• The Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities will be conducting a study to assess the viability of a new power plant in Muscatine. The association hopes to build a $900 million coal-generating station capable of producing 700 megawatts. The study will focus on the city's power and water generating field. Muscatine generates its own power - about 275 megawatts. Officials with the state association say they want to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy through the Iowa Energy Project. They say Muscatine would be a good location for a new power plant, but that two other sites are being considered. The study will cost about $325,000.

• On July 26, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and 13 other public-interest groups filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission regarding Microsoft Windows XP. The complaint alleges that this system and associated services such as Hailstorm, Passport, and E-Wallet are intended to profile, track, and monitor millions of Internet users, and therefore Microsoft is engaging in unfair and deceptive trade practices in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The complaint examines in detail the privacy threats of Microsoft products and Web sites, and the product-activation and -registration procedures for Windows XP. It examines how each of these services collects and discloses detailed personal information about users without sufficient guarantees of privacy or security, and often without any real knowledge or consent. The complaint concludes that the far-reaching and interconnected nature of these Internet business activities, coupled with the extraordinary market dominance of Microsoft, constitutes a unique threat to the privacy of computer users. A copy of the complete complaint is available at (http://www.epic.org/privacy/consumer/MS_complaint.pdf).

• After three years of debate, a stricter alcohol ordinance has taken effect in Iowa City. The ordinance, meant to curb binge drinking, end two-for-one drink specials and all-you-can drink nights at Iowa City bars and restaurants. The city council passed the ordinance June 12 on a 4-3 vote. The law gives city officials broader powers to suspend or revoke liquor licenses.

• Under a bill recently signed into law by Illinois Governor George Ryan, the state Department of Revenue can post a list of people who owe it back taxes on the Internet. Previously, only people owing back taxes of $10,000 or more were posted. The new law, which takes effect January 1, says people must be delinquent on their taxes for six months before the department can publish their names. You can see a list of deadbeats by going to the Illinois Department of Revenue Web site at (http://www.revenue.state.il.us) and clicking on "Delinquent Taxpayers."

• The Novel Café in the Bettendorf Library has announced that it now offers Peace Coffee. A Fair Trade product, it is grown and traded by small farmers, who own and direct a cooperative. "Fair Trade" means purchasing coffee directly from the cooperative at a guaranteed minimum price, ensuring the farmers a livable wage. That in turn allows farmers to continue growing coffee beans instead of using farmland to produce illegal drugs. The end result is a more equitable distribution of profits to farmers, fewer impoverished people, and an excellent cup of coffee.

• A new survey indicates that huge numbers of Americans favor major limitations on freedom of speech and the press. The survey was conducted in June by the First Amendment Center and sampled more than 1,000 adults across the country by phone. Among the survey's findings, 46 percent of respondents said the press in America has "too much freedom to do what it wants." By contrast, only 36 percent think there is "too much government censorship." Seventy-one percent think it is somewhat or very important for the government "to hold the media in check." Thirty-nine percent agree that "the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees." (That's up from just 22 percent last year.) Sixty-four percent of people polled disagreed that "people should be allowed to say things in public that might be offensive to racial groups." Fully 36 percent said there should be laws against such offensive speech. You can see the survey for yourself at (http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=14295).

• At long last, traffic planners have said what anyone who has ever driven on the Interstate 74 bridge during rush hour already knows: The seven-mile I-74 corridor from Davenport's 53rd Street to Moline's 23rd Avenue has too much traffic, which results in unsafe driving conditions. During several recent public meetings and in the midst of a two-year, $3.2 million planning, engineering, and environmental study, several concepts have been considered, including expanding the corridor between 23rd Avenue in Moline to Kimberly Road in Davenport to three lanes in each direction. Also being considered is altering existing interchanges with I-74 to improve traffic flow, along with widening roads and streets adjacent to I-74. Construction is expected to begin sometime in 2010. You can keep an eye on the proceedings by pointing your Web browser to (http://www.i74corridorstudy.org), which contains times and locations of meetings, information on the alternatives, ways of offering suggestions, related links, and much more.

• Last week, Bob Yapp, area preservationist and civic activist, announced his mayoral candidacy amidst controversy. His announcement came on the heels of being censured by and ousted from the New Democratic Central Committee PAC, which was organized to groom Democratic candidates in Davenport's newly formed nonpartisan elections. Yapp had given his resignation even before the mean-spirited act by the Democratic PAC, then proceeded to change his party affiliation to Independent. Upon doing so, he uncovered that more than 49,000 Scott County voters are registered as independents, while only 39,000-plus are registered Republicans, with Democrats trailing significantly at more than 29,000. No wonder, with the controversial behavior demonstrated by the PAC leaders last election, now this upcoming election as well. Yapp is the only registered Independent in the mayoral race to announce so far.

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