• According to a new report released by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) lacks the authority and resources to properly regulate the state's livestock operations under the federal Clean Water Act. As a result, the health of Iowa's citizens and its natural resources (including water quality) are threatened. The EIP report, entitled "Threatening Iowa's Future: Iowa's Failure to Implement & Enforce the Clean Water Act for Livestock Operations," finds that Iowa has failed to regulate thousands of major livestock operations, despite federal laws clearly requiring the state to do so. The largest of these facilities confine more than 5 million chickens, 24,000 swine, or 10,000 cattle on a single site and generate millions of gallons of waste. The Clean Water Act requires large animal-feeding operations (known as "concentrated animal-feeding operations" or CAFOs) to obtain operating permits that impose pollution controls, as well as monitoring and reporting requirements, to prevent manure discharges. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources estimates that 3,500 of Iowa's livestock operations are required to obtain federal Clean Water Act operating permits, yet it has issued only 42 permits to open feedlots. IDNR has never issued a Clean Water Act operating permit to a confinement feeding operation, although the state has documented more than 1,800 confinement facilities that should have them. The full text of the report is available at (http://www.environmentalintegrity.org).
• Moody's Investors Service has assigned an Aa3 rating to the City of Bettendorf's $7.6-million General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2004 (which will be used to finance various capital-improvement projects including sewer and storm water capital improvements), and the $7.1-million General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2004B. Both series of bonds are secured by the unlimited tax pledge of the city. Despite recent fiscal pressure on the city, Moody's believes that Bettendorf's financial operations will remain stable given its revenue-raising flexibility, diverse source of revenues, and history of conservative management.
• Scott County Sheriff Dennis Conard had announced that sheriff's deputies will soon be retail clerks in gas stations and grocery stores. The Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, the Scott County Sheriff's Office, and tobacco retailers are partnering to surprise teen tobacco users. The Cops in Shops program uses peace officers posing as clerks to surprise teens with citations instead of the tobacco products they originally asked for. Teens in possession of or attempting to purchase tobacco will be fined $50 and eight hours of community service for the first offense, $100 and 12 hours for the second offense, and $250 and 16 hours for the third and subsequent offenses. The program also serves as a warning that it's illegal to provide tobacco products to underage teens. The penalty is a simple misdemeanor. Visit (http://www.IowaABD.com) for more information.
• In honor of the area's deceased veterans, Chippiannock Cemetery will display an Avenue of Flags on Memorial Day, May 31. The flags, which are donated by the families of deceased servicemen and -women, are displayed each year on the holiday. Interested parties are invited to call Chippiannock at (309)788-6622 or stop at the cemetery office, 2901 12th Street in Rock Island, for further information.
• The Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center of Eastern Iowa Community College District has a new exhibit of the wildlife along the Mississippi River on display at the Davenport Public Library through the summer. This exhibit gives an overview of the Nahant Marsh and of wildlife along the Mississippi River and is a result of a grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services. The Eastern Iowa Community College District partnered with the Davenport Public Library and Putnam Museum/Nahant Marsh to create both the display and two new educational CDs. River Tales, one of the CDs, is available for checkout from the library.
• The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) reports that drivers who test positive for marijuana in their urine do not experience elevated risks for having a motor-vehicle accident, according to case-control data to be published in the July issue of the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention. Researchers at the St. Elisabeth Hospital in the Netherlands estimated the association between drug use and motor-vehicle accidents by conducting a prospective observational case-controlled study. Cases included drivers involved in road crashes requiring hospitalization, while the controls were drivers recruited at random while driving on public roads. Authors found that drivers' risk for road trauma significantly increased with the use of benzodiazepines and alcohol. Increased risks, although not statistically significant, were also assessed for drivers using amphetamines, cocaine, or opiates.
