12
Jun
2001
• The Quad City Symphony Orchestra Association has picked Davenport's River Center as the site of its 2002 Symphony in Bloom fundraiser. The show, to be renamed the Midwest Regional Lawn, Garden, & Flower Show Featuring Symphony in Bloom, will be held March 1 through 3, to coincide with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's March Classical Series concerts. Symphony in Bloom is a project of Volunteers for Symphony, a 200-member organization that supports the community-service and music-education programs of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. The 10-year-old Symphony in Bloom is one of the Quad City area's most successful annual fundraising events. Each year more than 20,000 attend Symphony in Bloom, which includes major landscape displays, educational speakers, and other features. It also showcases dozens of area landscapers, garden centers, florists, and related businesses. The symphony organization expects to announce additional plans and new features for the 2002 Symphony in Bloom in late summer.
• The Boat House on 17th Street in Moline is nearing completion and should be open during Ride the River, Sunday, June 17. Negotiations between River Action, Inc., and Rock Island Arsenal officials are underway to relocate the 2nd Avenue access ramp to 3rd Avenue. This will open up more property and views for the Bass Street Landing development that will offer housing, office, and retail use. Ride the River will begin next to Bettendorf's Leach Park. Riders can choose an 11-mile route or bike as many as 64 miles. For more information, visit (http://www.riveraction.org)
• The Philip D. and Henrietta B. Adler Education Center, named for the couple who made it possible, will be a part of the Genesis Heart Institute opening later this summer. Mr. Adler was a journalist, humanitarian, and community leader. Genesis Health Services Foundation, at the Adlers' request, put $1.73 million of the Adlers' donation toward the 175-seat auditorium, which features computer capabilities at each seat and the latest audiovisual-presentation technology. The heart center's medical staff donated $150,000 to the project.
• According to a report from the Selective Service System, the percentage of young men in Iowa registering for the draft has increased from 91 percent in 1999 to 94 percent in 2000. The national average in 1999 was 83 percent; in 2000 it was 87 percent. Iowa was fifth in the nation for both 1999 and 2000 in the percentage of men registered for the draft. Men 18 or older who fail to register face prosecution and up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. (While prosecution is rare, that would change in the event of a national military crisis.) Unregistered men also cannot get federal student loans or federal job training. You can see the report for yourself or learn more about the Selective Service System at its Web site at (http://www.sss.gov).
• Quad City Arts is accepting nominations for the newly created position of Quad City Poet Laureate. The Poet Laureate is an honorary position showcasing a talented, renowned local artist for his or her accomplishments. Quad City Arts has developed the Quad City Poet Laureate to "enhance the art of poetry in this area." The Quad City Poet Laureate will serve a two-year term and will give a reading of his or her work in each of the six counties in Iowa and Illinois represented by Quad City Arts. An official announcement will be made in August, with the installation of the Quad City Poet Laureate on August 31 at the Quad City ArtsCenter. Nomination forms are available at Quad City Arts. Call (309)793-1213 or stop by Quad City Arts at 1715 Second Avenue in Rock Island for more information.
• Memorial Day weekend kicked off smog season, and consumers can check on the status of air quality at two Web sites. AIRNOW: The Ozone Mapping Project shows real-time data in 21 Eastern and Midwestern states by providing a picture of ozone levels throughout the day and historically. It can be seen at (http://www.epa.gov.airnow). Also, look at the University of Iowa's Hygienic Laboratory Air Quality Index and Real Time Air Data at (http://www.uhl.uiowa.edu/Services/ambientAir.html). Refer to the Argo Highway Shed and Scott County Park site for ozone status in Scott County. You can also get more information on local ozone efforts by contacting Bi-State Regional Commission at (309)793-6300 or by visiting its Web site at (http://www.bi-state-ia-il.org).
• Federal tax-refund checks, which should be in the mail by September, could mean a $20.2 million windfall for the State of Iowa. The money received by Iowans as part of a $1.35 trillion tax cut is considered taxable income on Iowa's tax forms. That means that an unmarried Iowa taxpayer receiving a $300 check will have to pay an additional $18 next spring. Married couples expecting a $600 check will pay $36. Republican state legislators are hoping to address the issue at a special session starting June 19, with the aim of keeping the money in taxpayers' pockets.
• In a 6-5 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that Lon Horiuchi, an FBI sharpshooter, can be tried by Idaho prosecutors for manslaughter in the slaying of white separatist Randy Weaver's wife during the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff. The decision might result in FBI officials being hauled into court to defend decisions made during the 11-day confrontation in northern Idaho. The Ruby Ridge case is seen as a test of whether federal agents are immune from state prosecution.
