced to close. If you want to help, you can send your tax-free donations to Marquette Academy; P.O. Box 3279; Davenport IA 52808. You can also call the school at 322-3723. Marquette representatives will also be collecting donations at the River Bandits game at 7 p.m. on July 31.
• You can reduce the amount of unsolicited e-mail you receive by signing up on a special Web site with the Direct Marketing Association's E-mail Preference Service. The site, at (http://www.e-mps.org) has been created for consumers and businesses to register their e-mail addresses. The service will delete the e-mail addresses of people who don't want to receive such solicitations. Direct-marketing associations in eight other countries have also agreed to use this service. However, marketers do not have to remove the e-mail addresses of their own customers or those individuals who have contacted them requesting information.
• St. Ambrose University has surpassed its fundraising goal for the new University Center and met the requirements for the Kresge Foundation's $850,000 challenge grant. One week before the Kresge Foundation's July 1 deadline, the contributions of friends, alumni, faculty, staff, corporations, and foundations enabled St. Ambrose to surpass the goal of $15.3 million toward the construction and endowment of the new University Center. A university planning committee has been working with architects to put the finishing touches on plans for the 64,000-square-foot center, which will include a ballroom as well as space for lectures, conferences, dinners, meetings, and offices. A groundbreaking is tentatively set for later this year.
• The Rock Island District Corps of Engineers has announced the re-opening of the day-use recreational facilities at Lock & Dam 14 recreation area near Pleasant Valley, Iowa. This area has been closed to the public since the September 11 terrorist attacks. The Smith's Island Nature Trail, picnic shelter area, public restrooms, and shoreline fishing adjacent to Lock & Dam 14 site are open for public use. Access will not be allowed to the lock and dam. For additional information, call (309)794-4527.
• Selected works from the nationally renowned Muscular Dystrophy Association Art Collection are now available for sale as notecards. A total of 10 artworks from the collection - five by adults and five by young artists - have been reproduced on notecards, which are blank on the inside to allow for personalized messages. Each of the 10 artists whose work was selected is affected by one of the more than 40 neuromuscular diseases in MDA's program. The MDA Art Collection, now in its 11th year, includes more than 280 works by artists from ages two to 82 and represents all 50 states. The 5-by-7-inch notecards are available in packages of 20, with envelopes, for $12, plus shipping and handling. MDA has announced that $9 from each package goes directly to its research and health-care-services programs. The notecards can be ordered by mail from Community Programs Department; MDA; 3300 E. Sunrise Dr.; Tucson AZ 85718-3299. They can also be ordered by phone at (800)223-6011 or online at (http://www.mdausa.org/commprog/art).
• According to a 2002 update of a study released by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Iowa consumers continue to enjoy the lowest automobile-insurance rates in the country. The study, which included the District of Columbia, ranked Iowa lowest in the nation for combined average auto-insurance rates. The rank is based on the average cost of personal auto insurance for liability, collision, and comprehensive coverages in each state. The combined average auto insurance premium in Iowa is $557.67. New Jersey topped the list with an average auto-insurance premium of $1,146.39. Last year, Iowa was also cheapest in the nation, with a combined average premium of $543.44.
• As we reported in this space last week, President George W. Bush has proposed a program in which 1 million volunteers would report "suspicious activity" they witness while on the job. But that initiative - which has civil libertarians fuming - is in trouble in Congress. Under the proposed program - dubbed Operation TIPS - the government would recruit utility workers, cable installers, and others whose jobs allow them access to private residences for the program. But Republicans and Democrats have raised objections to the program, and the House was expected to block its implementation as part of authorization of a new Department of Homeland Security. (No similar TIPS-killing measures had yet been proposed in the Senate.) The U.S. Postal Service has said its letter carriers would not participate in the program.
