On Thursday, September 6, the "Nina" - a replica of Christopher Columbus' favorite ship - will open itself up to the public in Davenport. The ship will be docked at Oneida Landing, adjacent to the Boathouse Restaurant, until her departure early on Monday, September 17. While the ship is in port, the general public is invited to visit for a self-guided tour. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for senior citizens, and $3 for students; children four and under are admitted free. The ship will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit (http://www.thenina.com).
Russell Construction's August 7 golf outing raised $24,000 for Community Care, Incorporated (CCI). The money will help CCI residents with housing needs after an August 4 fire at a facility in Charlotte, Iowa. Each year, Russell hosts the golf outing to raise proceeds for a charity.
Current and former members of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra will perform a tribute concert to honor the memory of longtime music director and Conductor Laureate James Dixon, who died in April. The performance will be held on September 23 at 4 p.m. in Centennial Hall on the Augustana College campus in Rock Island. Tickets for the concert are $25 for adults and $5 for students, and can be purchased at the door, by calling (563) 322-0931, or by visiting (http://www.qcsymphony.com). All proceeds will benefit the James Dixon Youth Orchestra Scholarship Fund.
Iowa Governor Chet Culver announced 18 new awards by the state's Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Board totaling $425,700, helping 16 Iowa retailers to install pumps for E-85 ethanol and biodiesel fuel, biodiesel blending equipment, and tank wagons with dedicated compartments for E-85 and biodiesel for farm delivery. None of these were in the Quad Cities area.
The Figge Art Museum invites teachers from all disciplines to learn how to use a free teaching kit for the new exhibit Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series: Selections from The Phillips Collection. The program will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 6, at the Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street in Davenport. The program is free, but registration is required by Friday, August 31. To register, contact Heather at (563) 326-7804 extension 2045 or (haaronson@figgeartmuseum.org).
The Davenport Public Library offers free access to the genealogy databases "AncestryLibrary" and "HeritageQuest." "AncestryLibrary" provides access to a number of separate genealogy databases, including federal and selected state censuses, military documents, immigration records, land and probate files, and some newspaper archives. "HeritageQuest" offers the federal census, hundreds of searchable genealogies and histories, the Periodical Source Index, Revolutionary War records, and records from the Freedman's Bank covering 1865 to 1874. For more information, call the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center at (563) 326-7902.
The Quad City Greyhound Adoption Annual Picnic will be held on Saturday, September 15, at the Maysville Community Center from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. The fundraising event features food, vendors, events, raffles, and more. The admission cost is an item from the group's wish list, which is posted at (http://www.qcgreyhoundadoption.com). For more information, look at the Web site's events section or call (563) 823-8900.
Scott County has received $288,261 to fight crime from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. Scott County, Bettendorf, and Davenport will use this money to fund salaries and benefits for three officers who are attached to the Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Group's Hotel & Motel Interdiction Unit. This multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional narcotics unit includes undercover officers and drug-interdiction operations.
Broadcast veteran Larry Rosmilso stepped out of a short-lived retirement to become president and general manager of WQAD-TV in the Quad Cities. Rosmilso spent 25 years as general manager of a seven-radio-station cluster in the Quad Cities, most recently under the Clear Channel banner. Rosmilso's sales team cornered 80 percent of the radio market under his leadership.
Organizations who want to add a high-tech element to presentations or trainings can now use a new tool made available through the Rock Island Public Library. The downtown library has added a mobile computer lab for use in the second-floor Community Room at 401 19th Street. The lab consists of a mobile charging cart with eight security-protected student laptops and one leader PC. To reserve the room and the mobile lab, call the library business office at (309) 732-7305 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
