Two new park concepts are being developed by the Rock Island Parks & Recreation Department: Old Chicago Park and Douglas Park. Old Chicago Park, located on Ninth Street east of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, will be a brand-new park. The designs can be viewed here. Comments and suggestions on the plans are being accepted by e-mail (parkrecmail@rigov.org) and phone (309)732-7275. A finalized design will be created and presented for public comment in the coming months.
On July 2, Honor Flight Quad Cities announced that it will be flying back-to-back flights to Washington, D.C., on October 9 and 10. Honor Flight is a national organization that flies veterans to see their war memorials at no cost. The flights are funded by donations. Bob Morrison, hub director for the Quad Cities chapter, spoke about the efficiency of having two flights. "First, it allows us to serve two times the amount of veterans so they can get to D.C. and see their memorials," he said. "Second, it allows us to keep the wheelchairs aboard the aircraft, keep the aircraft on the ground overnight, schedule the same buses two days in a row, and essentially just repeat the itinerary." The October 10 flight will include four special participants; the four Moore brothers - Bus, Pete, Jack, and Dick, all veterans of World War II - will be flying together to see the memorial. For more information about Honor Flight Quad Cities, visit HonorFlightQC.org. - Emily Heninger
Twenty-two aspiring doctors and nurses, one biology professor, and an Augustana alumna spent two weeks in June providing medical care to people in six small Nicaragua towns. The service trip was organized by Joining Education Through Service, a student group at Augustana. For more information, visit http://www.augustana.edu/nicaragua.
Soprano Vivien Shotwell, flutist Jeffrey Cohan, mezzo guitarist Oleg Timofeyef, and harpsichordist Larry Peterson will mark the 250th anniversary of the death of George Frideric Handel in a Black Hawk Chamber Music Festival concert on Sunday, July 12, at 7 p.m. at Ascension Chapel at Augustana College (639 38th Street in Rock Island). The suggested donation, a free-will offering, will be $15, and people 18 and under are encouraged to come for free.
With an Electricity Usage Meter, you can discover how much electricity your household appliances consume and which appliances continue to consume electricity when turned off. The devices are available for check-out from the Scott County Extension office. County residents can borrow a meter for a one-week time period with a refundable $25 deposit. For more information, call (563)359-7577.
Iowa State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald has announced that the College Savings Iowa 529 Plan has reduced its asset-based expenses. The cost reductions, effective July 1, will bring the annual asset-based fees of the plan's 13 Vanguard investment options down from 0.52 percent to 0.50 percent. College Savings Iowa is designed to provide families a tax-advantaged way to save money for their children's higher education. For more information, call (888)672-9116 or visit CollegeSavingsIowa.com.
Augustana College is honoring U.S. military veterans with the opportunity to pursue a four-year degree for free. The college is partnering with the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program to offer full tuition beginning this fall to any veteran who has served in the military for at least three years since September 10, 2001. Interested veterans can visit http://www.augustana.edu/admissions for more information.
Iowa Health System has signed an agreement for Unity HealthCare of Muscatine to formally affiliate with Trinity Regional Health System as of July 1. Trinity began its relationship with Unity in May 2008 under a management-services agreement.
The U.S. Department of Labor gave the Iowa Workforce Development more than $11.6 million to create an additional 641 temporary jobs for eligible dislocated workers to continue the cleanup and recovery efforts at established work sites in the aftermath of severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding in 2008. The funds will also be used to address additional damage discovered during cleanup and recovery work.
The Davenport Public Library and the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center will hold the second-annual "Save A Life Blood Drive" on Saturday, July 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Fairmount Street Library (3000 North Fairmount Street). To register, call Steve at (563)328-6833 or visit DavenportLibrary.com.
An independent feature film being shot in the Quad Cities will host an extras casting call on Monday, July 12, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Quality Inn (100 East Iowa Street in Eldridge). For more information, contact iowaextrascasting@mindspring.com.
