Thinking Big

The biggest change atop Museum Hill in west-central Davenport has been the opening of the Putnam Museum's new 270-seat IMAX theatre, with its contemporary glass-dominated architecture dwarfing the adjacent history-and-natural-science museum and the Davenport Museum of Art.
It's shorter than a one-night stand - well, it should be, anyway - but it's not like that at all. "You're committed to them for seven minutes, and that's it," said Susan Esser. What Esser is describing is Seven-Minute Dating, a service she started a year ago to help singles meet each other with little commitment.
• The Midwest Writing Center will be moving into the first floor of the Goldman Building in the Rock Island Arts & Entertainment District later this month. The office space, adjacent to the new MidCoast Fine Arts Gallery West, features a large front room, a main office, and the shared use of two conference rooms, a kitchenette, and restroom facilities.
Steve Banks has a jovial intensity, and while he takes his art seriously, it's not too seriously. When I tried to maneuver around one painting to avoid damaging it, Banks said, "You're not going to hurt anything but yourself.
• People will pay more to send mail via the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) starting June 30, as the Postal Rate Commission on Friday approved a hike that includes raising first-class mail rates from 34 to 37 cents. This is despite a highly critical report that, according to a March 15 Wall Street Journal article, the Postal Service is trying to keep hidden.

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.

Pages