• The Rock Island Beautification Commission is looking for the most beautiful yards in the city. The 31st annual "Tell on Your Neighbor" residential-beautification awards contest has opened nominations for the most attractive and best-kept lawns in Rock Island. Anyone can submit nominations, and they will be accepted through Friday, July 1, at 5 p.m. The awards program recognizes residents who make the extra effort to beautify their yards beyond the norm. The commission believes these citizens should be honored for their efforts and for encouraging others to keep well-groomed yards that are an asset to the city. In the past 30 years, more than 400 residents have been recognized. All winners will receive a certificate of recognition at a city-council meeting. Winners from 2000 through 2004 are not eligible. Call (309)732-2900 with the nominee and address.
• Genesis Health System is sponsoring the walking division of the July 30 Bix race. The Genesis Never Settle Walk will follow the same seven-mile course that the Bix 7 runners use. Never Settle Walk participants will also have the option to walk the two-mile Quick Bix. In conjunction with the Thursday Bix 7 training runs, Genesis is also sponsoring training walks. Walkers who register to walk the Bix 7 at any of the six training walks will receive a free "Genesis Never Settle Walk" T-shirt. Walk participants should meet at River Drive and Fourth Street in Davenport (near the Quad-City Times building) at 5:45 p.m. for a quick warm-up. Jan Treftz-Allen, director of the Genesis Wellness Center, will provide tips and a warm-up at each training walk.
• Niabi Zoo has announced the arrival of two new African lions. The lion cubs arrived Monday, June 6, when three-year-old Savanna gave birth to them in the late afternoon.
• The U.S. Senate Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee has approved $400,000 for a flood-control project in Davenport. Both the House and Senate must approve the measure before it becomes law. The funds would be used to complete pre-construction engineering and design activities for flood protection to a water-treatment facility in Davenport.
• Trinity Visiting Nurse & Homecare Association (VNHA) and Trinity Home Care Products will move to a newly renovated building in mid-September. The two separate entities will lease space under one roof at 106 19th Avenue in Moline, in a 28,885-square-foot building owned by Hawkini Development LLC. The two groups will occupy approximately 60 percent of the available multi-tenant space. The building will undergo renovation before an anticipated move-in date of September 15. Trinity VNHA will move from its current location of 500 42nd Street in Rock Island, while Trinity Home Care Products will relocate its business from 4305 18th Avenue in Rock Island. Its other locations at Trinity's West Campus in Rock Island and at 4557 Utica Ridge Road in Davenport will not be impacted by the move.
• The Iowa College Student Aid Commission has received $496,000 from the U.S. Department of Education. The funds will be used to continue an Iowa college-loan program that provides forgivable loans to students who intend to become teachers and stay in the state. The program is designed to recruit students and reduce Iowa teacher shortages.
• The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has reported another privacy scandal for the Transportation Security Administration's "Secure Flight" passenger-surveillance program. The Department of Homeland Security's chief privacy officer, Nuala O'Connor-Kelly, is launching an investigation to find out whether the program broke federal privacy law by hiding from the public the extent to which it has been digging through commercial databases for the private information of Americans. Secure Flight plans to force airlines and reservations services to hand over your personal travel information to match it against names on secret government "watch lists" to decide whether you're allowed to fly. For more information, visit (http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/003699.php).
• The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) reports that state-authorized patients and their caregivers who use or possess medical cannabis will continue to be subject to federal arrest and prosecution, after the House of Representatives rejected a proposed amendment to bar the U.S. Department of Justice from targeting patients who use marijuana medicinally in accordance with the laws of their states. The House voted 264 to 161 against the bipartisan measure, sponsored by Representatives Dana Rohrabacher (R-California) and Maurice Hinchey (D-New York). The 161 House votes in favor of the patient-protection provision were the highest total ever recorded in a Congressional floor vote to liberalize marijuana laws. This year's vote came days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Justice Department has the authority to prosecute state-authorized medicinal cannabis patients for violating the federal Controlled Substances Act. Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens called on Congress to address the issue of whether the use of medicinal cannabis should be criminalized. Final vote tallies for the Hinchey/Rohrabacher medical-marijuana amendment can be found at (http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.asp?year=2005&rollnumber=255).
• Genesis Health System is sponsoring the walking division of the July 30 Bix race. The Genesis Never Settle Walk will follow the same seven-mile course that the Bix 7 runners use. Never Settle Walk participants will also have the option to walk the two-mile Quick Bix. In conjunction with the Thursday Bix 7 training runs, Genesis is also sponsoring training walks. Walkers who register to walk the Bix 7 at any of the six training walks will receive a free "Genesis Never Settle Walk" T-shirt. Walk participants should meet at River Drive and Fourth Street in Davenport (near the Quad-City Times building) at 5:45 p.m. for a quick warm-up. Jan Treftz-Allen, director of the Genesis Wellness Center, will provide tips and a warm-up at each training walk.
• Niabi Zoo has announced the arrival of two new African lions. The lion cubs arrived Monday, June 6, when three-year-old Savanna gave birth to them in the late afternoon.
• The U.S. Senate Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee has approved $400,000 for a flood-control project in Davenport. Both the House and Senate must approve the measure before it becomes law. The funds would be used to complete pre-construction engineering and design activities for flood protection to a water-treatment facility in Davenport.
• Trinity Visiting Nurse & Homecare Association (VNHA) and Trinity Home Care Products will move to a newly renovated building in mid-September. The two separate entities will lease space under one roof at 106 19th Avenue in Moline, in a 28,885-square-foot building owned by Hawkini Development LLC. The two groups will occupy approximately 60 percent of the available multi-tenant space. The building will undergo renovation before an anticipated move-in date of September 15. Trinity VNHA will move from its current location of 500 42nd Street in Rock Island, while Trinity Home Care Products will relocate its business from 4305 18th Avenue in Rock Island. Its other locations at Trinity's West Campus in Rock Island and at 4557 Utica Ridge Road in Davenport will not be impacted by the move.
• The Iowa College Student Aid Commission has received $496,000 from the U.S. Department of Education. The funds will be used to continue an Iowa college-loan program that provides forgivable loans to students who intend to become teachers and stay in the state. The program is designed to recruit students and reduce Iowa teacher shortages.
• The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has reported another privacy scandal for the Transportation Security Administration's "Secure Flight" passenger-surveillance program. The Department of Homeland Security's chief privacy officer, Nuala O'Connor-Kelly, is launching an investigation to find out whether the program broke federal privacy law by hiding from the public the extent to which it has been digging through commercial databases for the private information of Americans. Secure Flight plans to force airlines and reservations services to hand over your personal travel information to match it against names on secret government "watch lists" to decide whether you're allowed to fly. For more information, visit (http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/003699.php).
• The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) reports that state-authorized patients and their caregivers who use or possess medical cannabis will continue to be subject to federal arrest and prosecution, after the House of Representatives rejected a proposed amendment to bar the U.S. Department of Justice from targeting patients who use marijuana medicinally in accordance with the laws of their states. The House voted 264 to 161 against the bipartisan measure, sponsored by Representatives Dana Rohrabacher (R-California) and Maurice Hinchey (D-New York). The 161 House votes in favor of the patient-protection provision were the highest total ever recorded in a Congressional floor vote to liberalize marijuana laws. This year's vote came days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Justice Department has the authority to prosecute state-authorized medicinal cannabis patients for violating the federal Controlled Substances Act. Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens called on Congress to address the issue of whether the use of medicinal cannabis should be criminalized. Final vote tallies for the Hinchey/Rohrabacher medical-marijuana amendment can be found at (http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.asp?year=2005&rollnumber=255).