• The Schuetzenpark Gilde is raising money to purchase three and a half acres of forest surrounding the Schuetzen Park Historic Site in west Davenport. The organization wants the land to expand a network of nature trails and preserve the woodlands, one of the last upland forests in the Quad Cities. A grant from the Riverboat Development Authority has provided nearly 90 percent of the money needed for the land purchase, but assistance is still needed. Donations directed to the Schuetzenpark Gilde forest project will be used solely for that project and can be sent to Schuetzen Park, c/o 701 N. Pine St., Davenport, IA 52804-4129. The organization can also be contacted by e-mail at SchtzenPrk@aol.com or by calling (563)570-3624.
• The Boat House on 17th Street in Moline is nearing completion and should be open during Ride the River, Sunday, June 17. Negotiations between River Action, Inc., and Rock Island Arsenal officials are underway to relocate the 2nd Avenue access ramp to 3rd Avenue. This will open up more property and views for the Bass Street Landing development that will offer housing, office, and retail use. Ride the River will begin next to Bettendorf's Leach Park. Riders can choose an 11-mile route or bike as many as 64 miles. For more information, visit (http://www.riveraction.org)
• The Philip D. and Henrietta B. Adler Education Center, named for the couple who made it possible, will be a part of the Genesis Heart Institute opening later this summer. Mr. Adler was a journalist, humanitarian, and community leader. Genesis Health Services Foundation, at the Adlers' request, put $1.73 million of the Adlers' donation toward the 175-seat auditorium, which features computer capabilities at each seat and the latest audiovisual-presentation technology. The heart center's medical staff donated $150,000 to the project.
• According to a report from the Selective Service System, the percentage of young men in Iowa registering for the draft has increased from 91 percent in 1999 to 94 percent in 2000. The national average in 1999 was 83 percent; in 2000 it was 87 percent. Iowa was fifth in the nation for both 1999 and 2000 in the percentage of men registered for the draft. Men 18 or older who fail to register face prosecution and up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. (While prosecution is rare, that would change in the event of a national military crisis.) Unregistered men also cannot get federal student loans or federal job training. You can see the report for yourself or learn more about the Selective Service System at its Web site at (http://www.sss.gov).
• Quad City Arts is accepting nominations for the newly created position of Quad City Poet Laureate. The Poet Laureate is an honorary position showcasing a talented, renowned local artist for his or her accomplishments. Quad City Arts has developed the Quad City Poet Laureate to "enhance the art of poetry in this area." The Quad City Poet Laureate will serve a two-year term and will give a reading of his or her work in each of the six counties in Iowa and Illinois represented by Quad City Arts. An official announcement will be made in August, with the installation of the Quad City Poet Laureate on August 31 at the Quad City ArtsCenter. Nomination forms are available at Quad City Arts. Call (309)793-1213 or stop by Quad City Arts at 1715 Second Avenue in Rock Island for more information.
• Memorial Day weekend kicked off smog season, and consumers can check on the status of air quality at two Web sites. AIRNOW: The Ozone Mapping Project shows real-time data in 21 Eastern and Midwestern states by providing a picture of ozone levels throughout the day and historically. It can be seen at (http://www.epa.gov.airnow). Also, look at the University of Iowa's Hygienic Laboratory Air Quality Index and Real Time Air Data at (http://www.uhl.uiowa.edu/Services/ambientAir.html). Refer to the Argo Highway Shed and Scott County Park site for ozone status in Scott County. You can also get more information on local ozone efforts by contacting Bi-State Regional Commission at (309)793-6300 or by visiting its Web site at (http://www.bi-state-ia-il.org).
• Federal tax-refund checks, which should be in the mail by September, could mean a $20.2 million windfall for the State of Iowa. The money received by Iowans as part of a $1.35 trillion tax cut is considered taxable income on Iowa's tax forms. That means that an unmarried Iowa taxpayer receiving a $300 check will have to pay an additional $18 next spring. Married couples expecting a $600 check will pay $36. Republican state legislators are hoping to address the issue at a special session starting June 19, with the aim of keeping the money in taxpayers' pockets.
• In a 6-5 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that Lon Horiuchi, an FBI sharpshooter, can be tried by Idaho prosecutors for manslaughter in the slaying of white separatist Randy Weaver's wife during the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff. The decision might result in FBI officials being hauled into court to defend decisions made during the 11-day confrontation in northern Idaho. The Ruby Ridge case is seen as a test of whether federal agents are immune from state prosecution.
• The Schuetzenpark Gilde is raising money to purchase three and a half acres of forest surrounding the Schuetzen Park Historic Site in west Davenport. The organization wants the land to expand a network of nature trails and preserve the woodlands, one of the last upland forests in the Quad Cities. A grant from the Riverboat Development Authority has provided nearly 90 percent of the money needed for the land purchase, but assistance is still needed. Donations directed to the Schuetzenpark Gilde forest project will be used solely for that project and can be sent to Schuetzen Park, c/o 701 N. Pine St., Davenport, IA 52804-4129. The organization can also be contacted by e-mail at SchtzenPrk@aol.com or by calling (563)570-3624.
