15
Oct
2002
• The Bettendorf Public Library Information Center is ranked seventh nationwide in its community's population range, according to Hennen's American Public Library Ratings (HAPLR). A total of five Iowa libraries were included in the top 100, each in a different population category. The HAPLR index uses six input and nine output measures to establish the rankings. The input measures include expenditures per capita, percent of budget to materials, materials expenditure per capita, FTE staff per 1,000 population, magazines per 1,000 residents, and volumes per capita. Output measures include cost per circulation, visits per capita, collection turnover, collection per FTE staff hour, circulation per capita, reference per capita, visits per hour, and circulation per visit.
• The City of Bettendorf has changed its trick-or-treating night to coincide with Davenport's: from 5 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 30.
• Compounds in marijuana can drastically reduce the chronic pain experienced by patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and spinal-cord injury, according to clinical-trial data unveiled at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Management. Of the 34 patients who participated in the study, more than 80 percent experienced significant benefits, including pain relief and sleep enhancement, and elected to move to a long-term trial. Each of the volunteers had been previously unresponsive to standard analgesics. Participants in the study were administered randomized extracts containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive compound in marijuana, cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound in marijuana, and a mixture of both compounds. Patients responding positively in the trial experienced statistically significant benefits from all three products compared to a placebo. A separate analysis of MS-only volunteers also confirmed a statistically significant reduction in symptom scores using the THC/CBD combination extract and THC. Only six of the 34 volunteers experienced no clinical benefit from the extracts. More detailed results of the marijuana and pain study are available online at (http://www.gwpharm.com/news_pres_30_se_02.html). For more information on medicinal cannabis extracts, visit (http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5286).
• DavenportOne announced earlier this month that Tara England Barney was hired as the organization's senior vice president of downtown economic development. Barney will be in charge of DavenportOne's efforts with the River Renaissance re-development project as well adaptive reuse housing projects and the development of office space. Barney started her position August 15, following stints guiding development in Fort Myers/Lee County in Florida and managing downtown development in Toldeo, Ohio.
• The Iowa Battle Flag Collection program is receiving federal assistance to preserve 306 battle flags carried and captured by Iowa volunteer regiments during the Civil War, Spanish American War, and World War I. The $144,000 federal Save America's Treasures grant is distributed by the National Park Service. The process of preserving the flags involves transferring flags to custom-built trays where they can be laid flat, studied, described, photographed, and treated without extensive handling. This work will make these artifacts accessible to the public through exhibitions at the State Historical Museum in Des Moines, publication, and the Internet.
• For the first time, the Bettendorf Family Museum of Arts & Science has been selected to receive a grant from the federal Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS). The $112,500 award will be used over the next two years to further the museum's long-range goal of providing access to museum services for every child age 14 and under in Scott, Rock Island, and Henry counties by the year 2010. This year's recipients will share more than $15 million allocated to the program. A total of 839 applications were submitted, and 179 received awards, with the monetary value based on the size of their individual operational budgets.
• Scott County has received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States & Canada (GFOA) for Scott County's current budget. Scott County is one of only two Iowa counties (Linn County being the other) to hold the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. The county has received this award for the past 13 years. Only 10 of the 1,488 governmental units in the State of Iowa currently hold this honor. This award is the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting. You can see the announcement online at (http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/administration/budget_award.html).
• The Bettendorf Public Library will be one of three Scott County remote sites for early voting for the Iowa General Election on November 5. Located in the lobby of the library, the voting site will be offered October 21 through November 2. Hours for voting will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
• The Greater Davenport Board of Realtors (GDBOR), a professional organization of more than 600 real-estate professionals, last week released its voter guide covering Scott County races. It can be accessed at (http://www.gdbor.com/govaffairs/votersguide.html). Last fall GDBOR released a similar guide for the 2001 city elections. Topics range from property taxes to accessing property information on-line.
