The Quad Cities will host the Upper Mississippi River Conference and RiverWay 2008 late this summer. The conference, which will take place August 21 through 23, will include three keynote speakers talking about ways to connect people with the river and how to enhance wildlife habitats. Although the event at the i wireless Center in Moline is geared toward city officials, architects, environmentalists, and teachers, it will provide a variety of activities for the general public. The conference partnered with River Action, which is producing RiverWay 2008, to offer events such as night bike rides, lock and dam tours, and canoing lessons. More information is available at (http://www.riveraction.org). - Marguerite Day

The LeClaire RAGBRAI Committee has won $1,000 from Our Iowa magazine in its Best Bloomin' Towns in Iowa contest. Plans for LeClaire include beginning a "downtown makeover" with barrels along the main street with planted flowers. Barrels with wave petunias will be in place by early June. LeClaire is the ending point for this year's RAGBRAI ride. On Saturday, July 26, more than 15,000 cyclists will be riding from Tipton to LeClaire. For more information about RAGBRAI in LeClaire, visit (http://www.leclaireragbrai.com).

Deann Thoms, president of Quad City Arts, last week announced the appointment of Carmen Darland as executive director of the organization. Most recently, Darland served 18 years as vice president of marketing for Heart of America Restaurants & Inns and was previously with Davenport Bank & Trust Company (now Wells Fargo). The Des Moines native currently serves on the boards of DavenportOne, Goodwill of the Heartland, and North Scott Educational Foundation. Quad City Arts serves six counties in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. For more information, visit (http://www.quadcityarts.com).

Amtrak has released a study on behalf of the Iowa Department of Transportation concerning the feasibility of passenger-rail service from the Quad Cities to Iowa City on a route originating from Chicago. Annual ridership on the full route is estimated at approximately 187,000 passengers, based on two daily round trips and track improvements being made to allow maximum speeds of 79 miles per hour. The states of Iowa and Illinois would share the capital-investment costs, and the estimated annual Amtrak operating-contract expense of roughly $6 million. The estimated cost to upgrade the railroad infrastructure in this example is $54.9 million. Reports and maps concerning this study are available at (http://www.iowadot.gov/amtrakstudy/).