• The Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau (QCCVB) has added new features to its Web site at (http://www.visitquadcities.com) to provide more information. These new developments provide an extra convenience to travel writers and journalists as well as tourists coming to the Quad Cities area. In addition to media resources, there is also a searchable online calendar. All information on the Web site is printer-friendly. Visitors can also make hotel reservations from the site. For more information about the Quad Cities, call the Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau at (563)322-3911 or visit its upgraded Web site.
• In almost six years of writing this column, I have never received hair with a press release - until last week. The hair was part of a release announcing that Heath Morgan, co-owner and artistic director of Storm Design Team in Davenport, won two national awards at the Sun Fun Annual Convention in Las Vegas. Morgan was selected Most Educational Presenter and received first-place honors for Best Beauty Makeover at the Media Artist Group's platform show in conjunction with the convention. Morgan competed against 30 national and international educators from companies including Aquage, Matrix, Scruples, and Sahag New York City. Morgan was also the winner of the 2002 L'Oreal Visions of Color Contest for North America.
• Applications for fall 2003 grants from the Riverboat Development Authority (RDA) can be picked up at the Bettendorf and Davenport public libraries and Scott County Bookmobile, Davenport City Hall, Scott County Courthouse, and the Blackhawk Hotel. Applications can also be downloaded from the RDA's Web page at (http://www.riverboatauthority.com). To be eligible for consideration, applications must be on forms dated July 31, 2003, and must be in the RDA office in the Blackhawk Hotel by 5 p.m. on October 1.
• Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN) is a national grassroots group dedicated to fighting supermarket "loyalty" and frequent-shopper cards. CASPIAN's efforts are directed at educating consumers, condemning marketing strategies that invade shoppers' privacy, and encouraging privacy-conscious shopping habits. CASPIAN's Web site features a comprehensive listing of the card status of more than 400 stores and supermarket chains throughout the United States and elsewhere. In addition, CASPIAN has developed a persuasive set of arguments against frequent-shopper cards and provides evidence that these programs do not save shoppers money. CASPIAN's current fight is against radio frequency identification tags. These consist of silicon chips and an antenna that can transmit data to a wireless receiver and could one day be used to track everything from soda cans to cereal boxes. Learn more about CASPIAN's efforts at (http://www.nocards.org).
• Quad Cities Graduate Study Center, or GradCenter, enrollments for summer 2003 reached a record of 3,588. This is an increase of 432 (13.6 percent) over summer 2002. The GradCenter brings more than 70 graduate programs to the Quad Cities from 11 member institutions, including Augustana College, Drake University, Illinois State University, Iowa State University, Northern Illinois University, St. Xavier University, St. Ambrose University, University of Illinois, University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa, and Western Illinois University. For a class schedule or additional information, call the GradCenter at (309)794-3776 or toll free at (888)331-4723, or visit its Web site at (http://www.gradcenter.org).
• The number of people working for the federal government is continuing to grow. According to new estimates generated on behalf of the Brookings Institution's Center for Public Service, federal contracts and grants generated just more than 8 million jobs in 2002, up from just under 7 million in 1999 and 7.5 million in 1990. When these "off budget" jobs created by contracts and grants are added to the "on budget" headcount composed of civil-service, uniformed-military-personnel, and postal-service jobs, the "true size" of the federal workforce stood at 12.1 million in October 2002, up from 11 million in October 1999. You can see the report for yourself at (http://www.brook.edu/gs/cps/light20030905.htm).
• The second issue of The Dingo, the Quad Cities-based humor and offbeat-fiction anthology, will be released September 26. Featuring writers Mark McLaughlin, Jason Tanamor, Sean Leary, Dan O'Shea, Matthew Hamilton, Scott Morschhauser, Michael McCarty, and Mandy Crane, The Dingo will be available in bookstores throughout the area as well as on Amazon.com. The 124-page trade paperback runs for $12. A release party and signing will take place from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, September 26, at the MidCoast Fine Arts Gallery West/Midwest Writing Center complex in The District of Rock Island. Other signings include a 1 to 3 p.m. gig September 27 at Readmore Books in Moline and a 2 to 4 p.m. event Saturday, October 4, at Borders in Davenport. For more information on The Dingo, e-mail Sean Leary at (ferris@qconline.com).
• The Davenport Public Library has announced its Salute to Authors Bookmark Contest, to be held in conjunction with the Salute to Authors Day on Saturday, November 1. A winner will be chosen for each grade, kindergarten through eighth. Each winner's bookmark will be printed professionally and also used in the library. Entry forms can be picked up at the Main Library, the Annie Wittenmyer Branch, or the Bookmobile.
• The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws reports that in a decision released on August 29, the Alaska Court of Appeals upheld a 1975 state Supreme Court decision holding that the right to privacy in the state constitution precludes any penalty against private use and possession of marijuana by adults. The decision was handed down in the case of David Noy, 41, who was arrested for smoking marijuana at his home in North Pole, Alaska, during a barbecue with friends. For more information, point your Web browser at (http://www.norml.org).
• The Davenport Museum of Art, as part of its privatization process, has named a new regional board. The new members are: Rick Bowers, Rapids City, Illinois; Ruth Carver, Muscatine, Iowa; Tom Gildehaus, Moline; Mark Ginsberg, Iowa City, Iowa; Regina Goldstein, Bettendorf; Perry Hansen, Milan, Illinois; Rich Horst, Bettendorf; Ken Koupal, Bettendorf; Peter Lardner, Rock Island; Linda Lewis, Davenport; Dianne Phinney, Davenport; Bobbi Rogalski, Davenport; Carolyn Ross, Davenport; Larry Tierney, Davenport; and Prem Virdi, Rock Island. A 13-member nominating committee appointed by Davenport Mayor Charlie Brooke selected the board, which will oversee all operations and finances of the Davenport Museum of Art and the under-construction Figge Art Museum (scheduled to open in 2005).
