09
Jan
2001
The city of Davenport will hold a public-input session on Wednesday, January 10, for the two parking garages that will be constructed downtown. The session, to be held at 7 p.m. in the Illinois/Ohio Rooms at the RiverCenter North, will cover traffic patterns, pedestrian ways, skywalks, and exterior and interior design.
Now that the Democrats have nominated their party's choice for Sheriff, Kevin Murphy (Davenport Police Dept.), it is the Republicans' turn. Republican nominations and voting will take place Saturday, January 13, in the lower level of the Davenport Holiday Inn, beginning at 9:30am. Candidates include Roberta Potter (Scott Co. Sheriff's Dept.), Denny Connor (Scott Co. Sheriff's Dept.), Pat Gibbs (Davenport Police Dept.), and Greg Adamson (Bettendorf Police Dept.). Nominations and seconds will be followed by a ten-minute speech from each candidate for voters to learn something about them. To help voters learn more about himself, Captain Adamson has a website that lists his qualifications and background, as well as his candidacy positions, at www.adamson4sheriff.com. According to his resume, Adamson is one of the candidates with similar qualifications as former sheriff Mike Bladel in terms of education and law enforcement experience. This is an important opportunity to get the best candidate for Scott County's new sheriff, so Republicans must attend the nomination and voting session Saturday morning. Keep in mind that the position of Sheriff is the second highest position in Law Enforcement for the community. The duties of Sheriff are multi-faceted and require many skills, none more important than the ability to communicate. Also important to attend is the City of Davenport's annual Goal Setting Sessions the following Sunday and Monday, January 14th from 1-6pm, and 15th from 8:30am-4pm, in the City Council Chambers.
Affidavits of Candidacy and Nomination Petitions are now available at the office of the Davenport City Clerk for the position of Alderman At-Large. The filing deadline is 5 p.m. on January 25. The primary election, if necessary, will be held March 6, and the special election will be April 3. The person who wins the election will take over the seat vacated by Joe Seng following his election to the Iowa legislature in November. For more information, call the Office of the City Clerk at (319)326-6163.
Concerned Citizens Opposed to Police States (CCOPS) is working to prevent police states everywhere in the world. Based in the United States, the group's initial focus is on police-state tendencies and policies in North America and English-speaking countries. CCOPS works to expose the ideology and practices of previous and existing police states and tries to educate people about current and proposed laws and regulations concentrating too much power in any branch or level of government. CCOPS monitors the aggregation of government powers and warns citizens when their rights and liberties might be in danger. See for yourself at (http://www.ccops.org).
The Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center recently reported the results of its "Small Gifts, Huge Rewards" blood drive that was designed to ensure an adequate blood supply over the holidays. A total of 295 volunteer blood donors took time to donate a pint of blood. Activities included gift-wrapping for donors with last-minute gifts and holiday refreshments donated by area businesses. The 295 blood donors helped 885 to 1,180 people. By the way, the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center has a cool Web site at (http://www.bloodcenter.org/). You can even schedule a donation on-line.
Davenport Police are warning of a scam in which a man identifies himself as Jim Williams and claims to be an investigator for the membership group of Visa. He then asks people for their credit-card information so Visa can enhance their security and protect the cardholder from fraud, but refuses to give his telephone number when asked. This kind of activity should be considered an attempt to commit fraud.
MidAmerican Energy has recently made approximately $400,000 available to low- income customers in Iowa to help improve the energy efficiency of their homes. Mid-American's energy-assistance department administers the program and distributes funds with help from the Iowa Department of Human Rights for home improvements to low-income customer homes. Funding is available year-round. For more information about the program, call the Iowa Bureau of Weatherization at (515)281-3861. Also, MidAmerican will hold a public meeting on Thursday, January 11, at 7 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel in Davenport to discuss and answer questions about the high cost of natural gas.
