Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has announced $1.6 million in federal grants to allow municipal, county, and state law-enforcement agencies in northern Illinois to acquire in-car computer equipment to help improve access to criminal records during traffic stops and enhance public and police safety. Recipients from Henry County include the Geneseo Police Department ($17,400) and the Kewanee Police Department ($11,092). Rock Island County recipients include East Moline ($8,503), Milan ($11,792), Moline ($8,022), and Rock Island County ($10,646). In addition to data access, law-enforcement officers can use the terminals for note-taking and report-writing, as well as wirelessly entering incident, accident, and arrest information.

The Young Professionals Network of the Quad Cities and neXt Professionals have joined forces to host a "Rock the Vote" event on Friday, October 12, from 7 p.m. to midnight at John O'Donnell Stadium in Davenport. "Rock the Vote" is a nationwide movement that focuses on registering individuals to vote and getting them more informed about the elections. The Quad Cities event will features opportunities for people to register to vote, along with local bands such as Blue Fuzzy Monkey and Justin Morrissey & Friends.

When you pick up a book or magazine, your conscious mind is almost certainly looking at the cover and the text inside.

But what else are you processing? You might not realize it, but the book is sending signals about itself with cover art, typography, the thickness and texture of the pages, binding, printing mistakes, wear and tear, and heft.

When it comes to domestic issues that pit the interests of large corporations against those of ordinary Americans, few equal the exploding crisis in consumer debt. Yet with the exception of John Edwards, none of the leading presidential contenders in either party has made this a serious campaign issue. Perhaps this shouldn't come as a surprise, since the same financial institutions that engage in predatory- lending practices constitute their largest contributors, as well as what is perhaps the most powerful lobby in all of Washington.