• In almost six years of writing this column, I have never received hair with a press release - until last week. The hair was part of a release announcing that Heath Morgan, co-owner and artistic director of Storm Design Team in Davenport, won two national awards at the Sun Fun Annual Convention in Las Vegas. Morgan was selected Most Educational Presenter and received first-place honors for Best Beauty Makeover at the Media Artist Group's platform show in conjunction with the convention. Morgan competed against 30 national and international educators from companies including Aquage, Matrix, Scruples, and Sahag New York City. Morgan was also the winner of the 2002 L'Oreal Visions of Color Contest for North America.
• Applications for fall 2003 grants from the Riverboat Development Authority (RDA) can be picked up at the Bettendorf and Davenport public libraries and Scott County Bookmobile, Davenport City Hall, Scott County Courthouse, and the Blackhawk Hotel. Applications can also be downloaded from the RDA's Web page at (http://www.riverboatauthority.com). To be eligible for consideration, applications must be on forms dated July 31, 2003, and must be in the RDA office in the Blackhawk Hotel by 5 p.m. on October 1.
• Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN) is a national grassroots group dedicated to fighting supermarket "loyalty" and frequent-shopper cards. CASPIAN's efforts are directed at educating consumers, condemning marketing strategies that invade shoppers' privacy, and encouraging privacy-conscious shopping habits. CASPIAN's Web site features a comprehensive listing of the card status of more than 400 stores and supermarket chains throughout the United States and elsewhere. In addition, CASPIAN has developed a persuasive set of arguments against frequent-shopper cards and provides evidence that these programs do not save shoppers money. CASPIAN's current fight is against radio frequency identification tags. These consist of silicon chips and an antenna that can transmit data to a wireless receiver and could one day be used to track everything from soda cans to cereal boxes. Learn more about CASPIAN's efforts at (http://www.nocards.org).
• Quad Cities Graduate Study Center, or GradCenter, enrollments for summer 2003 reached a record of 3,588. This is an increase of 432 (13.6 percent) over summer 2002. The GradCenter brings more than 70 graduate programs to the Quad Cities from 11 member institutions, including Augustana College, Drake University, Illinois State University, Iowa State University, Northern Illinois University, St. Xavier University, St. Ambrose University, University of Illinois, University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa, and Western Illinois University. For a class schedule or additional information, call the GradCenter at (309)794-3776 or toll free at (888)331-4723, or visit its Web site at (http://www.gradcenter.org).
• The number of people working for the federal government is continuing to grow. According to new estimates generated on behalf of the Brookings Institution's Center for Public Service, federal contracts and grants generated just more than 8 million jobs in 2002, up from just under 7 million in 1999 and 7.5 million in 1990. When these "off budget" jobs created by contracts and grants are added to the "on budget" headcount composed of civil-service, uniformed-military-personnel, and postal-service jobs, the "true size" of the federal workforce stood at 12.1 million in October 2002, up from 11 million in October 1999. You can see the report for yourself at (http://www.brook.edu/gs/cps/light20030905.htm).
• The second issue of The Dingo, the Quad Cities-based humor and offbeat-fiction anthology, will be released September 26. Featuring writers Mark McLaughlin, Jason Tanamor, Sean Leary, Dan O'Shea, Matthew Hamilton, Scott Morschhauser, Michael McCarty, and Mandy Crane, The Dingo will be available in bookstores throughout the area as well as on Amazon.com. The 124-page trade paperback runs for $12. A release party and signing will take place from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, September 26, at the MidCoast Fine Arts Gallery West/Midwest Writing Center complex in The District of Rock Island. Other signings include a 1 to 3 p.m. gig September 27 at Readmore Books in Moline and a 2 to 4 p.m. event Saturday, October 4, at Borders in Davenport. For more information on The Dingo, e-mail Sean Leary at (ferris@qconline.com).
• The Davenport Public Library has announced its Salute to Authors Bookmark Contest, to be held in conjunction with the Salute to Authors Day on Saturday, November 1. A winner will be chosen for each grade, kindergarten through eighth. Each winner's bookmark will be printed professionally and also used in the library. Entry forms can be picked up at the Main Library, the Annie Wittenmyer Branch, or the Bookmobile.
• The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws reports that in a decision released on August 29, the Alaska Court of Appeals upheld a 1975 state Supreme Court decision holding that the right to privacy in the state constitution precludes any penalty against private use and possession of marijuana by adults. The decision was handed down in the case of David Noy, 41, who was arrested for smoking marijuana at his home in North Pole, Alaska, during a barbecue with friends. For more information, point your Web browser at (http://www.norml.org).
• The Davenport Museum of Art, as part of its privatization process, has named a new regional board. The new members are: Rick Bowers, Rapids City, Illinois; Ruth Carver, Muscatine, Iowa; Tom Gildehaus, Moline; Mark Ginsberg, Iowa City, Iowa; Regina Goldstein, Bettendorf; Perry Hansen, Milan, Illinois; Rich Horst, Bettendorf; Ken Koupal, Bettendorf; Peter Lardner, Rock Island; Linda Lewis, Davenport; Dianne Phinney, Davenport; Bobbi Rogalski, Davenport; Carolyn Ross, Davenport; Larry Tierney, Davenport; and Prem Virdi, Rock Island. A 13-member nominating committee appointed by Davenport Mayor Charlie Brooke selected the board, which will oversee all operations and finances of the Davenport Museum of Art and the under-construction Figge Art Museum (scheduled to open in 2005).
