Rapid Rip-Off

With the filing deadline for income taxes in less than three weeks, a lot of people are turning to professional tax preparers to assist with their returns. But those services can come at a steep cost, and a recent study found that they're also steering hundreds of millions of dollars away from recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
An e-mail from a 39 year old Wisconsin woman stated she was frustrated because her heavy periods and severe cramps continued despite undergoing a D&C, a trial of progesterone hormone therapy, and multiple doses of ibuprofen.
• The Bettendorf Park Board has decided to keep all of Splash Landing closed until 2003, resulting in a savings of $73,500. Water-clarity issues and structural problems forced the closing of the aquatic center following a $1.
• American Rivers, an environmental group that fought expansion of locks on the Mississippi River, has closed its field office in Iowa because of budget problems. The office was located in the Kahl Building in downtown Davenport for the past three years and was also was active in wetlands protection, floodwalls along the Mississippi River, and riverfront improvement.
A rich Quad Cities cultural history was restored last weekend. Thanks to Homefolks Communications and Ebony Expressions and their Jazz & Blues Restoration Project, three of the Quad Cities' greatest born-and-bred musicians were invited to provide workshops and concerts March 7 through 9: saxophonist Franz Jackson, drummer Francis Clay, and pianist and educator Bill Bell.
• Recently retired veteran of the Davenport Police Department and lifelong Davenport resident Jim Van Fossen has announced that he is seeking the Republican nomination for Iowa House District 84. Van Fossen said his priorities will be education and balancing the state budget, and he will draw on his background as a police officer to ensure proper security measures are in place to keep Americans safe.
Aside from being buried in a book few people would ever think to look at, the entry in Who's Who in Davenport 1929 certainly seems unremarkable: "Five writers , who belong to what is called 'the Davenport group,' were drawn together either in Davenport because of their writing, or elsewhere later, primarily because of having coming from there.
The success of the Midwest Writing Center is one key to ensuring that local literary talents get the nurturing and support they need to be successful and - hopefully - stay in the Quad Cities. The center's program chair, Bj Elsner, said that the organization's major focus right now is finding a permanent facility, and "when that happens, we'll have year-round programming.
It seems a little unseemly to call Richard Rodriguez the Quad City Arts Super Author - the title he'll carry during his three-day visit to the area in early April. It suggests something heroic or proud, almost as if Rodriguez should have an outfit with a cape.
QUESTION: "Other than abstinence, what can I tell my daughter about safe sex?" D.D. from Davenport. ANSWER: Condoms with education can decrease one's risk for sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy.

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