• Participants in the Family Museum of Arts & Science's Street Heat youth program installed two brick-art walls this past weekend at the Hero Street Monument, 202 First Avenue in Silvis. Seven youth designed and created the two four-by-six-foot walls as part of a job-skills program at the Family Museum. Dedication of the walls will be held November 9 as a part of a Veterans' Day celebration.
• The City of Bettendorf has changed its trick-or-treating night to coincide with Davenport's: from 5 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 30.
• Compounds in marijuana can drastically reduce the chronic pain experienced by patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and spinal-cord injury, according to clinical-trial data unveiled at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Management. Of the 34 patients who participated in the study, more than 80 percent experienced significant benefits, including pain relief and sleep enhancement, and elected to move to a long-term trial. Each of the volunteers had been previously unresponsive to standard analgesics. Participants in the study were administered randomized extracts containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive compound in marijuana, cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound in marijuana, and a mixture of both compounds. Patients responding positively in the trial experienced statistically significant benefits from all three products compared to a placebo. A separate analysis of MS-only volunteers also confirmed a statistically significant reduction in symptom scores using the THC/CBD combination extract and THC. Only six of the 34 volunteers experienced no clinical benefit from the extracts. More detailed results of the marijuana and pain study are available online at (http://www.gwpharm.com/news_pres_30_se_02.html). For more information on medicinal cannabis extracts, visit (http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5286).
• DavenportOne announced earlier this month that Tara England Barney was hired as the organization's senior vice president of downtown economic development. Barney will be in charge of DavenportOne's efforts with the River Renaissance re-development project as well adaptive reuse housing projects and the development of office space. Barney started her position August 15, following stints guiding development in Fort Myers/Lee County in Florida and managing downtown development in Toldeo, Ohio.
• The Iowa Battle Flag Collection program is receiving federal assistance to preserve 306 battle flags carried and captured by Iowa volunteer regiments during the Civil War, Spanish American War, and World War I. The $144,000 federal Save America's Treasures grant is distributed by the National Park Service. The process of preserving the flags involves transferring flags to custom-built trays where they can be laid flat, studied, described, photographed, and treated without extensive handling. This work will make these artifacts accessible to the public through exhibitions at the State Historical Museum in Des Moines, publication, and the Internet.
• For the first time, the Bettendorf Family Museum of Arts & Science has been selected to receive a grant from the federal Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS). The $112,500 award will be used over the next two years to further the museum's long-range goal of providing access to museum services for every child age 14 and under in Scott, Rock Island, and Henry counties by the year 2010. This year's recipients will share more than $15 million allocated to the program. A total of 839 applications were submitted, and 179 received awards, with the monetary value based on the size of their individual operational budgets.
• Scott County has received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States & Canada (GFOA) for Scott County's current budget. Scott County is one of only two Iowa counties (Linn County being the other) to hold the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. The county has received this award for the past 13 years. Only 10 of the 1,488 governmental units in the State of Iowa currently hold this honor. This award is the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting. You can see the announcement online at (http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/administration/budget_award.html).
• The Bettendorf Public Library will be one of three Scott County remote sites for early voting for the Iowa General Election on November 5. Located in the lobby of the library, the voting site will be offered October 21 through November 2. Hours for voting will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
• The Greater Davenport Board of Realtors (GDBOR), a professional organization of more than 600 real-estate professionals, last week released its voter guide covering Scott County races. It can be accessed at (http://www.gdbor.com/govaffairs/votersguide.html). Last fall GDBOR released a similar guide for the 2001 city elections. Topics range from property taxes to accessing property information on-line.
• Participants in the Family Museum of Arts & Science's Street Heat youth program installed two brick-art walls this past weekend at the Hero Street Monument, 202 First Avenue in Silvis. Seven youth designed and created the two four-by-six-foot walls as part of a job-skills program at the Family Museum. Dedication of the walls will be held November 9 as a part of a Veterans' Day celebration.
