If you wonder about the durability of stereotypes, ask Solo Greene. A member of the Nez Perce Native American tribe and an education specialist with an environmental group on the tribe's reservation in Idaho, he began going into elementary schools five or six years ago to speak to students.

"I thought it was just because they were young," he said in a phone interview, in advance of his fifth-annual appearance in the Quad Cities as part of a cultural exchange with Black Hawk College. "Some of the questions that they asked me ... were: Where did I come from? ... How is it living in a tipi? Did I have to get a pass to get off the reservation?"

Film incentives in Iowa are likely to become law this legislative session after being approved by a house committee last week.

But it remains an open question how much of a boost House File 411 - which would create three types of incentives for film production in Iowa - would provide to the state's motion-picture industry, and whether the state would benefit financially from the incentives.

Don Henry wants to be judged on jobs.

As the director of the Northwest Region Entrepreneurship Center, the only criterion that matters, he said, is the number of new jobs his organization helps create. Even though the State of Illinois provides the bulk of his budget, Henry isn't bogged down by odious regulations or reporting requirements.

As much progress as each of the Quad Cities has made toward a vibrant downtown, it seems slower than anticipated or promised.