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).

The Amy Helpenstell Foundation has awarded grants to three local organizations: WQPT, Churches United, and Habitat for Humanity - Quad Cities. WQPT, the Quad Cities' PBS station, received a charitable donation for its "Ready to Learn Literacy Initiative." The $15,000 donation will support activities for the project, including the WQPT First Book Program, which has distributed approximately 85,000 books to children in the region since 1984; Family Literacy Workshops and the Ready to Learn Conference, which provide the latest information on early-childhood practices to area teachers and caregivers; and the Healthy Habits for Life Initiative focusing on healthy foods, exercise, hygiene, and rest. WQPT and its partners will work with child-care centers serving low- to middle-income families. The foundation also awarded $10,000 to support the construction next year of a Moline home by Habitat for Humanity - Quad Cities. The house will be located at 430 and 434 Sixth Street, on lots donated by the City of Moline. And Churches United's Winnie's Place received $15,000 from the Amy Helpenstell Foundation. Winnie's Place is an emergency shelter for homeless women with or without children.

But if a man cheats on his wife, he might explain himself this way: "I couldn't help it. My evolved psychological mechanisms made me have an affair." And he'd be right.

Sort of.

David M. Buss, a psychologist at the University of Texas who will be giving the lecture "Sexual Conflict in Human Mating" at Augustana College on October 30, has spent more than two decades studying sexual desire and behavior. And his research has led to one overarching observation: Across cultures, people's mating strategies are universal.