• A third-party vice-presidential candidate has Iowa and Quad Cities ties. Dr. Richard Campagna, the Libertarian vice-presidential candidate and a native New Yorker, has lived in Iowa for 13 years. Campagna currently heads a consulting practice and teaches for Kirkwood Community College, St. Ambrose University's MBA program in health care, and Mt. Mercy College. You can find more about the Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik at (http://badnarik.org), and you can read the vice-presidential candidate's blog at (http://iowablogs.com/Richard).
• You can register to vote at the Moline Public Library. Registration is available at the southeast branch, 3130 41st Street, and the downtown library, 504 17th Street, Moline. Additional information is available on the library's Web site at (http://www.molinelibrary.com) or by calling (309)762-6883.
• The Center for Alcohol & Drug Services will receive a $75,000 Drug-Free Communities Program grant to help reduce youth substance abuse through its Quad City Red Ribbon Coalition. The funding from the U.S. Department of Justice is intended to help Scott County reduce underage access to tobacco products, increase the awareness of the harm of dangerous drugs, create mentoring programs, and reinforce partnerships with substance-abuse agencies in the area.
• The "Intelligent Operating Room" will become reality at Genesis Medical Center in Davenport, thanks to the Genesis Medical Center Auxiliary. In just four years, more than a year ahead of schedule, the auxiliary raised more than $1 million for its Minimally Invasive Surgery Project to add computer and voice control technology to Genesis operating rooms. The final check, for $120,000, was presented July 21 to Andrea Y. Coleman, Genesis Medical Center's CEO, during the Auxiliary's Annual Meeting & Luncheon at the Isle of Capri Center in Bettendorf. The Genesis Medical Center Auxiliary is comprised of nearly 900 volunteers who in 2003 spent almost 84,000 total hours working at the two hospital campuses. The auxiliary raises money for hospital projects through gift-shop sales and its annual style show, Holiday Preview, and jewelry sales. For more information about becoming an auxiliary member, call (563)421-2186 or visit (http://www.genesishealth.com).
• According to a Justice Department study, a record 6.9 million adults were incarcerated or on probation or parole last year, nearly 131,000 more than in 2002. Put another way, about 3.2 percent of the adult U.S. population was incarcerated or on probation or parole at the end of last year. A record 4.8 million adults were on probation or parole in 2003, about 73,000 more than the year before. Roughly 70 percent of adults involved in federal, state, or local corrections systems fall into this category. Almost half of all probationers were convicted of a felony, with 25 percent convicted of a drug violation. You can find out more at the Bureau of Justice Statistics at (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs).
• The Fejervary Zoo needs your help. Recent publicity has revealed that the zoo might have been founded earlier than the previously understood year of 1911. Photographs have been received showing animals at the zoo between 1910 and 1914, including a herd of 15 buffalo, five elk, seven deer, bears, and other animals. The Fejervary Zoological Society believes that the zoo might well be the oldest public owned zoo in Iowa. It's believed that the zoo might have opened somewhere between 1905 and 1909, and information is being sought to validate the official opening of the Fejervary Zoo. Anyone having information should contact the Fejevary Zoological Society at (563)391-1760 or by writing it at P.O. Box 2122, Davenport Iowa 52809.
• Davenport West High graduate Scott Sheehan is spending the summer working with scientists in the Neuroautonomic Laboratory at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). Sheehan, a medical student at George Washington University, is working through his NSBRI internship on the software aspect of increasing the sensitivity of standard EKGs to better diagnose heart disease. The research initiative is entitled "High Frequency Electrocardiography in Predicting Ischemia & Acute Coronary Disease." The NSBRI offers internships to a small number of undergraduate, graduate, and medical students who are interested in life sciences. The 10- to 12-week program gives students the opportunity to join ongoing projects with scientists at JSC. Only 13 students were chosen this year for an NSBRI space-research internship from a pool of international applicants.