The Figge Art Museum in downtown Davenport will store and display much of the permanent collection of the University of Iowa Museum of Art and will also host some of its traveling shows and University of Iowa Museum of Art-organized exhibitions. With the exception of a selection of nearly 250 works of art that returned to campus in October, the collection has been in storage in Chicago since it was moved during the June 2008 flood. The University of Iowa Museum of Art staff is currently working to finalize plans to install a special exhibition of masterworks, including the museum's famous Jackson Pollock Mural, for public viewing at the Figge in April.

The forum "Democracy's Challenge: Reclaiming the Public's Role" will be held on Thursday, January 22, at 6 p.m. at the new County Extension Office, 321 West Second Avenue in Milan. It will address the issues of public engagement, why civic duty is important, and our role as citizens in the democratic process. The cost is $5 per person and includes an issue book produced by the Kettering Foundation. Programs are open to adults and high-school students. Register online at Extension.UIUC.edu/rockisland. For more information, call (309) 756-9978.

 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has awarded two grants totaling nearly $1.3 million to Iowa fire departments. Included is the Davenport Fire Department, which received a $975,420 grant from the Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response program. Funds under this program support the hiring of firefighters and the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters to assure that communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards.

The Waste Commission of Scott County is sponsoring free "e-waste" disposal for all residents of Scott County through February 27 at the Electronic Demanufacturing Facility, 1048 East 59th Street in Davenport. The commission noted many residents will purchase new digital televisions over the holidays for the February switchover from analog to digital and will want to recycle an older set to make room for the new. The commission is providing free recycling for televisions and any electronic waste, or e-waste: anything with a circuit board or cathode ray tube. This includes items such as computers, monitors, VCRs, DVD players, stereos, cell phones, cameras, printers, and scanners. For more information about the Electronic Demanufacturing Facility and Waste Commission of Scott County, visit WasteCom.com or call (563) 381-1300.

 

A new coffee shop will open in early January at the Davenport Public Library's Fairmount Street location (3000 North Fairmount Street). Cams Coffee Shop is the new coffee vendor at the library, featuring Seattle's Best Coffee. Also featured at the shop will be fresh cinnamon rolls and cookies, Italian sodas, and other drinks. The shop will open Monday through Saturday at 7 a.m. and will close at the same time as the library. For library hours, visit DavenportLibrary.com.

 

Reader issue #715 Rodney Blackwell insists that he did not make the difference.

"It wasn't me, I'm telling you," he said last month.

We are discussing Kone Centre, the planned 18- to 20-story building with approximately 130,000 square feet that will change Moline's skyline, ensures that 375 Kone employees will remain in the Quad Cities for 15 years, and completes - with an exclamation point - the major components of the Bass Street Landing initiative that was supposed to be finished in 2003.

Renaissance Rock Island last week hosted the 20th-annual "Hard Hat" celebration at Jumer's Casino & Hotel. The event recognizes investment in the community and thanks those who have helped strengthen Rock Island. Award-winners included Chippiannock Cemetery, Greenbush Neighbors, Keep Rock Island Beautiful, Handy True Value, Hughes Tire & Battery, Quad Cities Woodturners, Spirit Partners, Trinity Regional Health System, Virdi Eye Clinic, Jumer's Casino & Hotel, Phil Dennis, Anita Adams, and Mark Schwiebert. For more information, visit LiveRI.com/news.php.

 

Moline's Centre Station, located across from the i wireless Center in downtown Moline, has been recommended as the Quad Cities Amtrak Station. Based on this recommendation - part of a recently completed Metropolitan Rail Study - the proposed Amtrak route would start at Centre Station and end at Chicago's Union Station. The City of Moline will move forward in developing plans for the station. The Quad Cities Passenger Rail Coalition is advocating on behalf of the region for restored passenger-rail service. Amtrak service from Chicago to the Quad Cities is the linchpin for an extended route being planned to Iowa City and Des Moines, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska. More information about the Quad Cities Passenger Rail Coalition is available at QCRail.com.

 

AmeriCorps is working with the City of Davenport and surrounding communities to restore Nahant March and Credit Island to pre-flood conditions. At Credit Island, the team is in charge of repairs to picnic tables, the golf course, and debris removal. In Nahant Marsh, members are helping remove the old dock and build a new boardwalk once the new dock is installed. Other duties include restoring the trail system that runs through the marsh and removing invasive species. For information about AmeriCorps, call (800) 942-2677 or visit AmeriCorps.gov/nccc.

 

Now that the Davenport City Council has approved a March 3 referendum on the Davenport Promise proposal, one can be certain that the coalition that has been built over the past year-plus is being mobilized to demonstrate broad community support.

It will not be technically affiliated with any major community player, but it will include a lot of familiar names and faces behind the scenes. It will undoubtedly feature "real," everyday citizens, so voters won't feel like they're getting bullied by the heavy hitters. And the campaign will basically argue that there's no sensible reason to vote against the Promise, that there's no way the program could fail, and that the risk of voting the proposal down is too great.

That style of PR push was the successful approach of backers of River Renaissance in 2001. And the work in 2007 and 2008 of a Promise exploratory committee and a Promise task force has looked less like objective analysis than propaganda.

But don't mistake the marketing for unanimity.

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