• The Midwest Division of the American Cancer Society has announced that community organizations may apply for funding to enhance local cancer-control programs in Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Grants up to $25,000 will be awarded to programs that focus on colorectal-cancer screening and early detection, tobacco-use reduction, breast-cancer screening, and disparities in access or treatment. Priority will be given to organizations that cater to medically underserved populations such as the poor, elderly, and those who live in rural or inner-city communities, have low education, etc. Grant-eligible organizations include social-service agencies, cancer coalitions, colleges and universities, medical and nursing schools, and faith-based community groups. Interested parties can request a Cancer Control Grants Program description and letter-of-intent instructions from Karen Stewart by e-mailing (Karen.stewart@cancer.org); by writing to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 902, Pewaukee WI 53702; or by calling (262)523-5523. The deadline for submitting is July 8.
• Moody's Investors Service has assigned an Aa3 rating to the City of Bettendorf's $7.6-million General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2004 (which will be used to finance various capital-improvement projects including sewer and storm water capital improvements), and the $7.1-million General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2004B. Both series of bonds are secured by the unlimited tax pledge of the city. Despite recent fiscal pressure on the city, Moody's believes that Bettendorf's financial operations will remain stable given its revenue-raising flexibility, diverse source of revenues, and history of conservative management.
• Scott County Sheriff Dennis Conard had announced that sheriff's deputies will soon be retail clerks in gas stations and grocery stores. The Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, the Scott County Sheriff's Office, and tobacco retailers are partnering to surprise teen tobacco users. The Cops in Shops program uses peace officers posing as clerks to surprise teens with citations instead of the tobacco products they originally asked for. Teens in possession of or attempting to purchase tobacco will be fined $50 and eight hours of community service for the first offense, $100 and 12 hours for the second offense, and $250 and 16 hours for the third and subsequent offenses. The program also serves as a warning that it's illegal to provide tobacco products to underage teens. The penalty is a simple misdemeanor. Visit (http://www.IowaABD.com) for more information.
• In honor of the area's deceased veterans, Chippiannock Cemetery will display an Avenue of Flags on Memorial Day, May 31. The flags, which are donated by the families of deceased servicemen and -women, are displayed each year on the holiday. Interested parties are invited to call Chippiannock at (309)788-6622 or stop at the cemetery office, 2901 12th Street in Rock Island, for further information.
• The Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center of Eastern Iowa Community College District has a new exhibit of the wildlife along the Mississippi River on display at the Davenport Public Library through the summer. This exhibit gives an overview of the Nahant Marsh and of wildlife along the Mississippi River and is a result of a grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services. The Eastern Iowa Community College District partnered with the Davenport Public Library and Putnam Museum/Nahant Marsh to create both the display and two new educational CDs. River Tales, one of the CDs, is available for checkout from the library.
• The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) reports that drivers who test positive for marijuana in their urine do not experience elevated risks for having a motor-vehicle accident, according to case-control data to be published in the July issue of the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention. Researchers at the St. Elisabeth Hospital in the Netherlands estimated the association between drug use and motor-vehicle accidents by conducting a prospective observational case-controlled study. Cases included drivers involved in road crashes requiring hospitalization, while the controls were drivers recruited at random while driving on public roads. Authors found that drivers' risk for road trauma significantly increased with the use of benzodiazepines and alcohol. Increased risks, although not statistically significant, were also assessed for drivers using amphetamines, cocaine, or opiates.
• The Midwest Division of the American Cancer Society has announced that community organizations may apply for funding to enhance local cancer-control programs in Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Grants up to $25,000 will be awarded to programs that focus on colorectal-cancer screening and early detection, tobacco-use reduction, breast-cancer screening, and disparities in access or treatment. Priority will be given to organizations that cater to medically underserved populations such as the poor, elderly, and those who live in rural or inner-city communities, have low education, etc. Grant-eligible organizations include social-service agencies, cancer coalitions, colleges and universities, medical and nursing schools, and faith-based community groups. Interested parties can request a Cancer Control Grants Program description and letter-of-intent instructions from Karen Stewart by e-mailing (Karen.stewart@cancer.org); by writing to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 902, Pewaukee WI 53702; or by calling (262)523-5523. The deadline for submitting is July 8.
