01
Jun
2004
• Students from the Davenport Community School District and North Scott Schools pooled their talents and hard work to complete a multi-level, $300,000-plus house to help celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Student Built Home Program. The home is located at 2732 Pioneer Court in the Crystal Creek subdivision in Davenport. Licensed electricians, plumbers, and HVAC specialists were involved, and this year the students had the help of a roofing contractor because of the steepness of the roof. The students work several hours a day on the home and earn credit hours through Scott Community College, which also supplies the instructor for the course. As in years past, this home is featured in the Quad Cities Homebuilders Association Spring Parade of Homes (scheduled for June 12, 13, 16, 19, and 20; for more information on the event, visit http://www.qchba.com/prdpres.html). All five homes involved in the program have been sold and received high marks from their owners. Eighteen students were involved in the program this year. A true "hands-on" program, the Student Built Home Program is unique not only for the commitment it takes on the part of students but also because of the involvement of four different high schools from two separate school systems.
• Bargains will be the order of the day as the students, families, and staff of Lincoln Fundamental School in Davenport hosts a special garage-sale fundraiser on Friday, June 4, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the school. In addition to lots of general items donated for the sale, the event will feature gently used school clothes that meet Lincoln's dress code. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward special activities and purchases to enhance students' experience at Lincoln. The school is located at 318 East Seventh Street in downtown Davenport.
• Rock Island Youthbuild offers young men and women ages 16 to 24 the chance to make a positive difference in their futures. The program includes job training and the education required to complete high school or earn a GED. The heart of the program is on-the-job training in which participants actually build a new house, including learning all of the phases of construction work. Training includes carpentry, operation of power tools and machinery, plumbing, electrical, cabinetry, dry-wall hanging, and more. The construction is done with the supervision of experienced professionals. Youthbuild accepts applications year-round. If you or any member of your family is interested in getting more information about the program or would like to sign up, call John Vogt at (309)732-0510 extension 211.
• Federal grants of more than $16 million for improvements to 35 Iowa airports were recently announced. The grants, released by the Department of Transportation, allow for important structural and safety upgrades at facilities statewide. Included in the grant was $450,000 to rehabilitate the runway and taxiway at the Davenport Airport.
• The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has released documents containing new revelations about the MATRIX database-surveillance program, including the fact that it was under the direct managerial control of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. At a news conference in Miami, the ACLU issued a briefing paper describing the revelations and their significance, based on documents obtained from public-records requests filed in Florida, Georgia, New York, Utah, and with the Justice Department. MATRIX (the Multistate Anti-TeRrorism Information eXchange) is the latest data-mining program to emerge from the government. This surveillance system combines information about individuals from government databases and private-sector data companies and makes that data available for government officials to comb through the millions of files in a search for "anomalies" that might be indicative of terrorist or other criminal activity. A document obtained by the ACLU indicated that MATRIX operators sent to federal law-enforcement authorities a list of 120,000 names of individuals who had been scored with a high "terrorism quotient." Seisint, the company that operates MATRIX, claimed that scores of arrests resulted from the list. The ACLU's white paper is available online at (http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=15830&c=130). A Web feature on the MATRIX, including the new documents obtained by the ACLU, is online at (http://www.aclu.org/matrix).
• The Iowa and Illinois chapters of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society are thanking the Quad Cities for the support given at the Christopher & Banks MS Walk that was held on Sunday, May 2, at Middle Park in Bettendorf. Nearly 250 people attended despite some rain. This included more than 40 different walk teams and 95 walk-on registrants. The walk raised $25,606.17, including sponsorships and pledges. Registrants who have collected pledges or walkers who received additional money should send their donations by August 1 to: National MS Society Iowa Chapter, Attention Michelle Hamilton, 1300 50th St. Suite 106, West Des Moines IA 50266.
• Ecosystem- and navigation-improvement plans for the nation's most renowned river system are the subject of discussion during a series of eight public meetings - including in the Quad Cities - as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seeks public input on its Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway System Navigation Study. The meetings provide the public an opportunity to learn about and comment on the draft report and the preferred plan designed to ensure sustainability of the navigation and ecosystems of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers. There will be a meeting June 7 at the Holiday Inn (5202 Brady Street) in Davenport that includes an informal open house (2-4 p.m.) and a presentation and comments starting at 6:30 p.m. To obtain the latest study information, visit (http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/umr-iwwsns).
