The federal Senate Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee approved $1 million for a flood-control project in Davenport in its Fiscal Year 2008 appropriations bill. The legislation is expected to be approved by the full Senate Appropriations Committee by the time you read this. It will then need to be passed by both the House and Senate before it becomes law. The funds will be used to complete pre-construction engineering and design activities and to initiate construction to provide flood protection to a water-treatment facility in Davenport.
Trinity Regional Health System was honored with three awards in the 13th-annual Communicator Awards, an international competition honoring excellence in communication. Trinity received an Award of Excellence for its farmers' markets communication campaign, and honorable mentions for its HeartAware program and InTouch community newsletter. Trinity holds its farmers' markets through October from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays at its Seventh Street campus in Moline and from 3 to 6 p.m. Mondays at the Trinity at Terrace Park campus in Bettendorf. For more information about the awards, go to (http://www.communicatorawards.com).
U.S. Bank has announced that Deere & Company has selected the bank as indenture trustee for its asset-backed note financing. The financing is supported primarily by agricultural and construction retail installment sale and loan contracts secured by new and used agricultural, construction, and forestry equipment. In its role as indenture trustee for the $1-billion John Deere Owner Trust 2007, U.S. Bank will be responsible for compliance oversight, note-holder communication, and processing of interest and principal payments. The servicer, John Deere Capital Corporation, is a wholly owned finance subsidiary of Deere & Company. It primarily provides financing for equipment sold through John Deere dealers.
Heart of America is partnering with the new Bettendorf Hy-Vee Club Room to offer cooking classes to the Quad Cities. Heart of America restaurants - including Johnny's Italian Steakhouse, Iowa Machine Shed, and Thunder Bay Grille - will host classes every month in Hy-Vee's new cooking classroom, the Club Room. To make reservations for cooking classes, call (563) 332-8496. For more information, contact Club Room manager Cathy at (1037clubmgr@hy-vee.com) or call one of the restaurants directly. The Club Room is located on the second floor of Hy-Vee at 2900 Devils Glen Road.
The new Quad City Flames hockey team has announced the beginning of its "Design the Mascot Contest." As a part of the promotion, people are invited to submit designs for the mascot that will entertain fans beginning this fall at The Mark of the Quad Cities. Fans who wish to participate in the mascot-design contest can submit their artwork, or a written description of their idea, to the team before July 20. The team is accepting submissions via mail and e-mail. Mail entries can be sent to Quad City Flames, Attention: Mascot Design, 1201 River Drive, Moline IL 61265. E-mail entries can be sent to (lprobizanski@qcflames.com).
The Moline Foundation recently received notification that it has met the nation's highest philanthropic standards for operational quality, integrity, and accountability. The notice comes from the Council on Foundations, a national professional association based in Washington, D.C. The National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations Program requires community foundations to document their policies for donor services, investments, grant-making, and administration. With more than 200 community foundations already confirmed in compliance nationwide, the program is designed to provide quality assurance to donors, as well as to their legal and financial advisors.
Bettendorf resident Tammy Ryan, 42, was recently named a winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, a weekly $5,000 cash award program from Avon Products, Incorporated, to support individuals in their work to empower women. Ryan will apply her award to expanding the programs and services offered by the Brighter Futures Maternity Home, a local housing facility for displaced pregnant girls and young women.
Former Iowa governors Tom Vilsack and Robert Ray last week joined the Strong American Schools campaign, a bipartisan statewide and national leadership team with the goal of demanding dialogue from all presidential hopefuls on how to improve our schools. For more information about events and a list of the Iowa advisory-board members, visit (http://www.EDin08.com).
On Friday, July 13, at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m., Dan Wardell (host of the Iowa Public Television Kids Clubhouse) will visit the Fairmount Street Library in Davenport to encourage kids to "Get a Clue" and keep reading this summer. Wardell will hit the road and visit 50 libraries across Iowa as part of his first-ever Reading Road Trip. In addition to hearing Wardell read a story and meeting him in person, kids can also track Wardell's progress on Iowa Public Television's Web site at (http://www.iptv.org). No registration is required for this free program. Call (563) 326-7900 or visit (http://www.davenportlibrary.com) for more information.
Muscatine's Musser Public Library will feature an investigation of "Our Ties to the Civil War" in an event at 7 p.m. on July 10. You can investigate our region's Civil War history through 140-year-old artifacts and reproductions that you will be able to touch. A costumed interpreter from the Putnam Museum will bring the Civil War to life through stories as she tells about Dred Scott, John Brown, the Rock Island Prison Camp, and the blood-soaked diary of a Muscatine soldier, which is in the museum's newest exhibit, Bloodlines: Our Ties to the Civil War. A taste of soldier's bread, hardtack, will provide a "being there" experience. The Musser Public Library is presenting this program free of charge to the public.
