• The Iowa legislature has approved a $3-million package of benefits that provides home-buyer assistance and hardship grants to military veterans and their families. The legislation includes $2 million in additional funding for the Guard & Reserve Homebuyer Benefit program. The program provides matching grants, up to $5,000, toward the purchase of a home for members of the National Guard or military reserves. Since its launch in 2005, the home-buyer benefit program has allocated the entire $1 million initially set aside by lawmakers, which helped 237 service members buy homes in 108 Iowa communities. The additional $2 million lawmakers approved this week will mean even more Iowa soldiers will be able to attain the dream of owning a home. Also included in the bill is $1 million to create a hardship-grant program for military veterans. The program will provide one-time cash payments to veterans who have been seriously injured in a combat zone since September 11, 2001.

• A coalition of local and statewide groups and schools is sponsoring a "Safe Schools" event in Davenport on February 22. The purpose of the event is to raise awareness in the community regarding bullying and name-calling in schools, especially the need to create a safe environment for students who are gay and lesbian. Part of this observation will include the promotion of the week of February 20 as "No Name-Calling Week," a national effort to discourage name-calling of all kinds. The designation was inspired by James Howe's book The Misfits. The local event, "Making Our Schools Safe for GLBT Students," will be held at 7 p.m. on February 22 at Davenport West High School, at 3505 West Locust Street. It will feature a dramatic presentation directed by Corinne Johnson of St. Ambrose University and featuring St. Ambrose students, comments from parents and students, and a book reading and comments by Howe. A discussion of Howe's new book, Totally Joe, with the author will precede the event at 6 p.m. in the West High library. For more information about "No Name-Calling Week," visit (http://www.nonamecallingweek.org).

• Each year state legislators representing Scott County participate in a series of public forums. This is an opportunity for representatives to hear from fellow citizens, as well as to let the public know what the legislature is doing in Des Moines. This year the forums will take place on Saturday, February 25, and Saturday, March 25. The forums will be held on the third floor of the Rogalski Center on the St. Ambrose University campus. The events begin with coffee and rolls at 10:10 a.m., with the discussion starting at 10:30 a.m. This includes brief statements from the legislators, followed by questions from the audience. Parking is available east of the Rogalski Center off Ripley Street.

• Two local Iowa communities received more than $100,000 apiece from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Service Coordinator Program, which provides funding for the employment of service coordinators in assisted-housing developments that are designed for the elderly or persons with disabilities. A service coordinator is responsible for ensuring that elderly residents, especially those who are frail or at-risk, and nonelderly residents with disabilities have access to the specific supportive services they need to continue living independently. The local grantees are: Luther Manor in Bettendorf, $106,313; and Luther Towers in Davenport, $106,263.

• What do a Stickler, a solar-powered lawn mower, a marshmallow extractor, and a pod-maker have in common? They are all the inventions of Davenport elementary- and intermediate-school students and were presented at the annual Invent Iowa! competition in Davenport on January 26. Several dozen inventions, or improvements on current products, filled three large rooms at the Kimberly Center, where judges tried to pick out the best of the best and send them on to the regional Invent Iowa! contest this month. By the way: A Stickler holds all the "sticks" necessary for percussionists; a marshmallow extractor makes making s'mores less sticky; and the pod-maker allows folks to make coffee pods at home using their favorite fresh-ground coffee beans.

• The ASSE Foreign Exchange Program is currently looking for host families for the 2006-7 school year. If you are interested in hosting a high-school-aged foreign-exchange student, call Deb Bowen at (309)582-4882.

• The Figge Art Museum is currently seeking volunteers to help in the following areas: studio classes, museum programming, special events, and other miscellaneous duties as needed. Volunteer training meetings are scheduled at various times throughout the upcoming year as follows: the second Thursdays (10 a.m. to noon or 4 to 6 p.m.) and the second Saturdays (10 a.m. to noon) of February, April, June, August, October, and December. For more information, call (563)326-7804 extension 2048 or e-mail (j.brooke@figgeartmuseum.org).

• United Express is enhancing service to Denver, Colorado, from the Quad City International Airport. Starting Wednesday, February 8, United Express will add a second daily arrival and departure from Denver on a 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet. The Quad Cities had been without two daily flights to Denver for the past two years, and it was not uncommon to see a fully booked or oversold flight situation on the daily Denver flight.

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