• The Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau (QCCVB) last week announced a marketing partnership with the Dubuque Convention & Visitors Bureau that includes a four-page booklet inserted into newspapers in Illinois and Iowa. The QCCVB also announced that it has hired C.H. Johnson Consulting (from Chicago) to develop a cultural-tourism plan for the Quad Cities.
• Bargains will be the order of the day as the students, families, and staff of Lincoln Fundamental School in Davenport hosts a special garage-sale fundraiser on Friday, June 4, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the school. In addition to lots of general items donated for the sale, the event will feature gently used school clothes that meet Lincoln's dress code. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward special activities and purchases to enhance students' experience at Lincoln. The school is located at 318 East Seventh Street in downtown Davenport.
• Rock Island Youthbuild offers young men and women ages 16 to 24 the chance to make a positive difference in their futures. The program includes job training and the education required to complete high school or earn a GED. The heart of the program is on-the-job training in which participants actually build a new house, including learning all of the phases of construction work. Training includes carpentry, operation of power tools and machinery, plumbing, electrical, cabinetry, dry-wall hanging, and more. The construction is done with the supervision of experienced professionals. Youthbuild accepts applications year-round. If you or any member of your family is interested in getting more information about the program or would like to sign up, call John Vogt at (309)732-0510 extension 211.
• Federal grants of more than $16 million for improvements to 35 Iowa airports were recently announced. The grants, released by the Department of Transportation, allow for important structural and safety upgrades at facilities statewide. Included in the grant was $450,000 to rehabilitate the runway and taxiway at the Davenport Airport.
• The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has released documents containing new revelations about the MATRIX database-surveillance program, including the fact that it was under the direct managerial control of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. At a news conference in Miami, the ACLU issued a briefing paper describing the revelations and their significance, based on documents obtained from public-records requests filed in Florida, Georgia, New York, Utah, and with the Justice Department. MATRIX (the Multistate Anti-TeRrorism Information eXchange) is the latest data-mining program to emerge from the government. This surveillance system combines information about individuals from government databases and private-sector data companies and makes that data available for government officials to comb through the millions of files in a search for "anomalies" that might be indicative of terrorist or other criminal activity. A document obtained by the ACLU indicated that MATRIX operators sent to federal law-enforcement authorities a list of 120,000 names of individuals who had been scored with a high "terrorism quotient." Seisint, the company that operates MATRIX, claimed that scores of arrests resulted from the list. The ACLU's white paper is available online at (http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=15830&c=130). A Web feature on the MATRIX, including the new documents obtained by the ACLU, is online at (http://www.aclu.org/matrix).
• The Iowa and Illinois chapters of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society are thanking the Quad Cities for the support given at the Christopher & Banks MS Walk that was held on Sunday, May 2, at Middle Park in Bettendorf. Nearly 250 people attended despite some rain. This included more than 40 different walk teams and 95 walk-on registrants. The walk raised $25,606.17, including sponsorships and pledges. Registrants who have collected pledges or walkers who received additional money should send their donations by August 1 to: National MS Society Iowa Chapter, Attention Michelle Hamilton, 1300 50th St. Suite 106, West Des Moines IA 50266.
• Ecosystem- and navigation-improvement plans for the nation's most renowned river system are the subject of discussion during a series of eight public meetings - including in the Quad Cities - as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seeks public input on its Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway System Navigation Study. The meetings provide the public an opportunity to learn about and comment on the draft report and the preferred plan designed to ensure sustainability of the navigation and ecosystems of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers. There will be a meeting June 7 at the Holiday Inn (5202 Brady Street) in Davenport that includes an informal open house (2-4 p.m.) and a presentation and comments starting at 6:30 p.m. To obtain the latest study information, visit (http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/umr-iwwsns).
• The Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau (QCCVB) last week announced a marketing partnership with the Dubuque Convention & Visitors Bureau that includes a four-page booklet inserted into newspapers in Illinois and Iowa. The QCCVB also announced that it has hired C.H. Johnson Consulting (from Chicago) to develop a cultural-tourism plan for the Quad Cities.