The Bettendorf Public Library has received a $3,000 grant from Humanities Iowa for the Poem/Art Odyssey. This is a long-term multimedia project that will take place from January 2001 through April 2002. It will begin with nationally renowned poet Robert Creely writing a poem in January that will be illustrated by a local artist in February. In March, a local poet will write about the artwork. The project continues in that way all year long, culminating in a reception, art exhibit, and poetry reading featuring the six poems and six artworks on April 4, 2002. Incidentally, April is National Poetry Month. The poets involved in the project are John Turner, Kathleen Lawless Cox, Robert Creeley, Shelly Moore Guy, Rebecca Wee, and Tracy Alan White. Artists involved in the program are Glenn Boyles, Ralph Iaccarino, Ryan Luke, Rachel Mullens, Sandra Turner, and Bruce Walters. The Library is matching the $3,000 grant with cash and in-kind contributions.
The New Year brings new laws for Iowans. The first is a raise in the fee for applying for a marriage license, which will go up from $30 to $35, with Iowa counties allowed to keep $4 of the increase to cover administrative costs. The state gets to keep the extra buck. Retirees have reason to be happy, as the amount of pension income shielded from state taxation will increase from $5,000 to $6,000 for single tax filers and from $10,000 to $12,000 for joint filers. It's estimated this will cost the state $7.5 million in lost revenue. Several other laws are also now in effect. Prison inmates won't automatically have their sentences shortened for good behavior and participation in prison programs. And disclosure requirements for the state's 'lemon law' for automobiles have been tightened a bit.
Ruling on a complaint filed by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ordered the major television networks to begin identifying the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) as a sponsor of shows that include anti-drug messages underwritten by the federal government. During the past two years, in a complicated programming-for-ad-time swap, the major networks took in $25 million from the government for placing anti-drug messages in a number of prime-time programs. NORML filed a complaint with the FCC arguing that failing to identify the ONDCP as a sponsor of TV programs violated long-standing FCC disclosure rules. The federal regulators agreed. In its ruling, the FCC cited sponsorship regulations in place since 1927 that state that viewers "are entitled to know by whom they are being persuaded." For more on this subject look at the Drug Reform Coordination Network at (http://www.drc.org).
Now that the Democrats have nominated their party's choice for Sheriff, Kevin Murphy (Davenport Police Dept.), it is the Republicans' turn. Republican nominations and voting will take place Saturday, January 13, in the lower level of the Davenport Holiday Inn, beginning at 9:30am. Candidates include Roberta Potter (Scott Co. Sheriff's Dept.), Denny Connor (Scott Co. Sheriff's Dept.), Pat Gibbs (Davenport Police Dept.), and Greg Adamson (Bettendorf Police Dept.). Nominations and seconds will be followed by a ten-minute speech from each candidate for voters to learn something about them. To help voters learn more about himself, Captain Adamson has a website that lists his qualifications and background, as well as his candidacy positions, at www.adamson4sheriff.com. According to his resume, Adamson is one of the candidates with similar qualifications as former sheriff Mike Bladel in terms of education and law enforcement experience. This is an important opportunity to get the best candidate for Scott County's new sheriff, so Republicans must attend the nomination and voting session Saturday morning. Keep in mind that the position of Sheriff is the second highest position in Law Enforcement for the community. The duties of Sheriff are multi-faceted and require many skills, none more important than the ability to communicate. Also important to attend is the City of Davenport's annual Goal Setting Sessions the following Sunday and Monday, January 14th from 1-6pm, and 15th from 8:30am-4pm, in the City Council Chambers.
Affidavits of Candidacy and Nomination Petitions are now available at the office of the Davenport City Clerk for the position of Alderman At-Large. The filing deadline is 5 p.m. on January 25. The primary election, if necessary, will be held March 6, and the special election will be April 3. The person who wins the election will take over the seat vacated by Joe Seng following his election to the Iowa legislature in November. For more information, call the Office of the City Clerk at (319)326-6163.
