Emily Starr knows how to teach kids. A fourth-grade teacher in DeWitt, Iowa, she had an idea for a Web-based educational tool that would help schools, teachers, and parents reinforce core concepts in math and reading.

But Starr didn't know how to turn that idea into money - a viable business. "I had expertise in the content area," she said. "I didn't really know how you take a concept and develop it into a business."

The Figge Art Museum announced last week that it was re-starting its search for an executive director and will employ a national search firm. After Executive Director Linda Downs' resignation in May, the Figge board established a search committee composed of board members, representatives from the City of Davenport, and the local artistic community. The committee reviewed applications from 38 candidates and conducted 10 telephone interviews and seven in-person interviews. In October, the board made offers to two different candidates, but personal circumstances prevented either candidate from accepting the position. Figge Interim Director Tom Gildehaus had said he expected a new director to be in place by Thanksgiving. (See "Great Expectations," River Cities' Reader Issue 606, November 8-14, 2006.) Downs left the Figge after she accepted the position of executive director for the College Art Association, a professional membership association based in New York City. During its first year, the Figge more than doubled its membership, showcased six exhibitions, and expanded educational programs, classes, family activities, and outreach. For more information about the Figge Art Museum, visit (http://www.figgeartmuseum.org).

Iowa Public Radio (IPR) has announced the creation of a statewide news and information programming service as the culmination of a listener-driven process. The network, which was created in 2005 to align the stations of the WOI Radio Group in Ames, KUNI/KHKE in Cedar Falls-Waterloo, and KSUI/WSUI in Iowa City, is continuing its evolution as a statewide radio service for Iowans, with listener feedback as a critical component. For the past several months, Iowa Public Radio has sought input and feedback from Iowans as part of a "listening project." The information derived from these sessions provided the basis for a shared vision for public radio as IPR looks for ways to best serve all Iowans. The statewide news and information programming service will kick off January 1. Listeners in Iowa will hear new programs, including The Diane Rehm Show, and Iowa hosts for popular NPR programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered will be consistent across the state. Several locally produced programs, once limited to one station's coverage area, will now be available across the network. A full schedule of the news and information service is available at (http://www.iowapublicradio.org). Enhanced classical- and alternative-music programming are currently in development and will be released in mid-2007. 

Rebuilding Together Quad Cities began work Monday, November 13, on phase one of "Project Neighborhood Impact," which will repair a number of homes in the Douglas Park area of Rock Island. Funded with a $43,500 grant from the Doris & Victor Day Foundation, "Project Neighborhood Impact" also involves a public/private partnership between Rebuilding Together Quad Cities and the City of Rock Island's Planning & Redevelopment Division. The two-phase project will renovate two homes this fall, and up to three more homes in spring 2007. The inaugural program targets the neighborhood bordering "Habitat Park" in the Douglas Park neighborhood of Rock Island. The project is also part of the new Old Chicago Plan. Rebuilding Together annually repairs more than 50 homes locally. Homeowners living in the targeted area who wish to be considered for the second phase of the program should contact Rebuilding Together at (563) 322-6534. Applications are also available online at (http://www.rebuildingtogetherquadcities.org).