The second season of Eastern Iowa Community College's Viewpoint Distinguished Speakers Series features Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis (October 6), bestselling author Scott Turow (January 26), and the first female president of Ireland, Mary Robinson (April 13). Tickets for the series are $84, with single-performance tickets also available, and can be purchased through any Ticketmaster outlet and the Adler Theatre box office. All performances will be held at the Adler Theatre (136 East Third Street in Davenport) beginning at 7:30 p.m. For more information about the series, call (563)336-3321 or visit EICC.edu/viewpoint.
Iowa remains second in the United States in wind-power capacity, according to a new report. The U.S. wind-energy industry installed 1,210 megawatts of new power-generating capacity in the second quarter of 2009, bringing the total added this year to just over 4,000 megawatts. In the first six months of 2008, 2,900 megawatts were added, the American Wind Energy Association said in its second-quarter market report. Of that second-quarter total, Iowa added 160 megawatts of wind-generation capacity, keeping the state a distant second in wind power behind Texas. The new turbines brought Iowa's generation capacity to 3,043 megawatts. Texas added 454 megawatts to bring its total production capacity to 8,361 megawatts. California is third with 2,787 megawatts, and Illinois is 10th with 915 megawatts. For more information, look at AWEA.org.
On September 10, poet and Augustana College Associate Professor of English Rebecca Wee will usher in the third season of the River Readings at Augustana. Wee is the author of Uncertain Grace, which won the 2000 Hayden Carruth Award for New & Emerging Poets. Wee also served as poet laureate of the Quad Cities from 2003 to 2005. For a schedule of the free readings, visit http://www.augustana.edu/x12797.xml.
Last week, Iowa Governor Chet Culver awarded Arnold's Body Shop in Davenport the 2008 Governor's Iowa Environmental Excellence Award. In June 2008, Arnold's became the first collision-repair business in Iowa - and one of the first in the Midwest - to switch from solvent-based base coatings to water-borne base coatings. The switch cut Arnold's volatile-organic-compound content by 54 percent and reduced its hazardous-air-pollutant levels by 91 percent. For more information, visit ArnoldsBodyShop.com.
River Action has a goal of 500 new members for 2009. If the organization reaches that target and raises $25,000, it will receive a $25,000 matching grant from the McKnight Foundation. For more information, look at RiverAction.org.
On Thursday, August 6, the Figge Art Museum will celebrate its fourth anniversary with $4 admission, activities for kids, a 6 p.m. walking tour of historic Davenport architecture, a 7 p.m. art talk, and live music by Tony Hoeppner and Jim McFarlen from 6 to 8 p.m. For more information, visit FiggeArt.org.
The Iowa Lottery raised more than $60.6 million for state programs in its latest fiscal year, its best profit performance since its start in 1985. Lottery proceeds to the state in Fiscal Year 2009 increased 7.2 percent from a year earlier, although lottery sales were down during the same period. The unaudited figures show that lottery sales totaled $243.3 million in Fiscal Year 2009, down 2.4 percent from Fiscal Year 2008. Since the Iowa Lottery's start, it has raised nearly $1.2 billion for state programs.
Honey bees play a key role in Iowa's agroecosystem - to the tune of an estimated $92 million annually as plant pollinators. Iowa beekeepers manage about 30,000 colonies of honey bees that produce more than 3 million pounds of honey annually. "Protecting Bees in Iowa: What's Your Role?" is a new Iowa State University Extension publication that lists actions pesticide applicators and beekeepers can take to protect honey bees. The publication (PAT 47) and a downloadable file are available at Extension.IAState.edu/store.
The Israeli Scouts' Tzofim Friendship Caravan will perform on Sunday, August 9, at 3 p.m. at the Tri-City Jewish Center (2715 30th Street in Rock Island). The caravan is a group of scouts and two adult leaders that travels throughout the United States and Canada, performing a program of songs in Hebrew and English that bring Israeli culture to North America. For more information on the free program, call (309)793-1300.