Concerned Citizens Opposed to Police States (CCOPS) is working to prevent police states everywhere in the world. Based in the United States, the group's initial focus is on police-state tendencies and policies in North America and English-speaking countries. CCOPS works to expose the ideology and practices of previous and existing police states and tries to educate people about current and proposed laws and regulations concentrating too much power in any branch or level of government. CCOPS monitors the aggregation of government powers and warns citizens when their rights and liberties might be in danger. See for yourself at (http://www.ccops.org).
The Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center recently reported the results of its "Small Gifts, Huge Rewards" blood drive that was designed to ensure an adequate blood supply over the holidays. A total of 295 volunteer blood donors took time to donate a pint of blood. Activities included gift-wrapping for donors with last-minute gifts and holiday refreshments donated by area businesses. The 295 blood donors helped 885 to 1,180 people. By the way, the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center has a cool Web site at (http://www.bloodcenter.org/). You can even schedule a donation on-line.
Davenport Police are warning of a scam in which a man identifies himself as Jim Williams and claims to be an investigator for the membership group of Visa. He then asks people for their credit-card information so Visa can enhance their security and protect the cardholder from fraud, but refuses to give his telephone number when asked. This kind of activity should be considered an attempt to commit fraud.
MidAmerican Energy has recently made approximately $400,000 available to low- income customers in Iowa to help improve the energy efficiency of their homes. Mid-American's energy-assistance department administers the program and distributes funds with help from the Iowa Department of Human Rights for home improvements to low-income customer homes. Funding is available year-round. For more information about the program, call the Iowa Bureau of Weatherization at (515)281-3861. Also, MidAmerican will hold a public meeting on Thursday, January 11, at 7 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel in Davenport to discuss and answer questions about the high cost of natural gas.
The Bettendorf Public Library has received a $3,000 grant from Humanities Iowa for the Poem/Art Odyssey. This is a long-term multimedia project that will take place from January 2001 through April 2002. It will begin with nationally renowned poet Robert Creely writing a poem in January that will be illustrated by a local artist in February. In March, a local poet will write about the artwork. The project continues in that way all year long, culminating in a reception, art exhibit, and poetry reading featuring the six poems and six artworks on April 4, 2002. Incidentally, April is National Poetry Month. The poets involved in the project are John Turner, Kathleen Lawless Cox, Robert Creeley, Shelly Moore Guy, Rebecca Wee, and Tracy Alan White. Artists involved in the program are Glenn Boyles, Ralph Iaccarino, Ryan Luke, Rachel Mullens, Sandra Turner, and Bruce Walters. The Library is matching the $3,000 grant with cash and in-kind contributions.
The New Year brings new laws for Iowans. The first is a raise in the fee for applying for a marriage license, which will go up from $30 to $35, with Iowa counties allowed to keep $4 of the increase to cover administrative costs. The state gets to keep the extra buck. Retirees have reason to be happy, as the amount of pension income shielded from state taxation will increase from $5,000 to $6,000 for single tax filers and from $10,000 to $12,000 for joint filers. It's estimated this will cost the state $7.5 million in lost revenue. Several other laws are also now in effect. Prison inmates won't automatically have their sentences shortened for good behavior and participation in prison programs. And disclosure requirements for the state's 'lemon law' for automobiles have been tightened a bit.
Ruling on a complaint filed by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ordered the major television networks to begin identifying the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) as a sponsor of shows that include anti-drug messages underwritten by the federal government. During the past two years, in a complicated programming-for-ad-time swap, the major networks took in $25 million from the government for placing anti-drug messages in a number of prime-time programs. NORML filed a complaint with the FCC arguing that failing to identify the ONDCP as a sponsor of TV programs violated long-standing FCC disclosure rules. The federal regulators agreed. In its ruling, the FCC cited sponsorship regulations in place since 1927 that state that viewers "are entitled to know by whom they are being persuaded." For more on this subject look at the Drug Reform Coordination Network at (http://www.drc.org).
